Windlass has definitely stepped up their quality & accuracy in recent years on certain swords; starting with the original few runs of the Battlecry line (good for the price backyard cutters), to the swords they have, and may still be doing, for Balaur Arms to the Royal Armouries line Matt helped create. I'm glad to see it honestly as Windlass certainly has been a position to be a powerhouse in entry swords & mid level swords...possibly lower high end swords even?
I own one of the first generation. I bought it as munitions grade for $100. The blade is very well tempered and can bend and return to true. I also agree about your comment on the cross guard, filed mine down, rounded it off and it feels wonderful to finger grip. The pommel fits your hand perfectly when you’re using it, I’m glad you reviewed it! I love mine, and have sharpened it myself, it feels wonderful in the hand and is by far one of my favorite swords. for the price, it is easy to put it in harms way. I have never been able to damage it and feel that it is an excellent bargain. Buy one and you won’t be disatisfied. Thanks, Matt.
Could you do a segment on the level of sharpness historically for edged weapons? (If you haven't already) I believe I read once about the lancers in Napoleon's army having direct orders to sharpen their lances, but I'm not sure.
My wife just noticed that you didn't end the video by reassuring us that you will still be Matt Easton the next time we see you, so now she's worried that you won't be Matt Easton anymore.
I have one of those blades from years ago. I would love if they made a model with finger rings or a "Munich town guard" or similar guard on it. Would handle absolutely amazing in the hand with the increased hilt mass.
It's good to know your thought about the historical inspiration was basically the same as mine. This one could go with the upturned and sometimes curled guard of Oakshott's Family F (the sword attributed to Henry V, bunch of later 15th century Northwestern European swords) or change out the pommel and guard for something like the Castillon Group B. Kind of an odd choice since I doubt that these changes would make it cost that much more.
I bought this one last year for about $300 US and thought it was well priced then. I have the same issue with the guard. I wear gloves often, so it is less of an issue. For that price, I may get a second one.
Clarification question: Kult of Athena offers a sharpening service for the sword for an extra $25, or with what they call "factory edge" Is this sword factory edge, or sharpened?
KoA sharpening service. Btw, even if this isn't uber sharp, the sharpening service is worth it just to establish a basic edge bevel. As someone who's sharpened numerous totally blunt swords, putting your own edge on from scratch is a ton of work. With this you can just touch it up to suit your needs.
@@crominion6045 And the guy who does the sharpening at KoA (I can't remember his name unfortunately) is really really good at his job. He's turned Deepeeka swords that are completely blunt, into having a very good functional edge.
...I can not recomend the sharpening service of KoA. Have another Balaur Arms (of very mediocre quality) sharpend by KoA: an ugly looking, stupid angeled secondary bevel and a curvy edge and altering the profil of the tip to the bad - nothing you want at all........
To be honest about the scabbard fitting, I actually prefer when I get swords to be somewhat looser in the scabbard, because where I live the relative humidity is somewhat low, and the scabbards end up shrinking. So I've had swords that fit beautifully on first purchase, and now the scabbards are WAY too tight for the sword to fit nicely and sometimes they even get stuck in it and require percussive force to remove (the LK Chen jians I've bought is one example. Their daos don't seem to have this issue as much). I also agree with you with the guard. I have a Valiant Armoury I purchased last year, one of the ones made to look like Gandalf's Glamdring. The guard and pommel both have VERY hard edges that would pass the nail scrape test for a good bushcraft knife (i.e. you use the spine of your knife to scrape a ferro rod to light a fire). Super uncomfortable when actually trying to cut with it, and one of the corners on the pommel actually left the kind of scratch on my arm that my cat could do. For Valiant Armoury that basically put me off from buying from them again; I shouldn't have to use a file to round the hard edges on a sword I paid $1500 for. Not to mention the guard rattles on it now too. (presumably caused by the aforementioned humidity difference in my location, so I can't exactly fault the company for that in itself).
I love what Balaur Arms has managed to do, especially in terms of the sheer quality for such a price. But I definitely wish they had made different design choices on the hilt. I have their "Teutonic Sword" and it looks beautiful but it has that same issue with very sharp corners on the guard and the pommel is a bit strange, especially in its side profile
I got a carolingian sword from red dragon armoury, same scabbard, very similar materials...same factory ? (and it's a feather light 'viking' sword at 860 grams, type Z)
Would you consider some reviews on entry priced basket hilt swords? The only truly affordable ones I can think of are Armour Class or very overweight and would love your take on it
I'd really have preferred they used this pommel for some of their Type XI and XII blades. It would have fit better than this one. I've got a couple of the Balaur Arms swords, and I always have to take a file to the hilt and pommel to make the edges smoother.
The market needs good project swords !!! But how does the hollow grind cut compared to a flat grind ? I imagine their is a LOT more drag going through tatami (or damp rolled newspaper). Is there ?
It's a pity I think, that the manufacturers always think of the seam on the scabbard as being on the "back". I personally like the seam and would love to have a scabbard with the seam on the front with contrasting stitching. Although that particular scabbard doesn't have any inherent hanging system so you could pick the "back" as the front on that particular sword. Isn't this design based very loosely on the "Henry V sword"? That would follow if in previous iterations it had a curved crossguard. The blade shape is basically the same although (by the looks of it it's a little bit thinner, in thickness not width, than the "Henry"). It's just been fitted with a chunky version of a generic straight crossguard of the medieval period in general. COOL!!! Could it be Depeeka? Maybe a Chinese origin???
Thank you for the review. Was just curious if the swords sharpness was how it comes standard or after the additional sharpening option kult of Athena offers?
I was curious about that, as well. As best as I can tell, after looking at their website, the sword is unsharpened at all unless you choose the $25 sharpening service. It says "unsharpened" in the specifications tab and the pictures seem to verify that. I've heard KoA's sharpening service isn't known to be consistent even across the same edge, much less both edges. It's still better than I could do, so I'd probably still pay for it, but if you are skilled at sharpening swords or know a good service near you, I'd recommend doing that instead.
I still wonder though, if this has so many positive features, what's the difference between this $220 sword, and say, an Albion? Will this not stand up to use? Was it simply made to look pretty and be sharp out of the box?
With Albion you should expect higher quality, and better materials, but i often feel Albion swords are bit too expensive maybe. There often isnt structually anything wrong with cheaper swords, but they are just not quite as nice. Albions also does not have rippling or fitting issues or anything like that they are kinda like machine perfect since they are ground using CNC. In reacent years these cheaper swords like Windlass have become lot better than in past.
...the Balaur Arms swords are not good at all. Have two in my big collection (around 50 swords from Kingston Arms, Royal Armourys Windlass, Albion, etc. to high end handmade ones). I regret having the Balaurs. Poor fit and finish (pommels comming loose, crossguards fixed with ugly brown resin, very soft material of the crossguard, bending...etc....). Blades are not as bad as fit and finish but also not realy good. Any comparison to my 10 Albions is a joke - all of them are absolut high end swords (yes, to a high end price). Is this Balaur sword worth 200 Euros? Yes it is. Can you by a good sword for 200 Euros? Not really! You get what you pay for: a budged sword with many flaws, loocking good from a distance - is this ok for you, buy one... P.S. nice to have these (simple) scabbards for storage, but most of them did not match the period of the sword in style (unfortunately seen by many manufacturers selling swords with scabbards)....
Huh. Interesting. Not that I'm in the market for one, but I'd like of like a hand-and-a-half. But it's good to know that something like this is out there. I really should put some effort into finding my tablet. I'm tired of hearing about centimeters and grams and wanting to convert them and I can't because my tablet's elsewhere.
Not related to this sword, but Hey Kult Of Athena/Balaur Arms, if you're reading comments here: Make a line of polearms. No one seems to be doing good, accurate polearms lately. Halberds, glaives, English and Italian bills, partizans, etc. If you made battle ready AND corresponding practice versions, you'd own that niche.
i understand your problem with the missmatched hilt/blade design. often you have a more modern hilt on a older blade, hilts will wear and be replaced regulary so no plroblwm with a 15th cent hilt on a 14th cent blade. the other way around? makes no sense!
I have a Gen1. Balaur Arms goes hard. and if I were paying $2,000 for a gd Albion instead of $220 like a normal person maybe I'd be mad about the rippling. but I can't justify 10x the price for literally anything
Wish they were in Europe: A $200 sword becomes a $400 dollar sword when adding shipping and taxes and that's before it is handled by my local customs office...
Sooo...if I was walking through 15thC Verona, and some chump dumped a pint of ale on my head for giving his mistress the ol' leaning tower, this would be an apt tool to teach him a lesson in gentlemanly manners? If that's the case, I think that's not a bad deal, rippling be damned.
Sharp corners on a guard are completely unacceptable. That is one of my biggest pet peeves as maker. Whenever a sword comes to my hands for inspection at the shop I always make sure the edges of it's guard were softened at least or taken to the slack belt sander and knocked back a touch then buffed.
OK so i got mine, sharpened it, and used it. the steel is so soft it cant be called battle ready. if you want a good looking prop, this is it. if you want something to cut with? this is NOT it 😕 i cant say this is worth a quarter of a thousand dollars
People don't cut paper to stress test their whole sword or to test it's ability to handle heavy use, they cut to test one singular parameter which does make a difference in the sword's performance.
Only the cool kids stay up til midnight to watch sword reviews!
😆
5am here in the UK.
Oh. So this is where they hang out. O.K.
@@book3100 l0😅 Zaza😅
"The coolest"
Windlass has definitely stepped up their quality & accuracy in recent years on certain swords; starting with the original few runs of the Battlecry line (good for the price backyard cutters), to the swords they have, and may still be doing, for Balaur Arms to the Royal Armouries line Matt helped create.
I'm glad to see it honestly as Windlass certainly has been a position to be a powerhouse in entry swords & mid level swords...possibly lower high end swords even?
I just bought this sword at 4am. Thanks, Matt!
I own one of the first generation. I bought it as munitions grade for $100. The blade is very well tempered and can bend and return to true. I also agree about your comment on the cross guard, filed mine down, rounded it off and it feels wonderful to finger grip. The pommel fits your hand perfectly when you’re using it, I’m glad you reviewed it! I love mine, and have sharpened it myself, it feels wonderful in the hand and is by far one of my favorite swords. for the price, it is easy to put it in harms way. I have never been able to damage it and feel that it is an excellent bargain. Buy one and you won’t be disatisfied. Thanks, Matt.
Ive been thinking about this for weeks just ordered mine with the sharpening from KoA im super excited for my first sword.
Damn I was hoping to see a cutting test on some bottles or tatami, I love when matt includes those in his videos
Could you do a segment on the level of sharpness historically for edged weapons? (If you haven't already) I believe I read once about the lancers in Napoleon's army having direct orders to sharpen their lances, but I'm not sure.
Always happy to see another sword review on this channel.
Breaks my heart that I can't afford it right now, but I am glad for those who can.
keep grinding brother! one day!
My wife just noticed that you didn't end the video by reassuring us that you will still be Matt Easton the next time we see you, so now she's worried that you won't be Matt Easton anymore.
That pommel looks like a great project for some engraving or etching 😊
Only $220?! Wow that seems like a hell of a great deal! I may have to pick one up for myself at that price. 🤔👍👍
yeah, and only 500$ in shipping
@@VikingWeShallGo Yeah, KoA's shipping is expensive within its domestic USA market.
Get out your file and Dremel polishing attachments my dude. I'm just saying, a $220usd sword is going to come with $220usd sword issues.
@@jrhamilton4448 Missed the video, didja?
@@ShepherdsSheepdog Completely missed it, saw the thumbnail though and thought that was enough to leave a comment 😂
Balaur means Dragon in Romanian. Curious to know if a Romanian is involved in this brand or if it's just a brand name.
I have one of those blades from years ago. I would love if they made a model with finger rings or a "Munich town guard" or similar guard on it. Would handle absolutely amazing in the hand with the increased hilt mass.
I like how we're looking at the at the Balaur Arms 15th century arming sword from the Kult of Athena. 😊👍
All right, I went and bought one. I paid for the sharpening service, though.
It's good to know your thought about the historical inspiration was basically the same as mine. This one could go with the upturned and sometimes curled guard of Oakshott's Family F (the sword attributed to Henry V, bunch of later 15th century Northwestern European swords) or change out the pommel and guard for something like the Castillon Group B. Kind of an odd choice since I doubt that these changes would make it cost that much more.
I bought this one last year for about $300 US and thought it was well priced then. I have the same issue with the guard. I wear gloves often, so it is less of an issue. For that price, I may get a second one.
Clarification question: Kult of Athena offers a sharpening service for the sword for an extra $25, or with what they call "factory edge"
Is this sword factory edge, or sharpened?
I'm assuming it's been sharpened, but I figure it's good to get clarification
KoA sharpening service. Btw, even if this isn't uber sharp, the sharpening service is worth it just to establish a basic edge bevel. As someone who's sharpened numerous totally blunt swords, putting your own edge on from scratch is a ton of work. With this you can just touch it up to suit your needs.
@@crominion6045 And the guy who does the sharpening at KoA (I can't remember his name unfortunately) is really really good at his job. He's turned Deepeeka swords that are completely blunt, into having a very good functional edge.
...I can not recomend the sharpening service of KoA. Have another Balaur Arms (of very mediocre quality) sharpend by KoA: an ugly looking, stupid angeled secondary bevel and a curvy edge and altering the profil of the tip to the bad - nothing you want at all........
The factory “edge” is 1mm average and flat
Seems like a sweet starter sword, never owned one myself...any chance this could be in a future giveaway?
To be honest about the scabbard fitting, I actually prefer when I get swords to be somewhat looser in the scabbard, because where I live the relative humidity is somewhat low, and the scabbards end up shrinking. So I've had swords that fit beautifully on first purchase, and now the scabbards are WAY too tight for the sword to fit nicely and sometimes they even get stuck in it and require percussive force to remove (the LK Chen jians I've bought is one example. Their daos don't seem to have this issue as much).
I also agree with you with the guard. I have a Valiant Armoury I purchased last year, one of the ones made to look like Gandalf's Glamdring. The guard and pommel both have VERY hard edges that would pass the nail scrape test for a good bushcraft knife (i.e. you use the spine of your knife to scrape a ferro rod to light a fire). Super uncomfortable when actually trying to cut with it, and one of the corners on the pommel actually left the kind of scratch on my arm that my cat could do. For Valiant Armoury that basically put me off from buying from them again; I shouldn't have to use a file to round the hard edges on a sword I paid $1500 for. Not to mention the guard rattles on it now too. (presumably caused by the aforementioned humidity difference in my location, so I can't exactly fault the company for that in itself).
I love the look of the pommel and gaurd...
I've actually been looking at arming swords recently.
Thanks for the review I hope it helps people with their decision ⚔️
Nice review. This one’s been in my wishlist for a while. Maybe I’ll talk myself into it by morning. 😂
If they just had it with the leather in some shade of brown i would definitely buy it. I'll never understand the prevalence of all black everything
I've had some problems with swords I bought from Windlass. Especially when it comes to shipping.
I love what Balaur Arms has managed to do, especially in terms of the sheer quality for such a price. But I definitely wish they had made different design choices on the hilt. I have their "Teutonic Sword" and it looks beautiful but it has that same issue with very sharp corners on the guard and the pommel is a bit strange, especially in its side profile
Can't wait to watch! Cool sword
I got a carolingian sword from red dragon armoury, same scabbard, very similar materials...same factory ? (and it's a feather light 'viking' sword at 860 grams, type Z)
Would you consider some reviews on entry priced basket hilt swords? The only truly affordable ones I can think of are Armour Class or very overweight and would love your take on it
This problem with the guard I have with the Royal Armouries two-hander. When I train in a t-shirt my underarms get interesting designs.
TH-cam just removed my selection to recieve notifications from this channel (bell icon)! Luckly I saw it...
I'd really have preferred they used this pommel for some of their Type XI and XII blades. It would have fit better than this one. I've got a couple of the Balaur Arms swords, and I always have to take a file to the hilt and pommel to make the edges smoother.
A question: I have a replica dagger with 14" blade (I measured it). And it had a peculiar name to it, but I've forgotten it. Can anyone help me?
It looks to me like the scabbard is covered in chrome tanned leather. Are you able to say if that is the case or not?
Really surprised they did not bevel and round off the edges on the guard.
Not my era but now I want one!
I had one of these for a while, but had to sell it before I cut anything with it. I kinda regret it now... 😢
I've been wanting to stop by the Kult
Of Athrns store...is there just the one in Elgin , Illinois, U.S.A. ???
The market needs good project swords !!!
But how does the hollow grind cut compared to a flat grind ? I imagine their is a LOT more drag going through tatami (or damp rolled newspaper). Is there ?
"Apologize this review is so late coming."
*Sees it's Midnight my time.*
I say you're right on time for the new day.
I can see the rippling. Just by you holding it up... And it hitting the light
QUESTION
Could a knight or man at arms taken the full hilt and broken blade. Andc said fix this . That seems possible I think.
It's a pity I think, that the manufacturers always think of the seam on the scabbard as being on the "back". I personally like the seam and would love to have a scabbard with the seam on the front with contrasting stitching. Although that particular scabbard doesn't have any inherent hanging system so you could pick the "back" as the front on that particular sword. Isn't this design based very loosely on the "Henry V sword"? That would follow if in previous iterations it had a curved crossguard. The blade shape is basically the same although (by the looks of it it's a little bit thinner, in thickness not width, than the "Henry"). It's just been fitted with a chunky version of a generic straight crossguard of the medieval period in general. COOL!!!
Could it be Depeeka? Maybe a Chinese origin???
Thank you for the review. Was just curious if the swords sharpness was how it comes standard or after the additional sharpening option kult of Athena offers?
I was curious about that, as well. As best as I can tell, after looking at their website, the sword is unsharpened at all unless you choose the $25 sharpening service. It says "unsharpened" in the specifications tab and the pictures seem to verify that. I've heard KoA's sharpening service isn't known to be consistent even across the same edge, much less both edges. It's still better than I could do, so I'd probably still pay for it, but if you are skilled at sharpening swords or know a good service near you, I'd recommend doing that instead.
is that the factory edge or their "sharpened"
Hope you can review their kreigsmesse
Day 3 of asking for a part 2 to your helmet history video
brutal honesty and still a good sword for price. hard to beat.
I still wonder though, if this has so many positive features, what's the difference between this $220 sword, and say, an Albion? Will this not stand up to use? Was it simply made to look pretty and be sharp out of the box?
I don't know why they have higher price but my guess would be "because it's handmade with high attention to detail".
@@ugandanknuckkles9667 what? Albion is fully cnc,
With Albion you should expect higher quality, and better materials, but i often feel Albion swords are bit too expensive maybe. There often isnt structually anything wrong with cheaper swords, but they are just not quite as nice. Albions also does not have rippling or fitting issues or anything like that they are kinda like machine perfect since they are ground using CNC. In reacent years these cheaper swords like Windlass have become lot better than in past.
Albion does not have scabbards, which is pretty sad. So in my eyes Albion is inferior
...the Balaur Arms swords are not good at all. Have two in my big collection (around 50 swords from Kingston Arms, Royal Armourys Windlass, Albion, etc. to high end handmade ones). I regret having the Balaurs. Poor fit and finish (pommels comming loose, crossguards fixed with ugly brown resin, very soft material of the crossguard, bending...etc....). Blades are not as bad as fit and finish but also not realy good. Any comparison to my 10 Albions is a joke - all of them are absolut high end swords (yes, to a high end price). Is this Balaur sword worth 200 Euros? Yes it is. Can you by a good sword for 200 Euros? Not really! You get what you pay for: a budged sword with many flaws, loocking good from a distance - is this ok for you, buy one... P.S. nice to have these (simple) scabbards for storage, but most of them did not match the period of the sword in style (unfortunately seen by many manufacturers selling swords with scabbards)....
Huh. Interesting. Not that I'm in the market for one, but I'd like of like a hand-and-a-half. But it's good to know that something like this is out there.
I really should put some effort into finding my tablet. I'm tired of hearing about centimeters and grams and wanting to convert them and I can't because my tablet's elsewhere.
Does it work as a cutter ?
Even with it's faults, I'm sure that sword would be the best friend for a medieval footsoldier
Hey Matt, would you ever review an American 1840 cavalry sabre?
I wish I could get this blade with a saber hilt
I want one. I've got absolutely no use for one. But, I want one.
Looks identical to the one I got off red dragon, just not blunted
7:56 Not to be alibistic, but in a "yes, and" roleplaying style, anyone can incorporate that into the fiction of this sword.
That's a fine looking tool.
Trustworthy
I thought wow, looks fab for the money......but the price to get it to the UK is crazy expensive.
The same, if I lived in the US it would be a much better deal.
Not related to this sword, but Hey Kult Of Athena/Balaur Arms, if you're reading comments here: Make a line of polearms. No one seems to be doing good, accurate polearms lately. Halberds, glaives, English and Italian bills, partizans, etc. If you made battle ready AND corresponding practice versions, you'd own that niche.
Hmmmm. May need this one
Hell yeah !
Damn, I can't find it
i understand your problem with the missmatched hilt/blade design.
often you have a more modern hilt on a older blade, hilts will wear and be replaced regulary so no plroblwm with a 15th cent hilt on a 14th cent blade.
the other way around? makes no sense!
I have a Gen1. Balaur Arms goes hard. and if I were paying $2,000 for a gd Albion instead of $220 like a normal person maybe I'd be mad about the rippling. but I can't justify 10x the price for literally anything
For that price I have to buy one
Wish they were in Europe: A $200 sword becomes a $400 dollar sword when adding shipping and taxes and that's before it is handled by my local customs office...
Great value but shipping to the uk is like £500 which is insane
I have the new balaur xiv. Pretty fucking badass. Great for killing zombies
So it is a good utilitarian sword.
Sooo...if I was walking through 15thC Verona, and some chump dumped a pint of ale on my head for giving his mistress the ol' leaning tower, this would be an apt tool to teach him a lesson in gentlemanly manners? If that's the case, I think that's not a bad deal, rippling be damned.
We want to see some water bottles decapitated Mr. Easton. Pleeeeeeeeeease.
Sharp corners on a guard are completely unacceptable. That is one of my biggest pet peeves as maker. Whenever a sword comes to my hands for inspection at the shop I always make sure the edges of it's guard were softened at least or taken to the slack belt sander and knocked back a touch then buffed.
OK so i got mine, sharpened it, and used it. the steel is so soft it cant be called battle ready. if you want a good looking prop, this is it. if you want something to cut with? this is NOT it 😕
i cant say this is worth a quarter of a thousand dollars
Sharp enough to split a banana though by the looks of it, eh Laddie? But is it lighter?? I think not!
3:19 _Boinnnnnk_
GAH, I NEED A BETTER PAYCHECK TO JUSTIFY EVEN COLLECTING THIS, IT'S NOT FAIR, DANG RECESSION!!
Maybe their grandfather's sword blade broke so they had a new blade made? :)
For that price, you call call it a shiny pickle.
tz, know me, want also longer handle when long sword. You fail!
Damn $220 for that, seems like a no brainer.
Balaur means Dragon in romanian 😶🌫️
Nice sword for the money
1.97 lbs.
Two things I hate to see on any sword: Boring-looking hilts, and hilts with sharp edges that hurt your hand.
You are wrong, not want challenge to sword fight. But need, get me to blacksmiths, to get sword on own specifications.
Only the cool kids buy one of these
I always laugh at the paper cut test.
If you get into a fight with books, you have problems a sword won't help with.
😉
People don't cut paper to stress test their whole sword or to test it's ability to handle heavy use, they cut to test one singular parameter which does make a difference in the sword's performance.
They need to sto p calling them replica swords... We gotta find a new word
Forged finish… LOL RIPPLES.
Ok, so it’s not an arming sword, and the cross guard is too sharp and the guard and pommel are as plain as a doorknob, but it’s a sword, Whoopee !?
Day 4 of asking for a part 2 to your helmet history video