|
|
Post by Anders on Oct 8, 2012 18:21:15 GMT
It's... not terrible? I can swing it okay, but if you are looking for a light and responsive saber, I can't honestly recommend it.
It has a pretty thick and sturdy blade, but with a conservative distal taper. The POB is pretty far out, about 9", but it's essentially a cavalry saber so I don't expect low polar movement.
I generally find this sword more unwieldy than I would have liked, but I've handled worse. Had the POB been just an inch lower, or the blade some 50 grams lighter, I probably would have considered it acceptable. As is, I find myself wanting to grip it with two fingers over the cross for more control. Most likely, it would handle much better if the blade was sharpened and slimmed down.
|
|
|
|
Post by Elheru Aran on Oct 10, 2012 18:23:56 GMT
Definitely if it was slimmed down. With originals we'd be talking a taper from like 1/4 of an inch all the way down to 1/16 or even 1/32. They had some CRAZY distal taper back in the day.
Only downside of trying to put that much taper on a modern sword, especially an India made reproduction, is that if the heat treat isn't good, you could end up putting a serious set in it if you flub a cut...
|
|
|
|
Post by Anders on Oct 10, 2012 18:43:07 GMT
I just got confirmation that this is in fact a Universal Swords product, as I suspected.
I can now finish my review, though I don't have a lot of pictures and I can't seem to find my caliphers, so it may take a few days more to get everything ready.
Frankly, I sometimes think the originals have too much distal taper - I dislike swords that taper down to only like one or two millimeters. I'm sure they're agile and cut well, but I just don't feel confident with something so... flimsy.
Possibly. I've considered only slimming it edge-wise, leaving the sturdy back the way it is.
|
|
|
|
Post by Elheru Aran on Oct 10, 2012 18:55:12 GMT
That's certainly one way to go. I recently saw and handled a Cold Steel 1796 that had been reprofiled by Arms and Armour to be somewhat closer to original spec, and also handled an original at the same time. The original had some quite serious taper like I was talking about; felt like it could cut anything, practically. A very light, thin, and fast blade. I was in love  The Cold Steel was a bit more burly by comparison, but somehow, I liked it just a hair more. It was a bit heavier, but it also felt somewhat more sturdy-- a heavier cutter than the original. So yeah, if you put taper on it, I wouldn't necessarily go as extreme as I was saying earlier. They did have the advantage, back in the day, if they screwed up their swords they could just go to the commissary...  |
|
The Cold Steel was a bit more burly by comparison, but somehow, I liked it just a hair more. It was a bit heavier, but it also felt somewhat more sturdy-- a heavier cutter than the original. 
