1340 Medival two hander

by Steven Janus
(Florida, USA)

The blade which I bought was the 1340 Two Handed Medieval Sword. It came with very heavy packaging, wrapped in plastic, newspaper, etc. It had a very think coat of oil that Eyal refers to as transport oil. I was able to wipe it off easily using brasso and a dry cloth. The first thing that popped into my mind was this things girth as I picked it up. Sure it is more hand and a half sized in terms of length but in width, it is huge! 2 inches wide at the base and remains close to or at 2 inches wide through out most of the blade's span. It is heavy yes, four and half pounds and is difficult to swing at first but you get used to the weight rather quickly.

Now the grip was good quality leather and I like the hand stitching. I really thought it was neat touch. The scabbard is the same way, nice quality hand stitched leather. However, the metal fittings were slightly corroded right out of the package. Also again, with the sheath, the troat came loose and the wood cracked at the top. Thankfully, it was not a big deal and I was able to resolve the issue by gluing it with a fair coat of expoxy.

I had a few small issues with the blade, all most all of them revolving around the pommel. The way it came from the factory, the pommel was a bit loose. It took me about two and a half days of playing around with the nut and tightenning and losenning along with the pommel to get it to sit just right. It's a hair off center, less than half a milimeter. However, it now sits tightly on there. The pommel is not perfectly symetrical but over all I do like the look. I also do apreciate the ingravings on the blade, Knight's Templar in latin and the DSA's awsome logo.

As far as handling, again it is a fairly heavy blade as I mentioned ealier. The size and weight of the pommel does keep it well balanced however. So it swings fairly fast and once you get used to the feel, you can stil strike back with a second swing fairly quickly. I must say, desipte all the small faults, mainly the pommel being a bit off and the quailty of the sheath, also the minor scratches on the blade, I'm still glad I got this sword. The blade it self is amazingly strong and can take a hell of a beating. I banged the back of this thing hard against a metal chair, swung it against tree branches, stabbed that same tree, among other targets. It definitely is one tough SOB. Over all, for the price, I'd definitely recrommend this sword. The only thing I'd say is because it is a screw on pommel you may need to spend some time playing with the nut and pommel to get it down right. Other than that, it is a good sword.