Cold Steel Baskethilt Broad Sword -- myArmoury.com

Konstantin Tsvetkov

A distributor in Finland now suggests Cold Steel basket hilt broad sword, priced aproximately 450 $ (350 Euro). Looks nice on pictures, but does anybody have any experience with this blade? Probably I can get something more interesting for this price. Any comments will be appriciated.

Thomas McDonald · myArmoury Alumni

Below is an old review that I will re-post ! Mac

The baskethilt offerings by Cold Steel are a decent value for the money !
( any web search will turn up sites that offer these products)

Here are some stats & comments on their broadsword model, as reported by maker Vince Evans.

Mac

Blade Length: 32-1/4"
Blade Width at Hilt: 1-9/16"
Blade Width 3" from Tip: 1-1/8"
Blade Thickness at Hilt: 7/32"
Blade Thickness 2" from Tip: 1/8"
Tang Width: .535"
POB: 4-3/4"
COP: 10-3/4" from tip
Overall Length: 39-1/2"
Total Weight (not including sheath): 3 lb. 4 oz.
Fullers: approximately 18" in length
Grip: 5"
Blade Weight: 1 lb. 9-3/4 oz.
Hilt Weight (basket & components): 1 lb. 10-1/4 oz.
Basket Width: 5"
Basket Depth: 5" (front of basket to additional rear guards)
Basket Height: 5"
Thickness of Bars of Basket: .114"
Manufactured in India

My overall impression is that this Cold Steel Basket Hilt is not a bad
sword for the price, although having handled quite a few original basket
hilts, I'm somewhat biased.

* Pic of an original Regimental baskethilt that the Cold Steel model appears to be based on!

The blade seems to be very tough, although a little thick on the edge. I
flexed the blade 8" without it taking a set. The fullers are nicely done,
as are the grip and the sheath. The grip is wire-bound leather over wood
with a blued steel ferrule. The basket is well constructed, although it
has some sharp edges that could be rounded with a file. The forward guards
should have been rounded bars to match the basket instead of flat strips.
The hilt is constructed in traditional military style with a recessed tang
nut. A piece of 1/8" music wire takes it apart, revealing a hollow pommel.
Personally, I think the pommel should have been solid. When re-assembled,
the end of the grip tends to sink into the hollow pommel.

I also noticed,
while doing some light cutting, that the blade can twist slightly at the
guard due to an oversized tang hole.

I haven't done any heavy cutting with it but Cold Steel has a reputation
for tough blades.

-Vince Evans , April 2002

Henrik Bjoern Boegh · Posted: Thu 20 Jan, 2005 11:24 am Post subject:

I have no experience with this sword, but I would suggest that you take a look at Armour Class' webpage ( www.armourclass.com )if you're interessed in Basket Hilts. Also I think the new Hanwei/Cas basket hilts look nice and they are relatively cheap.

Cheers,
Henrik

William Goodwin · Posted: Thu 20 Jan, 2005 11:48 am Post subject:

I'll second that Armour Class suggestion.......great people great products..........

Bill

Konstantin Tsvetkov · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 8:26 am Post subject:

Mac, thank you very much for the review, it was really helpful. I still keep in mind purchasing of this sword.

Henrik and William, thank you for the hint, Armour Class do have quite a choice of blades. I like their 17C15 Early basket, and considering some 30 pounds for delivery, it will cost me as much as the Cold Steel sword. How about it's durability?
I will cut.

Kenneth Enroth · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 8:40 am Post subject:

There is a vendor in Germany www.ninjutsu-akademie-hn.de that offers the Hanwei baskethilt 2002-GT for 229 Euros. Might be a better value, I don't know. New for this year is that you can get the Hanwei with antiqued finish. I think that looks much better. Maybe he could get one for the same price.

Henrik Bjoern Boegh · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 8:54 am Post subject:

I actually have the Armour Class Early Basket Hilt. I love it!
It's good and flexible, light and very well balanced, and I think it handles very well!
I ordered mine with a leather scabbard (no wood) with steel fittings and a frog-hook. The scabbard fits very well with the sword!
If you want AC can make you a shark skin grip instead of the leather one, and I figure this to be a good idea since the leather grip can feel a bit slippery.
I think also it would be wise to order the hilt either blackened or browned, since these two finishes are better suited to withstand rust than the other finishes.

Cheers, Henrik

William Goodwin · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 9:06 am Post subject:

If you're really considering Armour Class, check out the review of my Mortuary from them
here .. www.myArmoury.com/review_ac_mort.html
I absolutely love this sword..........

Bill

Konstantin Tsvetkov · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 9:31 am Post subject:

Henrik Bjoern Boegh · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 9:37 am Post subject:

Here's a link to a review on the new Basket hilted Broadsword from Hanwei:
http://forums.swordforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38258
I've almost only heard good things about the two new basket hilts from Hanwei.
Personally I think the new Hanwei basket hilts look far better than the Cold Steel ones. The "sword breakers" on the Cold Steel basket hilts doesn't really look historically correct.

Cheers,
Henrik

Konstantin Tsvetkov · Posted: Fri 21 Jan, 2005 10:15 am Post subject:

Thank you, Henrik, I am closer and closer. Sharkskin grip looks nice on the picture from review, written by William.

Great review, William, I like that wonderful sword, I also like their Dragoon and, 17C14 16 century hand and a half, but I only can afford one at the moment. The Mortuary, as you mentioned, is a cavalry weapon, so it looks like. I can see from the shape of the hilt it really is a "great grandfather of cavalry sabers". I want something more "scottish".

Did they really use sharkskin for grips in 17 century?

Adam Lloyd · Posted: Sat 22 Jan, 2005 12:58 am Post subject:

I owned one and my blade took a permanent bend from its own weight leaning aginst a wall for a month. I wouldn't suggest them personally

Konstantin Tsvetkov · Posted: Sat 22 Jan, 2005 1:37 am Post subject:

Mark Moore · Posted: Sat 22 Jan, 2005 10:18 am Post subject:

Just my two cents worth........The Armour Class swords are fantastic, as are the Hanwei's and the Cold Steel. I've handled them all, at least once. I can, however, tell you from experience that the Cold Steel is a beast of a cutter. I have owned one now for about two years, and have cut with it quite often. I reworked the edge slightly after I bought it, to remove the factory 'knife-bevel' edge, and removed the tassel and guard liner. After I did this, the grip needed to be sturdied to keep down on vibration, but that was easily remedied by a couple of leather spacers cut from an old belt. The Cold Steel may not be entirely historically accurate, but it does have a good tang and blade. It WILL go through a piece of 2X4 pine board. Buy whatever you want, but if you decide on the CS........shop around. You can get it cheaper than that. Once again, just my two cents....mcm.

Henrik Bjoern Boegh · Posted: Thu 21 Apr, 2005 8:54 am Post subject:

Konstantin, what were your final decision?

Cheers,
Henrik

Konstantin Tsvetkov · Posted: Thu 21 Apr, 2005 9:45 am Post subject:

It will be something from Armour Class, I suppose. Something between 200 and 300 pounds. Early basket or sciavona with scabbard and in a couple of months. I ordered a Katzbalger sword from A&A last month, when they were on sale and a blunted Embleton hand-and-a-half from Pavel Moc just yesterday, and fencing mask is coming from Uhlmann. Those my wife approved, but I don't want to find out where the limit is.

Konstantin Tsvetkov · Posted: Thu 21 Apr, 2005 10:01 am Post subject:

And one thing more. I spent a weekend in Stockholm in the beginning of April and purchased two fantastic books from Royal Armoury. They are pictured inventory catalogues of edged weapons and firearms. Didn't have a time to setup my scanner, until yesterday. Now it's done and I'm going to try to place pictures and descriptions on this site next weekend.

Thank you all, guys, for your comments about baskethilt.