Cold Steel Scottish Broadsword
Having managed to somehow find full time work in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic I was financially able to expand my armory with a purchase of the Cold Steel Scottish broadsword. An iconic weapon of the 18th century Highlander the basket hilted sword is synonymous with all things Scottish and as recognizable as kilts and tartans. Having some Scottish lineage - a grandfather belonging to the highland Morrison clan I have always been intrigued by the history and culture of Scotland.
I had been considering a basket hilt for awhile and my choices came down to the Cold Steel broadsword or a Hanwei offering; either the broadsword or backsword. I wanted to support a Canadan retailer in these troubled times by supporting local, regional or national companies as businesses are struggling during the economic impact of the pandemic. Eventually I discovered Dragon Impact online via Amazon, a business based on the West Coast who had one remaining Cold Steel sword available, on sale as well and offered free shipping via Canada Post. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity.
The development of the basket hilt can be attributed in part to the rise of firearms that made plated armor obsolete upon the Renaisaance battlefield. By the mid 16th century rudimentary muskets changed military tactics. Fully plated armored knights, men at arms and archers were being replaced by lightly armored musketeers, pikemen and cavalry using a combination of firearms, pikes, lances and swords. Without the use of gauntlets and the decline in the use of bucklers and shields hand protection became important and resulted in the development of elaborate swept hilts upon rapiers, sabres and cut and thrust swords. (Sidebar - highlanders did continue to use small shields called targes as part of their battle strategy known as the highland charge. Advancing upon the enemy they would fire a round of muskets then charge through the resulting fog of smoke. The targe would be used to deflect bayonets thus opening up the infantry to a strike from a sword or dirk.) The earliest examples of baskets were probably imported from central Europe, including Sinclair named hilted broad swords and the schiavona used by mercenaries in service to the Doge of Venice. In England the use of the half basket during the civil war between Cromwell's roundheads and the royalist Cavaliers led to the development of the mortuary sword, so named for the effigy of the executed Charles in the hilt design. Eventually the use of baskets made it's way North to Scotland and the era of the basket hilted claymore as the principle sidearm of the highlander began in earnest.
Kudos to Dragon Impact. The sword was dispatched quickly and arrived well packaged and undamaged.
Upon inspection the sword was well protected with the customary coating of grease with no visable signs of rust. The scabbard is decently stitched leather piece complete with a blued metal chape and throat that matches the basket. It does not have a wood core that helps with the overall weight of the blade. Fit and finish of the sword is very nice, construction of hilt assembly seems solid out of the box and the hilt includes an authentic ray skin handle with wire wrap.
Basket insert appears to be some kind of red felt material with matching tassel. Historical blades usually had an insert of tough buff leather but the felt looks fine and pays homage to the original design. The blade is tripled fullered and the fullers are straight and precise. The sharpened edge begins near the end of the fullers and runs about a third of the blade towards the tip. The edge is sharp but not katana razor sharp. It will slice a sheet of paper cleanly with no ripping as long as edge alignment is correct. Historically this is accurate with the strong of the blade left dull for parrying purposes. I do not possess calipers so in terms of distal taper I cannot comment other than to suggest there appears to be some degree of tapering by simply eyeing the blade.
Point of balance is about 8cm from the basket so it feels decent in the hand despite an overall weight of about 3.5 pounds. It is definitely not a light weight side sword! Using a baldrick to carry this sword is historically accurate considering the weight and shape of the hilt. Belt carry would be cumbersome at best. The advantage of a shoulder suspension system is the dispersion of the weight throughout the torso and not upon as belted waist. A baldrick permits the basket hilt to hang forward thus avoiding any chafing upon the wearer`s hip or clothes.
The basket appears to be on the larger side as is typical of most reproductions. I have medium size hands so I do have some limited options using both a modified handshake and preferred hammer grip. The ray skin grip offers a firm holding surface but I prefer wearing a leather glove as the surface can feel somewhat abrasive upon the hand.
Overall I am very impressed by the broadsword. Cold Steel does have a reputation of over building their blades for back yard cutting durability which is not a bad thing but this is far from an unwieldy crowbar. For full disclosure, however, I have never handled a basket hilted sword before, original or reproduction, so I do not have any real perspective for comparison purposes. I am yet to do any cutting practice with it as of the time of this review. A nice off the shelf addition to my collection.
I had been considering a basket hilt for awhile and my choices came down to the Cold Steel broadsword or a Hanwei offering; either the broadsword or backsword. I wanted to support a Canadan retailer in these troubled times by supporting local, regional or national companies as businesses are struggling during the economic impact of the pandemic. Eventually I discovered Dragon Impact online via Amazon, a business based on the West Coast who had one remaining Cold Steel sword available, on sale as well and offered free shipping via Canada Post. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity.
The development of the basket hilt can be attributed in part to the rise of firearms that made plated armor obsolete upon the Renaisaance battlefield. By the mid 16th century rudimentary muskets changed military tactics. Fully plated armored knights, men at arms and archers were being replaced by lightly armored musketeers, pikemen and cavalry using a combination of firearms, pikes, lances and swords. Without the use of gauntlets and the decline in the use of bucklers and shields hand protection became important and resulted in the development of elaborate swept hilts upon rapiers, sabres and cut and thrust swords. (Sidebar - highlanders did continue to use small shields called targes as part of their battle strategy known as the highland charge. Advancing upon the enemy they would fire a round of muskets then charge through the resulting fog of smoke. The targe would be used to deflect bayonets thus opening up the infantry to a strike from a sword or dirk.) The earliest examples of baskets were probably imported from central Europe, including Sinclair named hilted broad swords and the schiavona used by mercenaries in service to the Doge of Venice. In England the use of the half basket during the civil war between Cromwell's roundheads and the royalist Cavaliers led to the development of the mortuary sword, so named for the effigy of the executed Charles in the hilt design. Eventually the use of baskets made it's way North to Scotland and the era of the basket hilted claymore as the principle sidearm of the highlander began in earnest.
Kudos to Dragon Impact. The sword was dispatched quickly and arrived well packaged and undamaged.
Upon inspection the sword was well protected with the customary coating of grease with no visable signs of rust. The scabbard is decently stitched leather piece complete with a blued metal chape and throat that matches the basket. It does not have a wood core that helps with the overall weight of the blade. Fit and finish of the sword is very nice, construction of hilt assembly seems solid out of the box and the hilt includes an authentic ray skin handle with wire wrap.
Basket insert appears to be some kind of red felt material with matching tassel. Historical blades usually had an insert of tough buff leather but the felt looks fine and pays homage to the original design. The blade is tripled fullered and the fullers are straight and precise. The sharpened edge begins near the end of the fullers and runs about a third of the blade towards the tip. The edge is sharp but not katana razor sharp. It will slice a sheet of paper cleanly with no ripping as long as edge alignment is correct. Historically this is accurate with the strong of the blade left dull for parrying purposes. I do not possess calipers so in terms of distal taper I cannot comment other than to suggest there appears to be some degree of tapering by simply eyeing the blade.
Point of balance is about 8cm from the basket so it feels decent in the hand despite an overall weight of about 3.5 pounds. It is definitely not a light weight side sword! Using a baldrick to carry this sword is historically accurate considering the weight and shape of the hilt. Belt carry would be cumbersome at best. The advantage of a shoulder suspension system is the dispersion of the weight throughout the torso and not upon as belted waist. A baldrick permits the basket hilt to hang forward thus avoiding any chafing upon the wearer`s hip or clothes.
The basket appears to be on the larger side as is typical of most reproductions. I have medium size hands so I do have some limited options using both a modified handshake and preferred hammer grip. The ray skin grip offers a firm holding surface but I prefer wearing a leather glove as the surface can feel somewhat abrasive upon the hand.
Overall I am very impressed by the broadsword. Cold Steel does have a reputation of over building their blades for back yard cutting durability which is not a bad thing but this is far from an unwieldy crowbar. For full disclosure, however, I have never handled a basket hilted sword before, original or reproduction, so I do not have any real perspective for comparison purposes. I am yet to do any cutting practice with it as of the time of this review. A nice off the shelf addition to my collection.
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