The Knife and Sword Thread

[ThreadJack]

Any ideas for a medieval warrior princess cosplay? (Think Morwen from LOTR)

Doesn't need to be combat ready, just a hip piece.

[Illyiss]

I have to admit, I am spoiled, working as a regional sales manager for a smith.  Combat ready pieces at fair prices, yes please!

[Taegin Roan]

Any ideas for a medieval warrior princess cosplay? (Think Morwen from LOTR)

Doesn't need to be combat ready, just a hip piece.

I don't remember any Morwen. Do you mean Eowen or Arwen or am I forgetting someone?

[ThreadJack]

I don't remember any Morwen. Do you mean Eowen or Arwen or am I forgetting someone?

Oh, I forgot, not everyone has played the Third Age video game.

But Eowen(whom I believe the character was based on). Pretty, but somehow still rugged and badass.

[Dauntless Seven]

I have to admit, I am spoiled, working as a regional sales manager for a smith.  Combat ready pieces at fair prices, yes please!

Got any pics that you can share ?

I've got a thing for katanas and any sword that has a tsuba... not a tuba... I'm more French horn lol.  Also long swords.  Only have some Cold Steel as they are in my price and knowledge range.  Perhaps would like to order from Kult of Athena but I have heard that packages can be iffy to be accepted by Canadian customs.  Yet I can go buy pocket, hunting and even some collector type knives at Canadian Tire.  

[Darth Tepes]

Oh, I forgot, not everyone has played the Third Age video game.

But Eowen(whom I believe the character was based on). Pretty, but somehow still rugged and badass.

Morwen is featured in The Silmarillion, she is the mother of Turin Turambar (the cursed warrior who killed Glaurung, father of Dragons).  But within the actual Tolkien Lore she is not a warrior.

  Do you have an idea on the character you want to cosplay as.  I can give you a better idea based on fighting style and mentality.

[Taegin Roan]

Morwen is featured in The Silmarillion, she is the mother of Turin Turambar (the cursed warrior who killed Glaurung, father of Dragons).  But within the actual Tolkien Lore she is not a warrior.

  Do you have an idea on the character you want to cosplay as.  I can give you a better idea based on fighting style and mentality.

See that is the Morwen I know, but I didn't remember there being a Morwen in the LOTR books, so that is what was confusing me.

[Illyiss]

Got any pics that you can share ?

I'll see if I can get pics of the ones I have with me tomorrow, or I can grab stock photos from the website...

[hazard502]

I've had no trouble importing my swords. But it makes a big difference picking them up States side and presenting them in person to Canadian customs. The only draw back is doing the initial unboxing for inspection vs. having the excitement unfold at home while opening the package for that initial reveal

I suppose I should repost my lost photobucket pics as I'm quite fond of what I do have.

[Gar-Wi Musan]

Paul Chen swords are pretty good.  The only thing negative I have heard is the Katana's are sometimes a bit to sharp.  If your strike is slightly off you've chipped your edge.

I used to own a Paul Chen/Hanwei Practical plus. My Sensei was training me in Iaido and I was also doing Tameshigiri or test cutting.
Being that tatami mats can get expensive to chop up, I started using mailing tubes and 2 liter bottles filled with water. Eventually I was cutting through 6 or 7 aluminum cans filled with water in one stroke. Yes they are very sharp swords, I've seen them get chipped, but I would say chipping them is the owners fault and more practice and care can completely prevent it. Cold Steel makes really good Katana as well, Less ornate but very good quality.

[Darth Tepes]

Yes they are very sharp swords, I've seen them get chipped, but I would say chipping them is the owners fault and more practice and care can completely prevent it.

Of course, but no one is 100%  100% of the time.   

[Rapine]

Well, edges...

I recently bought myself a new utility/camping knife - since I didn't have anything resembling that at all.  I didn't want to swing for the fence right off the bat though (search "bushcraft knives" on Google - wow price!), so went with "entry level".

Work gave me a free multi-tool (when I went there).  It was Gerber.  Solid, and sharp... (and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Bear Grylls.  No freakin' initials on my knife thanks).

...I went with the Strongarm:



Gerber has a bad reputation for using "softer steel" which doesn't hold its edge very long.  I managed to score the LE version though, so got slightly better "BDZ1" steel:



I've already beat on it a bit (processing firewood), and it's still "shave sharp".

$75.

[ThreadJack]

Gerber were good knives in my limited experience. Very nice Rapine.

[Gar-Wi Musan]

Well, edges...

I recently bought myself a new utility/camping knife - since I didn't have anything resembling that at all.  I didn't want to swing for the fence right off the bat though (search "bushcraft knives" on Google - wow price!), so went with "entry level".

Work gave me a free multi-tool (when I went there).  It was Gerber.  Solid, and sharp... (and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Bear Grylls.  No freakin' initials on my knife thanks).

...I went with the Strongarm:

Gerber has a bad reputation for using "softer steel" which doesn't hold its edge very long.  I managed to score the LE version though, so got slightly better "BDZ1" steel:

I've already beat on it a bit (processing firewood), and it's still "shave sharp".
$75.

I used to work in a knife and sword shop. We sold Kershaw and Benchmade among other high end, high priced knives and I still strongly stand by Gerber. That one looks pretty dang sweet.

[Illyiss]

How well a blade holds it's edge has a lot more to do with the hardness, and the temper than the metal itself.  Not that the metal doesn't factor into that, some you can hit desired hardness numbers easier, and some have limits, and get brittle at those hardness numbers.  You want it hard enough to hold that edge, but not so hard that it's brittle, or takes forever to sharpen when it's needed.  Your temper will give a lot of the use properties to the rest of the blade as well; will it have a flexible spine that returns to true when you twist or jam it?  Will it bend and stay there?  Will it shatter?  Also, the softer metal/softer spine temper leads to durability problems in deformation if you beat on the spine.

That said, most affordable blade manufacturers go for a good balance of all the qualities, tweaked slightly by intended use.  They want to make a good product, that will do what they claim it will, and get you to come back for other knives, and tell all your friends about how they should get that brand's blades too.

Another thing to keep in mind, a lot of the reviewers that really get into edge retention, how the steel is holding up (especially in bushcraft), are people that are artificially over using the knives.  Not artificial in that they are setting up machines to do or simulate, but in that they are often packing a year or even several years use into a month or less of testing.  Great for product testing and giving a review while it's still relevant, but they sometimes loose sight of that themselves.  I find that taking in the reviews and opinions of "regular people" who are using the product the way you would be (similar conditions, amounts, uses) can help bring that perspective to a decision.  World of difference in need between a mechanic's daily use blade, a backpacker's pen knife, and an elk hunter's game knife.