Cold Steel Khyber Sword
Dec 24, 2023 10:15:55 GMT
Post by znamcat on Dec 24, 2023 10:15:55 GMT
I bought Cold Steel's new "Khyber Sword".
Specs:
Blade length: 502 mm (19-3/4")
Cutting edge length: 432 mm (17")
Overall length: 651 mm (25-5/8")
Grip inside length: about 95 mm (3-3/4")
Weight, sword only: 770 g (1 lb 11.16 oz)
Point of balance: 74 mm from bolster edge (2.91")
Spine thickness near hilt: 11 mm (0.433")
Spine thickness 25 cm from point: 8.5 mm (0.335")
Spine thickness 2.5 cm from point: 3.5 mm (0.138")
Blade thickness 45 cm from point: 1.6 mm (0.063")
Blade thickness 25 cm from point: 2.0 mm (0.079")
Blade thickness near point: 1.6 mm (0.063")
Sword:
It's apparent the sword is hand-made. There are plenty of issues with straight lines and symmetry. The blade on this one appears to have a slight warp near the tip. One handle scale is much thicker than the other. The decorative chiselling, etc. is misaligned and poorly done. The sword arrived with "meh" sharpness, however the basic edge and the geometry behind it is reasonably well done and it should not be very difficult to sharpen up properly. The bolsters and handle are pinned and glued, the tang is at least partially skeletonized. The heel of the blade is not sharpened, and tapers into a sharp edge after about 70 mm (2-3/4"). The thick spine is visually impressive.
Handling:
The handle is smooth and comfortable, rectangular with rounded edges. Due to the shape it feels quite secure. The sword feels substantial but not unwieldy. At the same time it has enough blade presence for a serious chop. The sweet spot seems to be about 18 cm (7") behind the point based on both vibration and "waggle tests". The blade is very stiff.
An unexpected point is that I could hear no "sword wind" by which to judge my edge alignment, probably because of the T-spine.
Cutting:
Didn't yet try. You can see Lynn Thompson chopping a double-tatami roll and some chickens on YouTube.
The cross-section of the blade at the "sweet spot" (18 cm behind tip) looks like this:
Sheath:
The sheath is leather over wood core, steel chape and throat. It's got plastic bits and spacers inside to provide friction hold the blade and at least for now, this one will hold the sword upside down. Due to the blade profile, the sharpened edge never contacts the steel throat.
Inconsistent:
I had the opportunity to inspect two of these Cold Steel Khyber Swords, and the other one was 9% heavier (839 g) and had its point of balance 0.5 cm closer to the hilt (0.2"). The blade geometry on this second example was also different. The blade under the spine was about a full millimeter thicker at the base, and tapered more evenly to the tip. Its T-spine however, became noticeably thinner near the tip.
This one also arrived with handle scales broken at the rear pin...
Historical accuracy:
Unfortunately this sword is not historically accurate at all, either visually or in its handling. Even if you aren't nitpicking, this should be considered a stylized interpretation of a Khyber knife, not a historical reproduction.
The main things...
-it's much too heavy
-the point of balance is too close to the hilt
-the point should not be upswept, it should actually drop below a line extending from the top of the handle
-the handle should not be slab-sided and rectangular
-the bolster is likewise the wrong shape, and extends too far along the blade
-there should be a fuller directly under the T-spine
-the sheath should actually go beyond the bolster and cover most of the handle as well
-overall shape of sheath is also wrong
Not all of these are hard rules, but the Cold Steel breaks all of them.
Thanks to mandarinmansion.com, the user randomnobody on this site, and the user u/Sword_of_Damokles on Reddit.com, I can compare the two Cold Steel Khyber Swords I measured to measurements from a few antique Khyber knives.
I also added the old Windlass "Indo-Persion Charay" replica, with measurements from kultofathena.com and outfit4events.com. At least in handling and dimensions, that one was even more inaccurate.
Here is a fairly typical original, via swordsantiqueweapons.com:
Overall:
I was aware of the historical inaccuracy before purchasing, and I actually like it, for what it is. It's too heavy for a Khyber knife, but it's not too heavy for a sword in general, as there are many messers and wakizashis and other short swords that weigh more, with points of balance further out. I'm not sure of the value as I don't have many swords to compare it to. It's definitely poorly-made in every respect compared to my Ronin wakizashi, which was the same price, but that one was clearly machine-made, and I hear this tends to be the case when you compare Japanese-style swords to swords from other cultures in the same price. Apart from the T-spine, the sword seems quite simple, so I think the $299.99 MSRP probably reflects some difficulty in forging, considering Cold Steel's Kris Sword is priced $100 cheaper.
Specs:
Blade length: 502 mm (19-3/4")
Cutting edge length: 432 mm (17")
Overall length: 651 mm (25-5/8")
Grip inside length: about 95 mm (3-3/4")
Weight, sword only: 770 g (1 lb 11.16 oz)
Point of balance: 74 mm from bolster edge (2.91")
Spine thickness near hilt: 11 mm (0.433")
Spine thickness 25 cm from point: 8.5 mm (0.335")
Spine thickness 2.5 cm from point: 3.5 mm (0.138")
Blade thickness 45 cm from point: 1.6 mm (0.063")
Blade thickness 25 cm from point: 2.0 mm (0.079")
Blade thickness near point: 1.6 mm (0.063")
Sword:
It's apparent the sword is hand-made. There are plenty of issues with straight lines and symmetry. The blade on this one appears to have a slight warp near the tip. One handle scale is much thicker than the other. The decorative chiselling, etc. is misaligned and poorly done. The sword arrived with "meh" sharpness, however the basic edge and the geometry behind it is reasonably well done and it should not be very difficult to sharpen up properly. The bolsters and handle are pinned and glued, the tang is at least partially skeletonized. The heel of the blade is not sharpened, and tapers into a sharp edge after about 70 mm (2-3/4"). The thick spine is visually impressive.
Handling:
The handle is smooth and comfortable, rectangular with rounded edges. Due to the shape it feels quite secure. The sword feels substantial but not unwieldy. At the same time it has enough blade presence for a serious chop. The sweet spot seems to be about 18 cm (7") behind the point based on both vibration and "waggle tests". The blade is very stiff.
An unexpected point is that I could hear no "sword wind" by which to judge my edge alignment, probably because of the T-spine.
Cutting:
Didn't yet try. You can see Lynn Thompson chopping a double-tatami roll and some chickens on YouTube.
The cross-section of the blade at the "sweet spot" (18 cm behind tip) looks like this:
Sheath:
The sheath is leather over wood core, steel chape and throat. It's got plastic bits and spacers inside to provide friction hold the blade and at least for now, this one will hold the sword upside down. Due to the blade profile, the sharpened edge never contacts the steel throat.
Inconsistent:
I had the opportunity to inspect two of these Cold Steel Khyber Swords, and the other one was 9% heavier (839 g) and had its point of balance 0.5 cm closer to the hilt (0.2"). The blade geometry on this second example was also different. The blade under the spine was about a full millimeter thicker at the base, and tapered more evenly to the tip. Its T-spine however, became noticeably thinner near the tip.
This one also arrived with handle scales broken at the rear pin...
Historical accuracy:
Unfortunately this sword is not historically accurate at all, either visually or in its handling. Even if you aren't nitpicking, this should be considered a stylized interpretation of a Khyber knife, not a historical reproduction.
The main things...
-it's much too heavy
-the point of balance is too close to the hilt
-the point should not be upswept, it should actually drop below a line extending from the top of the handle
-the handle should not be slab-sided and rectangular
-the bolster is likewise the wrong shape, and extends too far along the blade
-there should be a fuller directly under the T-spine
-the sheath should actually go beyond the bolster and cover most of the handle as well
-overall shape of sheath is also wrong
Not all of these are hard rules, but the Cold Steel breaks all of them.
Thanks to mandarinmansion.com, the user randomnobody on this site, and the user u/Sword_of_Damokles on Reddit.com, I can compare the two Cold Steel Khyber Swords I measured to measurements from a few antique Khyber knives.
I also added the old Windlass "Indo-Persion Charay" replica, with measurements from kultofathena.com and outfit4events.com. At least in handling and dimensions, that one was even more inaccurate.
Here is a fairly typical original, via swordsantiqueweapons.com:
Overall:
I was aware of the historical inaccuracy before purchasing, and I actually like it, for what it is. It's too heavy for a Khyber knife, but it's not too heavy for a sword in general, as there are many messers and wakizashis and other short swords that weigh more, with points of balance further out. I'm not sure of the value as I don't have many swords to compare it to. It's definitely poorly-made in every respect compared to my Ronin wakizashi, which was the same price, but that one was clearly machine-made, and I hear this tends to be the case when you compare Japanese-style swords to swords from other cultures in the same price. Apart from the T-spine, the sword seems quite simple, so I think the $299.99 MSRP probably reflects some difficulty in forging, considering Cold Steel's Kris Sword is priced $100 cheaper.
! 
