dispelling Myths about medieval Combat

[Timelord]

Make sure any Damascus blade you buy is genuine Damascus and not this powdered sintered stuff that had flooded the market this last 15 years. That is the equivalent of "cast". Also, I am aware of issues with Cold Steel making sword blades out of 01 tool steel and hence their breaking on a regular basis. I do not know how much of their range is affected by this, but a friend of mine who is more informed on this issue assures me there is info on forums with quite a few pictures of breakages. He also informs me that Cold Steel refused to replace any of the swords that have broken this way.

Their sales image clips look very good, but you do not know how many "takes" they underwent to show perfect results every time. I remember one image of a boar spear tip snapping off when it was thrown at a car bonnet (like that would ever occur??). It would be interesting to know exactly what steels each type of sword was made out of and to what hardness/temper it had been produced. Without knowing this, no sword should be purchased.
I have not looked into the Cold Steel issue myself, but it is a useful caution to be aware of. Regards, TL.