Awesome review. The specs on KOA says its 3 pounds which is pretty hefty idk thats pretty heavy for a sword under 45 inches. I have the claymore from Kingston and besides the weird handle wrap i love it. The claymore came very sharp from KOA
Angus Trim swords all have incredible intentionality behind each revision, we can definitely see that from the fact that he can have dozens of different models even for each subtype like Type XIIIb or Xa. He is known for otherworldly light and nimble swords, but a good number of them actually have medium weight in the spectrum of historical swords (and they are considered heavy among Gus’ swords), and maybe these heftier ones won’t immediately impress you when you just pick them up and hold them statically but they are designed to assist the wielders and do the job for them when cutting, not the mention the added rigidity aids the cuts when the edge alignment is subpar. The problem is Kingston Arms for some reason is not willing to output the Atrim designed handed to them with functional edges and you have to do it yourself, and the default big secondary bevels are not easy to sharpen. But if you can do that, they can punch way above their weights when the prices are taken into consideration.
Another nice review. Looks like Mathew Cross did another nice wrap and sharpening job. It’s always so nice to find one of those swords that just match the person.
Nice video! I think this is the happiest I saw you when talking about a sword. And I kinda get it. Getting a second hand sword for cheap and making some modifications to fix the original flaws feels so rewarding (funny enough, I did it myself on what would later become the Kingston Arm Renaissance Sidesword). I was searching for the original grip as you were talking... what I found looked better than what you showed later, but even then it's an awful looking grip. The grip from Matthew Cross elevates this sword by a lot more than $150. This has nothing to do with him being a friend of yours. The grip work looks excellent, and if I would live on the same continent, I would get some swords customised by him as well. I don't know what Kingston Arm was thinking in going for that grip. This type of sword is perfect to be made on a budget. It's a relatively simple design that they can do right (because it's a blade forward, cut-centric broad blade, it's a robust design that they should struggle to get wrong in production). Just spend $50 more and give it a decent grip. Related, I think that Kingston Arm ATrim line of swords is primed for people to improve them. Get them for $300 or less on the second hand market, and then elevate them yourself if you have the tools and a garage. Because of ATrim design, you get a good starting point. Maybe it's time for a maker to start selling inexpensive longsword kits centred around two, three good blade types. Something to fulfil the role the Tinker Pearce longsword used to have in the customisation market. In recent reviews, I think the fittings are the ones that always bring the sword down (at least for me), and issues with blades are increasingly less common.
Haha I knew it 🤘💀 I could just tell by the cutting you posted this sword was an instant top 5 at least. I could tell it suited you very well just by the cuts you were getting and the look on your face. It sounds right up my alley too, I like a blade that has a good presence to it. It's like you said it's hard to explain the feeling, they're heavy but they're not heavy you can swing the sword but it doesn't swing you along with it, is how i would put it. Interesting review, It's pretty much what I expected my hanwei tinker viking sword was similarly lacking in out of the box sharpness. So I after some frustrating cutting, I invested worksharp mkII. No regrets it's not perfect but good enough.( I would actually advise spending even more to get the Ken onion.) And now I have razor sharp swords on tap. I think not recommending it for 310$ is harsh. But I get it, some people want zero fuss or muss. That's fair, it's frustrating when you get a new sword and it's not sharp. But if we consider that it's not at all uncommon to pay $1000+ for an Albion and it doesn't have a good edge on it. (not picking on them other high-end makers are guilty of this too) Then $310 is nothing, nothing for what you're getting. If we ignore the bad grip that is. That's a whole other story. Hard to say but assuming most of them are better than the one you got then it's a steal at $310. Oh and it's not peened so you could conceivably make your own grip and swap it out no problem. Amazing project sword at least. The blade alone is well worth it imo. It's well worthy of being a project based on the potential of that blade.
I've seen at least one other report of a person with the exact same problem I had with the grip on this one - the leather overlapping really poorly. That's a more egregious problem than the lackluster sharpness in my opinion. A good grip is just so important that a poor one can absolutely kill the value of a sword.
@@alientude ah yeah? Thats too bad hopefully they'll see fit to improve the grip quality. Its like you said, that's where you interface with the sword. If it's not comfortable it's definitely a problem, possibly a deal breaker. I understand that, but the construction of the sword makes changing it out very easy. Not that you should have to just saying its not as hard a project as it seems like and you can just bolt it on and off. And this sword surprisingly cost less than a Cold Steel hand and a half sword at least on Koa. $310 is pretty cheap these days unfortunately...
just like the Katana and the Grossmesser these cut oriented hand and a half/ 2 handed swords are the perfect sidearms for citizen militias to have as secondary weapons.
I don't care much about the bad hilt, I can make my own but the only thing that stops me from buying it is the short blade, 80ish cm is very short for a 'War sword' , if the blade was at least few inches longer, insta buy. It could have been a 'budget' Baron-like sword, for a quarter of the price (yeah ordering a Baron from Europe costs around 2000 euros when you add taxes and shipment costs + scabard money + 18 months+ of waiting) Oh well.
These are actually my favorite type of swords on the market. That is, cheap, unrefined, diamond in the rough, and easily customizable. I love customizing reproduction swords, so I'm super intrigued by this beast. Thanks for your review, as always.
I have a Hanwei Tinker Great Sword of War type XIIIa which I got second hand for U$100. I have not cut with it yet because the guy I bought it from bought the intentionally "dulled" version so I have to sharpen it yet (scary challenge). It looks pretty much identical to yours. Even the pommel looks the same except mine is bright whereas on vid yours looks satin or something and the bolsters on mine seem to be more pronounced and the quillons are straight The furnishings and blade are all bright and it may have more/better distal taper. According to their specs the scabbard has a plastic core probably wrapped with fake leather. I love it and can hardly wait to use it as soon as I find time to sharpen it. Sharpening a sword I know nothing about. Can you refer me to a tutorial on how to hand sharpen a sword blade? Thanks for the review. Good cutting.
@kaoskronostyche9939 I am personally dreadful at sharpening, but Matthew Cross referred me to this video as a good starting place: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-McJc_AXD7v0.html
@@alientude That was fast. I'm still watching your video. Thank you very much for the reference vid. I will check that out. I have to sharpen it myself because there is no one around here I would trust. I'm a new subscriber with notifications and it has been a good day - a vid from you and a vid from Matt Easton ... a great way to start the day. It is 10:40 am here. Thanks again. Hope to see you soon. Cheers!
I have the Tinker one which is identical to yours for almost 15 years now, it's a beast at cutting Only modification I did was to wrap the hilt in thin black paracord which greatly increases handling and doesn't let sweat interfere Powerful sword, it's definitely my favourite as the other expensive ones you don't take out to abuse
With how much you like this particular Kingston Arms sword, do you think maybe the 13th Century Arming Sword you had problems with might have been a lemon? I like the look of both of these swords as my first sword and would appreciate your feedback/insight.
One thing about this model - it's not peened, so if any looseness happens, it can be easier to disassemble and address, unlike the type XIV I reviewed. Although I have seen some people post that they've received this one with a peen, so 🤷♂️. It's certainly possible the type XIV I reviewed was an outlier. But Matthew Jensen reviewed their very similar type XVIII, and the crossguard came loose on that one too, if I'm remembering right.
Gorgeous sword! I love it! I never thought I would like a Type XIIIa so much. However, my favorite sword type isnt really reproduced much which is the XX.
Nice review, my friend! I've had mixed results with Kingston, but it's hard to beat the price for a sword that's got potential to turn into something good.
Nice review. It looks like a decent project piece. Types XIIa and XIIa are the best cutting swords I've ever used. I even prefer them over swords like Albions Principe.
