Dlatrex Swords
PSA: sword safety. Response to @shadiversity
updated
wintercutlery.com/product/the-fang-of-caerbannog/147
Since the time of this filming this sword has been sold! Eric does sells completed pieces, so if you see something of his that you like, best that you contact him before it goes.
This is the first video review I have done of a high-end custom sword, and it was lovely to have the chance to do. While I did have the sword for a while and got to know it pretty well, the combination between time available and weather meant that I did not have much time to get this particular video completed, so hopefully the subsequent videos showing off Eric's handiwork will be a little more in depth.
0:00 Intro
0:30 Scabbard
4:45 Historical Context
9:28 Hilt
12:00 Blade
13:09 Test Cutting
4:00 Blade
Make sure you check out @alientude's review of a Winter Cutlery longsword as well!
youtu.be/8jxdA7V0Ntk
and Eric, Kyle and I discussing these swords and others from Winter Cutlery on stream!
youtube.com/live/J6JN4lGQmfM?si=HY6UVZ9iEyGuxQSf
Big thanks to @scholagladiatoria for the shout out earlier in the year, along with swordfriends @alientude @Matthew_Jensen @UnsheathedSwordReviews @LancelotChan @FortuneFavoursTheBold and more who have all provided things to the channel for review!
Dlatrex's 2024 Swordtuber playlist:
@the.wandering.warrior
@Guccigatana
@saberserpent1134
@SifuKuttel
@Rapiersdelight
@Blindy_Sama
@medievalreview
0:00 Intro
0:30 Thanks
1:00 Swordtuber list
3:30 2025 Sword Preview
Trying out a double dao from swordmaker LK Chen and having a little fun honoring prince Zuko at the same time. These are very thin blades that come very very sharp!
0:35 Disclaimer
1:00 Methodology
8:19 Sword No. 1
13:10 Sword No. 2
15:47 Sword No. 3
18:13 Casualty
18:45 Autopsy
Slow cutting challenge time! Cutting through targets is “easy” when done at full speed. But how slow can you go and still be effective in your cut?
This will vary tremendously with sword type and target type, but it’s a good test for technique as well.
youtu.be/50n89bDXAxc?si=O01eiUtW2T-G7SuF
Here we take another look at both the term, and how militia swords looked in other parts of the world...
0:00 Intro
1:00 New Definition
5:06 Other Militia Swords
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy Sword New Year!
Playthrough of Bladesong's tech demo, which is live through 12/16 on steam. Go check it out!
store.steampowered.com/app/2305640/Bladesong
Featured:
Hanwei Tinker Pearce Great Sword of War
kultofathena.com/product/hanwei-tinker-great-sword-of-war/?srsltid=AfmBOooqzRozEIe_d5WrTyEjpJ1RpiEYOCzqDENBjsh6l_qy0JWd7J3K
Albion Baron
albion-swords.com/product/the-baron
Windlass Royal Armouries Collection Type 14 Hand and a Half Sword
museumreplicas.com/14th-century-hand-and-a-half-sword/?srsltid=AfmBOoraDwurUJjisTvX1oyaXligSiLa0m-tyWZonMd5hSOB1_bgOXkW
Balaur Arms 15th Century Italian Longsword
kultofathena.com/product/balaur-arms-15th-century-italian-longsword-3/?srsltid=AfmBOoo43wH132F4GRuH3XDdH4tSc0io28ccj0qAJijq_DU9hhrH1ReA
Winter Cutlery Fang of Caerbannog
wintercutlery.com/product/the-fang-of-caerbannog/147
Albion Castellen
albion-swords.com/product/the-castellan
0:00 Intro
1:45 GSW
2:55 Baron
3:54 Windlass RAC
5:00 BA Italian
6:00 Winter Cutlery Fang
8:10 Castellen
9:09 Results
Usually I only do testing on properly sharpened swords, however some manufacturers do not put a final apex on their blades (or have a questionable interpretation of what 'sharp' is). In this case, we have a 14th century Hand and a Half sword, from the Royal Armouries Collection reproduced by @scholagladiatoria and Windlass very faithfully. The Geometry of the blade is so good, that even without a final apex, it can perform cuts against certain targets (if your form is correct!).
Perhaps this should be a cutting challenge for you other Windlass owners? #performcutwithunsharpenedsword
Kindly sent to me by my good friend Sword of Damoklese
The Albion Gaddhjalt
The Albion Broke Back Seax
0:00 Intro
0:44 Gaddhjalt
6:38 Seax
15:03 Bottle cutting
18:00 Thrust testing
23:00 Final thoughts
Taking a break from real swords to review some toy swords!
Here we look at some Lego sword designs and compare them to possible historical counterparts.
Actual swords featured from the
Metropolitan museum of Art
Wallace Collection
Royal Armouries Collection
Mandarin Mansion
0:00 Intro
1:00 Reddit
2:00 LOTR
4:00 Sword 1
6:00 Sword 2
8:00 Sword 3
9:20 Sword 4
11:00 Sword 5
13:00 Sword 6
15:00 Sword 7
16:20 Sword 8
20:50 Sword 9
21:50 Bonus section
A quick sample of the variation that can be seen even within the same “pattern” of sword produced by different modern makers.
Doing some test cutting with the Balaur arms knight Templar arming sword. It’s a beast!
Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!
Also, check out the research done by Sean Franklin on the science behind flex testing.
swordstem.com/2020/12/22/difficulties-with-sca-flex-test-and-buckling-test-for-measuring-blade-stiffness
0:00 Intro
1:03 What is stiffness
3:00 Black Fencer test
7:08 Flex tests on swords
12:25 Bonus round: sabres
13:30 Parting Remarks
A quick glance at a gorgeous langesmesser from Winter Cutlery
swordsmansboutique.com/products/copy-of-ming-dynasty-the-battle-against-piracy-painting-left-section-framed-art-print
Very kindly provided by Darren this is a high quality print of an important piece of Chinese history, showing us key details about both Ming Military and "Pirate" weapons that occurred between the Wokou ("Japanese" pirates) and Chinese during the 13th-16th centuries.
To see more of these prints, and hear even more analysis please check out friend of the channel @SifuKuttel
youtu.be/Am2fJ2g8FMo?si=Dnx2mqOVnT_KQcwE
0:00 Intro
0:15 Disclaimer
1:32 Quality of Print
4:23 History of Scroll
6:17 First boat
7:29 Second boat
8:20 Third Boat
10:30 Influence on swords
This is a lovely late period Italian falchion or “Storta” made by smith Eric Estlund of Winter Cutlery. Boy does this cut easily!
Featuring:
Albion Gaddhjalt
albion-swords.com/product/the-gaddhjalt
Albion Oakeshott
albion-swords.com/product/the-oakeshott
Balaur Arms 15th Century Italian Longsword
kultofathena.com/product/balaur-arms-15th-century-italian-longsword-3/?srsltid=AfmBOopTox9Tz8KyWrAVrrzEJxfhhdk6hjCTmqSoPxMq9jt6gN4mYGaM
Albion Castellan (Thanks @FortuneFavoursTheBold !)
albion-swords.com/product/the-castellan
Winter Cutlery Fang of Caerbannog
wintercutlery.com/product/the-fang-of-caerbannog/147?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false
0:00 Intro
0:35 Introducing the swords
5:00 Base thrust testing
11:18 Armored testing
16:37 Summary
20:03 Bonus content!
Can textiles serve as armor? Yes, but a lot of factors go into it: how much padding, the type of material, the type of weapon and the force of the strike all make a big difference.
Thanks to everyone who had dropped by and chatted about swords!⚔️
Very frequently I see a comparison made between falchions and machetes. This is perhaps closer than how many originally thought they were large axe or club like blades. In truth this is taking it a bit too far in the other direction. Falchion are war swords that need to be sharp, stiff, nimble and flexible all at the same time.
Very different from agricultural blades.
Comparing a side sword to a flam bladed sword with both thrust and cutting power
wintercutlery.com
These are gorgeous pieces, and showcase some of the range of the talent he is able to produce. I do not believe I have taken the time to review bespoke pieces like this from a custom smith previously on my channel, so this is an absolute treat, and it is difficult not to fall in love at first sight!
0:00 Intro
1:00 Sword 1
7:10 Sword 2
13:30 Sword 3
19:40 Closeup beauty shots
Testing out this lovely Albion sword, the “Oakeshott” based on a very unusual arming sword in the Wallace collection London. Handles like a dream.
The end of the poor pumpkin, compliments of this lovely Han Jian from swordmaker LK Chen
This is a re-upload of the original video I loaded a year ago, with some minor quality improvements. Also, I celebrated by including another period account featuring Europeans encountering Katana....
Recently there have been some great videos provided by Matt Easton of @scholagladiatoria and David Rawlings of @LondonLongsword on the topic of how an encounter between Katana vs Rapier might go down.
I thought I might weigh in as a 'non fencer' =)
Looking at the topic strictly from sword dynamics and by trawling historical accounts maybe we can glean some information about what would or would not happen during such an exchange.
Please look at Matt's videos:
youtube.com/watch?v=89ENvXaI78k
As well as Dave's
youtu.be/9_RQED55sAY?si=6Y2zFJlNtECmrLwL
The Japanese text for this video was taken from
http://www.nihontocraft.com/Suishinshi_Masahide.html
Also, for those of you who want to watch Katana fail by being struck on the Mune, please visit @Matthew_Jensen and see him push swords to failure like this one...
youtu.be/NJ10eXhaexY?si=7lTmw7N7MxlTtSJP
0:00 intro
0:15 Bonus Spanish Account!
2:28 Original Introduction
4:00 Account from Boxer
5:55 Defining Katana
7:50 Defining Rapier
9:30 Di Grassi Account
11:53 Note from the Editor!
13:50 Swetnam Account
17:30 Japanese blades
19:30 Katana 1
21:00 Katana 2
22:50 Katana 3
23:15 katana 4
25:05 Katana 5
25:20 Katana 6
25:40 Katana 7
28:00 Katana 8
29:10 Katana 9
30:45 Katana 10
31:00 Katana 11
31:30 Katana 12
33:15 Katana 13
33:33 Katana 14
34:45 Katana 15
35:30 Katana 16
36:38 katana 17
37:40 Katana 21
38:40 Oops!
39:40 Katana 18
40:05 Katana 22
40:15 Katana 23
40:26 Katana 24
41:00 So who would win?
Here is a quick test of a rather large Katana made by Hanbon Forge, by way of Swordis. It has Shobu Zukuri Cross section and as a results can do some interesting false edge cuts...
swordis.com
This monstrosity was put together using the Custom Katana Builder, and then used Hanbon Forge to bring it to life.
A friend also went through the same process, and sent their sword to me for review as well, so there will be a later video featuring TWO sword in the near future!
As this video was finishing being processed, my buddy @alientude released a video showing his own experience using Swordis, so please check out his video as well.
youtu.be/X8No6LsMJY0?si=moYtO2aVr3GwZIr7
A preview of testing the Flamberge blade!
68 cm blade, 1360g weight
This is video acts as a follow up to the awesome video performed by @Skallagrim and @scholagladiatoria where they look at antique swords that have wavy blades and discuss how they may have been used and why they might have come about in different cultures.
youtu.be/ebBD-ntO0eQ?si=E7Gl-__TRPonqxAE
Swords featured
Wallace collection: Dusägge A714
Two Handed Swords: Cornelistromp
Smallswords: Royal Armouries Leeds (Savagecats)
Rapiers: German Historic Museum (DHM) Berlin
0:00 Intro
0:00 History
6:28 Bottle tests
7:34 Rope tests
13:46 'Fireaxe test'
14:46 Cardboard test
18:19 Bamboo test
19:48 Dowel Test
27:20 Textile Test
29:27 Conclusions
Their enemy? The villainous Halloween pumpkin!
Featured in this video are:
LK Chen Munich Town Guard
lkchensword.com/munich-town-guard-sword
LK Chen LongQuan Jian
lkchensword.com/long-quan-jian
Balaur Arms Knights Templar
kultofathena.com/product/balaur-arms-preorder-knight-templar-arming-sword-preorder
Pesery Handicrafts Ottoman Kilij
peserey.com
LKChen Yuan Mongol Dao
lkchensword.com/yuan-mongolian-saber
LK Ming Tai Yang Yanlingdao
lkchensword.com/yan-ling-dao
Landsknecht Emporium Gottfried Langsmesser
landsknechtemporium.com/products/standard/messer/Gottfried-M3C-Messer
Maciej Kopcuich f1A Falchion
artofswordmaking.com/category/falchions
Windlass British 1796 Light Cavalry Sabre
windlass.com/products/windlass-british-1796-pattern-light-cavalry-saber-w-steel-scabbard
0:00 Intro
0:10 Rules
0:30 Town Guard
1:05 Longquan Jian
1:26 Knight's Templar Arming Sword
2:12 Pesery Kilij
3:04 LK Mongol Dao
3:41 LK Yanling Dao
4:47 LE Langesmesser
5:23 Kopcuich Falchion
5:48 More Mulligans
6:40 Windlass 1796 sabre
7:07 Results
lkchensword.com/persian-shamshir
This is a very faithful reproduction of original sabres from the Safavid period of Iran's history. A great buy at the current price point.
Also make sure to check out the great video put out by the guys at @baytal-asad , who specialize in Persian arms, armor and combat!
youtu.be/aTcs2nWOfSw?si=h0w5pHWYq392BTpM
0:00 Intro
0:25 History of the Shamshir
3:45 Details of the scabbard
5:57 Fittings
8:55 Grip
11:50 The Blade
14:10 Penetration testing
16:45 Cutting tests
18:55 Concluding remarks
Comparing the LKChen Scarlet Sunrise Jian from the Jin dynasty
With a Medieval Elmslie 1a Falchion by Maciej Kopcuich
Doing a quick side by side cutting comparison with different producers of the British model 1796 Light Cavalry sabre:
The Cold steel
The Windlass
And the LKchen
All of these versions have advantages and disadvantages; they will warrant a full review!
albion-swords.com/old_albion_site/The%20Kern.html
Generously sent to me for review by my mate Duzzies. This is personally one of the most beautiful swords I've had the chance to work with. It is nimble and dynamic for an arming sword, sporting an Oakeshotte type XIX blade, and very well executed fullering.
This specific example happened to be slightly less sharp than most Albions i have handled, and while I could easily bring it up to full sharpness, it was not my sword to modify, so I have only left it as-is, which limited it's cutting performance.
0:00 Intro
0:25 History
2:30 Handling
4:10 Comparison with other XIX
6:25 The Edge
7:42 B-roll
8:43 Cutting Tests
10:31 Plastic Discussion
10:50 Overview and discussion
kultofathena.com/product/balaur-arms-preorder-knight-templar-arming-sword-preorder
This is an awesome sword, very sharp, and a steal at the current asking price of just under $400.
0:00 Intro
0:30 Meet the Sword
1:05 History
2:36 Blade
3:12 Test Cutting
5:55 Parting Thoughts
youtube.com/shorts/Z5FY6JGMrbQ?si=mgwmAaWOjiMVBWVI
I left a comment on his video in good fun which generated many other responses, and I thought they were worthwhile enough to respond to on camera and keep the sword discussion going. Hope someone finds them useful.
Showing casing the cutting power of a German style rapier. On a pumpkin!
Looking at two different sharp swords from LK Chen: The Saxony Rapier, and the Song Hand Dao. Both take extreme opposite approaches to blade designs. The Rapier is a civilian sword designed to empahsize dueling culture, and being able to get in sneaky thrusts against a single opponent who is wearing little to no protection.
The Dao, is a military sidearm, intended to be used with a shield and heavy armor, designed for powerful cleaving strikes against other heavily armored foes when in close combat and possibly in opposition against heavier weapons such as spears and axes. It maximizes cutting power at the expense of having very poor thrusting.
subcaelo.net/ensis/dynamics-computer
Previous tutorials made with Vincent’s help.
youtu.be/-KpBO3wOJ1M?si=IKbpQcZ_qbMDvstb
youtu.be/DAKuoazEDx0?si=GHdIOwyUB_rUDoq5
Also check out @medievalreview ‘s great series on the dynamic computer which also featured Peter Johnsson discussing their interpretation and use!
youtu.be/sRlLLtz-aFE?si=KKj6d1s6OkNdk3Y8
0:00 Intro
1:24 Background/History
12:00 Weapons Dynamics Computer
17:40 Measuring the Lengths
26:59 Hilt and Blade Nodes
31:50 Action Points and Pivot Points
43:00 Graphical Output
52:00 Q&A and Swords
1:01:00 Curved swords
1:09:00 Complex Hilts
1:21:36 Chit chat


