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Post by 28shadow on Sept 29, 2017 18:56:41 GMT
So darksword is going to "abuse" their swords in little 20 seconds clips weekly. This combined with them showing their tangs with every model shows they're at least attempting to try to do better.
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stormmaster
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I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Sept 29, 2017 19:06:00 GMT
thats a good step to rebuilding some manner of trust with the sword communities
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Post by 28shadow on Sept 29, 2017 19:13:36 GMT
I would say so. I would like to see the one they do next week, because the one they posted for this week is recycled old footage from years back with a filter over the footage and slightly zoomed in.
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Post by dchisenh on Sept 29, 2017 19:16:03 GMT
I am 100% in support of any sword maker (or any business for that matter) taking steps to improve their quality and workmanship in response to customer demand.
That said, it'll take more than a few in-house video clips for me to give them another shot. It IS a step in the right direction and I really would like for their swords to be a viable option in the future, but I'm not willing to make that gamble yet.
If over time they can demonstrate proper tangs, proper distal taper, proper weight, proper tempering of a quality steel, at a reasonable price..then I will consider them...maybe.
If I were their marketing person, I'd consider a SBG or former customer discount, maybe even consider sending a blade or two to some members to do an independent 3rd party destructive test/take down review. Hell, even providing a few swords for a contest similar to what Ronin just did would go a long way towards building that vendor-client relationship.
Like Paul mentioned recently, new sword sales are at all time lows right now. Some really, really nice swords have come out recently that haven't done nearly as well as expected. I'm not really surprised, given how many high quality swords have been popping up on the used market. If Darksword is looking to win back some former customers, it's likely going to take some serious effort on their part.
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Post by 28shadow on Sept 29, 2017 19:25:06 GMT
I am 100% in support of any sword maker (or any business for that matter) taking steps to improve their quality and workmanship in response to customer demand. That said, it'll take more than a few in-house video clips for me to give them another shot. It IS a step in the right direction and I really would like for their swords to be a viable option in the future, but I'm not willing to make that gamble yet. If over time they can demonstrate proper tangs, proper distal taper, proper weight, proper tempering of a quality steel, at a reasonable price..then I will consider them...maybe. If I were their marketing person, I'd consider a SBG or former customer discount, maybe even consider sending a blade or two to some members to do an independent 3rd party destructive test/take down review. Hell, even providing a few swords for a contest similar to what Ronin just did would go a long way towards building that vendor-client relationship. Like Paul mentioned recently, new sword sales are at all time lows right now. Some really, really nice swords have come out recently that haven't done nearly as well as expected. I'm not really surprised, given how many high quality swords have been popping up on the used market. If Darksword is looking to win back some former customers, it's likely going to take some serious effort on their part. Every few months I might get the feeling to grab one of their swords to tear apart and inspect it myself, but then something pops up that makes me think "wow, I'd be spending $450+ on something that could quite possibly be useless trash." and then I go do something else. There's a few in the facebook groups who are going to buy one every few months and tear them down/apart to show everything. They'll do this as anonymously as possible so Darksword can't send a special "review" copy with everything right. I myself probably won't do something unless I find one really cheap (I'm talking sub-$300) so I could atleast have the hilt furniture used for something if the blade is junk. I'll also keep the forum updated weekly with their little torture videos on Instagram, probably in this thread or another one.
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Post by zabazagobo on Sept 29, 2017 20:03:27 GMT
I've been in the same boat with DSA, where I think "this looks really cool...but is it even functional?" and end up not buying their swords. If this goes in a positive direction and the tang problem is resolved, maybe someday I can finally splurge on some of their swords. So here's to hoping this goes in a good direction
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Post by Jordan Williams on Sept 29, 2017 20:08:16 GMT
My biggest gripe with DSA is their price. The price combined with the fact a sub 200 or 300 Windlass can outlast a 500+ dollar sword.
This is a step in the right direction, and I really hope they start improving the quality of their swords consistently.
That said, it'll take reviews from random people, over a decent stretch of time to win back the trust completely. And that's after the old stock of "break apart" swords get cycled out.
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Post by 28shadow on Sept 29, 2017 20:10:47 GMT
My biggest gripe with DSA is their price. The price combined with the fact a sub 200 or 300 Windlass can outlast a 500+ dollar sword. This is a step in the right direction, and I really hope they start improving the quality of their swords consistently. That said, it'll take reviews from random people, over a decent stretch of time to win back the trust completely. And that's after the old stock of "break apart" swords get cycled out. That's what I'm thinking is happening right now, because KOA is out of stock of a lot of their swords.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Sept 29, 2017 20:14:20 GMT
My biggest gripe with DSA is their price. The price combined with the fact a sub 200 or 300 Windlass can outlast a 500+ dollar sword. This is a step in the right direction, and I really hope they start improving the quality of their swords consistently. That said, it'll take reviews from random people, over a decent stretch of time to win back the trust completely. And that's after the old stock of "break apart" swords get cycled out. That's what I'm thinking is happening right now, because KOA is out of stock of a lot of their swords. If that is what's happening, like them recalling old stock then I think that's really awesome.
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Post by 28shadow on Sept 29, 2017 20:17:04 GMT
That's what I'm thinking is happening right now, because KOA is out of stock of a lot of their swords. If that is what's happening, like them recalling old stock then I think that's really awesome. I'm sure it's what's happening, I can't imagine them being sold out on half the inventory unless some really rich person bought all of them.
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Post by Faldarin on Sept 29, 2017 20:21:48 GMT
My biggest gripe with DSA is their price. The price combined with the fact a sub 200 or 300 Windlass can outlast a 500+ dollar sword. This is a step in the right direction, and I really hope they start improving the quality of their swords consistently. That said, it'll take reviews from random people, over a decent stretch of time to win back the trust completely. And that's after the old stock of "break apart" swords get cycled out. This is also my issue. I know people will say 'but mass production!' - but let us please not get into issues around their sourcing. Valiant is 'mass produced' and justified in their price, in my mind. (Disclaimer: This is 100% my opinion, I don't mean to offend anyone.) So I too will wait - I don't know what they'd need to do to convince me though... but some of these measures are steps in the right direction imho.
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AndiTheBarvarian
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Bavarianbarbarian - Semper Semprini
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Sept 30, 2017 5:12:02 GMT
There's a few in the facebook groups who are going to buy one every few months and tear them down/apart to show everything. They'll do this as anonymously as possible so Darksword can't send a special "review" copy with everything right. That's really interesting!
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Post by tancred on Sept 30, 2017 7:41:38 GMT
Although I've read a lot or most of the threads about DSA swords here on the forum, I've mostly kept out of them, because I have almost no experience with their swords. I bought one used, and I like it well enough. It has its problems, but I couldn't say if they were like that new, or the previous owner used it to the point it got that way. Most of the complaints about DSA's products seem to be about their finished/complete swords. But, has anyone bought one of their bare blades? You can find them here: www.darksword-armory.com/medieval-weapon/sword-parts/sword-blades/I'll admit that some of them look pretty attractive, esp. the Templar blade. I was wondering, would many of the complaints about DSA's swords kind of not be applicable if you only bought the bare blade? I'm no great expert, and maybe my eye is missing something obvious to others, but those tangs don't look bad to me. One could say, well, that picture looks fine, but the one I get could be very different. To many (I would think), they could buy one of the bare blades, and tell immediately upon opening the box whether it was good enough. Yes, there would be the question of whether it was heat treated properly. Again, others might be better able to tell than I would. However, if the bare blade passed any tests or questions you had, you could then build up the rest of the sword to your own satisfaction, and then many of the complaints about DSA's swords would be moot. Maybe. Anyway, I guess that's just my long way of asking if anyone has bought one of their bare blades, and how did it hold up to your standards?
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Post by bfoo2 on Sept 30, 2017 13:50:25 GMT
tancred I too have no experience with DSA (well, Afoo has an ancient sparring two-hander but I don't consider that representative of current offerings). One problem I see with the bare blades right away is the price. At $200+, that's nearly twice as expensive as bare Tinker blades from KoA, three times more than one from Medieval Fight Club and comparable to Darkwood Armoury stuff. Both are known/proven commodities. On the plus side the DSA blades (from the pictures) look pretty, although some of them seem to lack definition on the central ridge near the tip. Also don't seem to suffer from the dreaded micro-tang
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Post by tancred on Oct 2, 2017 5:17:58 GMT
Bfoo2, I had honestly forgotten about the Hanwei Tinker bare blades, because they seemed to hardly ever be in stock. I'm less of a stats guy, and more of a sights person; in other words, I really wish Hanwei would have a picture of all of those bare blades side by side so that I could sort of compare them with my eyes. I'm not crazy about the shape/type of the two-handers. The Viking/Norman blade is really cool, though I'd really only jump at it if it came with a tang long enough to make a two-hander.
The DSA bare blades don't have width measurements, which I'd love to know. However, they are pictured side-by-side, which is helpful. Their shapes/typologies seem varied enough, so that's attractive.
I have enough medieval style swords that neither the Hanwei or DSA bare blades are a must for me. I was mostly wondering if anyone had any experience with the DSA bare blades. It would take away the effort of having to look under the hood at the tang, and you'd think DSA would not want to send out one with such a bad tang, because it would be so obvious from first sight.
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Post by kalkikrosah on Oct 2, 2017 13:42:13 GMT
I really love the look of a lot of Dark Sword Armory's swords. A bunch of their viking swords look spectacular such as the Einar Viking Sword www.kultofathena.com/images/DSA1338BKS_l.jpgI almost pulled the trigger on this too until I saw Thomas Riley, from Medieval Review put out this video: And, spoiler alert for those of you who are reading this before finishing the video, the sword breaks mid swing while cutting bottles. The video was posted a year and a half ago but the review scared me away from purchasing from Darksword Armory. He does go on to say that their customer service was outstanding so to me that is a very good sign that DSA is taking genuine and active steps to improve their product to warrant their higher asking price.
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Scott
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Post by Scott on Oct 2, 2017 14:27:07 GMT
Darksword used to have a reputation for making solid, overbuilt beaters that could take a lot of abuse. I'm wondering when exactly that changed. Perhaps we should start a thread for darksword similar to the one there was for windlass, saying which swords they made were great, which were ok, and which were dodgy. It'll be interesting to see the videos they put up.
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Post by bfoo2 on Oct 2, 2017 14:42:16 GMT
Well, only time and reviews will tell. I have not heard of any DSA horror stories on this forum lately... which could mean a) they're better or b) no one buys DSA so we don't know. I remember a while ago Lockwood Swords broke out onto the scene. First thing they did was send a bunch of review swords to prominent members of the sword community to do third party reviews (example here on sbg, and I also believe Skallagrim has some youtube stuff). It's an investment on their part but it was the right thing to do in my opinion: it demonstrates transparency and establishes trust within the community. We like their stuff, and they like the business and reputation it generates so everyone wins. Now, the people at DSA probably aren't naive- they must know that there are trust issues and doubts within the sword community. If they have indeed improved their product perhaps it's time to stop doing half-baked publicity stunts and really deal with the issue head-on. Send/lend some out and let the community see for itself. I don't think we need their products to be perfect- even demonstrating a significant improvement and a commitment to continuing said improvement is a step forward.
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Post by Afoo on Oct 2, 2017 15:06:49 GMT
The issue is whether they perceive the reviewers to be biased or not. Then again, that is part of business. You get reviews - some are good, some are bad. You just have to suck it up and take what you get.
The DSA 2-hander I had was rubbish - it was the old school over-built beater. Their swords look really nice, and including the scabbard ups the value relative to say a Del Tin or A&A. Been tempted by a few, but the cost is just too hard to justify for me.
Its also challenging when you deal with external vendors like KoA or Reliks, since you do not know whether they are still carrying old stock, or have switched over. The lack of DSA stuff on KoA suggests that they are replacing it with new stock, but thats only speculation at best....and I am not keen to plop down a few hundred bucks on speculation alone. Likewise Reliks has DSA stuff for a decent price, but I have no clue how old that stock is.
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stormmaster
Member
I like viking/migration era swords
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Post by stormmaster on Oct 2, 2017 17:59:06 GMT
While dsa has recently had a negative reputation for rat tail tangs and poor construction, I have recently acquired a customized older dsa Templar sword that Jimbo Curry worked on that has a thick and strong tang, it's really puzzling how different each dsa can be, some have functional tangs and some just dont, I think that speaks volumes of dsa's quality control to allow such a game of roulette to happen, hope they improved
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