C&C Hand And A Half & Italian Longsword from Cold Steel

Рет қаралды 5,638

Күн бұрын

This video will be a review of both the Cold Steel European swords ... the Hand & A Half Sword and the Italian Longsword. Both of these swords are very popular and can be found in wide range of locations on the internet. I decided to do them both here because of their similarities and how well know of the brand this is. Enjoy!
I've created time stamps for you to be able to move around the video, skip parts you don't care about, and skip to parts you do care about.
00:00 - 07:10 Intro
07:10 - 11:09 Unboxing and First Impressions
11:09 - 19:38 Previous Reviews of the Italian Longsword
19:38 - 23:45 Cutting with the Italian Longsword
23:45 - 32:44 Previous Reviews of the Hand & A Half Sword
32:44 - 36:51 Cutting with the Hand & A Half Sword
36:51 - 38:34 Scholagladiatoria Response
38:34 - 40:46 Stats: Hand & A Half Sword
40:46 - 42:58 Stats: Italian Longsword
Cold Steel Italian Longsword - Reviews
• Medieval Review - Cold...
• Cold Steel Italian Lon...
• Cold Steel Italian Lon...
• Cold Steel Italian Lon...
Cold Steel Hand & A Half Sword
• Cold Steel Hand and a ...
• Cold Steel Hand And A ...
• Advanced double cut wi...
• Test cutting with a Co...
• Cold Steel Hand and a ...
• Cold Steel Hand and a ...
HEMA practitioners assessment of the Cold Steel Hand & A Half Sword
• Albion Principe vs Cre...
• Longsword Review #1: F...
Full Scholagladiatoria Review
• Cold Steel Swords - Ar...
Where can you get one? ... ANYWHERE!!!
I have the Hand And A Half Sword up for sale @www.ebay.com/itm/165043433635

Пікірлер: 19

@FortuneFavoursTheBold 2 жыл бұрын

It's quite an interesting discussion and showcase! I have not handled the Hand-and-a-half sword from Cold Steel, and I'm surprised to hear it doesn't have any distal taper on its blade. Would love to see some measurements: the thickness at the base, at the mid-point, and at 2" from the tip (before the final transition to the tip). I do agree that it doesn't seem to have much profile taper, and the very abrupt transition to the tip is very akin to Chinese jian (which Dynasty Forge, the maker behind the Cold Steel hand-and-a-half and the Italian longsword, makes plenty), and not representative to medieval European swords with a flattened diamond cross section (type XVa and the XVIII family). These are not spatulate however. Spatulate tips are sometimes found on Viking-era swords and early High-medieval swords like the type X from the 11th century. Additionally you see them on Germanic executioner swords. Spatulate tips do NOT terminate to a point (which these two swords do), but a rounded flat edge instead. Also, the kind of tip transition found on the CS Hand-and-a-half and Italian are generally not seen on type XVa and XVIII, they are seen on type XIX (Royal Armories IX.950) and type XX (Royal Armories IX.1). Occasionally similar transition to the tip is even seen on blades with diamond cross section, see the famous "Schloss Erbach" 15th century original in Ewart Oakeshott's collection, now under the Oakeshott Institute's care. The long grips are rare, but they do exist occasionally on even swords with relatively short blades, but definitely not representative, as most medieval swords of this proportion have rather short grips for today’s audience. So I do think the CS Hand-and-a-half sword isn’t very historical. I particularly am interested in hearing more about its distal tapering details. It does look like a heavier and less refined sword than the Italian. About the Italian longsword, I categorized it as a type XVa--indeed with little bit of a stretch, based on its flattened diamond cross section, its linear profile taper (except for the final transition to the tip, which I’ll get to) and the blade length. You opined that it’s “too slender” to be a type XVa, which I disagree with. The Italian longsword I’ve got has a width of 44.2mm at the base, which is right on for some type XVa, see Royal Armouries IX.1106, and the entire Castillon Dordogne sword group. Now, in the review, I did mention the transition to the tip is too abrupt for a XVa, which typically sees the profile tapers linearly from the base to the tip as a needle point. But then I also showed in Talhoffer’s treatise, there are several illustrations of sword blades of a diamond cross section with a defined central ridge having that kind of tip, alongside many type XVa swords that terminate into a needle point tip. This leads me to believe in the late 14th century and early 15th century you do occasionally see tips with this transition on XVa, although I have to admit I have never seen an example on any museum piece of this type (and I have seen dozens of them). The categorization of the CS Italian’s guard as a curved variant of Oakeshott type 6 is correct. This kind of guards are seen on some late 14th century originals, several you can find in the Nationalmuseet in Copenhagen, one on Royal Armouries IX 1084. So I would say the CS Italian longsword IS mostly historical, but I would change the transition to the tip to a more progressive one along the entirety of the blade, and perhaps add even more distal tapering to make it handle even livelier, the sword is light-weight, and have room for the base of the blade to be thicker. About the pommel being counterweight, I think the misconception is a maker can purely rely on a heavy pommel to counterbalance a poorly made blade with no distal taper, in hope of bringing the balance back to the hilt and disguising its unwieldiness. We know that doesn’t work. You can’t cancel out the lack of distal taper with a heavy pommel, but it doesn’t mean the pommel doesn’t act in any way to counterbalance the blade. In fact, the pommel on the Italian longsword is pretty light weight: it’s a lot lighter than the scent-stopper pommel on the CS Hand-and-a-half, and since the overall sword is overall light, adding a little bit of weight on the pommel wouldn’t be an issue. Of course I would still prefer seeing even more distal tapering. Overall, we are mostly in agreement. I do think the Italian probably would handle a lot more like a real sword than the CS HaaH, but the latter probably cuts heavier targets better given its blade-heaviness. As always, I welcome discussion and different voices! Thanks! Pretty hilarious thing about Matt Easton in his assessment of Cold Steel swords, he was holding a Dynasty Forge sword--not sure whether he knows they are made by the same maker (well, at least these two are).

@mr.excalibur1455 2 жыл бұрын

Always a pleasure to have your extensive historical knowledge on display here. I'm glad the "showcase" as you put it was a good watch ... I'm just hoping that it was comprehensive. I, also, think we are in overall agreement. I think the basic idea we are both on same wavelength about is that while both of these models certainly have references to historical pieces ... their overall aesthetic is one of a Eurpean-ish sword in this kinda style? This is a similar point view I think Ronin Katana takes with many (not all) of their pieces from their Euro line. There are references to several stylistic influences from probably MANY examples ... but no direct effort to directly duplicate any one of them. This may also make it easier for them to mass produce these swords as well as keep them as affordable as they are.

@tobytoxd 3 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@LegionTacticoolCutlery 2 жыл бұрын

Great comparison video! Loved it!

@patrickmerritt2843 9 ай бұрын

My ears perked up when I heard that second song in the background. Its from the 1985 movie Explorer with Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix. It had a chance to be a Goonies level movie in my book but they screwed up the end. The song is mislabeled in the description, it is called "The Construction" and it is the first song off the soundtrack. Wayy off topic I know lol.

@markb6679 Жыл бұрын

I have been almost sure that I will buy the Hand and a Half sword as my first sword for a few weeks. Thank you for giving me all the information I need. I am sure it's quite good enough for my needs. I am very pleased to have found such a detailed video. I also considered the Cold Steel backsword and may choose that as my second.

@mr.excalibur1455 Жыл бұрын

Very happy this helped. Did you get one? Which one of the two were you most interested in? If you got one ... how did you like it? Interested in your input.

@daviddrew3372 6 ай бұрын

These are popular as a training level sword with the view that you’re not trying to actually run through any armour. Fine for cutting. Inexpensive. Good for teaching yourself form. If you want a really superb sword that can practically cut off someone’s and likely your own leg the. They can be had but will cost you ten times as much.

@daviddrew3372 6 ай бұрын

Sporting equipment or artwork is truly all any swords really Should Be. The better they are made the safer they will be .

@michaelvalicenti471 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the review the cold steel hand and a 1/2 seems like a good 1st sword!! I was looking at a DSA hand and a 1/2 but they want close to $700 for it.

@JoeSteel1 2 жыл бұрын

Professional and well done presentation....where they new products on ebay?..enjoyed the pres....very knowledgeable

@ТУМАН78 2 жыл бұрын

nice

@patthecat1800 2 жыл бұрын

I'm looking to buy my first sword, I could use your advice. I've been researching a lot but still can't decide. I narrowed it down to either the CS Hand and a Half, Ronin Italian Hand and a Half #5, or the Ronin Two Handed Long Sword #7. They all come out to roughly the same price. I'm planning on using it for backyard bottle cutting and maybe messing around in the woods cutting small branches and such. I like that the CS comes out of the box razor sharp (Don't have to worry about it getting sharpened and if they will do a good job.) I also like the blade length, profile, and sturdiness. I'm presuming it's a little better cutter then the Ronin's but I could be wrong. I don't like that goofy handle though. The extra long handle with the shorter blade and short cross guard just looks off to me. I'm worried a bit about the handling, too. The Ronin's look a little better made and are more esthetically pleasing. I'm not sure if the more traditional blade to handle size dimensions are a smarter choice for a first sword, or if it doesn't really matter. I'm not sure if I should go with the #5 or #7, either. I can read about the weight and POB and such, but for someone that hasn't handled a sword before that doesn't mean that much. I'm not sure what I'd prefer. Thoughts? What do you suggest? Thanks.

@mr.excalibur1455 2 жыл бұрын

This will not be an easy answer. First of all you need to understand that both of these swords (I've never handled the Euro Model #7 ... all though I have handled three others of the RK Euro line including the Model #5) are going to adequately cut. They are both budget level swords and neither the CS H&H or the RK Euro #5 are historical reproductions of any one actual European longsword. Both swords come very sharp out of the box and both come with a simple yet very adequate scabbard for storage and/or carrying on your person. The RK Euro #5 has a belt but quite honestly that is a non-issue for me. Both swords handle very well. The CS is a bit heavier but it is also well balanced with that longer handle. The RK Euro #5 has a longer blade and shorter handle but is overall lighter and therefore the weight distribution is also very good for the design. Where the differences are for me is the construction and the materials used. The CS is built using a nut and bolt construction through the pommel. Now ... to be honest anytime I hear of a sword where threading was used in anyway I get a little nervous. I've been to way too many renfaire stage fights where someone's pommel comes lose. That being said I've also read that there really haven't been any problems with CS's construction on this sword. That info was coming from those using the sword to cut tatami mats mind you ... and nothing much harder. On the other hand the RK Euro #5 is a traditional build with a penned pommel. When dealing with European swords ... I do prefer this method of construction. Blade materials ... here is a real difference as far as I'm concerned. The CS H&H's blade is made of 1055/1060 high carbon steel. Now while this does have a decent reputation as far as edge retention and durability ... check this out. RK Euro models ... ALL of them ... are made of a very tough 1075 mono-tempered high carbon steel. This steel HAS been tested on several KZbin reviews ... and it IS in fact very tough. This 1075 is, in the long run, going to give you better edge retention. RK also uses stainless steel in the pommel and hilt pieces which means you don't have to be quite so worried about getting your hands all over those parts of the sword. The short version is this ... I prefer RK's Euro swords over all. I have two of them ... including the #5. However, one thing I cannot overlook here and this was included in this review. As far as budget swords go ... the HEMA competition cutting crowd swear by the CS H&H and almost complete ignore RK's Euro models ... and I don't really know why. Take that for what its worth. Again ... THIS reviewer prefers ... between the two I've reviewed that you asked about ... the RK Euro #5. I hope this well be helpful.

@patthecat1800 2 жыл бұрын

@@mr.excalibur1455 Very helpful, thank you. I enjoy your videos, thanks for taking the time for such an in-depth answer to my questions!