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Pros: Blade Material, Handle Material, Overall Quality, Materials, Sheath/Scabbard, Finish, Usable
Cons: None
Extremely surprised! Expectations Exceeded!
I bought this because I have a love of swords. Especially scimitars/falchion type blades. I wanted the sword to practice martial arts with. I was impressed with the factory edge. This is the second United Cutlery product I've bought from the 2016 product line, and I am really impressed with the quality considering how low the prices are. This 1065 high manganese steel really does the trick. I always love the designs of United Cutlery, but they always use weak stainless steel...or they used too. I didn't plan on using this as a tool, but I had to do some deep woods hiking recently, and just for fun, I used the sword as my machete. This thing is an amazing tool. It's like a axe, machete, sword all in one. I was hacking through some pine trees and accidentally sliced through a 3-4 inch pine like it was nothing. I couldn't believe it. It's got weight to it, but a good forward balance. If you take a wild swing and let the momentum do the work, it's pretty amazing what you can slice through. The best part was that blade held its edge, and none of the black finish chipped off or showed any damage. I like the anti rust finish they put on this sword. So the bottom line is that there is much more to this sword than looks. I'm an experienced buyer with swords. I have a couple of expensive handmade swords with exotic steels, and yet, this humble mass produced sword is quickly becoming my favorite. The price is really modest for such a good quality sword. I'm thinking about buying another one so I can have a back up. I really want to do some hard cutting tests with this.