Will This $250 Yatagan Make the Cut? (Sword Review)

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The Ottoman yatağan (or yataghan) is quite an iconic short sword with a unique recurve blade. I haven't had a chance to handle and cut with one, until now. Let's see how this inexpensive reproduction holds up!
As usual I examined the fit & finish, did test cutting on various materials, and found out if it gets damaged from realistic use (full contact with another sword in parries & deflections).
** Specifications **
Overall length: 75 cm (29-1/2'')
Blade length: 61 cm (24'')
Blade thickness: 3.3mm (1/8'')
Weight: 646 g (1 lb 6.8 oz)
Blade material: 1060 high carbon steel
Grip material: Goat horn
Construction: Pinned handle scales
** Pros / Cons **
+ Affordable price for a functional reproduction
+ Solid construction, durable blade
+ Comfortable handle
- Hard secondary bevel limits cutting performance
- Tang ends before the pommel, leaving a gap
** Where to get it **
www.swordbuy.co/yatagan-sword/
** Sources / picture credits **
swordencyclopedia.com/yatagan...
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
www.mandarinmansion.com/item/...
** Music credits **
“Battle Theme 5” by Alexandr Zhelanov
opengameart.org/content/battl...
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Outro:
"Highland Storm" by The Slanted Room Records
theslantedroom.github.io/stev...
Used with artist's permission
** Sources **
swordencyclopedia.com/yatagan...
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
www.mandarinmansion.com/item/...
** Merch **
www.bonfire.com/store/skallswag/
If you want to join Bonfire to start selling your own merch: www.bonfire.com/welcome/07bb1...
** Support the channel **
Help fund future videos, get bonus content and access to an exclusive Discord server:
/ skallagrim
/ @skallagrim
Other ways to support the channel by shopping through affiliate links:
Kult of Athena, my favorite online store for reproductions of historical arms and armor, fantasy swords, etc:
www.kultofathena.com/?koa=259
Where to get HEMA gear and practice swords:
www.woodenswords.com/?Click=1799
Want to treat your face fluff? I highly recommend the balms and oils from Beard Sorcery:
beardsorcery.com/?ref=0UEFtHW...
Books about history, martial arts, swords, knives, video/audio equipment, and other stuff I recommend:
US - www.amazon.com/shop/skallagri...
Canada - amzn.to/2HeOCMA
** Social media **
/ _skallagrim_
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#skallagrim #sword #review

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Опубликовано:

28 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 508

@Ranstone 10 месяцев назад

That extra effort to film by the sea instead of a green screen never goes unnoticed. Feels so much more engaged. (We know, it's not always feasible, but it's appreciated when it is.)

@daddy.depresso7612 10 месяцев назад

@@skylerchatham5934 hes definitely outside,, and this woudlnt be the first seaside video hes done lol.. do you think hes outside with a greenscreen for the sea?

@Szanth 10 месяцев назад

I was just coming down to the comments to say this exact thing, I know it's probably a pain in the ass but I found myself being like "This is a really nice shot, this is good framing, I like looking at this while I'm listening to this", which I assume is the point of doing anything. Gotta point out the outright success whenever you feel it happening.

@shaalis 10 месяцев назад

He lives in the Maritimes. You get picturesque scenery all over the place.

@hulking_presence 10 месяцев назад

He's living his best life

@Dandandandandandandandandanda1 10 месяцев назад

I kinda prefer inside.

@Tomcat_ha 10 месяцев назад

The YATAGAN! shout is actually accurate, congrats on being the first non Turkish youtuber to say it correctly. Source: It is my ancestors village where these swords come from.

@Big-BossX 10 месяцев назад

Are you a relative of baykara??

@Tomcat_ha 10 месяцев назад

One direct uncle of mine is a Baykara yeah@@Big-BossX

@Big-BossX 10 месяцев назад

@@Tomcat_ha no way. Is your cousin the same name as you?

@Tomcat_ha 10 месяцев назад

i dont have a cousin with the same name but i've got some more distant family with my name yeah

@Big-BossX 10 месяцев назад

@@Tomcat_ha whats your uncles name if you dont mind me asking?

@mahmutyordamli4912 10 месяцев назад

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="119">1:59</a> yatağan was not considered weapon under ottoman juristiction, it was a knife under the law so everyone and their grandma can carry one ewerywhere. because of that it was very popular with ottoman public as a self defence tool Fun Fact:The black sea yatağan was mostly used by black sea sailors and pirates. The reason why the ears of the black sea yatağan are 180 degrees open is that when the pirates landed and encountered an armored opponent (the sailors and pirates could not use heavy armor and long swords due to the narrow interior of the ship and the corrosive nature of the sea water), they put 180 degrees open ears on their arm bone 'humerus' (just above their elbows) and punched the armored sucker with the sword it probably wasn't much effective against plate armored opponents other than punching between gaps in the armor but pirates did not exactly raided castles so them facing an plate armored opponent was rare. When that happened your yatağan won't do anything to him anyway so might as well right?

@SeriusSim 10 месяцев назад

Awesome trivia, thanks! I'd love to see this move in video

@hulking_presence 10 месяцев назад

Them facing a plate armored opponent was rare because it (yatagan) was used in 16-19 centuries, exactly AFTER the invention and spread of guns

@mattmiraglia1835 10 месяцев назад

@@hulking_presence Plate armor was in use well into the age of firearms. The term "bulletproof" was coined to refer to armor that was tested to withstand bullets

@shinomori69 10 месяцев назад

So it has some similarities to the Messer in historical context?

@wor575 10 месяцев назад

@@hulking_presenceyou do realize "plate armor" can also be used to refer to localized plates like cuirasses and breastplates right? Cuirasses saw battlefield use all the way up to WWI

@durdukyeretahrik 10 месяцев назад

Skall's pronounciation at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="34">0:34</a> is actually quite accurate. The sword is named after a Turkish city.

@Big-BossX 10 месяцев назад

It's actually spot on. If he said it softly it would be perfect

@dazlakrobot9117 10 месяцев назад

0:33

@antonakesson 10 месяцев назад

I belive Swordbuy is also settled in Yataghan so this is essentially a sword from home type of work.

@mixedmartialnutrition1746 10 месяцев назад

yah tah ghan @@Big-BossX

@Big-BossX 10 месяцев назад

@@mixedmartialnutrition1746 the g is not pronounced tho at least not in modern turkish

@Roman14Fox88 10 месяцев назад

Don't leave us, man. You're my favorite medieval weapon RU-vidr. I consult your channel every time I want to know more about any particular kind of weapon, even if it's just to decide what would be cooler to use in a videogame. Seeing your recent videos about your real life struggles with the channel, weight & health, and everything else, I just hope you stick around and keep doing what you love. If anyone wants to criticize your weight, I challenge them to face you in armored combat and see how they hold up against a goliath weapon master. Much love, brother. Thanks for the years upon years of content, and may everything you strive to achieve fall into place.

@3xeplodng_3agle_studios 10 месяцев назад

Seconded. Well said.

@RealBelisariusCawl 10 месяцев назад

Agreed. I’m a fiction writer, so I rely on knowledgable sources to make my fiction believable. Skall has been a constant and reliable source for me when it comes to making believable fantasy settings. I love this dude.

@Differentthings2006 10 месяцев назад

I totally agree, I have learned so much about historic weapons and armor from this channel, and it was entertaining.

@shadowsift 10 месяцев назад

Is Skalla leaving?

@peaceonmars 10 месяцев назад

He has 1.5 million subs - why would you think he's leaving? Everyone gets in their feelings sometimes, but he's hardly a weapon master: he's a good dude who has had the privilege to do what he's done for a number of years. Master is a bit far, no?

@searaider3340 10 месяцев назад

It's nice to see some Turkish weapons highlighted on the channel. It's called Yatağan btw. You don't have to scream, it's like Yatakhan but pronounced much softer :D

@yalkn2073 10 месяцев назад

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="146">2:26</a> The "Janissary" at the right is actually Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. And there is a fun fact attached to it aswell He was Ottoman military attache at the time. Bulgarians invited him to a costume party for celebrating the anniversary Bulgarian independence from Ottomans. He retaliated by wearing a janissary costume.

@wingman4564 10 месяцев назад

The history of these things is super interesting. The square handle is authentic, and they where issued from cultures everywhere from austria to Russia to the ottomans.

@Theduckwebcomics 10 месяцев назад

Didn't they come from the Ottoman Empire and were disseminated from there? So much stuff came directly from the Ottomans- a great example is the Polish Hussars, originally the whole look including the wing motif were from Ottoman "Delhi Riders".

@atillakaan3937 9 месяцев назад

heeee from austria to russia to ottman ??? you are either a liar or ignorant

@barca8341 2 месяца назад

@@Theduckwebcomics true

@zydrate5098 2 месяца назад

@@Theduckwebcomics Deli not "Delhi"

@raphlvlogs271 10 месяцев назад

the Yataghan is actually a really well thought of blade design it is forward curving but unlike the kukri it can still thrust very effectively and it doesn't widen towards the tip making it easier to draw from a simple sheath

@joshuarosen359 10 месяцев назад

The kukri is easy enough to thrust with, you just need to train it specifically, I agree that it's awkward because the skills from thrusting straight blades don't fully transfer between.

@PobortzaPl 10 месяцев назад

It's almost like a mirror image of katana - a cutting, slightly curved sword with a decent thrusting ability. Both, Hungarian and Polish sabres, are similar to "jatagan" (to use Polish term) and katana, but different because of their more pronounced curvature.

@sickturret3587 10 месяцев назад

@@PobortzaPl equivelent of katana in both turkish and polish history would be karabela/kilij imo. their curves are also more like it.

@its_dey_mate 10 месяцев назад

@@PobortzaPlUnfortunately a comparison to the katana is left void, because it is only for single-handed use.

@godzilla5599 10 месяцев назад

.....You can thrust with it if you hate having fingers,I had a "tactical" yataghan and a few jabs with heavy gloves on convinced me that was a bad idea.

@Templarium 10 месяцев назад

I don't think they did the edge like that to "cut corners". They are probably knife makers that ventured into swords and of course they do the edge the only way they know.

@ChadKakashi 10 месяцев назад

That’s still subpar work.

@Qaosbringer 10 месяцев назад

@@ChadKakashi well... not every country has the perfect weapons of European Knights. Some countries have the poor quality subpar works like Katana or Yatağan.

@HessianLikeTheFabric 10 месяцев назад

Knives don't only have that edge either

@samed497 10 месяцев назад

Nah this waa actually the norm for ottoman sword If you look at the ottoman pala for example it also had a pretty narrow edge bevel that onyl ran about 1/3 of the way of the swords width because the blades would often have either one wide fuller or two narrow fullers running down the middle of the blade The pala also very commonly had large ricasso areas with decorative patterns or arabic writing in the form of gold inlay on them and in some cases the inlay would span the entire length of the blade all the way up to the tip area where the secondary edge bevel on the back would meet with the front edge bevel And it was the same for the older more straight and wide style of ottoman saber that was used before the pala The best example i can think of is the sword of sultan mehmet the conquorer It's a little more fancy than the norm because it was the sword of a sultan but if you look it up and take a close look at the blade you'll understand why the edge was done that way And that must have then carried on into other types of swords and large knives

@HessianLikeTheFabric 10 месяцев назад

@@samed497 if you just check museum pieces, you can tell that at least from the surviving record that not a lot of examples with such a harsh bevel are still around. It's definitely odd

@12SickOne34 10 месяцев назад

Fair and honest review, as to be expected. Far from perfect but very much worth its coin. *noted*

@Memorixt 10 месяцев назад

Nice and objective review, I definitely will check out the site. ...Btw. your fight against overweight definitely seems to pay out and show results. Keep up the good work and be patient; the second part of such a process might be even more difficult, and the “rebound effect” disheartening; but - if this is indeed important for you - don’t despair! Keep up and you get there!

@ledlebrgr5380 10 месяцев назад

Yatagan, I eagerly watch another Skallagrim video!

@Rodrik18 10 месяцев назад

...boo! Hiss! Take your like!

@goransekulic3671 10 месяцев назад

It's nice to see Ottoman weaponry represented. They had some quite nice and well thought out designs. Let's see about that Kilij.

@mkmasterthreesixfive 10 месяцев назад

Some of them $200 swords can be surprising. I just got a Shashka for $220 and its quite decent.

@scottmacgregor3444 10 месяцев назад

Where did you get it? I might be interested in one.

@mkmasterthreesixfive 10 месяцев назад

@@scottmacgregor3444 The specific one I have I snatched off Etsy, it appears to be all over the place. I found one on By The Sword though for only $188 right now. Its a little heavy, but its balance is in the right zone. Also matches the decor of my house which is nice.

@yarikyaryi 10 месяцев назад

@@scottmacgregor3444probably in Russia based on name

@nickronin9618 10 месяцев назад

We had this holding a plank that my grandmother use like a shelf above the fireplace it took me years to realise that that actually was the blade of a sword!

@salimufari 10 месяцев назад

I would really love to see this blade reground to a proper historical edge. The cost shouldn't make it too painful to do.

@LIVEvil789 10 месяцев назад

Improving weapons might actually be a cool video series idea. 😯

@mehmetcy84 10 месяцев назад

It is pronounced like you did at @<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="33">0:33</a> the ğ is a soft g (somewhat similar to how you’d pronounce “g” in “singer” as opposed to “finger”.) The sword takes its name from the town it originates from, Yatağan in Denizli province of Turkiye. It is a Turkish sword originating from a traditional sword manufacturing Turkish town in Turkiye, so any other claim for its pronunciation is irrelevant. ☺️ I visited the hq of swordbuy in Denizli, and was also pleasantly surprised to see the love and dedication behind this product personally.

@Ithirahad 10 месяцев назад

At least for native English speakers, the g in "singer" isn't a distinct sound, it's just a part of the "ng" digraph sound which is written as "ŋ" in the International Phonetic alphabet. The sound of ğ only shows up in English in very lazy speech, in words like "regret", depending on accent/idiolect.

@TarpShooter 10 месяцев назад

Great review! The word "Yatağan" comes from the region in Turkey with the same name "town of Yatağan" which was a blacksmith town back in Ottoman Empire days. The "ğ" is not pronounced as a regular "g". It's just used to soften the transiton between the two "a"s, kind of a silent g. So it's pronounced yah-tuh-hun.

@lewisemery55 10 месяцев назад

IT WILL KEAL! Love opening youtube to see a newly posted skallagrim video

@TheMeditatingRaven 10 месяцев назад

To me the kilij and yataghan are among the most interesting blades, mainly because they blow form vs. function fallacy out of the water.

@ozramblue117 10 месяцев назад

Of all the blade designs I find the Yataghan recurve one of the most beautiful! I’d love a custom one with a small guard, either cross guard or a saber guard kind of like the zombie tools pirate sword. If you do bother to refine that edge I’d love to see how well it cuts then. Perhaps that manufacturer should consider doing a second, more expensive version where they do fill in the handle and give it a proper edge.

@metube713 10 месяцев назад

the marey monge saber would interest you, it was a french infantry prototype that was nearly exactly that

@ozramblue117 10 месяцев назад

@@metube713 cheers! I’ll have to check it out.

@PobortzaPl 10 месяцев назад

Jatagan with Polish partially closed guard...

@irrelevantfish1978 10 месяцев назад

@@metube713 The Marey saber was more than a prototype, though probably not by much. There's an article on HEMA Misfits about it, and it mentions that there are several surviving examples that had been purchased by French officers, as well as showing a photograph that strongly suggests that at least one French officer used it as his service weapon. I've no idea if there's any conclusive evidence for their use in combat, but Marey-Monge at least strongly implied that he'd used one in combat himself, and it's certainly possible (if not probable) that at least some of its other users had, as well.

@hasanhasanoglu816 10 месяцев назад

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="33">0:33</a> made me lol and I scared my cat but it's the closest pronunciation to the original Anatolian Turkish albeit a bit overenthusiastic haha thanks for the video!

@tannerc900 10 месяцев назад

I honestly love how much I learn off you. I don’t have a vast collection of swords and knives, just a few but like $100 swords from the mall more for displace than to really use. But I love learning about the history of them and the science of the weapons of history. If you were my professor I’d never skip a class.

@DemetriosLevi 10 месяцев назад

Don't you love it when you're looking up something extremely specific and the next day, someone awesome uploads a video on that? Thanks bro! One of my favorite swords that looks so much like the evolved version of an ancient Greek Kopis. As much as I would like to believe that to be the case I don't see any case for that in the Byzantine period, but you never know... Still a badass sword.

@wasnt.here.3853 10 месяцев назад

I didn't know these were Ottoman! I grew up in Croatia and they use these (probably got them from fighting the Ottomans?) and the legend we heard growing up about the 'wings' on the pommel was that the wings fit into the crook of the arm and they would hide in trenches and thrust upwards at Ottoman cavalry. Look at the size of the pommel on the originals at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="257">4:17</a> and imagine that fitting into the crook of your arm and grabbing the spine of the blade.

@adambielen8996 10 месяцев назад

Yeah, it would have been something that the Croats adopted during their long conflict with the Ottomans. Similar to how the Kilij would inspire the Hungarians and Poles to make the Saber.

@milionST 9 месяцев назад

In the context of Croatia, yatagans were mainly used by the hinterland irregulars (Uskoci, hajduci, Poljičani...) that were aligned or hired by either Habsburgs or Venetians, and were native to the catholic or orthodox regions that directly bordered Ottoman controlled territories - Lika, Banovina, Kordun and Dalmatian hinterland. Their equipment was a mish-mash of both western and Ottoman style arms and armor (like halberds, schiavona swords and flintlocks imported from Venice, or yatagans, turkish-style maces, miquelet rifles and so on ...). The best representation of these historical formations can be found in the modern day town of Sinj, where people still dress up in the historical attires and still annually hold the popular equestrian game called ''Alka'', which actually commemorates the most important Venetian and Croatian victory in Dalmatia over Ottoman Empire (Battle of Sinj from 1715., fought during the Second Morean war). It is so cool to see a Sinjski alkar (which roughly translates as the knight of Sinj, or Sinj cavalier) in full gallop, or just being accompanied by the infantrymen, both dressed in an attire that has both western and eastern influences.

@IamZeus1100 10 месяцев назад

Wow that’s a pretty awesome sword , I’ve never heard of it before! I’d love to see a video going more in depth on its history !

@vladomne672 10 месяцев назад

I appreciate the choice of painting at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="134">2:14</a>

@lgp5619 10 месяцев назад

aahhhh the Yatagan... one of the most beautiful sword designs ever.

@benjaminotalora363 10 месяцев назад

That goat horn handle is really eye catching. Pretty nice piece overall

@eofthetrees 10 месяцев назад

Love the epic background

@mr.sandman770 10 месяцев назад

Turkey has been a big manufacturer of car parts such as leaf springs. They have gained a lot of experience with heat treatment of spring steels, which may explain why the blade is quite nice for the price.

@lambs5258 10 месяцев назад

love the detail and honesty of your reviews

@adambielen8996 10 месяцев назад

I've always been interested about the the Yatagan, so thanks for taking the opportunity review one. Very excited to see the Kilij video.

@theeggoftheking4519 10 месяцев назад

i’m really glad you didnt stop making videos

@Gnomleif 10 месяцев назад

I don't have anything useful to say, except that Skalls video has the excellent quality I have come to expect, but I will do whatever I can to satisfy the algorithm so Skall can keep doing what he loves. Keep up the good work, Skall.

@JETWTF 10 месяцев назад

For anyone that cares to know it has an axe grind. It is not a grind meant for cutting tools or knives but for tools used to chop into tough material such as wood logs. It has 2 purposes for that use, purpose one is it is a steep grind so it won't penetrate too deeply and get stuck with every swing which also helps split wood by forcing it apart more. Purpose two is for durability, if your job is chopping trees with an axe you sharpen it once after lunch and again at the end of the day before going home. Splitting wood you can get away with one sharpening a day. If it had a more knife like grind even though it cuts deeper you spend more energy working it out than you use with more shallower cuts per tree and you would be sharpening it twice as much, more work cutting down the trees and less time cutting them down from sharpening is a less productive axe... and it would be trash for splitting, stick it in the end of the log, lift and slam down a few times per log kinda trash.

@MJHemmer 10 месяцев назад

I very much like your work. I’ve been a swordsman since I was a child, starting with broken/sawed off broom sticks. I’ve studied and practiced most of the sword cultures/schools, including armored combat, European/western fencing, shastarvifia (Sikh swordsmanship), kenjutsu and kendo. Never went hema though, at least not yet. I find your reviews and commentary enlightening and educated from a everyday swordsman’s point of view as opposed to a academics point of view. Both are essential but I find going out and hacking something up to be more what I personally relate to. Thank you

@Serahpin 10 месяцев назад

I'm consistently amazed at the number of people that are unaware of the subscribed tab.

@notevensexy26 10 месяцев назад

Woke up this morning and had to deal with a flat tire, but that didn’t seem as bad when I saw that there was a new Skallagrim video

@jameswoodard4304 10 месяцев назад

Hey! A good, old-fashioned Skall sword review! I haven't seen one in a while.

@altaycan389 10 месяцев назад

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="33">0:33</a> that was surprisingly accurate

@lilcheeze4033 10 месяцев назад

Please do not quit RU-vid because your videos taught me how to use my machete that I always use whenever I’m out and also your videos, give me knowledge about other swords

@Skallagrim 9 месяцев назад

I appreciate it. Have to admit though, it has been tough lately... no matter what I do the views and ad revenue just keep dropping, and I'm worried about being able to afford doing this long-term.

@lilcheeze4033 6 месяцев назад

Never give up and keep moving forward

@Rajonas007 10 месяцев назад

So many videos ❤ loving the consistency❤

@skipmage 10 месяцев назад

good review. nice to see you getting back into reviews.

@Qaosbringer 10 месяцев назад

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="33">0:33</a> as a Turkish guy, this was a perfect prononciation 😄😄

@frosty_0951 9 месяцев назад

Always love to see your sword reviews! I would have never even heard of this sword otherwise.

@jellekastelein7316 10 месяцев назад

FWIW the two originals I have had in my possession had a flat cross section with secondary bevel as well (actually, one had a t-section blade).

@davidhaas3111 10 месяцев назад

I saw some beautiful examples of these at the MET in NYC. The Ottoman Empire really had some beautiful blades.

@anysimmers8702 10 месяцев назад

I can con confirm. Been subscribed for years, with notifications on, both on RU-vid and in my phone,have unsubscribed and resubscribed to try and fix it, and clear chache. RU-vid has never notified me ever, for any channel I'm subscribed too. Not even in the app or on the website on their own notifications we have😑

@dominiclapinta8537 10 месяцев назад

I've had stainless steel swords for over a decade now that have a perfect spring temper, hold a decent edge, and haven't broken in my torture tests against my brinks home safe and countless cutting against hard and soft woods. Although I have had to re sharpen them, as any blade that is used for long enough against what it shouldn't, will dull the edge. Actually, that's how I learned that real life swords don't cut through everything like a lightsaber. It's all about how good of a craftsman you can get for a price. I even bought a stainless braveheart claymore that has a good spring temper to it. It's what I originally did to see if I would even buy it. My stainless steel blades that held up over the years we're the Pakistan off brand strider ranger sword and Anduril. Their handles eventually bent but the blades were well made and I turned them into functional swords. And these I got for under two hundred dollars off of eBay. The only sword I have that isn't stainless, is my high carbon 1045, high carbon steel onikiri, double layered in the handle, shirasaya. It's a functional skirasaya that the handle doesn't crack because of the double layer

@its_dey_mate 10 месяцев назад

I'm actually in possession of an old yatagan! Here's a quick story, the next big paragraph will actually be about the specifications: I found it when I was little and was told not to say we had it or to use it, apparently my grandfather took it (with permission) from the in-laws of my grandmother (it was in their/family's house). I live in Bulgaria and the town is called Perushtitsa with a *lot* of history and more specifically in "recent" times it is known with one of the bloodiest repressions and atrocities committed by the Ottomans. Unfortunately nobody actually knows how old it is, but it has a very real chance it is from that specific time period i.e. the late 19 century, possibly from earlier. Now, the specifications. It more so aligns with what you describe as "knife length", it's 46cm/18in in length and quite heavy for its stature, 660 grams. The steel has darkened *a lot* and it is slightly rusted. The handle is a tad loose and there are a few small chunks missing, the blade is (naturally) very dull and slightly chipped at places. I haven't handled swords (like at all) so this is my inexperience talking, but it is very unwieldy, don't know if it is just because my arms are not used to it. In regards to the pronunciation in Bulgarian at the very least it would be yatagÁn (main stress of the word is on the last syllable/vowel and I guess it can be said there is a slight secondary stress on the first syllable) and I may be very wrong but it is more than likely the pronunciation is faithful to the Turkish sound.

@MadameRouzgar 10 месяцев назад

It is faithful to the Turkish pronunciation but we don't pronounce the 'g' because it is originally a 'ğ' instead. 'ğ' is like the Greek 'g' but even less stressed. It serves as a rhythmic marker for most of the modern Turkish dialects.

@its_dey_mate 10 месяцев назад

@@MadameRouzgar Thank you for the clarification! Yeah, I suspected so, some loan words from turkish still remain untouched, therefore I suspected the yatagan would be the same too. Very interesting!

@llamabing5215 10 месяцев назад

I do like the blade shape on this yatagan. Nice vid dude.

@owenli7180 10 месяцев назад

That handle/pommel shape is quite interesting. Makes me wonder if they weren't historically made from the "knee" end of an animal's femur at some point.

@dogmaticpyrrhonist543 10 месяцев назад

Good yatagans strike me as pretty rare. It is a very sexy blade shape though. I'm guessing you *could* regrind the bevel, but you'd have to be quite careful and go slow so as to not mess up the temper. And you'd make it even lighter. The blade spine is likely to not be as thick as it should be for a single bevel, so the idea of convexing it, in a smoother transition is probably the best way to improve it. That said, I too do have a soft spot for the Yatagan. It's tempting.

@casinferneycf45 10 месяцев назад

Always helpful Skal!!

@be-noble3393 10 месяцев назад

I always loved the design of this weapon. I also hope you keep up the great work.

@JERKIMBALL1 10 месяцев назад

This video harkens me back to earlier Skal vids - keep it up man 🗡

@theg0z0n 10 месяцев назад

Great video here, very cool sword! Thanks for the honesty about the website too

@fjallaxd7355 10 месяцев назад

Great video, as always.

@jeanladoire4141 10 месяцев назад

I don't know if people realize how crazy it is to have swords for less than 600 bucks... I've been working on a relatively simple knife for 2 days now, and i know it's probably take 3 days to get done... I didn't count yet but it's probably gonna cost between 300 and 400 bucks... For a fairly simple knife... So just imagine a sword

@bentrieschmann 10 месяцев назад

Thanks, really looking forward to the Kilij.

@iantheduellist 10 месяцев назад

Would it be possible for you to review or at least recomend some good rapiers in a video? Like a deep dive into rapiers in the sword market? Both practice and sharp?

@mikmikmikmijtheshy8577 10 месяцев назад

Great review as always

@jamesmandahl444 10 месяцев назад

The horn of the handle scales are lovely. I also like the style of the ears, myself.

@Rodclutcher 9 месяцев назад

Thank you for your hard work brother

@artemisdarkslayer 10 месяцев назад

Cool sword, can't wait for the next one!

@josephdowell1027 10 месяцев назад

A great looking piece Skal. Good instincts.

@canbalaban2057 12 дней назад

"Eared" One of my favorites

@BMO_Creative 10 месяцев назад

Ya, at first I didn't like the look of it, but after seeing you wield it and swing it around, I like it! Yup! I'm getting one!

@RaspK 10 месяцев назад

Yeah, I agree with your assessment about the grind, unlike others here; the examples I've seen from Greece, the so-called γιαταγάνι (clearly a direct transliteration) has a continuous grind, giving it an almost perfectly triangular blade cross-section. These specimens survived since the Greek War of Independence and saw actual use in battle, so those were definitely used as effective weapons, again unlike the stated comments.

@galadballcrusher8182 9 месяцев назад

Bear in mind the yatagan may be a turk name but the curve of the blade around the tip looks like a descendant of Greek kopis although the handle that looks like an ear dagger's handle does not look like a classic kopis one.

@ScholeionHistory 3 месяца назад

@@galadballcrusher8182 I didn't believe this theory until I went into heavy research into the kopis' fate and you're right. There's a Byzantine sword called a paramerion (παραμήριον) which many interpret as a saber but really the military manuals say exactly what it was: a giant makhaira (which means sword or knife). The kopis is a makhaira (μάχαιρα) and not only has there been found Byzantine makhairas with the same recurve blade as the kopis and yatagan, but those same military manuals (Taktika of Leo the Wise and Taktika of Ouranos) say that the soldiers of Alexander the Great carried makhairas but more specifically paramerion. Another crazy part is the name yatagan points to this. The word yatagan means something that lies down or slopes from Turkish 'ya'- to lie down and 'gan'- something…something that lies down or slopes. Many say it’s in reference to how it is worn in the belt, as it’s put in the belt on a slope. This is what paramerion means. Para-besides meros-thigh. The paramerion was worn with a belt instead of the normal baldric. Yatagan seems to be a calque of Paramerion, which happened with so many words from Greek to Turkish. So I believe your absolutely right; the name yatagan is just the Turkish name of a Byzantine large knife/sword that is a direct descendant of the kopis.

@zydrate5098 2 месяца назад

@@ScholeionHistory The paramerion itself was inspired by Turkish (or Turkic) swords lol. The "Greeks invented everythiiiing!1!!1!" meme got old long ago. One of the defining characteristics of Turkic peoples was their skill as blacksmiths / weaponsmiths, and for good reason.

@ScholeionHistory Месяц назад

@@zydrate5098 there is no proof for that. There is a huge mystery to the yataghan and the paramerion theory makes the most sense. At least half of Ottoman culture knowingly and admitingly comes from Byzantine culture so its not out of line to think this would as well. Heck, even Byzantine swords and other weapons were influenced by Turkic ones. It's back and forth cultural exchange...what's fringe about that? If you're gonna say it comes purely from Turkic prototypes you gotta prove it, man. Nobody's just gonna take your word for it

@zydrate5098 Месяц назад

@@ScholeionHistory And I'm supposed to just take your word for it instead? You have no proof for your theories either, that's why people are speculating as to the most reasonable guess and not making huge leaps of logic without any basis like you are. The broadly accepted theory is that the paramerion was inspired by Turkic nomads which the Eastern Romans were at various points allies and enemies with. Turkic warriors also served as mercenaries. Your jump from the kopis to paramerion is, quite frankly, absolutely ludicrous, and completely disregards the historical context of the time period in which they came to be used. Also I said nothing about Ottoman culture, that's not even relevant to this discussion, but if you want to make that point I could easily say that Eastern Rome was even more knowingly and admittingly just Roman with a Greek Orthodox twist, the same way Ottomans are a continuation of Eastern Rome, but culturally Turco-Persian. That doesn't mean that the Ottomans suddenly adapted Roman warfare strategy and weaponry. The Roman influence on Ottoman Turks is mainly in statesmanship. I have no reason to believe that the yataghan is a Roman or Greek influence, because if that was the case you have to explain why the yataghan first came around centuries after the end of Eastern Rome and their cultural hegemony. The etymological argument you make is also a massively unconvincing stretch so no, I'm not taking your word for it, when there are perfectly adequate logical explanations that fill the same holes in our current knowledge.

@draconus56 10 месяцев назад

Finally back to sword reviews 👍

@a.v.5357 10 месяцев назад

Looking good, skall!

@PJDAltamirus0425 10 месяцев назад

Also, kinda think the bevel was a worry issue cus the basically screams to people this is a light sword axe, so the bevel reduces the of customers breaking it using for bushcraft cus the yataghan was a meat and cloth cutter and chopper.

@user-fd5op7fg4j 10 месяцев назад

Awesome! Lovely blade!

@ArnodJ 10 месяцев назад

Losing weight is going good! Keep up the work man, you go in the right direction! 💪🏻

@danhaas9730 10 месяцев назад

I've always loved the yatagan style of blade.

@user-fz5jc6xt1c 3 месяца назад

Something like "yatawan" is the actual pronunciation here in the Balkan peninsula where it was typically used from the ancient times for various tasks. It is originated as a design from ancient Greek "kopis" and it's purpose is fast swing yet powerful cut!

@PJDAltamirus0425 10 месяцев назад

...Those reviews and pursuing Kult of athena makes me think that snug guard fitting is basically the hardest thing to do on a mass scale. Cus minimal guard sword types tend to be alot cheaper while still being decent quality.

@RichMitch 10 месяцев назад

Yatagan you have made my day

@the.other.ian. 10 месяцев назад

Don't have much to say but I love your channel so here is some engagement for the purpose of metrics!

@sivelti3914 10 месяцев назад

Great video!

@PaMuShin 10 месяцев назад

I once had an indonesian version of it, which was much thicker on the back, a little more slim from back of blade to the edge and made of feather steel. I said what is with the strange handle, then it was shown to me the different grips, one as like a wolverine claw. That is one reason why these things do not have guards, it is not for trusting or linear attacks but used in circular ways like in dancing doing centrifugal forces for damage. One example would be like the Olgierd Fight of Witcher 3 or the russian soldier dance or lezginka, same reason the cossack blades do not have guards too, cause they do not need it the way they are fighting with it, there would usually never be this close a contact, that it is necessary.

@sametgoren818 Месяц назад

Fun fact: Jannisaries with equipped two of these were called "Head scissor" in Ottoman.

@bvoyelr 10 месяцев назад

I'm amazed that the thing doesn't perform well on Tatami. The most effective weapon I've ever seen on Tatami is a freakin' Kukri -- a little knife -- that a friend bought off Amazon. We did our sword cutting for the day, and just for kicks he wanted to try out his knife. It cut through it like butter. He wasn't even really trying -- just hacking at the thing from random directions. Sliced through it every time. Given this has the same general shape as a kukri, I'd think this would be similarly performant. Weird to hear that edge geometry makes such a huge freakin' difference.

@Anino_Makata 10 месяцев назад

Was your friend's kukri also particularly wide as well? Because that would've also helped somewhat, if the edge geometry was decent.

@Skallagrim 9 месяцев назад

Oh yes, the blade grind makes a huge difference.

@PenumbranWolf 10 месяцев назад

I need one. I have wanted a yataghan for a long time but they're always expensive.

@Morfeusm 10 месяцев назад

I was just browsing through your channel thinking when you upload again 😂

@Mote. 10 месяцев назад

Thats a beautiful size blade. Looke awesome

@fabienmargerie6815 10 месяцев назад

Thanks bro, take care too. 👍😎🤗

@anysimmers8702 10 месяцев назад

Love your thumbnails🥰😹

@punzersashes 10 месяцев назад

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="415">6:55</a> God Damn, was that a perfect cut technique!

@0num4 10 месяцев назад

Not bad for $250. Thanks for sharing your review.

@milionST 9 месяцев назад

In the context of modern day Croatia, a country that served as a bulwark of central Europe and Italy against the Ottoman incursion, yatagans were mainly used by the hinterland irregulars (Uskoci, hajduci, Poljičani...) that were aligned or hired by either Habsburgs or Venetians, and were native to the catholic or orthodox regions that directly bordered Ottoman controlled territories - mostly from Lika, Banovina, Kordun and Dalmatian hinterland. Their equipment was a mish-mash of both western and Ottoman style arms and armor (like halberds, schiavona swords and flintlocks imported from Venice, or yatagans, turkish-style maces, miquelet rifles and so on ...). The best representation of these historical formations can be found in the modern day town of Sinj, where people still dress up in the historical attires and annually hold the popular equestrian game called ''Alka'', which actually commemorates the most important Venetian and Croatian victory in Dalmatia over Ottoman Empire (Battle of Sinj from 1715., fought during the Second Morean war). It is so cool to see a Sinjski alkar (which roughly translates as the knight of Sinj, or Sinj cavalier) in full gallop, or just being accompanied by the infantrymen, both dressed in an attire that has both western and eastern influences. As a suggestion and idea for some video in the future, do a research about Schiavona sword, Venetian staple weapon from the 16th and 17th century that was actually named after the Croatian and Slavic soldiers (Schiavoni = Slavs) in the service of Serenissima.

@robertwhatley9861 10 месяцев назад

Good video, yet again...😊

@suntzu2812 Месяц назад

You can put the edge of your left palm in that "ears" part and thrust like that, it is actually a technique. Blacksea yatagans have "ears" for your right knee, you use your knee for the extra thrust.

@bl4cksp1d3r 10 месяцев назад

250 bucks for a decent sword with a durable blade sounds great!

@tHEsHINYsTONES 10 месяцев назад

nice review. thanks:)

@Theduckwebcomics 10 месяцев назад

Every time I go to museums in Greece and Serbia I see so many of these! I hate their hilts, but they're really cool blades.

@hotaruhotaru2873 4 месяца назад

Since nobody mentioned I feel obligated to point out a detail about yatağan blade. Unfortunately I won't be able to cite any sources but I have heard from historians or antique sword collectors that yağatan may be used with reverse grip in some occasions. In close range you can hold it reverse and make fast suprising or unpredictable attacks targeting legs, or the way you use a knife in a knife fight to stab with force. The forward curvature of blade keeps the edge a bit further out so it helps connecting the strike. Also there are mentions of yatağan as "turkish scissors" and I have seen some ottoman sword practicioners use it with two weapon style techniques. And about the name, the "Ğ" letter in turkish alphabet is a silent letter phonetically, similiar in concept of "ō" letter in japanese or the umlaut in deutsch. Your pronunciation was correct since "ğ" is used to add lenght to the letter "a" or connect the two wovels when they are together. So it is more like yata:an than yataghan. In the etymology of the word yatağan the root is the proto-turkic word "Yat/Yatık" (to bend, incline, to lie/bent) and it was probably "Yatıkan" originally and people just stopped pronouncing the K with time in daily use. Lastly, the reproduction is kinda lacking, the gap usually points out poor or cheap craftsmanship. I have held original yatağan blades before and I think maybe the handling of the blade caused by the craftsmanship may not be accurate. And this maybe caused by the lack of interest or demand in historical blades in turkey or no established standarts to keep quality in line. So as long as it looks like one, anything goes for the average buyer of the kind of products.