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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jan 1, 2011 23:40:51 GMT
So, in another thread, member Chuckles showed off the new Gladius machete that Cold Steel's going to be releasing in their 2011 line. Interested, I decided to look at all they were going to offer and found some rather interesting stuff. First is the one that really caught my eye, the 1917 Saber, which is, for all intents and purposes, a big brother to their 1917 cutlass, but with a more ornate guard: dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/Products/88CSSN/The 1904 Austrian saber comes next. While I think the blade is a little odd, I believe it's historically accurate, and I'm really quite taken by the guard, which is an interesting "half-basket" design, as it's called on the site: dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/Products/88PSB/Two new additions to their polypropylene Trainer line come next, a Gladius with a somewhat odd blade shape and a trainer version of their Sword Breaker, though if it doesn't have the same square cross-section, it might do for a jian trainer: dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/Products/92BKGM/dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/Products/92BKSB/Fourth in line is another new machete, this time it's a Two-Handed Latin Machete, which looks rather interesting: dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/Products/97TM21/Last, but definitely not least, is something for the Axe Lovers (here's looking at you, Avery! :lol: ): The axe used by the Axe Gang in the movie Kung Fu Hustle! It's not technically a sword, but posting it here's easier than making an entirely new thread for this one piece. dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/Products/90AXG/And, to close it out, here's the link if you just want to look at all they're going to offer for the new year, which includes several new knives (one of which looks to be based on the Ka-bar profile), a trainer knife, a new saber, the return of their Civilian Saber, and a new walking stick: dealerscorner.coldsteel.com/New/Default.aspx |
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Post by MEversbergII on Jan 2, 2011 0:27:21 GMT
Props for posting. I like the 1917 because it is so ugly. The 1904 is pretty nifty, too.
M.
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Post by Dave Kelly on Jan 2, 2011 0:50:52 GMT
Kharma for the leg work VD  I was looking for a market prop to talk about my Germano-Austrian sabers; so here it comes. The 1852 went thru a lot of downsizing in it's time. Mid century blades still favored about 1.2 inches of base width up to 1870. Germans abandoned the 1852 as their primary dragoon sword with the intro of the 1889, but it was a reserve sword thru WWI. Looks like this is an optioned WWI light blade. Same goes for the Austrian. The started downsizing blades in 1858. 1904 was end of that line. Intermediate length blade, very light and maneuverable. Will have to watch true sword and KoA for sale notices... |
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Post by LittleJP on Jan 2, 2011 4:04:58 GMT
I must get one of those civilian sabres, always wanted something like that.
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Post by MEversbergII on Jan 2, 2011 13:12:52 GMT
Karma coming your way once it recharges.
Dave, should we expect a comparative review?
M.
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Post by rvhernandez on Jan 2, 2011 16:13:25 GMT
Thanks for the post.
I find the "reissue" of the 1917 Saber interesting because not too long ago - maybe a couple of years - CS closed these models out. They had the same handle guard as the Cutlass. At the time, you could pick them up for about $100 through sales and their outdoor parking lot sales. So I wonder why they think this will fair better?
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Sébastien
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Post by Sébastien on Jan 3, 2011 19:51:46 GMT
I hope they will show us more new products. Although there's a few items that I like in this new line-up, there's also a few that look very ''meh'' to me (just to my personnal taste, your mileage may vary). I was more hyped about their 2010 new products.
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Sean (Shadowhowler)
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No matter where you go, there you are.
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Post by Sean (Shadowhowler) on Jan 3, 2011 19:58:23 GMT
Its almost exactly what I have been looking for... except I want a multi-bar guard/hilt for better hand protection. Aside from that, its nearly perfect.
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Post by johnapsega on Jan 3, 2011 20:12:08 GMT
How historically accurate is the blade shape on the gladius machete
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2011 1:05:43 GMT
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jan 7, 2011 1:22:18 GMT
Kudos and a karma, Chuckles. I'm liking the look of the Tanto Lite and I'm pretty psyched they're bringing back the Talwar. It means a possible reintroduction of their Chinese sabers. Plus, a Roman pilum; that's an interesting new item.
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Post by Elheru Aran on Jan 7, 2011 14:34:42 GMT
>>> johnapsega: that gladius machete's shape isn't very accurate. It looks like they tried to do a sort of Fulham-type shape, but failed miserably to waist the blade...
The Talwar seems to be using the exact same blade as their Light Cavalry sword; not too surprising, cheaper for them to reuse a blade design rather than make a new one, but a little disappointing. It doesn't look too bad, I'll give them that, just not necessarily authentic enough for my taste, though that wouldn't stop me from purchasing one if it came out cheap...
Pilum is... interesting. Looks like they're making it for the casual spear-thrower who's used to having more shaft. Doesn't look like it comes with a wood shaft option; wonder if they're going to come out with polypropylene shafts for the rest of their spears?
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jan 7, 2011 15:55:04 GMT
Aran, about the Talwar, the reason that it has the exact same blade as their 1796 is much simpler: the 1796 is based upon the talwar, so why should they design a new blade for it? As for its price, I'd reckon it will probably be about 210$US (the same as the 1796 on Kult of Athena), given that its suggested retail price is 390$ while the 1796 is listed at 385$ on Cold Steel's website.
With regards to the pilum and the polypropylene shafts, that seems likely, considering polypropylene is cheap, can be shaped fairly easily (if I'm not mistaken, they can be pressed into molds to take just about any shape), it's also a lot more durable than wood, though remarkably weak against anything with an edge, despite Cold Steel's claims of being cut resistant; but perhaps they only meant against normal scratches and the like as opposed to taking a full length katana to it like what Paul did. It also absorbs shock a great deal, leading to a "dead" feel that I've heard many complain about. If you can ignore those two shortcomings, they're pretty damned attractive from an economical and practical standpoint, being that they won't rot or splinter and can be made for a fraction of the cost.
Lastly, I know it wasn't aimed at me, about the gladius machete; as was mentioned in the thread specifically about it, these are likely computer mock-ups and not 100% evident of what the finished product will look like. Considering that most places will probably sell it for under 30$, can you really complain for having a functional gladius at that price?
UPDATE: For those interested, I just went a-perusing Cold Steel's website for price quotes in the above post and found the Grivory Paradox and Two Handed Latin Machete now for sale!
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Post by Elheru Aran on Jan 7, 2011 17:39:48 GMT
The thing about the Talwar is, as far as I know, historically they didn't have the same huge fuller that the Light Cav sword does; usually it was a skinny fuller, and they were somewhat more 'pointy', if that makes sense-- less of a hatchet tip. They did widen toward the tip, like the website says, but they tapered off a little more elegantly, I thought...
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Post by MEversbergII on Jan 7, 2011 20:46:07 GMT
If I can get it for under 30, I might grab the gladius machete just to have it. I have not really been interested in CS machetes since their spear-point ones went out.
M.
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Post by johnapsega on Jan 7, 2011 22:01:54 GMT
oh ok I thought that the gladius looked kinda like the VA gladius to me but I dont remember which one.
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Post by Anders on Jan 13, 2011 23:25:34 GMT
I'll say this: I love the entire hilt of the Austrian saber. I've always liked that style.
I'm not crazy about the pipeback blade, though.
IIRC, I've heard people on various fora arguing that this probably isn't actually true.
Note that Cold Steel is known for getting things wrong or even blatantly making stuff up in their advertisement, such as the swelling of the blade towards the tip being a "hatchet point", or that there actually was such a thing as a "civilian" saber. So, don't take everything they say as facts.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jan 13, 2011 23:52:06 GMT
The thing is, I wasn't taking Cold Steel's word for it.
^ Robson, p.23. The British sword is similar to some tulwars in the widening of the blade near the tip, which is gradual and does not incorporate a step as is found in the yelman of the Turkish kilij. - Taken from Swords of the British Army (used as a reference on Wikipedia's article on the 1796).
That aside, I agree; I love the hilt of the Austrian, but I'm not too fond of the blade. I personally prefer the blade shape of the 1830 Napoleon Saber.
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Post by adtharp on Jan 14, 2011 0:36:19 GMT
Anders - there was such a thing as a "civilian sabre" though it was never called that. I think their goal was a dueling saber, but it was pretty far off the mark from what I have heard. For instance, it had a triangular blade, similar to a smallsword and was not sharpened on the edges. That is why they are probably re-introducing it. Here is hoping it has a real blade. I would really like to find a good replica of a dueling saber, I don't think anything has ever actually been produced.
So, there were sabers used and carried by civilians, but Cold Steels never had anything to do with them.
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Post by Bogus on Jan 17, 2011 2:10:45 GMT
The gladius looks pretty nifty, but even with a $30 price point I'd definitely want to know more about how it handles before even considering a purchase. I've considered getting an inexpensive Greco-Roman sword for comparison purposes but "gladius machete" is too much of an oxymoron to chance it without more info. Maybe the plastic version would work...if all I want to know is how these things handled in context of contemporary battle tactics it doesn't really matter if it's sharp or not.
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