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Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:57 am
by Mirimaran
Hi all!

First, believe it or not, this is my first review of anything on the forum. I've never been that great at reviews, but I wanted to give it a shot with my new purchase from Kult of Athena.

I am sure most on the forum are acquainted with KoA; great customer service and a site that has quite a selection as to weapons, kit and gear for the discriminating Ranger, as well as those who are on a budget. It was with this in mind that I was looking at the site last week, and came across this:

http://www.kultofathena.com/product.asp ... +Bone+Grip

With a reasonable price (to me) of 89.95, this attractive short sword looked to be a steal. Although it is not stated in the description, a little Googling showed that the sword does come from the elves of Pakistan. I am sure that if I had emailed KoA, I would have found that out as well. But, this did not deter me from ordering. I love the look of the hilt, and the use of organic materials. So today the short sword came and I like it very much. Now, I have no experience with the "damascus steel" or the claim that it is battle ready, but in the hand it feels good. Here are the stats per KoA:


Overall Length: 23 7/8'' Blade: 18 1/4''
Retail Price: $129.95
$89.95

Weight: 1 lb 8.9 oz
Edge: Moderately Sharp
P.O.B.: 3 1/8''
Thickness: 4.9 mm - 5.4 mm
Width: 51.9 mm
Grip Length: 4''
Pommel: Peened

Here are some pics from the website:
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Overall, the workmanship is good, but the brass spacers could have used a bit more smoothing, as there some minute burrs that can be felt with the finger. The wood is beautifully polished and lacquered, and the horn and bone are devoid of cracks, but the bone does have imperfections expected with a natural item, that, to me, add to the appeal of the sword. The meeting of the blade to horn guard is firm and tight. I am assuming that this is a carbon steel blade, as I have no experience with "damascus" or pattern welded blades. The blade did come oiled. It is peened, which is interesting, as coming from Pakistan, I would have thought it would have been threaded to the stainless steel pommel. The scabbard seems to be generic and is ill fitting, in both form and use, for this weapon. I intend to make one that is a little more fitting for this short sword. As for fitting into my Ranger arsenal of weapons, my conceit is that of the eket http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/e/eket.html that we have spoken of many times on the group.

In conclusion, to me this is an inexpensive sword with an attractive hilt of natural materials that makes for a nice addition to anyone's armory, as long as it's limitations are respected. Any questions, comments, or opinions are greatly encouraged, as well as ideas on a scabbard for this sword.

Ken

Re: Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 1:41 pm
by Peter Remling
It looks good especially for the price. For the scabbard, just a
wood core, plain brown leather covered would do. Any decoration
on the scabbard would detract from the coloration of the grip.

How pronounced are the different layers of the blade. Can you feel
the different layers if you run your fingernail across the blade ?

Re: Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:11 pm
by Greg
I've never seen that one...I'm pretty blown away. Didn't expect something that pretty at all. Very much the eket. Thanks for the review!

Re: Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 8:58 pm
by Mirimaran
Hi again,

First to answer Pete's question, yes, got the sword out today and you can feel the layers of the blade with your nail...BUT...

as I handled it today, with the intent of making a scabbard this weekend, I felt play in the hilt, and then as I held it up to the light, I could see a significant gap between the bone hit and the horn guard. I looked at the pommel, and the same problem, and a little more handling just made the play worse. I guess whatever epoxy that was used when the hilt was peened must have deteriorated. I didn't notice this at all when I got the sword, so I have no idea what happened, but hopefully I can return it and get a refund. Color me disappointed.

Ken

Re: Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 2:30 am
by Yavion
So did you wind up returning it or did you exchange it?
I'm asking because I reeeeaaaally want one.

Re: Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 2:57 am
by Mirimaran
Neither actually. The customer service never wrote me back so I just kept it and decided to work on it as a diy project. Btw that is a fake peen; it is actually threaded.

Ken

Re: Review: KoA Damascus Short Sword (with bone grip)

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 4:13 am
by Yavion
I have a similar piece from what I think may be a related smith in Pakistan, so I'm not surprised about the peen.
I'd love to see pics once you've taken it apart.

And I have to say, with everything I've heard about KoA, I'm surprised they never got back to you...