Sword N Armory Qin Dao? reviewed!

Please consider my purchase to be for the greater good and knowledge of the board community.

Don't worry, I'll be careful. My one reproduction sword (Deepka Archer's Sword) claimed it was battle ready, full tang, high carbon steel, etc. The reality when it arrived back in, I believe that was in 1999 when I first had home internet, was that it was dull with a thick edge, had a real tang (but so thin, about pencil sized, it looked rat tail in size but was not welded on) and it was ugly as sin in person. I spent some time angling the sword on a table until I could get it to look as good as it did in the internet picture...Overall, not a sword to inspire confidence or actually use for anything (including wall hanging - heck, I've tried to sell in on 3 garage sales and no one will bite). The tang is what really scared me - the blade is huge - nearly as wide as my palm at the base, and the tang is literally as big as a #2 pencil!

As for my purchase, I sincerely hope it looks as good in person as it does in the picture, I thought SwordnArmory's answers were flat out honest which I appreciate, they have cut with it, and a few of the reviewers have cut with it. The sword is pretty heavy, and one would think a weak tang would likely have caused a problem already. Also, if not tempered, I'd think someone would note they had to sharpen it right away after cutting or blade damage after even light cutting. Granted, I could be wrong on all these issues, but I'm willing to take the chance!

I was looking over my sword collection last night after ordering, and I realized I've learned a lot through this board since joining just a few days ago. I read through tons of posts, and you all are great.

I've also realized reading several sword boards that what we expect from a functional sword is much more than the antiques often show. In my collection, only my early1900s/WWII era Sulawesi Katana (probably a piece from the Japanese occupation), my Napoleonic era artillery short sword, and my negrito bolo look like they would meet the modern criteria for a "cutting/functional" sword. The two cutlasses. the small sword and others I have most people would say the blades are too thin and the swords too light.

Just curious if other folks who also own antiques have the same observations about our view of modern functional vs. what really was functional in the past?

Eric

This is true... and KoA does sell a lot of 'generic' un-named items, some are claimed as 'functional' or, as KoA lables them, 'Battle Ready'... but without some first hand referral I won't touch those things with a 10 foot pole.

In our hobby, name recognition DOES mean something. Take Hanwei for example... if a new Hanwei item comes out and is claimed to be functional... until someone buys it and reviews it we don't know how good that specific item is... but we DO know a lot about its maker. Forum members have purchased, reviewed and spoken about hundreds of different Hanwei products... giving us a very good sense of the quality of the company, their good and bad points.

With the unknown unamed generic sword... we have NONE of that info. So we know nothing at all about the blade, the maker, and their track record.

So your taking a huge chance when you buy a random unknown product.

When the product in question is much, MUCH cheaper then everything else on the market it like it that we KNOW to be solid and functional... there has to be a reason for that. The market is competitive... we have seen this big time in the past few years. If there was a way for a company like Hanwei to make and sell the item for as little as possible, they would do it to corner that market. So if some unknown item is 2-3 times less expensive then another...

...you ever hear the phrase 'If its too good to be true, it probably is?'

For something to cost that little... corners have been cut somewhere. It might appear decent at first glance... but there is no way the quality of construction is going to be on par with the other items that cost 2-3 times as much. If it was, it would cost as much as they do.

Or put another way...

"The best cost less when you buy it the first time."

You don't have to spend Albion money to get a decent sword... you CAN find many great bargains under 300... but as I said before... when you start going under 100 bucks... ESPECIALLY when you are dealing with unknown forges with unknown track records... your tacking a gamble where the odds are heavily stacked against you.

I don't know if I could have come up with a worse analogy if I tried. A sandwich can easily be taken apart; just pull off a slice of bread. Not so with a sword. How much would metallurgical tests to tell you exactly what the sword was made of cost?

@sean: I do know the saying. Problem is, you have the option of buying just about whatever you want in a sword; I don't. When you get money as sporadically as I do, you don't save in the hopes of more. You buy what you can and, if it turns out to be a mistake, oh, well, it's not like you could have afforded anything else no matter how much you saved. I'm prepared to take a risk on anything that catches my eye under 100$ because it'll quite possibly be years before I can afford anything else.

It'll probably not be much (although it better look nice since that's to be it's primary function), but one can always hope! SBG's cheap sword guide has a windlass steelcraft cutlass and a Mushari (which I probably spelled wrong) katana that are listed a good yet in the same price range (granted, not as nice as a $300 sword, but still considered functional).

The reviews on sword n armory, though, are very promising...especially the first review which is hidden and you have to click the see all reviews...here it is:

"Very surprising sword June 25, 2010
Reviewer: John from Dark Side of the Moon from North Florida, United States, Earth
I bought this sword because I liked the look of it, not really expecting excellent quality.
I got more than I paid for.
The wood used on the handle and scabbard is Wenge. It's a dark hardwood that comes from the Congo Basin and West Africa.
The sword's tang is full and the fittings are all tight...well almost. The pommel cap was pressure fitted and came off easily. A drop of super glue fixed that after I applied locktite to the pommel nut. I have no reason to go back and disassemble the sword again for a long time so, the glue is a no harm, no foul proposition.
The sword itself has an excellent temper and has a juuust visible hamon, unintentional as it may have been from the forge. I suspect they were going for a TH spring temper. The edge has resisted dinging/dulling and has held up very well despite my near abuse of it to test it.
A somewhat loose pommel cap kept this piece from a 5 star rating. I'd recommend it if your looking for a beater dao."

Altogether there are 3 reviews (if you count my emails from sword n armory) stating it's rugged and good for cutting...that's pretty good for a sword in this price range. So it could be less than stellar, but my purchase was an educated guess that this sword will be better than others in its price range.

Eric