Do any of y'all (yes I said y'all , I'm from Texas) own the Windlass Suontaka sword? I was looking at it for the first time on KOA, and this sword and its scabbard and belt are beautiful, more so in that price range. What are your opinions on it ?...McM

I own one. And it is pretty good. I've heard some people have had issues with the grip ring coming loose, and the blade is not historically accurate. But it handles about like you'd expect a viking era style sword like that to handle at that price point.

I feel that the aesthetics outshine it's performance as a sword, so you do end up having to decide why you would buy that over another sword. If you want pure function, you may want to look elsewhere, but I feel it does an good job being both functional and a good conversation piece.

If you have any questions about it, let me know.

P.S. The scabbard may look nice, but Windlass Scabbards are, in my opinion, really terrible, nothing special there beside some decorative frills.

Thanks for the advice. I wouldn't be doing any cutting with it. It would just be a Ren-Fest hip-hanger. I've already got a Hanwei Cawood...maybe I'll hold out for a H/T Norman. Not quite as 'bling-bling' as the Suontaka, but I can remedy that. Thanks again for the lowdown on it !........McM

The H/T Norman is a really good sword at its price point. If you use some Scotch-Brite to kill the shine on the pommel/guard and do a simple cord wrap on the leather grip it looks 10x better.

Thanks, Mike.....I meant to type H/T Viking. It's currently out of stock at Kult of Athena, my go-to place. Speaking of H/T Normans and Kult of Athena, I've got one ordered, along with some hanging straps. It has been taking a loooong time to get them. I got an e-mail from KOA this morning saying that they are sorry it's taking so long for two reasons. The straps are made in-house, right there at KOA, as well as other products. I did not know this. The Norman, is on order because the one they had for me had a slight problem with loose fittings. They said they tried to re-peen it but it did not fix it, so they are getting me another one. Now, in my book, that's good customer service. That tells me that they really do inspect their wares before shipping, and I appreciate it....a lot. .......................McM

I want to say that there are some extant Suontaka style fittings on the market, IIRC from Vikingshield website, and that they require only minor modification to fit either a Windlass or a Hanwei Tinker blade. I'm... 75%? certain that I've seen a custom done this way, either here or on SBG.

Alternatively, I know for a fact that several people have had either Suontaka copies or Suontaka-style (similar knotwork but with different patterns/animals/whatever) fittings made by either 3D printing or old-school lost-wax bronze casting. This is obviously a lot more expensive than just buying existing fittings or an existing sword, though.

I cannot say for sure but I want to say that I've seen on Facebook that Printed Armoury (the guy doing the Hanwei Tinker parts) is working on a Suontaka style set to fit the Hanwei Tinker Viking blade... don't quote me on that, though.