[Jean Thibodeau]

Here is a review of my impressions of the Templar Compagion Dagger made by Generation 2 and that I purchased from Kult of Athena.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...on+Dagger+

Really nice and agile dagger, the handle doesn't have the " Un-historical " steel spacers near the guard and the pommel that previous Generation 2 daggers and swords tended to always use on most of their product.

The blade heat treat seems good and it was paper cutting sharp out of the box it is now scary sharp with just a bit of a touch up with a diamond hone.

The statistics on the Kult of Athena site seem about correct except for the thickness of the blade that seems to me a lot thinner than the over 1/4" maximum thickness of 6.4mm and the minimum thickness of 3.9mm: I'm guessing that these thicknesses came from an error and from a different dagger.

But this thinner blade is a good thing: It's thick enough to be robust but not overbuilt.

In handling it's POB is at the guard making a very fast in the hand blade and very much a fast cutter and not a chopping blade: This blade in the hand would not slow down the hand holding it at all and the hand not slowed at all compared to an empty hand.

The handle is quite slim and why I put it next to an Albion Doge and a Cinquedea dagger to give a visual cue to it's mass.

The pommel is fairly small in diameter and looks very well proportioned to the rest of the dagger, but it's also fairly thick giving it some decent mass.
The guard slot fit is very very clean and precise and the gap much smaller than with many daggers or swords I've seen.

I was intending to re-cover the handle with a new leather wrap as previous Generation 2 handle tended to be fat, and covered with not very attractive leather: I like this one enough as is that I don't think I will want to do any DIY things to it.

Great customer service from Kult of Athena, as usual, and a few e-mails I sent to them because I had some questions where answered the very next day.

At $99.95 this is an excellent dagger that would be a " steal " at twice the price.

If I had to choose a dagger " in period " for selfdefense I think that this one would be among my first choices: It just feels that good in hand and inspires confidence.

[Jean Thibodeau]

A few more pics of the dagger in close ups..

[Mark Moore]

Great looking dag, Jean! I've been eying one of these for a while now. Wow...that grip is thin, though. Wonder what would be good to get the cheese-lookin' fingernail polish paint out of the cross though? I really hate to see a fine product left to wallow because of a piss-poor decoration decision, but to me.............that red's gotta go. I'd rather see it in a subdued flat black. Thanks for the review, my friend. Gotta git me one!...........McM

[Jean Thibodeau]

[J. Hargis]

Being of Templar influence, the cross makes sense and should stay, IMO. But I agree, the red "fingernail polish paint" needs to go. I would think a solvent would do the trick.

Jean, I can see why you made the purchase. And indeed, K of A gives excellent service and offers a wide range of products. Thanks for your informative review.

Jon

[P. Schontzler]

The color may seem cheesy to us, but would it ever be "period" to add color? Makes me think of the subdued colors of the Sisteen Chapel ceiling which was just a result of candle soot; after cleaning off all the soot the paintings are bring and even garish according to some.

[Luka Borscak]

Coloring is ok, but on a more complex motif and it wouldn't be just painted on the engraved part of the pommel, it would be achieved with colored stones or something like that. And a simple cross would be inlayed with a colored metal wire.

[Greg Ballantyne]

I'll be the odd man here - I'm attracted by the red cross. I've thought about buying the same dagger, not only because I consider Gen 2 to be great value at their price point, but because I like the red cross...... sorry......

[Mark Moore]

No need to be sorry.......Each to his own! I like the cross too...just not the color. Still a way-cool functional dagger!......McM

[Jean Thibodeau]

I personally don't really care strongly enough about the red paint to at this time remove it.

Oh, grinding down the sides of the pommel could make it a more generic dagger for those not wanting something more specifically Templar, maybe ?

I also forgot to mention that it comes with a fairly decent scabbard with a rigid core, maybe fiberglass or wood, don't intend to take the scabbard apart to find out, and it's hidden by the leather cover anyway.

The dagger fits perfectly in the scabbard, not too loose and not too tight either: If one hold the scabbard with the dagger in it up side down the dagger doesn't fall out.

A simple chape at the tip of the scabbard.

No belt attachments but a leather lace could easily be tied around the top of the scabbard with a loops to hang from a belt or as a safety line to not lose the dagger if it's just put under a belt.

There are pics of the scabbard on the Kult of Athena site.

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=...on+Dagger+

[Joe Fults]

...but I took a read of Jean's review a week or so ago and decided what the heck. I want something like that. Why not give it a go? So, I did. The dagger arrived today. It already took a bite out of me while I was trying to get the incredible layer of shipping grease off the thing ( I guess it likes me). And it's pretty nice. My scabbard is a bit loose also, but overall, pretty nice!

Real nice actually.

At the price point (mine was about $10 more than Jean's) its a pretty nice deal. I like it quite a bit more than some of the Windlass things I've had that basically bump this price point! So, thanks Jean!