Cold Steel Hand-and-A-Half Sword with Leather/Wood Scabbard

Years ago, I was researching swords to buy as props for a film project and I came across this beauty and its matching dagger. I instantly fell in love with its simplicity, elegance, and frankly its utilitarian deadliness. But I could not justify buying a REAL sword, at the time. I kept thinking about this sword for over 10 years.In that time, I have been training with a couple of heavy training swords, one plastic (also from Cold Steel), and the other actual forged steel. I say this simply to give context to the review about weight and balance of this blade. I am not a sword expert, but I do have years of experience training with practice weapons designed for professional use.I finally pulled the trigger and ordered this sword and its matching dagger. Both arrived today, and I put them through their paces. I am overjoyed with them both. The finish and quality on the weapon is fantastic. It is a simple design, but executed without flaws. No rattling, nicks, cracks, or any other nonsense. This is a fine quality, real weapon made to a high standard.I have seen others express the grip is a bit shorter or narrower than they expected, and I do not find this is the case for me. While I do not have enormous hands, they are also not small. I can barely palm a regulation basketball. This grip feels like the natural size for my hands both in length and girth (yes, I realize the phrasing there is comical, shut it). While the leather on the grip is thin, it appears to be of high enough quality that I am not concerned about it wearing through quickly, and it provides a slide-free grip.The sword comes sharp. Actually, too sharp for some classic longsword techniques to be effective. You could not grip this blade without cutting yourself, even at its base. As any sword enthusiast knows, the first thing one must do when a sword arrives in the mail is to murder the box it came in. I fulfilled this obligation, and can tell you it sheared the box clean in half in a single strike. The tip is also deadly sharp for thrusting, as it should be.This is a light blade balanced for agility. The balance point is just a little over 2 inches from the hilt, making it easy to maneuver the blade quickly. Compared to my practice swords, this thing is light as a feather. It literally whistles through the air going through standard drills. While it is certainly capable of delivering a powerful strike, power does not seem to be the intent behind this design. This one is all about speed and precision.I am actually going to be stepping up my sword training and learning all classic techniques, and this sword will be my primary weapon when doing so. So I will update this review if I find any issues while working through that process. But as of now, I am glad I obsessed over this sword for years and it's even better in person than I imagined.

I bought this sword about 8 months ago and i just have to say if you are thinking about getting this sword, get it!!! the price-tag on this baby was 270$ when i bought it and i notice that it is going down, So get it while it's cheap...er. Here are some pros and cons:Pros:1. it's fairly light at about 4 pounds for what i would call a 2 handed weapon (i'm 5'5" so it is a 2 handed sword for someone of my size)2. even though i use it as a 2 handed sword, with a little bulking up, this sword can easily be handled with one hand3. the blade is lively4. comes very sharp right out of the box5. the handle on this blade is sturdy and gives a good grip6. it looks like something Aragorn would carry around in middle earth7. very good scabbard8. it is a legit battle ready weapon, and a bad ass wall hangercons:1. being rather short it is hard for me to carry it on my hip with a sword frog because the sword would be only a few inches from dragging on the ground2. again being as short as I carrying it on the back is rather difficult because my arms are too short to draw the blade from the scabbard, thus requiring me to un-sling the scabbard from myself if i intended to use it.All around a very good weapon and worth the money.

Very happy with the sword , I would consider it a two handed sword though which I like better , It’s so light you can still use it with one hand It’s perfect, I gave it five stars even though it came with minor damage because I was so impressed with it the only damage was on the guard itself the very tip of the guard it look like it was smashed with a hammer or chewed on or something but only on one side and very small you can look at my photos to see it. I am so happy with it though I’m not going to even return it because of the small damage it is straight as an arrow sharp good handle tight well-made better than a normal hand and a half it’s the perfect size sword I am 6 foot 3 Are usually collect katanas and I really like this sort it is definitely one of my favorites I was amazed how late it was you can really swing this thing fast well balanced also.

Hands down the best sword out there for your money... in my opinion.I have chopped wood with this thing, sliced innumerable milk jugs in half, and stabbed tree stumps. It will not break. I have tried other swords. Believe me. This is a good sword.Yes it gets scratched. Yes if you abuse it enough it will bend. Yes, the hilt will loosen over time. But because this sword can be disassembled (voids any sort of warranty mind you), ALL of that can be fixed. I just went and bought a fencing nut, took the sword apart, placed the new nut on it, and now I'm ready for anything. Pommel wiggles? Tighten it up with a hex-wrench. Hilt loosens? Just grab some light fishing wire and wind it up in the space between the cross-guard and the hilt, tie it off.This is a great starter sword.