Thanks again, guys for this awesome collaboration. It was a great discussion. Some of the unused footage I saved for future videos of related topics. 👍
Me, too. I have both and I love both. There are a few other type XVIIIc-ish swords in my possession as well and I have various feelings about them. But this one by LK Chen is quite a bang for your buck, especially for the people who drill or cut with swords often.
Looks like Balaur is finally able to nail the design and come up with a competent sword. The side-by-side shots of the sword with the Principe and how you cut with them elucidate the contrast.
I enjoy my collab with Vic and Jon of Unsheathed Sword Reviews. They are great fun guys to work with. Hopefully I can visit them to do some collab in person this year.
Actually I was just at Vic's place this past weekend to film several reviews, a live stream and tons of cutting with Vic, Jon and the ladies. Great time! Stay tuned!
From a performance perspective, how do you feel this compares with the Purpleheart/Victor Barbekucz competition cutter? Clearly the Balaur Arms piece is more attractive and more faithful to the historical pieces in profile.
@@FortuneFavoursTheBold Interesting, you had quite liked the Purpleheart as a lower priced offering, so the BA must be very nice! Looks like I may need to reassess.
@@AOWGroundBeef Indeed. The Purpleheart Armory one by Viktor Berbekucz came in during my earlier career and I still like it quite a lot to this day. This model has been taken by competent people to competition cutting tournaments to win medal. Not a sword to be underestimated. However, it is objectively less of a good sword than the Balaur Arms/LK Chen Alexandria, in every way.
If someone bought their LK chen from a secondary retailer like KOA ,, and it was previously returned after someone cut with it,, perhaps it would not be factory sharp, which would not be LK chens fault.
True. Though this one I got from Kult of Athena was definitely not returned by anyone, as I pre-ordered them on the first day pre-ordering was open, and mine was the first one they shipped.
@@FortuneFavoursTheBold No, your audio is bad. Blaming people that givw you a watch is dumb.. Your High school type reactikn, plus your poor video skills means your channel will not do well...THUMBS DOWN! .. 😎
That Ronin Euro 3 would be a steal at its price point for someone with the wherewithal to replace the handle. Or even just the pommel, if one could find something the same size, but filled out with another 6-8 ounces.
The Ronin Euro #3 can indeed improved by having a properly built pommel with the correct dimensions, geometries and mass, but first of all having a hilt smith to take a peened sword apart and modify an arbitrarily built pommel and the tang to fit each other is costly and tricky. Two, the blade on the Ronin Euro3 still doesn't have enough distal taper. Sure you can get an experienced grinder to modify it too, but again it adds to the cost. By the time you have everything finished, you probably have spent over 1000 dollars for the sword. At that point, I'd rather spend a couple hundred more to get an Albion Alexandria. Or get the Balaur Arms Alexandria for a fraction of that cost, and get WAY superior handling dynamics and cutting performance.
Hmmm, are the listed dimensions of the Ronin incorrect, then? KOA has the thickness tapering from 6.4 to 2.7mm... not quite as much as the Balaur, but not bad at all for low midrange... unless it's one of those cases of badly stepped tapering or something. As far as the re-pommeling, I still think someone should try putting a hole in the hollow pommel and filling it with lead or pewter using a bullet caster, just to see how much that helps.@@FortuneFavoursTheBold
It shouldn't be surprising to find out that makers like Ronin Katana don't output products of consistent measurements. These are hand made by different smiths and craftsmen, and they generally suffer a degradation over time due to the loss of skilled labor. I've taken a look at some of the initial reports of Ronin Euro's prototypes and they have more appropriate distal taper. Over time, they consistently become worse. By the time I got my RK Euro3, which is February 2020, the base thickness had been downgraded to 4.5mm, midpoint 4mm, and 3mm near the tip. You can see originally the distal taper used to be 100%-2.7/6.4=58% or so, now it's merely 33%. Changes the handling quite substantially. Another problem of Ronin comparing to Balaur Arms (a brand owned by Kult of Athena) is that Ronin never listen to consumer feedback especially the suggestions coming from experts and correct their mistakes. The pommel on their Euro #2, 3, and 13 are far too small in diameter, too thin and are partially hollow. All of them have wildly inappropriate point of balance due to that and they never made any change over the years. Their distal taper becomes worse over time, and the cross section of many of those models are wrong. People use them as beaters and they seem to be plenty durable, but they seem a bit far from the historical swords they try to emulate.
Wow. 4.5mm? I know there is going to be some range of tolerance in the final product, but a sword that is that far off spec is defective and should be returned.@@FortuneFavoursTheBold
@@joshuafair5599 All swords of that model I have heard people receiving are more or less of that thickness and tapering. It's not defective. It's just how they make that model now.
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. - J.R.R. Tolkien
Thank you for yet another excellent sword review.Your channel is currently the best there is out there.Keep it up..!
Thank you kindly!
Great review, thanks Kane and thanks to Vic and Jon as well. Really enjoyed the video.
Thank you, for watching and the compliment!
Excellent review! Always a pleasure when unsheathed is involved.
Absolutely! Vic and Jon are extremely fun knowledge and fun to chat about swords with.
Excellent video sir! Thank you for the shout-out and for doing this collab. It was a lot of fun.
Thanks again, guys for this awesome collaboration. It was a great discussion. Some of the unused footage I saved for future videos of related topics. 👍
Ill be honest this looks amazing, but im still rocking with the principe . Great review as usual Kane!
Me, too. I have both and I love both. There are a few other type XVIIIc-ish swords in my possession as well and I have various feelings about them. But this one by LK Chen is quite a bang for your buck, especially for the people who drill or cut with swords often.
Incredible Collab, Good to see Vic and Jon as well.
Thanks, brother!
The comparison you made really contrasts the two swords. It’s also handy to bring up a few other sword types to show the connections there.
I'm glad that you see the point here.
Detailed breakdown of this sword. Many thanks!
Glad you liked it!
I would rather get this for 1/3 of the price and get hell a lot of fun out of it doing cutting. Thanks for the review!
Glad to be of help!
Looks like Balaur is finally able to nail the design and come up with a competent sword. The side-by-side shots of the sword with the Principe and how you cut with them elucidate the contrast.
I can’t agree more 👍
I watched their end of the review, and now I'm surprised that your version even contains more information!
Thank you for noticing that. It took me a lot of time editing all the footage to make them flow naturally.
Yet another great review! It was good to collaborate with other tubers that share the same passion with you.
I enjoy my collab with Vic and Jon of Unsheathed Sword Reviews. They are great fun guys to work with. Hopefully I can visit them to do some collab in person this year.
başarılar
Thanks!
Great collab, hope you can do more with these guys. They have a great bromance chemistry.
Actually I was just at Vic's place this past weekend to film several reviews, a live stream and tons of cutting with Vic, Jon and the ladies. Great time! Stay tuned!
From a performance perspective, how do you feel this compares with the Purpleheart/Victor Barbekucz competition cutter? Clearly the Balaur Arms piece is more attractive and more faithful to the historical pieces in profile.
No question the BA Lk Chen Alexandria wins in every single aspect.
@@FortuneFavoursTheBold Interesting, you had quite liked the Purpleheart as a lower priced offering, so the BA must be very nice! Looks like I may need to reassess.
@@AOWGroundBeef Indeed. The Purpleheart Armory one by Viktor Berbekucz came in during my earlier career and I still like it quite a lot to this day. This model has been taken by competent people to competition cutting tournaments to win medal. Not a sword to be underestimated. However, it is objectively less of a good sword than the Balaur Arms/LK Chen Alexandria, in every way.
If someone bought their LK chen from a secondary retailer like KOA ,, and it was previously returned after someone cut with it,, perhaps it would not be factory sharp, which would not be LK chens fault.
True. Though this one I got from Kult of Athena was definitely not returned by anyone, as I pre-ordered them on the first day pre-ordering was open, and mine was the first one they shipped.
Maybe it can’t cut a knight in half like the Principe, but it doesn’t take that much to kill a knight.
I suppose that’s true. A sword doesn’t need to overkill to be effective. It also needs to be efficient.
Hey Guy... Your Audio IS HORRIBLE! Are you near a Highway? Plus your own audio is bad...
Nah, your audio output is HORRIBLE. Other people hear my audio just fine.
@@FortuneFavoursTheBold No, your audio is bad. Blaming people that givw you a watch is dumb.. Your High school type reactikn, plus your poor video skills means your channel will not do well...THUMBS DOWN! .. 😎
All I would say is, IT WILL KEEL!
Of that, there's no doubt. The question is how efficient a weapon can be doing that, and how reliable it is at defending your life.
😊
Hello!
That Ronin Euro 3 would be a steal at its price point for someone with the wherewithal to replace the handle. Or even just the pommel, if one could find something the same size, but filled out with another 6-8 ounces.
The Ronin Euro #3 can indeed improved by having a properly built pommel with the correct dimensions, geometries and mass, but first of all having a hilt smith to take a peened sword apart and modify an arbitrarily built pommel and the tang to fit each other is costly and tricky. Two, the blade on the Ronin Euro3 still doesn't have enough distal taper. Sure you can get an experienced grinder to modify it too, but again it adds to the cost. By the time you have everything finished, you probably have spent over 1000 dollars for the sword. At that point, I'd rather spend a couple hundred more to get an Albion Alexandria. Or get the Balaur Arms Alexandria for a fraction of that cost, and get WAY superior handling dynamics and cutting performance.
Hmmm, are the listed dimensions of the Ronin incorrect, then? KOA has the thickness tapering from 6.4 to 2.7mm... not quite as much as the Balaur, but not bad at all for low midrange... unless it's one of those cases of badly stepped tapering or something.
As far as the re-pommeling, I still think someone should try putting a hole in the hollow pommel and filling it with lead or pewter using a bullet caster, just to see how much that helps.@@FortuneFavoursTheBold
It shouldn't be surprising to find out that makers like Ronin Katana don't output products of consistent measurements. These are hand made by different smiths and craftsmen, and they generally suffer a degradation over time due to the loss of skilled labor.
I've taken a look at some of the initial reports of Ronin Euro's prototypes and they have more appropriate distal taper. Over time, they consistently become worse. By the time I got my RK Euro3, which is February 2020, the base thickness had been downgraded to 4.5mm, midpoint 4mm, and 3mm near the tip. You can see originally the distal taper used to be 100%-2.7/6.4=58% or so, now it's merely 33%. Changes the handling quite substantially.
Another problem of Ronin comparing to Balaur Arms (a brand owned by Kult of Athena) is that Ronin never listen to consumer feedback especially the suggestions coming from experts and correct their mistakes. The pommel on their Euro #2, 3, and 13 are far too small in diameter, too thin and are partially hollow. All of them have wildly inappropriate point of balance due to that and they never made any change over the years. Their distal taper becomes worse over time, and the cross section of many of those models are wrong. People use them as beaters and they seem to be plenty durable, but they seem a bit far from the historical swords they try to emulate.
Wow. 4.5mm? I know there is going to be some range of tolerance in the final product, but a sword that is that far off spec is defective and should be returned.@@FortuneFavoursTheBold
@@joshuafair5599 All swords of that model I have heard people receiving are more or less of that thickness and tapering. It's not defective. It's just how they make that model now.
I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.
- J.R.R. Tolkien
Indeed. I'm sure sword friend Daniel would wholeheartedly agree.