Windlass Steelcrafts Swords

Windlass Steelcrafts, based in Uttaranchal, India are one of the oldest sword companies still in production. Established in 1943 by Mr VP Windlass (pictured right) the company was originally founded to supply Khurki Knives to the British Army.

In the late 1970s they began to export their swords to the US and have over time grown to dominate the market for functional medieval and ancient sword replicas. However, true to their roots, they also continue to supply various militaries throughout the world with their ceremonial swords, and have even made quite an impact in Hollywood – with their swords being selected for use in the movie itself and the officially licensed replicas.

Famous for using good quality steel (from 1065 to 1095 carbon steel, depending on the requirements of the sword) and heat treating it with a specialized state of the art heat treating furnace, the end result is an extremely consistent product. Shipped unsharpened as standard (with a 1mm edge) many places offer a sharpening service for an additional fee if required .

Their products are typically priced in the $100 to $300 mark and are widely available through their US distributor (owned by Windlass Steelcrafts) – Museum Replicas Limited (MRL) – or their Candian one – Reliks.com (who actually have lower prices, even when shipping is included, than their US counterpart!) – not to mention a whole host of other sword vendors.

MAIN PRODUCT LINES
Photos Courtesy of Swords of Honor. No links to product sections are possible as there are no sites that stock them by category – however you can see a large selection of their swords at excellent prices here...

‘ANCIENT’ SWORDS: While Windlass Steelcrafts make a small selection of Ancient Greek and Roman swords – the historical accuracy of these blades tends to be left wanting, though many are quite serviceable and functional - just the attention to detail is often somewhat off. Most of the swords in this line have been around for years and comes across as something of a side project compared to their medieval line. However as the steel is so good, they are worth modifying for those requiring a more historically accurate sword.

MILITARY SWORDS: Naturally, as they are contracted by the armed forces to produce good quality Military Presentation Swords – Windlass Steelcrafts also make many of these swords available to the public, as well as more historical blades such as American Civil War Swords and other fine Cavalry Swords. Considering the price tag, these blades are exceptionally good value for money and easily the best on the market. As such, they make great authentic gifts for friends and family in the military.

FANTASY AND MOVIE SWORDS: Perhaps the second biggest part of their business, Windlass Steelcrafts produce a large variety of officially licensed movie swords – both for the actual industry itself and the fans. Unlike most other movie swords, Windlass movie replicas are considered to be fully functional and made by the exact same processes as their other blades. They have a small selection of fantasy swords – and have dabbled in this area for several side projects, but they tend not to stay in production for very long.

RETIRING PRODUCTS

There is very little point even trying to keep this section updated. Windlass Steelcrafts are quite infamous for continually discontinuing swords in their lines and replacing them with something new and completely different at a pace that is impossible to keep up with.

Unfortunately, much to the chagrin of the sword community at large (and to the particular distaste of the editor), they also discontinue swords that have been extremely favourably received and make it extremely difficult to predict how long any given sword will be around for – or if the quality of a new product will be one of their better models, or a flawed one..

HOW THEY ARE MADE

Forged from high quality, high carbon steel and tempered with the most advanced heat treating processes available they produce a consistent - if mass produced - product.

Both flexible and light weight, these swords are ideal for practicing historical swordplay techniques and on the whole are nicely balanced with a distal taper to properly distribute the swords weight to closely approximate the historical originals.

As you can see from the diagram - Windlass swords are (A) of threaded or peened construction with (B) the tang forged as part of the sword.

The end result is a sturdily made sword that can handle shockwaves that travel down the blade into the handle on impact.

While they are not shipped sharp, with a 1mm thick edge they are easily sharpened using the methods outlined in the SBG Sharpening Guide - though some sellers can save you the effort and have them sharpened up with a beveled edge for a small additional fee.

KNOWN ISSUES

Apart from the usual kind of Quality control issues often found on mass produced swords at this price point – Windlass Steelcrafts are most often criticized for two main things – overly whippy blades and poor hilt construction.

The heat treating process that makes their swords so reliably flexible often seems to become problematic on their longer swords. A general rule of thumb is that any blade over 32” is almost definitely far too whippy to use as it was intended, and practically useless for thrusting.

However, this problem does even occur on their shorter, one handed swords (though rarer).

This issue does not detract from their swords cutting ability on light targets, but most certainly effects the handling.

The second most common issue is that some Windlass swords have a somewhat rattly hilt construction that makes a disconcerting 'tink-tink' sound when wielded.

Most of these swords can be identified by the 'V' shaped shoulder which tends to leave a small gap between the blade and the hilt. Easily enough fixed by shimming (sticking something into the gap) or an application of polymer epoxy resin, this is actually more annoying than anything else and does not effect the swords overall durability.

As mentioned earlier, the fact that they cycle their lines so often makes it very hard to predict the given properties of any new sword they make.

REVIEWS

Sword Buyers Guide.com Reviews Reviews of Windlass Swords by our sister site: 1860 Cavalry Saber Click on the image for the full review. European Sword Click on the image for the full review. The Towton Click on the image for the full review. Pugio Dagger Click on the image for the full review. Sticklestad Viking Sword Click on the image for the full review. Sword of War Click on the image for the full review. Archers Falchion Click on the image for the full review. Medieval Falchion Click on the image for the full review. Scimitar Click on the image for the full review. Shrewsbury Click on the image for the full review. Shrewsbury Click on the image for the full review. German Bastard Sword Click on the image for the full review. Beowulf Sword Click on the image for the full review. Damascus Viking Click on the image for the full review. Pompeii Gladius Click on the image for the full review. Pirate Cutlass Click on the image for the full review. 15th Century Longsword Click on the image for the full review. Sword of Auray Click on the image for the full review. Troopers Sword Click on the image for the full review. Ulfberht Sword Click on the image for the full review. Heron Mark Sword Click on the image for the full review. Twinkle Click on the image for the full review. Erbach Sword Click on the image for the full review. Verneuil Sword Click on the image for the full review. Dark Age Sword Click on the image for the full review MY ARMOURY.COM REVIEWS Cinquedea Sword by Gene George Confederate Foot Officer's Sword by Sean A.Flynt Crusader Sword Dutch Cutlass by Gene George English Tuck (Estoc) by Sean A. Flynt German Falchion by Sean A. Flynt Medieval Shortsword by Gene George Scottish Backsword by Nathan Robinson Sword of St. Michael by Bill Grandy Towton Sword by Chad Arnow Type 1 Schiavona by Gene George Type 2 Schiavona by Bill Grandy War Sword of Albrecht II by Patrick Kelly

WHERE TO BUY

In North America, there are basically two places that between them have the best selection of Windlass Steelcrafts Swords.

The the first is Swords Of Honor who have a massive selection, including many of the US Military reproductions that simply are not found anywhere else.

The second is Kult of Athena who generally have the best prices, on average between $30-40 LOWER than most other retailers, and also have a generous 45 day return policy (as well as clear instock designators) with economical international shipping prices.

Between them, they corner the market on Windlass Steelcrafts swords as far as price and reliability is concerned. Though there are other stockists of note mentioned below.

OTHER WINDLASS STEECRAFTS STOCKISTS

The following list of quality retailers also stock Windlass Steelcrafts Swords:

Museum Replicas Limited
NOTES: The Official US Distributor, who are OWNED by Windlass Steelcrafts in India. Their prices are much higher than the stockists mentioned above however.

Reliks.com
NOTES: The official Canadian Distributor, with a very large range and prices often lower than the US distributor. A very clear, well laid out site with numerous innovative features (such as rotating 3D views of the hilts)

Arms of Valor
NOTES: A very reliable North Amercian Vendor, with a strong emphasis on customer service and adding a personal touch. They also offer a low cost customization service.

By the Sword
NOTES: Reliable Internet seller with good prices.

Therion Arms
NOTES: Another seller that provides a personal touch and provides very good customer service.

Aurora History Botique
NOTES: Carries a wide variety of Windlass swords from all eras at very competitive prices.

Silvermane
NOTES: Another good seller that has been around the blocks for years. Not as much variety as others, but still a decent selection.

Do you own one of the swords made by this company? Or know any good stories or information not covered here? Share it!

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

I love MRL!  I love MRL! Windlass swords are often used as the benchmark for which to judge the rest of the sub-$300 sword market.

While they may have a few problems ...

The importance of historical accuracy  Grayson C. (Rammstein at the boards) here!

Something that is genuinely missing from the vast majority of sub $300 swords is the importance of historical ...

Windlass  My experience with Windlass has mainly been a good one. They sell fine khukris which can be found at reliks.com. Some of their European blades I have found ...

horror story  About 8-9 years ago I got my hands on a m.r.l. catalog.

Being a noob at sword buying I jumped for joy.
Little did I know I would later want to rip ...

Kingdom of heaven  I have to date only purchased one windlass sword the Kingdom of heaven, sword of Ibelin. Having bought movie replica swords before I was expecting a reasonably ...

An Amazing Swords  All are Beautifully Crafted & All are truly masterpieces.

Windlass is alright (mostly)  I've been practicing WMA for 7-8 years now and in that time I've owned and used around 10 Windlass pieces. Everything from a mace, horseman's flail to ...

BoltHobbit  Until recently, every blade I've owned was by Windlass. I like the fact that they offer a good selection of large daggers and short swords, as most ...

Windlass Ulfberht ..... An amazing value in a great sword!  Just received my first Windlass Sword recently,... the Windlass Ulfberht.

I can't tell you how happy I was with this purchase. Sword was $158 plus ...

Steely Death  My Experiances with Windlass steel crafts, are in all very good, i am apart of a Medieval re-enactment group and i have recently ordered a WMA standard ...

3 ringed Rapier  I just received my 1st online sword today. (3-3-08)

It is the 3 ringed rapier with bone handle from Windlass Steelcrafts. Had I known about the "issues"...

Windlass swords  I have the Sword of Ibelin, the Towton, the Arbedo and the Gothic Bastard Sword. I like them all in general and the Towton in particular. As far as loose ...