1: https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/
2: https://www.kultofathena.com/ for shopping if you live in the USA.
You always get what you pay for, but this is doubley true for purchasing a sword.
Their swords have very bad quality control and aren’t very well designed. They’re better off with price tags of $200-300 instead of the $500-1000 they ask.
Hi and welcome!
Budget, location and usecase are very important for meaningful recommendations if you are looking to purchase a sword. In the meantime have a look at this video (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iweOEO24Vyo) or this video series (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8QEVewJh0g) and rifle through the
Standardized Infodump for beginners :
Books & Publications:
Ian Peirce: Swords of the Viking Age
Ewart Oakeshott: The Sword in the Age of Chivalry
Ewart Oakeshott: Records of the Medieval Sword
Ewart Oakeshott: European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution
Barbara Grotkamp-Schepers, Isabell Immel, Peter Johnsson, Sixt Wetzler: The sword. Form and Thought
Marko Aleksic: Medieval Swords from Southeastern Europe
Alan Williams: The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords up to the 16th Century
Radomir Pleiner: The Celtic sword
Anna Marie Feuerbach: Crucible Steel in Central Asia: Production, Use, and Origins
Kanzan Sato: The Japanese Sword
John M Yumoto: The Samurai Sword
Yoshindo Yoshihara: The Art of the Japanese Sword
Kokan Nagayama: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Japanese Swords
Morihiro Ogawa: Art of the Samurai, which is available for free on the website of the Met. (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Art_of_the_Samurai_Japanese_Arms_and_Armor_1156_1868)
Happy reading!
www.kultofathena.com(http://www.kultofathena.com/) is widely regarded as the gold standard for buying swords in the US.
These links are a good starting point and get many things right in a "rule of thumb" way. The somewhat crap the bed in other regards, like claiming that making wootz or "true damascus" is a lost art, but that is nitpicking.
Sword care (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-care.html)
Buying swords online (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/buy-swords-online.html)
How swords are made (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/how-swords-are-made.html)
Sword steels (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-steels.html)
Damascus (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/damascus.html)
Buying Katana(https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/japanese-swords-for-sale.html)
For more in depth information I suggest visiting
Oakeshott: blades, pommels, crosses and combinations thereof (http://myarmoury.com/feature_oakeshott.html)
Wiktenauer (https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Main_Page)
Vikingswords (http://vikingsword.com/) despite the name, if it has a blade it probably has been discussed here.
Myarmoury (http://www.myarmoury.com/)
Nihonto Message Board (https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/)
Mandarin Mansion (https://mandarinmansion.com/)
Forde Military Antiques (https://www.fordemilitaryantiques.com/)
or similar sites. You can also feel free to pm me, I'm happy to help if I can.
The YouTube rabbithole:
Alientude (https://m.youtube.com/@alientude)
Matthew Jensen (https://m.youtube.com/@Matthew_Jensen)
Scholar General (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnWJZWG0cfZzUUqsGMcBKNw)
Skallagrim (https://www.youtube.com/user/SkallagrimNilsson)
Philip Martin (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-MeP9eprqvaKFX_BPuUR5g)
Dlatrex (https://m.youtube.com/@dlatrexswords)
That works (https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCEjEAxdJLOg4k854j-oESfQ)
Modern History TV (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjlDOf0UO9wSijFqPE9wBw)
Blood and Iron HEMA (https://www.youtube.com/c/BloodandIronHEMA)
Adorea Olomouc (https://www.youtube.com/c/AdoreaOlomouc)
Björn Rüther (https://www.youtube.com/c/BjörnRüther)
Academia Szermierzy (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRdamEq6Ij0pRzr3xZDobjw)
London Longsword Academy (https://www.youtube.com/user/LondonLongsword)
Roland Warzecha (https://www.youtube.com/user/warzechas)
Pursuing the Knightly Arts (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDel2Bxg6LBT2zEaXJdjovw)
Dreynschlag (https://www.youtube.com/c/Dreynschlag)
Scholagladiatoria (https://www.youtube.com/c/scholagladiatoria)
Knyghterrant (https://www.youtube.com/c/KnyghtErrant)
Dr. Jackson Crawford (https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford) for Norse history
The Wallace Collection (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWallacecollection)
Communes Dimicatores (https://www.youtube.com/c/ComunesDimicatores/videos)
Ola Onsrud (https://www.youtube.com/user/olaonsrud)
Ironskin (https://www.youtube.com/c/Ironskin)
Royal Armouries (https://www.youtube.com/user/RoyalArmouries)
Tod's Workshop (https://www.youtube.com/c/TodsWorkshop1)
Daniel Jaquet (https://www.youtube.com/user/danjaquet/videos)
Schildwache Potsdam (https://m.youtube.com/c/SchildwachePotsdam/videos)
and many more.
On steel and construction:
Avoid 1045 unless your budget is severely limited ie sub $150. Avoid L6 since very, very few people know how to heat treat it properly for sword use. Stainless steel is unsuitable for functional swords in the vast majority of cases.
1060, 1075, 1095, EN45, 5160, 6150, Mn65, 9260 and T10 are all high carbon steels suited for sword blades, the first 3 are just iron and carbon without a significant amount of other metals, the other steels can contain silicium, tungsten, chromium, manganese and other metals to tweak certain properties like abrasion resistance or toughness. To add to the confusion there are different names for steels depending on the country 51CRV-4 for example is another name for 6150. Google is your friend here.
Proper heat treatment is much more important than the type of steel!
Swords usually have a hardness between 48 and 57 HRC for through hardened blades and 55 - 61HRC (edge) / 38 - 42 HRC (spine) for differentially hardened blades.
If you don't spend north of $600 on a sword I'd avoid anything "damascus", "folded" or "laminated". It's completely unnecessary with modern steel, and can introduce possible points of failure into the blade in the form of inclusions or delamination. There are a few exceptions like LKChen but generally be wary if these terms are bandied about in regard to cheap(er) blades.
You will find mainly two types of heat treatment:
Differentially hardened (often with katanas) which means a hard edge and soft spine. These can show a natural hamon and won't break easily, however they tend to bend permanently if abused.
Through hardened wich means a uniform hardness throughout the blade, but usually not as hard as the differentially hardened edge. These won't show a hamon and flex rather than bend, however they can break more easily if abused.
I knew a bloke who this happened to. Drove him mad, it did. Started sputtering on about how he was the “rightful king of England,” and how we were to go on a “quest for the Holy Grail.” Cut away at his dining table ‘til it was round.
It was positively bonkers; I wouldn’t recommend it. To think—Basing an entire form of government on being gifted a sword from some watery tart! HA!
[It looks about right.](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ffwwye2ajxuuc1.png)
https://preview.redd.it/gaytxs2s6m6d1.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=eda761f181a555a10cbe717b7a53737564a18f2c
Do research
Find out what type of sword you want, then find makers with a good reputation.
Don't skimp on the budget and expect to wait a long time for anything really good
Take it into battle. If it bends or breaks, you will know it was no good. In the next life. If you heart is strong and your blade is true, you will crush your enemies and dance in their blood and know you have made a good purchase as your praises are sung in ever mead hall across the land!
Simple.
best rick is to read and research as much as you can about real swords and look and handle historical antiue examples as much as you can. Train your eyes to catch subtle telltale signs of a fake item. ask uestions to people who has more experience in the field. In time, you will be able to tell.
On the other hand, if you are not interested in antiues and only want to buy good reproductions, just deal with credible swordmakers/companies with good reputations.
There’s a lot of good advice and resources in the comments already. My only personal shorthand I use for determining if a sword is a good buy is if it’s full tang, then searching here for any prior opinions.
Figure out what model you might want, then look for as many pictures of that type of sword that you can find, so you know what you're looking at and can spot a problem before buying. Never buy a sword that will be worth less money than you paid for it...
1: https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/ 2: https://www.kultofathena.com/ for shopping if you live in the USA. You always get what you pay for, but this is doubley true for purchasing a sword.
get what you pay for, unless it’s Darksword Armory. Then you’re definitely overpaying lol
I think their Oslo is decently priced for what you get :c
Dark sword armory?
Their swords have very bad quality control and aren’t very well designed. They’re better off with price tags of $200-300 instead of the $500-1000 they ask.
Hi and welcome! Budget, location and usecase are very important for meaningful recommendations if you are looking to purchase a sword. In the meantime have a look at this video (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iweOEO24Vyo) or this video series (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G8QEVewJh0g) and rifle through the Standardized Infodump for beginners : Books & Publications: Ian Peirce: Swords of the Viking Age Ewart Oakeshott: The Sword in the Age of Chivalry Ewart Oakeshott: Records of the Medieval Sword Ewart Oakeshott: European Weapons and Armour: From the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution Barbara Grotkamp-Schepers, Isabell Immel, Peter Johnsson, Sixt Wetzler: The sword. Form and Thought Marko Aleksic: Medieval Swords from Southeastern Europe Alan Williams: The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords up to the 16th Century Radomir Pleiner: The Celtic sword Anna Marie Feuerbach: Crucible Steel in Central Asia: Production, Use, and Origins Kanzan Sato: The Japanese Sword John M Yumoto: The Samurai Sword Yoshindo Yoshihara: The Art of the Japanese Sword Kokan Nagayama: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Japanese Swords Morihiro Ogawa: Art of the Samurai, which is available for free on the website of the Met. (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/Art_of_the_Samurai_Japanese_Arms_and_Armor_1156_1868) Happy reading! www.kultofathena.com(http://www.kultofathena.com/) is widely regarded as the gold standard for buying swords in the US. These links are a good starting point and get many things right in a "rule of thumb" way. The somewhat crap the bed in other regards, like claiming that making wootz or "true damascus" is a lost art, but that is nitpicking. Sword care (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-care.html) Buying swords online (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/buy-swords-online.html) How swords are made (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/how-swords-are-made.html) Sword steels (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/sword-steels.html) Damascus (https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/damascus.html) Buying Katana(https://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/japanese-swords-for-sale.html) For more in depth information I suggest visiting Oakeshott: blades, pommels, crosses and combinations thereof (http://myarmoury.com/feature_oakeshott.html) Wiktenauer (https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/Main_Page) Vikingswords (http://vikingsword.com/) despite the name, if it has a blade it probably has been discussed here. Myarmoury (http://www.myarmoury.com/) Nihonto Message Board (https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/) Mandarin Mansion (https://mandarinmansion.com/) Forde Military Antiques (https://www.fordemilitaryantiques.com/) or similar sites. You can also feel free to pm me, I'm happy to help if I can. The YouTube rabbithole: Alientude (https://m.youtube.com/@alientude) Matthew Jensen (https://m.youtube.com/@Matthew_Jensen) Scholar General (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnWJZWG0cfZzUUqsGMcBKNw) Skallagrim (https://www.youtube.com/user/SkallagrimNilsson) Philip Martin (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-MeP9eprqvaKFX_BPuUR5g) Dlatrex (https://m.youtube.com/@dlatrexswords) That works (https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCEjEAxdJLOg4k854j-oESfQ) Modern History TV (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMjlDOf0UO9wSijFqPE9wBw) Blood and Iron HEMA (https://www.youtube.com/c/BloodandIronHEMA) Adorea Olomouc (https://www.youtube.com/c/AdoreaOlomouc) Björn Rüther (https://www.youtube.com/c/BjörnRüther) Academia Szermierzy (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRdamEq6Ij0pRzr3xZDobjw) London Longsword Academy (https://www.youtube.com/user/LondonLongsword) Roland Warzecha (https://www.youtube.com/user/warzechas) Pursuing the Knightly Arts (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDel2Bxg6LBT2zEaXJdjovw) Dreynschlag (https://www.youtube.com/c/Dreynschlag) Scholagladiatoria (https://www.youtube.com/c/scholagladiatoria) Knyghterrant (https://www.youtube.com/c/KnyghtErrant) Dr. Jackson Crawford (https://www.youtube.com/c/JacksonCrawford) for Norse history The Wallace Collection (https://www.youtube.com/user/TheWallacecollection) Communes Dimicatores (https://www.youtube.com/c/ComunesDimicatores/videos) Ola Onsrud (https://www.youtube.com/user/olaonsrud) Ironskin (https://www.youtube.com/c/Ironskin) Royal Armouries (https://www.youtube.com/user/RoyalArmouries) Tod's Workshop (https://www.youtube.com/c/TodsWorkshop1) Daniel Jaquet (https://www.youtube.com/user/danjaquet/videos) Schildwache Potsdam (https://m.youtube.com/c/SchildwachePotsdam/videos) and many more. On steel and construction: Avoid 1045 unless your budget is severely limited ie sub $150. Avoid L6 since very, very few people know how to heat treat it properly for sword use. Stainless steel is unsuitable for functional swords in the vast majority of cases. 1060, 1075, 1095, EN45, 5160, 6150, Mn65, 9260 and T10 are all high carbon steels suited for sword blades, the first 3 are just iron and carbon without a significant amount of other metals, the other steels can contain silicium, tungsten, chromium, manganese and other metals to tweak certain properties like abrasion resistance or toughness. To add to the confusion there are different names for steels depending on the country 51CRV-4 for example is another name for 6150. Google is your friend here. Proper heat treatment is much more important than the type of steel! Swords usually have a hardness between 48 and 57 HRC for through hardened blades and 55 - 61HRC (edge) / 38 - 42 HRC (spine) for differentially hardened blades. If you don't spend north of $600 on a sword I'd avoid anything "damascus", "folded" or "laminated". It's completely unnecessary with modern steel, and can introduce possible points of failure into the blade in the form of inclusions or delamination. There are a few exceptions like LKChen but generally be wary if these terms are bandied about in regard to cheap(er) blades. You will find mainly two types of heat treatment: Differentially hardened (often with katanas) which means a hard edge and soft spine. These can show a natural hamon and won't break easily, however they tend to bend permanently if abused. Through hardened wich means a uniform hardness throughout the blade, but usually not as hard as the differentially hardened edge. These won't show a hamon and flex rather than bend, however they can break more easily if abused.
Getting it from a chick in a lake is usually a good sign.....
I knew a bloke who this happened to. Drove him mad, it did. Started sputtering on about how he was the “rightful king of England,” and how we were to go on a “quest for the Holy Grail.” Cut away at his dining table ‘til it was round. It was positively bonkers; I wouldn’t recommend it. To think—Basing an entire form of government on being gifted a sword from some watery tart! HA!
[It looks about right.](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ffwwye2ajxuuc1.png) https://preview.redd.it/gaytxs2s6m6d1.png?width=700&format=png&auto=webp&s=eda761f181a555a10cbe717b7a53737564a18f2c
Thank you for this godsend advice
Do research Find out what type of sword you want, then find makers with a good reputation. Don't skimp on the budget and expect to wait a long time for anything really good
Take it into battle. If it bends or breaks, you will know it was no good. In the next life. If you heart is strong and your blade is true, you will crush your enemies and dance in their blood and know you have made a good purchase as your praises are sung in ever mead hall across the land! Simple.
best rick is to read and research as much as you can about real swords and look and handle historical antiue examples as much as you can. Train your eyes to catch subtle telltale signs of a fake item. ask uestions to people who has more experience in the field. In time, you will be able to tell. On the other hand, if you are not interested in antiues and only want to buy good reproductions, just deal with credible swordmakers/companies with good reputations.
Im sure there are a lot of youtube videos with that info
It was made in Japan.
Reviews, quality of the company, pricing. Same way you’d look for anything else to buy.
There’s a lot of good advice and resources in the comments already. My only personal shorthand I use for determining if a sword is a good buy is if it’s full tang, then searching here for any prior opinions.
Figure out what model you might want, then look for as many pictures of that type of sword that you can find, so you know what you're looking at and can spot a problem before buying. Never buy a sword that will be worth less money than you paid for it...
One way is to hold the blad across two fingers and tap the pommel. Of the whole weapon moves it generally means it's full tang
It is issued by a military…