Cold SteelScottish Broad Sword

Wonderful quality. Arrived quite sharp out of the box.

This sword is beautifully made and sturdy, as one expects from Cold Steel. I did remove the annoying tassels and basket liner (I'll replace with a soft green leather half-liner). Also, be aware that "Cold Steel" is stamped on the locket of the scabbard and the inside of the basket, but this doesn't really detract from the sword's overall appearance. The blade came slightly sharp and could easily be made deadly, but I'll dull the blade as I've no intention of cutting anything with this. I am quite pleased with my purchase.

The handle wrap is SO ROUGH it's like sandpaper. If you don't have tough hands you will absolutely want gloves. Overall, the quality of the entire piece is great minus the one grip issue.

I probably should give this two stars, but because I'm keeping it, so I'll go with three. This is the 2nd one I've purchased for gifts - to my son, and now my son-in-law. I bought the first one in 2012. It came in an unopened factory shipping box, which contained the carton with the sword. With the first purchase, both cartons were taped and heavily stapled, never opened. The blade was wrapped separate from the scabbard because the blade was covered with cosmolene to protect it from rust. It required cleaning before putting it into the scabbard. The blade was nicely sharpened about halfway along its length.The broadsword I received today was in a single box. The tape had been cut, the lid was not fastened. It had been tampered with. Inside, the blade was in the scabbard, with some cosmolene on it when I removed it. The sharpening job is terrible. It goes halfway up one edge, but almost full length on the other. However, that's not all, it's uneven and dull near the tip.Normally I'd send it back, but as I intend to sharpen both edges full-length anyway, as I did with the first one, I'll clean up both edges, first with a fine flat bastard mill file, very carefully, and finish with stones. I can generally produce a nice, even bevel by frequently looking down the edge in strong light, while sharpening, and being very careful, not too aggressive with the file. All else is OK, but the packaging makes me think that once again Amazon is selling 2nd hand, returned items. They did that a few months ago with a vacuum cleaner. Amazon made it good, but it was a pain. If you're not into customizing your weapons and get something like this, I recommend returning it.As for the sword, the tang is not peened. The pommel is threaded onto the tang, and on close examination isn't aesthetically well-matched to the handle - no transition from a wide, flat washer surface to the smaller handle diameter. It serves its purpose but looks over large. The decorative tassel covers the juncture up. The sword is well-balanced, not overly heavy. There is a central fuller with two, narrower, machine cut grooves paralleling the fuller, not something you see on traditional broadswords. The basket could be a little rounder to give more freedom to the knuckles - it's squared off on the sides, which makes it stable for dancers or for laying on a table, not so good for swinging. However, I won't pretend that I'll ever be in any clan battles, so it's an intellectual exercise. This is not a replica, isn't intended to be. It's a modern version of the scottish basket hilted sword. The bluing and scabbard match the Cold Steel dirk.The scabbard comes with a locket. If you get one of these weapons, you aren't into absolute accuracy. The locket is marked "Cold Steel" and isn't a Jacobite era fixture. However, the locket makes using a baldric (with a slotted scabbard frog) really easy to live with when you're kilted up. When you sit down to some fine haggis (or in my case pizza - that's why my ancestors left Scotland - no mair haggis!) you can easily remove your scabbard from the baldric without removing the baldric. Beware spending a lot of money on piper's crossbelts. They work OK with flat swords, but the frog doesn't extend far enough out from the baldric to accommodate a basket hilt. There is an outfit that makes a very serviceable, Revolutionary War era baldric for re-enactors. It works vey nicely with this broadsword.

Cold Steel has fabulous product, well tested & crafted extremely well. Balance is great! All their blades are ready to use.

I received this sword exactly on time. I was shipped in a long box well packaged so that no parts where touching and nothing could movie in the slightest way. the blade Came with a liberal coating of cosmolean which prevented rust. The sword was exactly what I ordered. My father will be very pleased. as I bought it for his birthday. It came with a certificate verifying it passed a british stress test. I am highly pleased and will buy from this company again.

Didi not include the British proof test. I called them (cold steel) several times . Each time they took my phone number and email and promised to get back with me. Nothing they never did. They told me the management would have to get back to me. Still waiting lol. The new company that purchased them better watch out or they will start really getting a lousy reputation. Very bad customer service though the people on the phone are friendly just don't expect them to get back with you no matter how much they promise.

Im Celtic and I love my sword.My family name is from Wales.and Scotland.My sword came yesterday I opened the box and there was my was my heritage .I love my Basket Sword thank you very much coold still