[Phil D.]

Does anyone have any experience with the Cold Steel Cinquedea.

I can't find any real reviews and am interested in any hands on knowledge as to quality and handling.

http://kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=CS88CDEA

Thanks!!

[Mark Moore]

I handled one at a Dallas gun/knife show about a year ago. It seemed pretty sturdy, and darn sure sharp. But, they wanted about a hundred bucks too much for it. I *very gently* laid it back on the table. I've thought about getting one a time or two, but haven't committed yet. I'd say go for it. It's even nicer looking in person. .....McM

[Mark Moore]

I don't know how you feel about buying from Amazon.com, but they have them for $119 with free shipping. That's cheaper than KoA, but you don't have the quality assurance. There are several reviews that sound pretty positive. For that price, I may give it a shot myself. ......McM

[Lin Robinson]

[Brian M.]

Not a review per se, and no comments on handling, but Medieval Review has an unboxing and initial impressions video you might want to check out.

The entire video is of Thomas unboxing several unrelated pieces from Cold Steel.

There are two relevant parts for you:
1. Initial unboxing and first impressions (3 mins)
2. Brief revisiting after cleaning off the shipping grease (1 min)

Again, not a review, but a chance to see the sword in hand and hear first impressions.

[Mark Moore]

I've bought from them several times with only one bad experience, which was no fault of theirs. I just got screwed around by a shifty company, and Amazon gave me a full refund....no questions asked. This particular dagger is sold through Amazon directly, so I figure they will send a good product. The one bad review it got was from a fellow that just got a lemon from the start. I can't see that being a regular occurrence with the other *very positive* reviews. ....McM

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well I just bought one from " Reliks " in Canada and their customer service is very good as from online-purchase to arrival at my house by Canada Post was 2 to 3 days on average for every time I have ordered and bought from them.

https://www.reliks.com
https://www.reliks.com/functional-european-swords/cinquedea-sword/

So to answer a few questions:

A) Handling: Surprisingly agile and good handling for the weight, from looks alone one might assume a blade forward and ponderous blade, but with the great profile taper POB is about 2" from the guard. There is little to no distal taper. but with the profile taper the blade doesn't need any. General feel if one closes one's eyes is not very different from any large dagger that might be much narrower at the guard but that would have a lot of distal taper.

B) Blade: Very attractive multiple fullers, somewhat rounded grind lines but also no rippling or wandering of the grind line.
The two outer fuller taper in width and meet near the point, but central fuller transitions to a central ridge. The last inch of blade at the point is a diamond section in line with the central ridge but the blade's point is subtly reinforced and look sturdy.

C) Blade sharpness out of the box: The first 3" beyond the guard is unsharpened but smoothly transitions for to very paper cutting sharp at the 3" mark, in between it goes from a 2mm blunt edge to butter knife edge to sharp. Now the first 3" of blade is not going to be used to cut in a fight and one could parry with the blunt part of the edge near the guard.

Note: Using a tungsten carbide sharpener I made the blade sharp over it's entire length, this is not necessary but my preference if one had to cut something near the guard ..... Tool usage not likely needed in a blade that has little to no application as a tool, but if one had to cut a heavy rope for some reason having this part of the blade sharpened is useful.

D) Handle construction: Usually Cold Steel knives are robust and well put together but without taking the handle apart it's hard to know what the tang is like ? Probably a short stub tang with a rattail extension as I'm guessing that the blade used a screwed nut to hold it together ? The nut is round so tightening or removing it might be difficult ?

No looseness observed, and it feel solid, when hitting the blade with a stick it sounds like a bell which may or may not mean anything, but a bad blade assembly can sound weird when struck ?

The rounded metal studs on the handle make the grip in hand feel secure.

E) Aesthetics: Looks very nice but plain compared to period pieces that used the great amount of blade " Real-estate " for artful etched or engraved decoration, so the blade looks nice from a modern perspective.

F) Historical accuracy: Well the specific hilt doesn't seem historically correct to me, not typical of most Cinquedea I've seen, so if it's based on a historical example I haven't seen one like it. The shape of the blade and the fuller pattern looks more plausible for some Cinquedeas but not the same as with many Cinquedea that have multiple fullers going from 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 and maybe 1 fuller over the length of the blade.

G) Bottom line: As a modernized practical example of a Cinquedea to enjoy the handling, maybe do some test cutting, and just for collecting modern knives, I like it.

H) Scabbard: Was very very loose fitting at the throat, but made of good leather and the blade not likely to cut through the leather unless one tried hard to insert the blade into the scabbard at a weird angle.

I fixed the looseness of the scabbard using wood popsicle sticks superglued at the mouth of the scabbard opening and carving them to fit ..... The scabbard now retains the blade even if reversed unless I shake the whole thing, but it's still easy to take the blade out of scabbard

Would work great in a Zombie Apocalypse type scenario, but not really as good as a large Bowie knife for dual tool/weapon use. It's definitely a nice toy.

[Holger Mahling]

I own that piece too and second your thoughts about it. I can assure its amean little cutter. And i thank you for your clear, honest, non-CS bashing words; hats off!