I had a total computer failure last year which upended my production capabilities so I am trying out some alternative audio recording devices and haven't quite gotten it dialed in yet. Audio should improve on future videos.

Very nice review and comparison. Good length for a review video as well. Watching on my laptop, the sound quality was fine. It's really nice having the opportunity to see someone handle these blades and give an unbiased opinion on swords that have been purchased (i.e. not sent the best one out of the batch for a paid review).

Welcome back sir! Good to see you making content again.

@jaysblades

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for sticking around!

Thought I'd chime in here and add my personal experience with the CS Italian longsword. I've had mine for about five years now, and over the course of that time it has become my go-to cutter for pretty much every target under the sun. That being said, some major caveats. First, the vanilla factory sword kind of sucks. I think the default aesthetics are nice, the handling feels nimble and swift, and the tapered grip with fishtail pommel feels excellent in my hands, but the sheath (not even a scabbard, as you said) is atrocious, the blueing is ugly as hell, and the leather on the grip is thin chem-tan garbage. However, when I bought mine, I considered it a cheap project sword rather than a piece I'd care to evaluate on its own merits in default factory form. I removed all of the blueing, faux antiqued the blade and hilt fittings with vinegar and wood chips, replaced the leather on the grip with high-quality veg-tan leather I made myself, and reprofiled the grind on the blade to a hair-popping convex grind much more suited to cutting than the super steep grind that comes from Cold Steel. After a few hours of customizing work, I think this sword shines. I regularly cut with it, and I also do solo HEMA drills with it as my sharp of choice because it feels fantastic in the hand. And, for reference, I choose this sword for cutting and practice over my high-end In'Carius Craft and Valiant/Atrim pieces, not because it's necessarily superior, but because it's a $200 sword that would be much less devastating should I fuck it up somehow. In short, to summarize, I agree with you that the Cold Steel Italian longsword essentially sucks ass as it is in its factory default form. However, for ~$200, this is a fantastic project sword for anyone who's interested in customizing their own piece. Despite its flaws, it's well made, handles quite nimbly, and can be refined from a forgettable piece of rubbish into a serviceable-to-decent workhorse of a longsword with relatively minimal effort. I totally get why you're not recommending it, but I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone on a budget with a willingness to put a little work into it. Hope this is of value to someone. Enjoy your channel, and keep up the good work. Cheers!

@jaysblades

9 ай бұрын

Appreciate the input! I may do something similar to this one as I wasn't planning on keeping it. With mine the primary issue seemed to be the "whippy" blade more than the edge - with water bottles it tends to flex once it makes contact with the target and either bounces off or creates tearing/breaking. I imagine that could be mitigated somewhat with practice and better edge alignment, but I'm curious if you noticed that with yours, especially with it being around 5 years old. I know CS outsources to multiple factories and changes production even within the same product line and I've always been curious as to how that's reflected in the final product over time. In other words I wonder how different the sword that someone gets today will be from the sword that I have from the sword you got 5 years ago.

@robinmarks4771

9 ай бұрын

@@jaysblades That's super interesting! Mine is incredibly stiff and not whippy at all. Sounds like classic CS quality control issues. Crazy how much variability there is even in the same product due to their outsourcing and lack of quality oversight/inspection. Definitely curious to see reviews on the same sword in another five years' time and see how they evolve or devolve in the future. _\m/

Ronin and balaur are probably the best bang for your bucks

Love the new content!

I only own 4 European style swords. One of them is the RK Euro model #7. I'm very happy with it. It's one of my favorite swords considering value for dollars. The one I recieved is particularly nice on the QC end and it looks great, to me. I've been incredibly lucky with most of my Ronin Katana purchases. They're not perfect, but for the price I think they're top-notch.

Thanks for the review! The Cold Steel Italian and MMA Italian go for 360-400 Euros here. The Ronin Euro 7 i can get scratch and dent for $165 plus max $100 for shipping and customs to Germany. I heard only good about the Euro swords of Ronin Katana. Guess i'll go for it before the scratch and dents are sold out.

Good comparison! I have the Ronin Italian Longsword #5 and the non-MAA CS Italian. Being made in China the CS non-MAA has a very keen edge with no secondary bevel and is much lighter than the Ronin, so I can see why it's considered a good entry cutter, but that grip wrap is terrible and the "risers" are just not good or well-placed. I reshaped and re-wrapped the grips on both. The Ronin is a beefy, solid sword, but probably a crowbar compared to a high-end Albion, Valiant or Arms & Armor.