DSA Type XII Review
Oct 28, 2017 14:40:28 GMT
Post by stonesode on Oct 28, 2017 14:40:28 GMT
Before anyone asks why I got a DSA sword I have to say that after much research I concluded that while still suffering in areas the company and their products have significantly improved in the last few years... this on top of the price, no 3 month waiting list & simply having the exact sword I wanted made them the choice for me.
Now, on to my impressions! This is my first review, for swords and in general so please bear with me.
Here are some pictures:
imgur.com/a/i4cPn
Specs
Blade: 5160 High Carbon Steel. Dual Tempered HRc 60 48-50 at the core
Fittings : Mild Steel Blade
Thickness: 1.34 mm
Total Length: 36.5″
Blade Length: 30″
Weight: 3 lbs 1 oz.
Price: $549, sharpened with interlaced belt Shipping cost: $180 Fedex ground from Canada to Norway
Ordering
The sword was listed as 'In Stock' on their site, I placed my order on September 23rd, this included the Type XII sword with interlaced sword belt on the scabbard and a sharpening service (Which a few weeks before ordering had been overhauled according to DSA, which I took note of because one of the complaints i've seen most is about their sharpening), and a norman dagger.
After a few days on the 28th I inquired out of curiosity how long it typically takes from an order to dispatch to which they replied next week latest...
On the 7th of October I messaged again asking if i'll get a dispatch notification and was then told they were making a new batch of Type XIIs which would be ready in 2-3 weeks! I mentioned the last contradictory message, that it was listed as in stock and that I ordered expecting dispatch within a certain timeframe... To this they said they would see what they could do about getting one ready for me sooner.
On the 11th my deadline was getting worryingly close so I started to think about picking up a ready to ship sword from VA instead even though it wasn't exactly what I was after so I requested to cancel with DSA and they immediately said that they have it ready to ship express the next day so I relented and said that would be fine.
Over the next few days I messaged and phoned a few times trying to get a tracking number only to be told 'tomorrow' on a couple of occasions - finally getting a tracking number on October 19th as well as being told i'd get a free t-shirt and no fee for express shipping, then received it after the deadline (21st) on the 23rd.
First Impression
This thing took me a good 10 minutes to free from its packaging! Inside the cardboard box I found wads of tough brown paper sandwiching a huge clump of thick plastic foil, after carefully cutting my way in I found the scabbard wrapped in brown paper held on by rubber bands, then further on managed to free the sword from the plastic.
This whole process was recorded on video as I had read horror stories of people receiving damaged goods to be told it must have happened in transit if not damaged by the recipient themselves. Frankly I think one would be hard pressed to damage the contents of their packaging.
The first thing I looked for was any issues with the blade such as geometry, wandering fuller, twists, scratches etc which to my eye all looked absolutely fine! The fuller wanders only ever so slightly near the tip in a slight curve to one side but it's hardly noticeable.
The furniture looks good, small sanding marks on the pommel but like the blade I'd what I expect from something hand made, leather wrap feels secure, the peen is ground down but still faintly visible, one of the edges of one quillon is slightly rougher feeling when running a thumb along it but overall no noticeable scratches, dents, bends etc anywhere to be found.
The edge is almost kitchen-knife sharp, not able to shave with it but more than capable of chopping.
The gap between the blade and cross-guard looks to be filled in with some kind of rubber cement, I actually like this as I know nothing will get in there, it doesn't detract from the look of the sword at ever and overall the whole thing has a very solid feel.
My one gripe is that the grip is off-set from center by a few millimeters, it was actually my girlfriend that pointed this out to me! It doesn't affect the blade in any practical way but it has me curious if it's because the tang is offset or if the wood core of the grip is at an odd angle... my curiosity is also piqued because the pommel to my eye seems centred and that it looks worse from one side than the other.
In the hand
My only other experience with swords is a Deepeeka five-lobed viking sword which handled like a crowbar - by comparison this feels very spry and while i'm not very good at putting the brakes on a dry swing, two handing it by the pommel makes this very easy and comfortable to swing and snap back, it's a little blade heavy but not badly at all
Giving the side of the blade a good rap with the palm yields no rattling sounds, and although as I said I have little experience with swords, the distribution of vibration seems healthy.
The point of balance is about 16cm or 6.3" from the hilt
On the hip
The scabbard is very aesthetically pleasing, leather is good without any blemishes, tight stitching... out of the box it was able to grip the sword upside down until I wiggled it but in the days since passed it now slides out slowly as soon as I hang the sword from the scabbard (this could be from accumulated oil in the scabbard and on the blade). The chape seems like it might be stainless steel? seems to have a rougher grain or just grind than anything on the sword itself.
The belt fits nice and snugly without loosening, though the rough side of the leather sheds fibres onto my clothes at the moment... very comfortable to wear for long periods and the blade doesn't noticeable rattle in the scabbard at all but when I give it a shake you can hear theres a millimeter or so of give in there.
Conclusion
I don't have any regrets with this purchase, the sword is attractive, feels solid and for the time being there are no significant issues as far as I'm concerned (although I will be straight back here to write about it if anything breaks). That said, In the future I probably won't be buying anything else from DSA but that is in part because now I have the one sword from them that I wanted and in the future i'll be moving onwards and upwards to something custom from VA or an Albion. I would like to be able to recommend them based on the sword I got but would be hesitant to encourage a friend to drop hundreds of dollars in case they're dissatisfied with the customer service or if there's something wrong with their particular sword.
If there's anything I missed or something else you want to know just let me know!
Now, on to my impressions! This is my first review, for swords and in general so please bear with me.
Here are some pictures:
imgur.com/a/i4cPn
Specs
Blade: 5160 High Carbon Steel. Dual Tempered HRc 60 48-50 at the core
Fittings : Mild Steel Blade
Thickness: 1.34 mm
Total Length: 36.5″
Blade Length: 30″
Weight: 3 lbs 1 oz.
Price: $549, sharpened with interlaced belt Shipping cost: $180 Fedex ground from Canada to Norway
Ordering
The sword was listed as 'In Stock' on their site, I placed my order on September 23rd, this included the Type XII sword with interlaced sword belt on the scabbard and a sharpening service (Which a few weeks before ordering had been overhauled according to DSA, which I took note of because one of the complaints i've seen most is about their sharpening), and a norman dagger.
After a few days on the 28th I inquired out of curiosity how long it typically takes from an order to dispatch to which they replied next week latest...
On the 7th of October I messaged again asking if i'll get a dispatch notification and was then told they were making a new batch of Type XIIs which would be ready in 2-3 weeks! I mentioned the last contradictory message, that it was listed as in stock and that I ordered expecting dispatch within a certain timeframe... To this they said they would see what they could do about getting one ready for me sooner.
On the 11th my deadline was getting worryingly close so I started to think about picking up a ready to ship sword from VA instead even though it wasn't exactly what I was after so I requested to cancel with DSA and they immediately said that they have it ready to ship express the next day so I relented and said that would be fine.
Over the next few days I messaged and phoned a few times trying to get a tracking number only to be told 'tomorrow' on a couple of occasions - finally getting a tracking number on October 19th as well as being told i'd get a free t-shirt and no fee for express shipping, then received it after the deadline (21st) on the 23rd.
First Impression
This thing took me a good 10 minutes to free from its packaging! Inside the cardboard box I found wads of tough brown paper sandwiching a huge clump of thick plastic foil, after carefully cutting my way in I found the scabbard wrapped in brown paper held on by rubber bands, then further on managed to free the sword from the plastic.
This whole process was recorded on video as I had read horror stories of people receiving damaged goods to be told it must have happened in transit if not damaged by the recipient themselves. Frankly I think one would be hard pressed to damage the contents of their packaging.
The first thing I looked for was any issues with the blade such as geometry, wandering fuller, twists, scratches etc which to my eye all looked absolutely fine! The fuller wanders only ever so slightly near the tip in a slight curve to one side but it's hardly noticeable.
The furniture looks good, small sanding marks on the pommel but like the blade I'd what I expect from something hand made, leather wrap feels secure, the peen is ground down but still faintly visible, one of the edges of one quillon is slightly rougher feeling when running a thumb along it but overall no noticeable scratches, dents, bends etc anywhere to be found.
The edge is almost kitchen-knife sharp, not able to shave with it but more than capable of chopping.
The gap between the blade and cross-guard looks to be filled in with some kind of rubber cement, I actually like this as I know nothing will get in there, it doesn't detract from the look of the sword at ever and overall the whole thing has a very solid feel.
My one gripe is that the grip is off-set from center by a few millimeters, it was actually my girlfriend that pointed this out to me! It doesn't affect the blade in any practical way but it has me curious if it's because the tang is offset or if the wood core of the grip is at an odd angle... my curiosity is also piqued because the pommel to my eye seems centred and that it looks worse from one side than the other.
In the hand
My only other experience with swords is a Deepeeka five-lobed viking sword which handled like a crowbar - by comparison this feels very spry and while i'm not very good at putting the brakes on a dry swing, two handing it by the pommel makes this very easy and comfortable to swing and snap back, it's a little blade heavy but not badly at all
Giving the side of the blade a good rap with the palm yields no rattling sounds, and although as I said I have little experience with swords, the distribution of vibration seems healthy.
The point of balance is about 16cm or 6.3" from the hilt
On the hip
The scabbard is very aesthetically pleasing, leather is good without any blemishes, tight stitching... out of the box it was able to grip the sword upside down until I wiggled it but in the days since passed it now slides out slowly as soon as I hang the sword from the scabbard (this could be from accumulated oil in the scabbard and on the blade). The chape seems like it might be stainless steel? seems to have a rougher grain or just grind than anything on the sword itself.
The belt fits nice and snugly without loosening, though the rough side of the leather sheds fibres onto my clothes at the moment... very comfortable to wear for long periods and the blade doesn't noticeable rattle in the scabbard at all but when I give it a shake you can hear theres a millimeter or so of give in there.
Conclusion
I don't have any regrets with this purchase, the sword is attractive, feels solid and for the time being there are no significant issues as far as I'm concerned (although I will be straight back here to write about it if anything breaks). That said, In the future I probably won't be buying anything else from DSA but that is in part because now I have the one sword from them that I wanted and in the future i'll be moving onwards and upwards to something custom from VA or an Albion. I would like to be able to recommend them based on the sword I got but would be hesitant to encourage a friend to drop hundreds of dollars in case they're dissatisfied with the customer service or if there's something wrong with their particular sword.
If there's anything I missed or something else you want to know just let me know!