DSA Swords?

The opinions run the gamut about the makers, but from everything I've gleaned on this forum, the general consensus seems to be that DSAs are overbuilt tanks and, as a result, are quite heavy, particularly their larger models. To the best of my knowledge, most of their swords are peened.

Windlass is mostly hit and miss; their shorter blades are generally fine, but their thin starting stock and little distal taper makes their longer blades "whippy" (think pool noodle; another member explained it better than I could ever hope, so I'll try and find his post for you). Most are threaded, though a select few are peened; this is pretty common on cheaper swords, as far as I can tell. Edit to add: This is the post I mentioned. It will tell you just about everything you would want to know about longer Windlass swords.

Cold Steel, well, opinions differ greatly on them. Some find them little more than high priced beaters while others think they're excellent swords. Their swords are also mostly threaded, though I think their might be a few that are peened (their sabers, I believe, but you're looking at longswords).

As for Hanwei, they're a great company and their relatively recent H/T line of Euro swords is well respected; they have 3 hand-and-a-half/two handed swords: Bastard (Fullered or Unfullered), Longsword, and then the Great Sword of War. They're also significantly cheaper than the DSAs, on par (price-wise) with Windlasses. However, one thing I've noted people mentioning often is the standard edge on them is relatively hit-or-miss; some get a perfectly sharp edge while some get one that's not so sharp. The H/T series was designed by Tinker Pearce and all are hex nut.

Valiant Armory makes the Practical Longsword, which I've never heard a complaint against, as well as their more expensive Signature line, of which they have three longswords, the Kriegschwert, the Knight's Templar, and the Malatesta; there's also the Warder, a bastard saber, in their Valhalla collection. These range in the upper 300-low 400$ US range, so they depend on your budget. These were designed by Christian Fletcher, Angus Trim, and John Lundemo and all are hex nut, though you can have the Custom Sword Shoppe (Valiant Armory's store) peen them for an additional cost if you like, I believe.

Kult of Athena is located in Chicago, Illinois and have some of the best prices around, great shipping, and excellent customer service, but if that's a bit far for you, there's also Reliks, which is located in Ontario. There's also Wiwingti Sword Supply, but I don't believe they're active anymore.

By the way, welcome to SBG and a very addicting hobby.

Welcome!!

For the DSA line - look at the weight and point of balance. Some of their swords fall into the rather heavy mode. Some are within a reasonable range. I own 3 DSA swords and they are fine. If you like to cut heavy targets - good choice. Just get them sharpened when you order them.

Windlass - I do not buy into the "whippy" craze that folks seem to pin on them. Have some longswords from them and they are fine. Think I have only bought 1 Windlass that was too flexible for the sword type. Have a bunch of their models. Many longer historical swords were flexible but worked fine. Funny thing was the most flexible sword I ever purchased was a VA practical longsword. Again - I do not buy into the whippy thing.

Hanwei - Pretty good medieval swords. Would recommend to not purchase the pretty cheap ones. Everything else is very good. I mean the 120.00 and below to not buy. Have several of their swords.

VA Swords - Would recommend to stay away from the old cheaper designs. The signature swords are good but have a hex nut vice a peen. The hex nut does not impact their use as cutters. Might have to tighten every so often. Have four of their signature swords.

Just my view. Just like buttholes - everyone has one :lol:

I picked up the DSA Nomad blade which I consider a hand and a half and I really like the point of balance on it. It is quite light and if it were sharpened I think it would be a great weapon. I actually put the sword together myself so the pommel isn't peened since I don't have that ability. Instead I used a threaded wheel pommel and used loctite to keep it tight. Not the best but since it's mostly for looks I'm not worried about it. Since it's not sharp I can't swing it against anything but the tip is quite nice for stabbing

You seem to like the big beefy two handers. Well I'll be honest...I don't like DSA swords. They aren't balanced well, they are heavy and they just don't look very sword like with their god aweful huge fittings. Even the new ones are all kinda off. The claymore for example, the grip is WAY to thick, the crossguard is not only very thick, but it's short as well and the pommel is TINY. Probably because the cross and handle weights WAY more then it should. Yes I am being very harsh here.

Now windlass swords of this length is REALLY iffy. You have to be very careful of which model you get.

The hanwei tinker line is all good...so is VA's atrim line.

But here's the thing...your looking at swords above the 300 mark by a good chunck. The DSA sword sharpened for the claymore is 350 bucks. Save 50 bucks more and get a two handed merc line gud blade from tried and true. Your supporting a great US craftsman and you get a top notch, community recognized sword. And really if I had 300+ bucks for a sword, thats what I would do.

The DSA Claymore and Wallace the best choices you have to select from above. The Ranger and 12th century are too heavy. I haven't handled the Wallace but the stats seem okay but do own the old DSA ebay Claymore without the Langets. I'm actually selling it here on SBG to fund other projects. It handles very well but it is only four feet long where the Hanwei is much larger. I've heard issues of the Hanwei claymore failing on SBG. I don't know if they have improved their quality but I remember someone posting about the tang failing. The DSA Claymore felt a bit heavy in the hand when I first got it due to lack of distal taper but with two hands was very manageable. It is easy to handle now that I thinned out the blade. If you want it, it's for sale, check out the classifieds.