Review - Windlass Steelcrafts Russian Kindjal
Mar 27, 2015 11:09:08 GMT
Post by Vincent Dolan on Mar 27, 2015 11:09:08 GMT
Introduction
You know that one sword you came across by chance and it just grabbed your eye in such a way that you had to have it, so you saved and saved to buy it? For me, this is that sword. I first came across this sword in, oh, 2004, give or take, and for whatever reason, it just enchanted me; I've been ogling it ever since. When it was announced that Windlass was going to cease making its products available to third party retailers such as Kult of Athena, I figured I'd best buy it now. I bought it March 18, it shipped the next day, and arrived March 23; it would have arrived on the 21st, but UPS doesn't deliver on Saturdays.
Full Disclosure
As I just mentioned, I bought this from Kult of Athena with my own money; besides, anyone who would send me a sword to review would have to be desperate.
Historical Overview
I'm going to be up front about this: I don't know a whole lot about the history of the kindjal, so this won't be a very lengthy entry. The kindjal is a long, double edged dagger with a fairly distinctively shaped grip held in place by a pair of rivets that protrude to a certain degree on one side of the hilt. An iconic weapon of the Cossacks alongside the larger shashka, it is often elaborately decorated and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes... And names. The kindjal is also known as a qama, quadara, and a bebut, which seems to be particular to the curved style such as the one that is the subject of this review. This particular kindjal is a reproduction of the M1907 Bebut Kindjal used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, used until the Empire's dissolution in 1917.
Initial Impressions
My kindjal arrived securely packaged so that nothing would happen to it in transit, but then no one expects any less from Kult of Athena, so this is hardly worth mentioning. There was also a substantial amount of packing grease on the blade and hilt (since the hilt is constructed in the sandwich method, the tang's sides are fully exposed) to keep it from rusting during transport, which I removed with a heaping helping of elbow grease and a soft cloth. When I was finally done with that, I finally got to handling it and it was everything I'd hoped it would be.
Statistics
Overall Length: 23 5/8" (60cm)
Blade Length: 17 1/4" (43,9cm)
Blade Width: 1 3/8" (3,5cm) @ base; 3/4" (1,9cm) @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4" (10,2cm)
Point of Balance: 2 3/4" (7cm)
Weight: 1.08lb (~490g) According to Kult of Athena
Components
Unlike what Greg mentioned in his video of review of the Windlass Qama, the rivets on the Kindjal protrude quite a bit more and, being further apart, you would have to have meat hooks like Sean for these to really "lock" your hand in place, the way he mentions the Qama's doing. At this size, they might interfere with your grip if you have particularly large hands, however, for my average sized hands, they don't get in the way of gripping the blade.
The scabbard is plain black leather over wood with a brass throat and chape. As was mentioned in Pyra Gorgon's review, the chape is held on by what appears to be a staple and the throat held in place by a set screw; interestingly enough, both set screw and chape staple appear to be period accurate, though the screw is in the wrong place. While I won't post pictures in this review that don't belong to me, I will provide a link to a listing of a Kindjal from Zlatoust Arms Factory dated 1913: www.sailorinsaddle.com/product.aspx?id=1067 Note the images 3rd and 4th from the bottom that show both screw and staple, though unlike the original, the Windlass features the staple on both sides. Contrary to the piece Pyra Gorgon reviewed, the blade fits very snugly in the scabbard with absolutely no rattle and it actually takes a conscious pull to unsheathe the blade.
The leather seam is visible from the reverse side, which, as that's the side that would be hanging against your hip, would be all but invisible; as it was, I had to shine a flashlight on it just to get it to show up on my phone's camera. You can also feel the seem, but only just. As the seem is not overtly obvious unless you're looking directly at it, I have no problem with either factor. And while it may not be exactly obvious in any of these pictures, the leather (on mine, this may not be true of all) seems a bit beat up, which may be a negative to some, but for me, it just heightens the appeal, making it seem like something someone actually carried.
A significant negative, though actually pretty minor considering how easily it would be to fix, is that the brass locket is poorly fitted at the mouth, which causes the blade to drag against it the further into the scabbard it goes; it starts about 4-5" from the hilt and continues until it is fully sheathed. Luckily, it appears to be actual brass, and therefore relatively soft, as even unsharpened, the kindjal's blade has already started to cut into it a bit with repeated unsheathing and reseathing, as you can (hopefully) see above.
One thing I quickly noticed about the blade shape as soon as I had my kindjal in hand was that, unlike a more traditional kindjal with a symmetrical blade, it lends itself equally well to two manners of grip, which you can see above. I'd never actually considered using it any other way than with the rivets facing outwards before, but I'm now wondering how I missed it. Held with the curve pointing torwards the user, you get a vicious little slashing blade; held with the curve pointing away, however, and you would get something similar to a Filipino ginunting, with a nice little chop, as well as all the benefits in the thrust of a forward curving sword. You can also just make out the "Windlass Made in India" stamp on the reverse side, but it only appears to be inked on rather than etched or engraved, so it should come off pretty easily.
Handling Characteristics
I'm not going to use the rather cliche line about it feeling like an extension of my hand, though it does; rather, I would call this a tongue of steel, by the way it can easily flick back and forth with a small movement of the wrist. This is honestly a pleasure to wield and I've had trouble putting it down since I got it. I've no idea how an antique would handle, but if they handled anything like this reproduction, they would have been nasty little blades in close quarters combat. Another thing I've no idea of in regards to this style of blade is just how they're supposed to be used; what few Russian martial arts dealing with weapons that is available for viewing on the internet seems to deal exclusively with the shashka. With that said, this blade is very handy and can stop on a dime... Hell, it could probably stop on a hair!
As I briefly touched on above, there are two main ways to hold this blade: point back and point forward. There is also, technically, a third method, but I just conflated it with the point back method, since it's just an extension of that style. With the point back, you can use it just like any other sword, with a hammer grip or saber grip, though due to how far the bottom rivet extends, it requires a little extra concentration to keep it from knocking into the heel of your hand. The secondary point back grip is to loop your index finger over the top rivet and place your thumb against the back of the rivet; this results in a grip much like how you would hold a butcher's knife for greater control and, indeed, that's what you get. Additionally, this grip allows for some wicked fast slashes with the whole arm and you almost have to consciously try to screw up the edge alignment (except on straight downward cuts). To further add to this grip's useability, I've found that, should you miss your target, it becomes much easier to turn it into a thrust, which is much more comfortable with the wrist's greater range of motion (straight back as opposed to the thumb side). Lastly, because this grip turns the hilt slightly, the bottom rivet no longer comes into contact with the hand/wrist; the "pommel" does instead, though thanks to its shape, this is actually quite comfortable.
The point forward grip, on the other hand, allows you to loop your thumb over the rivet instead, and indeed, doing so feels very natural as if that was the rivet's purpose all along. Again, this greatly aids in maintaining edge control, at least in dry handling, but it also makes your grip more secure, keeping it from any backwards or forwards motion that might occur. I've also found that, when the thumb is looped over it, the rivet can become a pivot point; by relaxing the grip until the pinky is just barely on the hilt, you can suddenly tighten the hand and flex the wrist to really drive the point forward. In fact, after measuring it, doing this can cause the point to travel just under 36" (91cm) without moving the arm at all. Given how greatly tip acceleration can factor into a blade piercing its target, that is pretty impressive.
Test Cutting
Alas, I still live in the same apartment complex I have for the past seven and a half years, so test cutting is a no go... Unless someone feels like donating some tatami or newspapers and a stand so I can do so in my living room. Jokes aside, I ordered this sword unsharpened, mainly as I didn't have the funds readily at the time available to order Kult of Athena's sharpening service, meaning I wouldn't be able to cut even if I had a space where I could do so without running the risk of having the cops called because there's some psycho swinging a sword about.
Conclusion
For the time being, this is going for 59.95$ on Kult of Athena, though once those run out, Atlanta Cutlery (one of Windlass' North American distributors) is selling it for 69.95$ and I feel that this is a pretty good deal at either price. It's a nice, compact little sword with a nice variety in how you use it. I've heard the shashka referred to as the "Russian katana", in which case this would be the Russian wakizashi, an excellent companion to the longer saber, and a great indoors choice, as its 17" blade means you could swing it as much as you wanted without (much) risk of hitting anything.
Pros
- Inexpensive, making for a good first sword
- Great handling
- Nice scabbard fit
- (Surprisingly) Actually fairly period accurate
- Grip edges are nicely rounded
- Handle seems quite durable
Cons
- Scabbard locket fit isn't the greatest, but is easily fixable
- Stapled chape may be an aesthetic turn off for some
- Grip is somewhat on the narrow side
- Bottom hilt rivet requires a bit of concentration to keep it from bumping the hand
Bottom Line
I waited close to 11 years to finally get my hands on this sword and, with some very minor gripes, it's everything I'd hoped it would be, though I will admit that I was somewhat surprised at how narrow the blade was; even though Kult of Athena lists the width, it always seemed broader, more in line with Windlass' Qama. Despite that, I'm very happy with my purchase and would certainly recommend it to anyone who fancies this style of blade.
You know that one sword you came across by chance and it just grabbed your eye in such a way that you had to have it, so you saved and saved to buy it? For me, this is that sword. I first came across this sword in, oh, 2004, give or take, and for whatever reason, it just enchanted me; I've been ogling it ever since. When it was announced that Windlass was going to cease making its products available to third party retailers such as Kult of Athena, I figured I'd best buy it now. I bought it March 18, it shipped the next day, and arrived March 23; it would have arrived on the 21st, but UPS doesn't deliver on Saturdays.
Full Disclosure
As I just mentioned, I bought this from Kult of Athena with my own money; besides, anyone who would send me a sword to review would have to be desperate.
Historical Overview
I'm going to be up front about this: I don't know a whole lot about the history of the kindjal, so this won't be a very lengthy entry. The kindjal is a long, double edged dagger with a fairly distinctively shaped grip held in place by a pair of rivets that protrude to a certain degree on one side of the hilt. An iconic weapon of the Cossacks alongside the larger shashka, it is often elaborately decorated and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes... And names. The kindjal is also known as a qama, quadara, and a bebut, which seems to be particular to the curved style such as the one that is the subject of this review. This particular kindjal is a reproduction of the M1907 Bebut Kindjal used by the armed forces of the Russian Empire, used until the Empire's dissolution in 1917.
Initial Impressions
My kindjal arrived securely packaged so that nothing would happen to it in transit, but then no one expects any less from Kult of Athena, so this is hardly worth mentioning. There was also a substantial amount of packing grease on the blade and hilt (since the hilt is constructed in the sandwich method, the tang's sides are fully exposed) to keep it from rusting during transport, which I removed with a heaping helping of elbow grease and a soft cloth. When I was finally done with that, I finally got to handling it and it was everything I'd hoped it would be.
Statistics
Overall Length: 23 5/8" (60cm)
Blade Length: 17 1/4" (43,9cm)
Blade Width: 1 3/8" (3,5cm) @ base; 3/4" (1,9cm) @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4" (10,2cm)
Point of Balance: 2 3/4" (7cm)
Weight: 1.08lb (~490g) According to Kult of Athena
Components
Unlike what Greg mentioned in his video of review of the Windlass Qama, the rivets on the Kindjal protrude quite a bit more and, being further apart, you would have to have meat hooks like Sean for these to really "lock" your hand in place, the way he mentions the Qama's doing. At this size, they might interfere with your grip if you have particularly large hands, however, for my average sized hands, they don't get in the way of gripping the blade.
The scabbard is plain black leather over wood with a brass throat and chape. As was mentioned in Pyra Gorgon's review, the chape is held on by what appears to be a staple and the throat held in place by a set screw; interestingly enough, both set screw and chape staple appear to be period accurate, though the screw is in the wrong place. While I won't post pictures in this review that don't belong to me, I will provide a link to a listing of a Kindjal from Zlatoust Arms Factory dated 1913: www.sailorinsaddle.com/product.aspx?id=1067 Note the images 3rd and 4th from the bottom that show both screw and staple, though unlike the original, the Windlass features the staple on both sides. Contrary to the piece Pyra Gorgon reviewed, the blade fits very snugly in the scabbard with absolutely no rattle and it actually takes a conscious pull to unsheathe the blade.
The leather seam is visible from the reverse side, which, as that's the side that would be hanging against your hip, would be all but invisible; as it was, I had to shine a flashlight on it just to get it to show up on my phone's camera. You can also feel the seem, but only just. As the seem is not overtly obvious unless you're looking directly at it, I have no problem with either factor. And while it may not be exactly obvious in any of these pictures, the leather (on mine, this may not be true of all) seems a bit beat up, which may be a negative to some, but for me, it just heightens the appeal, making it seem like something someone actually carried.
A significant negative, though actually pretty minor considering how easily it would be to fix, is that the brass locket is poorly fitted at the mouth, which causes the blade to drag against it the further into the scabbard it goes; it starts about 4-5" from the hilt and continues until it is fully sheathed. Luckily, it appears to be actual brass, and therefore relatively soft, as even unsharpened, the kindjal's blade has already started to cut into it a bit with repeated unsheathing and reseathing, as you can (hopefully) see above.
One thing I quickly noticed about the blade shape as soon as I had my kindjal in hand was that, unlike a more traditional kindjal with a symmetrical blade, it lends itself equally well to two manners of grip, which you can see above. I'd never actually considered using it any other way than with the rivets facing outwards before, but I'm now wondering how I missed it. Held with the curve pointing torwards the user, you get a vicious little slashing blade; held with the curve pointing away, however, and you would get something similar to a Filipino ginunting, with a nice little chop, as well as all the benefits in the thrust of a forward curving sword. You can also just make out the "Windlass Made in India" stamp on the reverse side, but it only appears to be inked on rather than etched or engraved, so it should come off pretty easily.
Handling Characteristics
I'm not going to use the rather cliche line about it feeling like an extension of my hand, though it does; rather, I would call this a tongue of steel, by the way it can easily flick back and forth with a small movement of the wrist. This is honestly a pleasure to wield and I've had trouble putting it down since I got it. I've no idea how an antique would handle, but if they handled anything like this reproduction, they would have been nasty little blades in close quarters combat. Another thing I've no idea of in regards to this style of blade is just how they're supposed to be used; what few Russian martial arts dealing with weapons that is available for viewing on the internet seems to deal exclusively with the shashka. With that said, this blade is very handy and can stop on a dime... Hell, it could probably stop on a hair!
As I briefly touched on above, there are two main ways to hold this blade: point back and point forward. There is also, technically, a third method, but I just conflated it with the point back method, since it's just an extension of that style. With the point back, you can use it just like any other sword, with a hammer grip or saber grip, though due to how far the bottom rivet extends, it requires a little extra concentration to keep it from knocking into the heel of your hand. The secondary point back grip is to loop your index finger over the top rivet and place your thumb against the back of the rivet; this results in a grip much like how you would hold a butcher's knife for greater control and, indeed, that's what you get. Additionally, this grip allows for some wicked fast slashes with the whole arm and you almost have to consciously try to screw up the edge alignment (except on straight downward cuts). To further add to this grip's useability, I've found that, should you miss your target, it becomes much easier to turn it into a thrust, which is much more comfortable with the wrist's greater range of motion (straight back as opposed to the thumb side). Lastly, because this grip turns the hilt slightly, the bottom rivet no longer comes into contact with the hand/wrist; the "pommel" does instead, though thanks to its shape, this is actually quite comfortable.
The point forward grip, on the other hand, allows you to loop your thumb over the rivet instead, and indeed, doing so feels very natural as if that was the rivet's purpose all along. Again, this greatly aids in maintaining edge control, at least in dry handling, but it also makes your grip more secure, keeping it from any backwards or forwards motion that might occur. I've also found that, when the thumb is looped over it, the rivet can become a pivot point; by relaxing the grip until the pinky is just barely on the hilt, you can suddenly tighten the hand and flex the wrist to really drive the point forward. In fact, after measuring it, doing this can cause the point to travel just under 36" (91cm) without moving the arm at all. Given how greatly tip acceleration can factor into a blade piercing its target, that is pretty impressive.
Test Cutting
Alas, I still live in the same apartment complex I have for the past seven and a half years, so test cutting is a no go... Unless someone feels like donating some tatami or newspapers and a stand so I can do so in my living room. Jokes aside, I ordered this sword unsharpened, mainly as I didn't have the funds readily at the time available to order Kult of Athena's sharpening service, meaning I wouldn't be able to cut even if I had a space where I could do so without running the risk of having the cops called because there's some psycho swinging a sword about.
Conclusion
For the time being, this is going for 59.95$ on Kult of Athena, though once those run out, Atlanta Cutlery (one of Windlass' North American distributors) is selling it for 69.95$ and I feel that this is a pretty good deal at either price. It's a nice, compact little sword with a nice variety in how you use it. I've heard the shashka referred to as the "Russian katana", in which case this would be the Russian wakizashi, an excellent companion to the longer saber, and a great indoors choice, as its 17" blade means you could swing it as much as you wanted without (much) risk of hitting anything.
Pros
- Inexpensive, making for a good first sword
- Great handling
- Nice scabbard fit
- (Surprisingly) Actually fairly period accurate
- Grip edges are nicely rounded
- Handle seems quite durable
Cons
- Scabbard locket fit isn't the greatest, but is easily fixable
- Stapled chape may be an aesthetic turn off for some
- Grip is somewhat on the narrow side
- Bottom hilt rivet requires a bit of concentration to keep it from bumping the hand
Bottom Line
I waited close to 11 years to finally get my hands on this sword and, with some very minor gripes, it's everything I'd hoped it would be, though I will admit that I was somewhat surprised at how narrow the blade was; even though Kult of Athena lists the width, it always seemed broader, more in line with Windlass' Qama. Despite that, I'm very happy with my purchase and would certainly recommend it to anyone who fancies this style of blade.