Okay I know it got that soft and softer back then...I meant now. Modern repro swords. I don't think I have seen modern swords or other cutlery as soft as my antique cleaver (I miss that cleaver...it was stolen :( ). Which sucks because I want another cleaver like that sooooo much. It was great.

Okay, I've wasted enough bandwidth without actually answering the original poster's question.

If I had 500 dollars to spend and needed a sword to cut with, I'd get an Angus Trim sword, no question. If cutting performance was my primary goal, I'd get one of the wider bladed swords (thin cross section), as oposed to the more slender and elegant looking longswords. If I were a beginner, though, I would get a thicker sword. The wide bladed swords are prone to bending (swords in general...not singling out Gus or any other maker...his swords are some of the strongest in the industry).

Actually, if your cutting mats, thicker might not be better. While I have no problem using a cheness katana on mats, I have run into people in my class where the thickness of those swords adversely effects their cutting. Since a thicker blade slows the cut through the mats, it's more time for you to twist and torque your blade while sandwhiched and bend it as well. It's a greatly debated topic in my class.

Darkswords if you can sharpen it are pretty tough swords. Yeah yeah, they have issues...and that if on the sharpening is a BIG if.

The windlass ulfberht sword also seem to be a pretty good cutting sword...and at a REALLY low price too from shootermike's review of at SBG.

http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/v45index...hread=2170

But yeah, at 500 bucks I still think an Atrim is in the lead with getting a chinese knockoff a close second...but then again, it would help more to know what the sword is exactly gonna cut, along with other preference and criteria. Just a generic I want the best cutting sword is gonna generate a lot of fairly generic answer or a list of sword where it just does not apply. It's like going to a home depot and saying I want the best screwdriver. They can show you a brand or a type, but a vast majority of those wont fit what your looking for.