Weapon Edge Dutch Klewang Cutlass
Aug 15, 2018 2:39:44 GMT
Post by pgandy on Aug 15, 2018 2:39:44 GMT
I received my Klewang by Weapon Edge and thinking no review has been done on this one that I’d give it a go. This review is not complete as I have yet to sharpen the blade and of course with an unsharpened blade no cutting has been done. I will add to this review as things progress but I’m thinking the sharpening will take a couple of weeks at least.
I am not affiliated with KoA, the vendor, nor Weapon Edge and paid full price.
This is my first Weapon Edge sword and I am impressed. To tell the truth I am surprised that I bought it as I had fully planed on getting the Battlecry Culloden Basket Hilt next. But recently a hanger kept creeping into my mind as I have none. When I stumbled on KoA’s ad about the Klewang, (they are the ones that misspell it) everything changed. I missed out on the originals they were selling and when I saw “discontinued item, only available while supplies last” I decided no waiting allowed this time. I like swords with about a 2’ blade. And after reading the specs several times I thought to myself that’s a machete/sword hybrid leaning more to the sword side. Hot dam*! While what I’ve seen on the market are hybrids leaning to the machete side such as CS and Condor’s offering. I start to order the CS model several times but decided that was so close to my 26” machete it wasn’t worth the hassle nor expense to get it into the country. The biggest difference from what I have is the knuckle bow. I have since looked up the meaning of klewang and it’s a weapon between a machete and sword and that describes this cutlass and what I’ve been wanting. Might change my mind once sharpened and I start cutting.
The specs almost duplicates KoA’s.
KoA My Sword
Blade length 24 1/8” 24 5/8”
Weight 1 lb 7.4 oz 1 lb 7.9 oz
PoB 5 3/4” 5 5/8”
CoP 15 1/2" (just short of the end of fuller)
Thickness 4.1-2.2 mm 4.9-2.8 mm (little thicker than I wanted on the tip)
Grip 4” 4”
Width 32.7 mm 29.5 mm
The blade is nothing special to look at. The fuller is not as well defined as in the KoA’s photo but the edges are better defined than the run in mill Windlass. The cutting edge is about 1 mm wide leaving not a great deal of material to remove in order to sharpen. It is of 1095 steel however so I expect it is going to tax me and my equipment more than a 1055 blade. It should hold an edge better, if it doesn’t chip. The clip point is going to be trickier to sharpen, if I do that at all. It took me a couple of years planning before I tackled that on my bowie, but it came out well. I can flex the blade but it is not whippy and stiffer than a machete. The washer I do not believe to be of leather.
The guard is of .055” steel which is about 16-17 ga. and well polished on both sides and outside edges. The inside edges are smoother than I expected from KoA’s photo but could use a better polish which I’ll do and do not expect that to be an issue. Due to its shape and folds I think it’ll be sufficiently strong. It offers generous protection for the hand’s backside and knuckles, less for the top of the hand. As for the thumb one best be fast. But it is fast and easy enough to bend the wrist getting the thumb out of the way. Nevertheless I would prefer a little more steel here.
The grip is of grooved leather and measures 4” at the bottom. The back strap is unchequered and that bothered me at first as I thought chequering would aid a positive grip. Then I discovered that I could go from a hammer grip to a hand shake and back effortlessly by sliding it through my hand. The grip fills my #8 hand comfortably and securely. One thing that had bothered me from the ad’s photo was the screw pocking out of the butt end. I was worried about it hampering moves and my eye didn’t really like it. I dare say the originals didn’t have this thing but were peened. While I think the lines would be better without the screw it’s not as bad as I thought and there’s something that greatly impressed me about the screw. The slot is horizontal, like the one in KoA’s photo. Maybe it’s a carryover from my gun collecting days but one of the measures of the quality of a Pennsylvania rifle were the slotted screw heads lining up. I noticed that Universal did this on their navy cutlass. I did not remove the screw to examine the tang and will probably leave it in place when sharpening.
The scabbard is where the surprise came in. This is my first steel scabbard. I had avoided those things like the plaque. And I had reservations about this one, to the point that I was considering making a wooden one. After all I’ve been considering this for a long time and this might be just what I needed to push me over the hump. I could see spending hours getting a supper edge only to have the steel scabbard take it away, not to mention the rattle. Ya, I had thought about adding liners. The scabbard doesn’t appear to be a crappy thing Weapon Edge slapped together just to say the cutlass has a scabbard but a quality thing. Perhaps with time I’ll change my mind, but at the moment I’m far from that. Weapon Edge lined the sucker with something. I do get specs of black on the blade when drawing that blacken a cleaning rag like black ink. Hopefully that disappears soon. But in the meantime no rattle. I studied the blade as it is withdrawn and the cutting edge does not touch the metal of the scabbard. The only noise I can detect is the ring on the scabbard flapping in the breeze. I did manage to find a photo with the Dutch carrying what appears to be this sword, however the scabbards were of leather and secured with a frog. As nice as I think this scabbard is I would prefer that. For those that like testing a scabbard by inverting, this holds the cutlass securely.
An update the black specs have already all but disappeared.
As for general impressions the handling is a delight and fast not to mention controllable. It’s certainly faster than my 26” machete and has penetration potential to boot. In short I am delighted with my new sword and a bit impatient for a cutting session. I’ve saved few bottles in anticipation of the event. It is understandable why the Dutch adopted this to counter the indigenous people. I can see how I’ll be spending my weekend-putting an edge on this sucker, although I am not counting on being able to complete the job all in one weekend. Ya, dream on. I am getting eager to see how it performs. I think I have a good one. The one concern that I have and hope to find it ill founded, and that is it is steel, all steel, everything is bright steel save the leather on the underside of the grip. For one living in the humid tropics I fear the Mr. Rust is going to have a ball with me. At least keep my on my toes. If I retain the steel scabbard, which I think I will, I’ll wrap an area with tape and that will at least give me a grab area in which to move the thing as an unit. It came with a very nice shine that many fans would like but I don’t think that will last long especially in this climate.
There is one potential problem that some out there may relate too. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I managed to slip the box in when Hazel was out of the house. The empty box is now hidden under the bed until the trash man comes tomorrow night. I’m afraid that Hazel will see the sword and think, probably not say anything but think “he got another sword, and this is all the SOB gave me!”. Bad timing on my part.
A couple of pictures of the sword Showing the ample protection to the outside of the hand
The screw Hammer grip Handshake grip
I am not affiliated with KoA, the vendor, nor Weapon Edge and paid full price.
This is my first Weapon Edge sword and I am impressed. To tell the truth I am surprised that I bought it as I had fully planed on getting the Battlecry Culloden Basket Hilt next. But recently a hanger kept creeping into my mind as I have none. When I stumbled on KoA’s ad about the Klewang, (they are the ones that misspell it) everything changed. I missed out on the originals they were selling and when I saw “discontinued item, only available while supplies last” I decided no waiting allowed this time. I like swords with about a 2’ blade. And after reading the specs several times I thought to myself that’s a machete/sword hybrid leaning more to the sword side. Hot dam*! While what I’ve seen on the market are hybrids leaning to the machete side such as CS and Condor’s offering. I start to order the CS model several times but decided that was so close to my 26” machete it wasn’t worth the hassle nor expense to get it into the country. The biggest difference from what I have is the knuckle bow. I have since looked up the meaning of klewang and it’s a weapon between a machete and sword and that describes this cutlass and what I’ve been wanting. Might change my mind once sharpened and I start cutting.
The specs almost duplicates KoA’s.
KoA My Sword
Blade length 24 1/8” 24 5/8”
Weight 1 lb 7.4 oz 1 lb 7.9 oz
PoB 5 3/4” 5 5/8”
CoP 15 1/2" (just short of the end of fuller)
Thickness 4.1-2.2 mm 4.9-2.8 mm (little thicker than I wanted on the tip)
Grip 4” 4”
Width 32.7 mm 29.5 mm
The blade is nothing special to look at. The fuller is not as well defined as in the KoA’s photo but the edges are better defined than the run in mill Windlass. The cutting edge is about 1 mm wide leaving not a great deal of material to remove in order to sharpen. It is of 1095 steel however so I expect it is going to tax me and my equipment more than a 1055 blade. It should hold an edge better, if it doesn’t chip. The clip point is going to be trickier to sharpen, if I do that at all. It took me a couple of years planning before I tackled that on my bowie, but it came out well. I can flex the blade but it is not whippy and stiffer than a machete. The washer I do not believe to be of leather.
The guard is of .055” steel which is about 16-17 ga. and well polished on both sides and outside edges. The inside edges are smoother than I expected from KoA’s photo but could use a better polish which I’ll do and do not expect that to be an issue. Due to its shape and folds I think it’ll be sufficiently strong. It offers generous protection for the hand’s backside and knuckles, less for the top of the hand. As for the thumb one best be fast. But it is fast and easy enough to bend the wrist getting the thumb out of the way. Nevertheless I would prefer a little more steel here.
The grip is of grooved leather and measures 4” at the bottom. The back strap is unchequered and that bothered me at first as I thought chequering would aid a positive grip. Then I discovered that I could go from a hammer grip to a hand shake and back effortlessly by sliding it through my hand. The grip fills my #8 hand comfortably and securely. One thing that had bothered me from the ad’s photo was the screw pocking out of the butt end. I was worried about it hampering moves and my eye didn’t really like it. I dare say the originals didn’t have this thing but were peened. While I think the lines would be better without the screw it’s not as bad as I thought and there’s something that greatly impressed me about the screw. The slot is horizontal, like the one in KoA’s photo. Maybe it’s a carryover from my gun collecting days but one of the measures of the quality of a Pennsylvania rifle were the slotted screw heads lining up. I noticed that Universal did this on their navy cutlass. I did not remove the screw to examine the tang and will probably leave it in place when sharpening.
The scabbard is where the surprise came in. This is my first steel scabbard. I had avoided those things like the plaque. And I had reservations about this one, to the point that I was considering making a wooden one. After all I’ve been considering this for a long time and this might be just what I needed to push me over the hump. I could see spending hours getting a supper edge only to have the steel scabbard take it away, not to mention the rattle. Ya, I had thought about adding liners. The scabbard doesn’t appear to be a crappy thing Weapon Edge slapped together just to say the cutlass has a scabbard but a quality thing. Perhaps with time I’ll change my mind, but at the moment I’m far from that. Weapon Edge lined the sucker with something. I do get specs of black on the blade when drawing that blacken a cleaning rag like black ink. Hopefully that disappears soon. But in the meantime no rattle. I studied the blade as it is withdrawn and the cutting edge does not touch the metal of the scabbard. The only noise I can detect is the ring on the scabbard flapping in the breeze. I did manage to find a photo with the Dutch carrying what appears to be this sword, however the scabbards were of leather and secured with a frog. As nice as I think this scabbard is I would prefer that. For those that like testing a scabbard by inverting, this holds the cutlass securely.
An update the black specs have already all but disappeared.
As for general impressions the handling is a delight and fast not to mention controllable. It’s certainly faster than my 26” machete and has penetration potential to boot. In short I am delighted with my new sword and a bit impatient for a cutting session. I’ve saved few bottles in anticipation of the event. It is understandable why the Dutch adopted this to counter the indigenous people. I can see how I’ll be spending my weekend-putting an edge on this sucker, although I am not counting on being able to complete the job all in one weekend. Ya, dream on. I am getting eager to see how it performs. I think I have a good one. The one concern that I have and hope to find it ill founded, and that is it is steel, all steel, everything is bright steel save the leather on the underside of the grip. For one living in the humid tropics I fear the Mr. Rust is going to have a ball with me. At least keep my on my toes. If I retain the steel scabbard, which I think I will, I’ll wrap an area with tape and that will at least give me a grab area in which to move the thing as an unit. It came with a very nice shine that many fans would like but I don’t think that will last long especially in this climate.
There is one potential problem that some out there may relate too. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. I managed to slip the box in when Hazel was out of the house. The empty box is now hidden under the bed until the trash man comes tomorrow night. I’m afraid that Hazel will see the sword and think, probably not say anything but think “he got another sword, and this is all the SOB gave me!”. Bad timing on my part.
A couple of pictures of the sword Showing the ample protection to the outside of the hand
The screw Hammer grip Handshake grip