First sword thinking of viking style...?

i don't own the sword that you posted but i know that the review is outdated darksword has updated a lot of there swords sense that review

To answer your question, the particular blade you picked out has it's ups and downs as a first.

As was mentioned in the review, and is pretty common from the sword maker, is that DSA swords tend to be on the heavy side. The upside to this is that they are ruff and tumble and it will take some serious abuse to put a set, or permanent bend, in the sword. The downside is that the extra weight might detract from the actual cutting experience.

Now, if you are the type of fella that is no stranger to manual labor and have some decent muscle mass, then this really won't be an issue. It actually might prove beneficial to start out with a heavier blade so that you'll build up the "swording muscles" quicker. But at the same time, this might lead to repetitive motion injury. There is a right and wrong way to swing a sword. The wrong way will still cut and it'll still be fun, but you'll soon notice your wrist, elbow or shoulder starting to bother you. However, this same injury can be the result of a lighter sword as well, but in my experience, having this happen with a lighter sword isn't as severe as it would be with a heavier one.

Bradleee had mentioned the Hanwei/Tinker (H/T) line of swords as a possible first. These are about 13oz lighter then the DSA viking and already come sharpened (which isn't as big of a deal for you, as you seem to have experience in this field.) But, sharpening a DSA sword is VERY hard because of how tough their blades are. It might be better to start with the HT blade already sharpened, and then you could just touch up the edge... as you'll probably need to. H/T's have, until recently, had very questionable edges. Some were good, some were not so good.

I'll send you a private message with further details. Since you are new, you might not have noticed the bar at the top. The 6th link over should say "1 new messages"

HOLD!

Just in case Cowboy didn't get my personal message, I'll repost it here.

Turns out that the latest line of DSA swords have a threaded assembly. Not nut, but threaded. I can't absolutely confirm this, but in my experience with threaded pommels, the wooden grips will eventually settle and you'll either have to add some leather to the mix or have a crooked pommel.

For this reason alone, I'd advise against the DSA viking. It's one of tho's things that can shatter a good swording experience is to have your handle start to loosen and then find out that you have to twist your asymmetric pommel out of true to fix it.

However, the Hanwei Tinker (H/T) Viking is peened. Which is how the vikings actually put together a sword. And at the Kult of Athena price of $112.00 bucks, it's a damned steal. But yeah, Cowboy, check your personal messages and I've elaborated quite a bit.

But I'd strongly advise against the DSA for no other reason then the threaded pommel.

ok thank you all for the very fast and very educated replies im not looking into the tinker line on KOA website I notic the single handed medieval sword has a threaded pummel as well will this be a no go?

I snapped a quick picture to show what a nut assembly looks like:



This is what is the prefered assembly for many modern day sword enthusiasts. The hex nut on the far right holds the pommel against the tang. This is desirable because a flat pommel would look odd if you had to turn it a bit to make the grip tighter.

I'm gonna try to find a picture of a threaded pommel and edit that in when/if I do.

Good find Avery! Yeah, as you can see, the hole in the pommel is just a pommel looking nut. This is dangerous. Oh, I almost forgot to link to Albions page concerning these things:

www.albion-swords.com/swords-functional.htm

It's a great article, but here is the main picture I was refering to:


-----Threaded ------------- Compression Nut------ Recessed Nut------Cold Peened--------------Hot Peened

The first on the list is what you want to avoid, especially in flat pommels, or any pommel that couldn't be made on a lathe. Read the article and it explains a lot more things better then I am able to.

Here's the link to the Hedemark. kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=CF405 And yes, it is a lovely sword. But you have to ask yourself if it's the type of sword you are ready to spend a decent chunk of money on. But being new to the sword scene, you might want to try out the entry level cutters and see which typology you'd like to continue collecting.

I had a recessed nut once...wanna hear a story? lol

I'm also going to vote for the H/T Viking. The edge on mine was a bit lackluster, but came right out with a few passes of a diamond rod.


*groan* :roll:

!!! The secret is out!

This is my famed VA Practical Arming Sword (303s) which I've been using as a daily cutter for the past year or so. I had noticed this too when I first got it and there was much concern. I believe this is the second generation of 303s, right after the nut went to hex from flat. I forget what generation they are on now, I think 4th, so this problem might be fixed.

But as far as welds go, it's actually pretty good. You can't tell from the picture, but the threaded rod was cut to fit over the tang, and then welded. So it's not a butt weld, more like a sleeve weld. So there is plenty of metal to metal contact. Granted, had I known this before buying it, I might have changed my mind. But it really is my primary cutter, in the 60 videos I've made of me cutting, I've been using this 80% of the time.

I would like to know how the modern 303s look in that area tho. Hopefully someone noticed it early on and told Sonny about it.