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Post by Kane Shen on Sept 30, 2020 20:53:32 GMT
I did some test cutting with this Indian Tulwar and instantly became fascinated by the ferocious slashes it's able to dish out and the very tricky fighting style its unique hilt design enforces. I dig a big deeper into its origin and provide some historical and martial context of this class of oriental swords and compare them to swords used by other cultures in different periods, such as the shamshir, the European military sabres, and medieval arming swords. It's an incredibly interesting sword that demands some quite exotic techniques. It's sharp out-of-the-box and cuts like a razor, assuming you can get used to the peculiar way to grip it. Definitely recommended for being a functional production of a relatively rare sword type on the Western market.
Detailed stats are laid out in the video. Music by Juno Reactor. Footage taken by my wife.
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 1, 2020 0:11:33 GMT
I've rattled on about this forever lol. Newer Cold Steel talwar is one of my favorite swords. Not just good for the price but good period. It IS properly made, in India. Finally one of their contractors has made a sword of their own culture. Excellent product indeed.
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Post by howler on Oct 1, 2020 2:14:10 GMT
This is on my short CS list. Distal taper looks great. I read these are now made of 1090 instead of 1055/60.
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 1, 2020 3:12:12 GMT
This is on my short CS list. Distal taper looks great. I read these are now made of 1090 instead of 1055/60. Oh shoot, you are right! It is indeed made of 1090 steel instead of their usual 1055!! My mistake! No wonder it's kind of rigid. It does display a certain degree of flexibility in cut. You are well informed indeed! Thanks for the reminder. I'd say: go for it. At $220, you can do a LOT worse than this tulwar.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 1, 2020 19:55:18 GMT
It IS properly made, in India. Finally one of their contractors has made a sword of their own culture. Not a first - their Chinese swords are made in China.
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 1, 2020 20:32:17 GMT
It IS properly made, in India. Finally one of their contractors has made a sword of their own culture. Not a first - their Chinese swords are made in China. Yeah, I'm aware. They have a number of contractors around the world. Their longswords/hand-of-a-half swords are also made in China. Production Chinese swords are almost entirely made in China. A few custom swordsmith in the West take commission of Chinese style of swords as well. My point is that their contractor (Windlass?) in India finally gets to make their own ethno-arms, and of course they know a thing or two to produce them properly. Hah.
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Post by Jordan Williams on Oct 1, 2020 20:58:39 GMT
I just wish they used a steel hilt, the brass looks sort of touristy with the cast quality. My Khanda and Tulwar both feel really light in the hand, like floaty almost. Just too small for my palms Great review! I would like the taper to more mimic originals, like for example my Tulwar goes from like 6mm to 1mm in the foible, and stays at 1mm for about half a foot. makes it feel like you're only holding a blade 4 inches less than what you have.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 1, 2020 21:09:11 GMT
No wonder it's kind of rigid. The carbon content doesn't affect the stiffness of the blade. Not even the heat treatment affects it. Young's modulus of about 200GPa for iron, mild steel, high carbon steel, annealed, as-quenched, and tempered. Even stainless alloys that are only about 70% iron (with most of the rest being chromium and nickel) are still close enough to 200GPa so that you won't feel the difference when flexing the blade.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 1, 2020 21:11:03 GMT
My point is that their contractor (Windlass?) in India finally gets to make their own ethno-arms, and of course they know a thing or two to produce them properly. Hah. You have more faith in their knowledge of Indian arms than I have :)
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 1, 2020 21:25:58 GMT
I would like the taper to more mimic originals, like for example my Tulwar goes from like 6mm to 1mm in the foible, and stays at 1mm for about half a foot. makes it feel like you're only holding a blade 4 inches less than what you have. It's in the range of originals. My oldest talwar, probably 18th century, is a bit of a brute of a cavalry sword, weighs a kg and an oz (1.025kg), and tapers from 5mm to 2mm (and widens towards the tip). POB about 6.5". There's a huge variation in originals, so it's fairly easy to be in the historical range. My lightest one, about 600g, starts at 5.5mm, dropping to 3mm by the end of the langets, and thinning to below 1mm near the tip. Then there are the late 19th century and early 20th century munition talwars that are thickest mid-blade and thin towards both the tip and the hilt.
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 1, 2020 21:29:32 GMT
I just wish they used a steel hilt, the brass looks sort of touristy with the cast quality. My Khanda and Tulwar both feel really light in the hand, like floaty almost. Just too small for my palms Great review! I would like the taper to more mimic originals, like for example my Tulwar goes from like 6mm to 1mm in the foible, and stays at 1mm for about half a foot. makes it feel like you're only holding a blade 4 inches less than what you have. Yeah I wish they can come up with an iron hilt with bronze or silver inlay, too. How does your khanda handle?
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Post by Jordan Williams on Oct 1, 2020 22:07:26 GMT
I would like the taper to more mimic originals, like for example my Tulwar goes from like 6mm to 1mm in the foible, and stays at 1mm for about half a foot. makes it feel like you're only holding a blade 4 inches less than what you have. It's in the range of originals. My oldest talwar, probably 18th century, is a bit of a brute of a cavalry sword, weighs a kg and an oz (1.025kg), and tapers from 5mm to 2mm (and widens towards the tip). POB about 6.5". There's a huge variation in originals, so it's fairly easy to be in the historical range. My lightest one, about 600g, starts at 5.5mm, dropping to 3mm by the end of the langets, and thinning to below 1mm near the tip. Then there are the late 19th century and early 20th century munition talwars that are thickest mid-blade and thin towards both the tip and the hilt. So like, reverse reverse reverse distal taper? I want a Euro blade one. Both of mine are native so they take sets easy. Yeeees cav tulwar pls. Interesting!
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Post by Jordan Williams on Oct 1, 2020 22:08:03 GMT
I just wish they used a steel hilt, the brass looks sort of touristy with the cast quality. My Khanda and Tulwar both feel really light in the hand, like floaty almost. Just too small for my palms Great review! I would like the taper to more mimic originals, like for example my Tulwar goes from like 6mm to 1mm in the foible, and stays at 1mm for about half a foot. makes it feel like you're only holding a blade 4 inches less than what you have. Yeah I wish they can come up with an iron hilt with bronze or silver inlay, too. How does your khanda handle? Like air! Same length as the cold steel but straight. Really corroded tho.
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 1, 2020 23:34:16 GMT
Yeah I wish they can come up with an iron hilt with bronze or silver inlay, too. How does your khanda handle? Like air! Same length as the cold steel but straight. Really corroded tho. I understand khandas have blades broaden near the tip, does this affect its handling and make the point of balance go further out?
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 2, 2020 1:03:47 GMT
I understand khandas have blades broaden near the tip, does this affect its handling and make the point of balance go further out? It depends on the sword. Some are very thin in the broad section, perhaps 1mm or less. Others are thicker and will be tip-heavy. One example of each type:
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 2, 2020 3:04:13 GMT
I understand khandas have blades broaden near the tip, does this affect its handling and make the point of balance go further out? It depends on the sword. Some are very thin in the broad section, perhaps 1mm or less. Others are thicker and will be tip-heavy. One example of each type: PoB at 22.7cm...that's quite a wrist ripper. OK maybe not so much, if your wrist is locked in, by that disk pommel.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Oct 2, 2020 4:41:25 GMT
I think my worst-handling antique sword has a similar POB and weight. A late Qing cavalry dao, IIRC POB at 9", 1.3kg. Not a pleasant sword to swing.
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seth
Member
Just Peachy
Posts: 971
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Post by seth on Oct 2, 2020 14:59:37 GMT
Nice review and cool video. Thank you for sharing. Indian weapons have a unique and deadly style. I took a trip there once and toured an old fortress complete with armory full of antiques from before and after the British period. I had to be dragged out of the armory because there was so much to see!
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 2, 2020 15:10:44 GMT
Nice review and cool video. Thank you for sharing. Indian weapons have a unique and deadly style. I took a trip there once and toured an old fortress complete with armory full of antiques from before and after the British period. I had to be dragged out of the armory because there was so much to see! Thank you! Their fighting styles as well as arms and armour are quite unique indeed. It’s quite interesting to see how warfare reflect each ethnicity’s national ethos—how they see the world and how they see themselves.
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Post by Kane Shen on Oct 2, 2020 15:13:38 GMT
I think my worst-handling antique sword has a similar POB and weight. A late Qing cavalry dao, IIRC POB at 9", 1.3kg. Not a pleasant sword to swing. Cavalry swords usually are forward balanced. But 9” is quite extreme. Matt Easton reviewed an LK Chen Han Dynasty Cavalry Dao replica. Must be vastly different from a later period Dao, but must it still has a PoB at 9”-10”. Matt reports that the handling of the sword makes you want to put it down.
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