Customer Reviews

Whetstone Cutlery Authentic Hand Forged Roman Sword

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"This Hand Forged sword looks real as if it were in a real battle from the Roman empire."

- Only if Romans had actually had their forged swords made of stamped metal in India, because that's what it says on the hand guard.

"The hand forged sword has the look of imperfections that a hand made sword would have"

- This thing looks like it's made of plastic. Maybe by imperfections they mean that it has a weird oily substance on it and it's covered in dust as if it's been sitting in a box waiting to be sold.

"The metal on the sheath is REAL BRASS [...] Hard Leather Over Wood with Real Brass Hardware encompassing the sheath with hooks"

- The sheath is REAL PLASTIC. There is no leather or wood on the sheath.

"Handle Material: Stained wood pommel and hilt"

The wood looks and feels like it had a previous life as a waiting room chair. It has that weird, waxy feeling of old and dirty wood.

Huge waste of money. If I had known what this thing was really like I wouldn't have bought it even if it was $20.

This sword is an excellent value for the price. I personally own a lot of different swords from many different time periods (I like living history, what?) that are drastically different in price and quality. This gladius is, in my experience, extremely well balanced. It has an exceptional balance to it, and seems to have it's weight shift toward the end of the tip upon any momentum, which adds to the impact of the hit (assuming you are hitting something with it).

As previous reviews state, this blade does come unsharpened, but is quite capable of being deadly without being sharp. Another pro to this blade is that it's reportedly made of carbonized steel, compared to the common stainless steel. To paraphrase, 440 stainless (if you have a sword, look near the hilt; it'll say that on it [most likely]), is perfect for any blade under 12 inches long, but loses a lot of strength the longer it is... this is mostly because stainless steel is *almost* impossible to harden (heat-treat) properly.

If this blade is actually made of carbonized steel (yes, all steel is technically carbon since steel = iron + carbon), and if that metallurgy process was done with workers knowing what they're doing, than this blade is a steel (no pun intended) for the price.

Not to mention it's more historically accurate, compared to other gladius' out there. This is made of what looks like leather (could be pleather/vinyl) covering the main part of the sheath, with brass and wood: much more period and authentic looking than a lot of others out there.

For the price, it's an awesome deal. And if the metal is true, then this is a steal.

Oh, and it's a full-tang blade, in case you were wondering.

I'm a Latin teacher and each year teach about Roman military history for a couple of weeks - while this reproduction sword isn't perfect, I'm happy with it, especially at this price. If it was a high dollar product, I'd be more picky, but the pommel and hilt look good (though the nut at the end of it is the biggest give-away that it's modern (besides its obvious new condition). The students were amazed by it, and it arrives very dull so I'm not worried about injuries.

While not historically correct, for the money it's a decent show piece. The sword is very blade heavy. A good sharpening may help a little. The guard, handle and pommel are actually quite nice and handle is comfortable. My biggest complaint is the scabbard. It is CHEAP. The design is nice but the workmanship is very shoddy. The sword fits loosely and just about every crook, cranny, crease and bend has a hard black substance (probably glue) on and in it. Even for $35.00 you'd think they would clean these things up a little before shipping them off. You'd think.

Looked great in the photo but in person its crap. Poorly crafted, looks very cheap. The scabbard have a sheet of cardboard inside it that was clearly visable. The ball end of the handle was off set so it didnt look straight. Do not buy this, you can have mine i threw it in the trash(seriously).

I recieved this sword a few days ago and instantly fell in love. Partially because I love Roman history and partially because this is a great sword. It came unsharpened, but if swung can still do good damage to anything it hits due to its weight (it is actually noticably heavier than a katana I bought). It was longer than expected, being only a foot shorter than the katana and most of that being handle length.

The tip is pointed also not sharp, but would easily pierce skin if you stabbed at somone. If sharpened, this would be a very dangerous blade. Unsharpened, it is still dangerous. The weight makes it heavy hitting, but it is also a breeze to handle as long as you don't constantly try to fight the weight.

If you are looking for a beatufil display sword or something to swing around, this is the sword for you. The weight (which isn't as heavy as I may be making it look) makes it excellent for workouts and self-defense.

This is what I expected for the price. And it was delivered quickly on standard shipping