Hi all, is anyone saw the new scabbards from dsa personally i think they look very good and the handles on some sword absolutely gorgeous what do you think?

Have not seen them first hand so I don't know.

Photos are not always reliable ways to judge...so much detail can be lost in a photo yet that photo can still look good to a casual observer.

I know that most of the members here have some prejudice concerning DSA products.
Most of those claims are dead on. Historical accuracy off the bat, weight issues, bad scabbards, uneven fullers, edge angle and whatever.
But, those guys are the one of the only people who actually forge their blades and they are year after year adressing most of the issues people are coming up with. The have a very consumer service, Eyal will do anything possible to get things right with their customers and they have made leaps fowards year after year to improve their products.

That said, ive seen a prototype of their new production line, and the new scabbard are WAY over what anyone else in their price point dare offer, from what ive seen they seem to have trim down some weight, and the new cord-wrapped handles are of good quality.

Personnaly i think that they are offering the best value for the buck at their price point.
But they have the capacity to produce swords at a higher level of quality also, why dont they make a high quality line, working more on edge angle and historical accuracy and charge 200 more, that way they would make their name and brand more respected, they have all the tools to do it. Why they dont it eludes me.

i saw one of them in may in Eyal's house (i had a sword for someone i know to comission) i think it was the Black knight in the new scabbards and it looked absolutely gorgeous.

i took a look a their old scabbards too and to my taste it doesn't look that ugly it is just another style thats all less accurate but still a scabbard.

The old scabbards really were terrible - I do hope these new ones are made with more care to fit the swords and aren't just a cosmetic upgrade.

And it's good to hear they are trying to make them lighter. The sheer unwieldyness of my Squire Sword is the primary reason I haven't used it anywhere near as much as I had originally planned.

Though, I also hear they peen their swords together now. I'm sure some appreciate the extra reliability and historical accuracy, but that would actually be a concern for me if I decided to buy another one - I only became somewhat satisfied with the fit of my Squire after taking it appart and fiddling with it a bit.

Oh well. They are willing to improve, at least, I'll give them that.

Jean-François Picard wrote:

But, those guys are the one of the only people who actually forge their blades

You know, I often see this written in a tone that seems to suggest that it's a good thing. I've been thinking, though: when talking swords in this price range and of this level of quality, is there really any actual benefit in hand-forging, for consumers or producers? Or is it a purely sentimental thing?

Sentimental.

M.

Yep, its purely sentimental :)
Arent we all a bit ? I mean with this hobby of ours we are bound to be at least at some point.

As for my other comment i'm sorry, it wasnt meant to be discriminal about the members of this forum. Lets face it at some point their products have suffered from serious defects and that have left a bad taste in the mouth of some people, which is perfectly normal. It really wasnt my intent to hurt anyone's feelings and i'm deeply sorry if i did so by writting what i wrote.

I've seen the new belts/scabbards. They look decent considering the price you are paying for the sword - which essentially half of what you would pay for just the suspension from a custom manufacturer. This year seems to be the year that all of the sub-$300 sword manufacturers made pretty significant changes in what they are offering based on what the consumer wants. It's good to see an attempt to please the customer actually being made by some of these companies.