I've developed a taste for heavy cutting blades and have my attention on the Duke and the Knecht. Although cutting power alone won't be the complete factor in my decision, I'm still curious which one out does the other if anyone happens to have experience cutting with both.

I have cut with the Duke, and it hews deeply with ease. Mind you, I was cutting against 4 liter milk jugs filled with water, which are fairly easy targets. I am pretty sure the Knecht will cut as deeply or deeper, with greater ease. To give a comparison, I did a test with my Tritonia and Soldat against a cardboard box. I was indoors, so delivering full strength strikes was not possible. I believe the Tritonia cut 31 cm deep, while the Soldat cut 33 cm. Also, the Tritonia requires better cutting technique in general; a somewhat poor cut with the Soldat will often penetrate more effectively than with the Tritonia.

I hope that helps.

Yeah, the Messer model might be a bit more in the cut after studying the dimensions more in detail, but I think I'll go for the double edge Duke.

The Duke is a fine sword. I much preferred it in hand to the Baron; surprisingly, it's significantly lighter than the Baron (about seven ounces) despite how massive it appears in the Albion photos.