[Mercer L. Blaire]

Just thought id show off some "under the hood" footage of some darksword armory offerings... They often advertise their swords as masterfully made high quality swords with Peened hilt constructions and made to be "tough as nails"

If this post is in bad taste i apologise but i am incredibly angry and sickened by what ive seen from them.

Below you will see pictures of 2 new production DSA swords, the guardian, and the carpathean. in addition to these i also disassembled a 2nd guardian, and a 100 years war sword. all of them were the same under the hood...these tangs are less than 1/2" wide at the widest and dramatically taper down into a 1/4" round rod that terminates into a threaded portion where the pommel is simply twisted on, filled with epoxy, and then the exposed threads on top of the pommel are hammered down to look like a peen and hide it all. The grip cores were even not glued/epoxied to the tang, and the chanels were oversized with nothing but compression from the screw on pommel holding them in place. simply cracking them with a hammer they fell apart like they were nothing.

Anyone who owns one of these swords please be safe and be mindful that your sword could fail if it is swung. and used to cut things.

Hand made high quality swords indeed.

[Mark Moore]

I've seen worse...believe me. A lot of Windlass swords are only slightly better. In my opinion, DS swords are way over-priced and under-built. There are plenty of DS tang photos on the SBG forum....some worse than these. That's why I don't own one. ..........McM

[Ian Hutchison]

I've never really understood the purpose of thin tangs and thread on pommels. How much more difficult/time consuming/costly is it to do it right?

[Mark Moore]

I'm not a member there, but everyone ought to take a look at that thread on SBG forums. It's in the 'sword customization' section, I believe. Lots of different swords showing it all. Makes me proud of my H/T Norman and my Rhinelander. ...McM

[Karl Knisley]

Hello
The Indian manufactures dont pay their workers,why would they splurge on material.

[Ian Hutchison]

[Mark Moore]

I was always under the impression that DS blades were made in China, then maybe ASSEMBLED in Canada. They may be India-made though. Don't know. I'd like to have some of their fittings, but they can keep the blades. .......McM

[Victor R.]

Darksword seems to be all smoke, mirrors and lies. Each time they claim they'll be happy to have someone make an appointment to come by and video their operation to "prove" their claims, the timing always seems to not work out, and the videos and pictures that have come out seem pretty specious. I can't remember all of the reasons, but they were banned from posting as an industry professional the Makers & Manufacturers section of this forum. If they were what they claimed, those tangs and that assembly would be much different. If they were up front about their products, like Windlass, it wouldn't be a problem since the price point would also likely reflect the "quality" of the product. But with their pricing and their claims of actually "forging" swords in Canada, as a company, they're just wrong - they're the three card monte dealers of the sword world. Well, one of them, at least.

[T. Diamante]

The only reasoning I can see is that the cost per unit justifies the cost of refunding/replacing their swords. If enough people are dissatisfied with their products, they'll change. As it stands right now, if you really want a DSA sword, your best bet may be to purchase their bare blades and fittings and assemble it yourself. You'll save a little money and have a sword that you can be sure is well constructed.

[Mark Moore]

Funny how their bare blades look a lot better than the ones on deconstructed swords. What the heck do they do? Grind down the tangs to 'fit the fittings'? To me, it looks like they grind/forge(whatever) their fullers way too deep, far, and wide into the tang. Do they not realize that this makes for an extreme weak point right at the guard? Geez... ....McM

[Greg Ballantyne]

I am not suprised to see this. I bought a DSA as my first sword. It provided a good learning experience. As myself and others have pointed out, there are a variety of better products available at similar entry level price points.
Add uneven tempering, Ill-fitting grips, leather that comes loose with a little light handling, and wavy blades to the rat tail tangs.....

[Mark Moore]

I wouldn't exactly call those 'entry level' price points. That's a good chunk of change for a wall-hanger that might break on it's first water bottle...or worse...become the 'flying helicopter blade'. ...........McM

[Mark Moore]

I can't be DSA-bashing too much though. As I said before, I don't own one, and never will. I can buy cool looking wall decorations from BudK all day long....for the low, low price of only $19.95 while supplies last!!!! ......McM

[Mark Moore]

I say 'never will'--as far as owning one goes. If they up their game quite a bit.......MAYBE. .........McM

[Sam Arwas]

To their credit though....https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MEKDprMUEmw

They seem rather hit and miss and it's the fantasy-themed ones that tend to be where the trouble comes from. I don't like fantasy swords so thankfullly I've not had this problem with the two historical-themed DSA swords that I own. I've seen videos of people torture-testing the hell out of of the historical ones and they hold up excellently. I have also seen a video of a fantasy ones snapping at the tang on a plastic bottle.

[William M]

Hehehe.. I remember that during the last darksword scandal they went on TV showing how they made their swords... Was all a heap of lies and quite obvious ones as all we never really saw a sword production factory, merely a lot of imported sword blades and some guy hitting one on an anvil.

Then with all the rumours swirling around darksword advertised on SBG for an apprentice swordsmith knowing full well that there was not actually a job there.

[William Swiger]

I have only 2 DSA swords in my collection today. They are Lord of the Rings ones. I know they are not something I would seriously use but never bought them for that. I also have some other fantasy swords to include Rob Miller and John Lundemo. My collection really does not have many fantasy swords but I really like the good ones.

There has been much reported concerning DSA over the years on various forums. Anyone with a shred of common sense knows DSA does not forge blades in Canada. I really don't know where they source all their materials. I think everything is shipped to their warehouse and assembled in house. Again, I don't know where they source their blades, hilts and scabbards. Cost to do all this in Canada properly with the volume (batches) they turn out would require a good sized work force and much higher prices. Also, any faults could be immediately addressed if they forged the blades.

They might do leather wraps, finishing on the blades, assembly and other things but not forging.

[T. Diamante]

If you go to DSA's YouTube channel, there's a new video that briefly introduces their newest fantasy piece, but the bulk of the video has Eyal going around the shop showing off bare blades(and fully assembled swords just prior to peening) that all have tangs as thick as any Hanwei Tinker. I can't speak as to where they source their parts, but it seems like a step in the right direction; at least as far as the construction of their blades.

I would also note that I didn't spot the threaded portion common on their tangs, although I may have missed it.

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL5d6p6MLL0&t=304s

[Leo Todeschini]

T.Diamante wrote

[Mark Moore]

Good points, Tod. You know what they say about the word 'assume', don't you? The famous British comedian, Benny Hill, may he rest in peace, once pointed it out. .......McM