Also side note, im sure others will point this out aswell but the whole "copy homework" Thing is basically true, this sword was originally going to be made by a different manufacturer for the Balaur arms brand, when Balaur arms changed manufacturer this sword was already a WIP so when Cold Steel started working with that old manufacturer they finalized the design and released it under their brand. Then when Balaur arms decided to work on this sword with LK Chen they basically just updated the design.
For claiming to not know messer very well, you still did a very comprehensive overview with all the right spotlights! Glad to see this latest in your series, and glad the blade held up so well. On my wishlist for someday…
Thanks for this very thorough review! It gave me some things to make sure I compare with my Albion Knecht when I review the Balaur Arms one next month.
If you have the cold steel and Albion then it would be fun to see them all laid out next to each other. What stuff did you see here that you will keep an eye on?
The reason it is so similar to the Cold steel one is because the CS is a stolen design. The backstory here is that Balaur Arms is Kult Of Athena's own brand of swords. They designed a Kriegsmesser and had a company, OTC in India produce it. Well OTC was shady and lied about the steel they were using and also sold some of Balaurs designs as their own on the side. KOA fired them and went to different makers, then OTC took the stolen messer design and produced it for Cold Steel. That's why they are so similar because the CS one is a stolen design and Balaur Arms decided to make some aesthetic changes (the twisted guard ) to differentiate it. I saw whole thing played out on Facebook, where OTC tried selling the unreleased messer as their own on various sword pages and almost bought one myself. Only to see the exact same sword reappear in Cold Steels catalogue later.
@@Matthew_Jensen I think the BA is the way to go. Hopefully they did the Nagel issue but I think that the CS's blade bending is REALLY bad. Yes CS could address the tempering issue but even so the prices are not too different but the BA is balanced better, is a bit fancier & has a scabbard included.
I havnt done destructive testing with my sword yet, but other than that, this review seems to sum up my thoughts on this sword, It has a fantastic blade, but the hilt could use some work. That being said I preordered the first wave of these and Im totally satisfied, I mainly wanted a pretty sword I could do some light test cutting with and thats what I got. I am interested in getting more swords from this range of LK Chen+Balaur arms swords now tho!
Damn man that ice jug cut was clean 🤘 I'm not really impressed the pommel came lose but I'm sure lk chen can and probably will fix that and the nagle problem. That scabbard though 😍 I really like that scabbard. Especially the little cake frosting knob on the chape. I'm trying to think of a cooler looking sword and scabbard package in this price range but nothing really comes to mind. They put a lot extra work into the aesthetics which they really didn't have to bother with people would have bought it anyway. Well I pretty much made my mind I'm getting something from lk chen's euro collection. Probably this one or the Alexandria
These loose pommels and nagals are to be installed as hot rivets which then contract and pull everything tight. Likely these "peens" have not been done hot and that is why they always loosen. Cutting corners? Lazy? Incompetent? Ignorant? Who knows
I am not sure why it has the issues other than perhaps using another sword as a basis for the construction method. The good news is LK Chen is pretty good about making improvements future versions will probably address these things. I am also guessing most people will not hit the guard like I did so it may not come up.
@@Matthew_Jensen In real combat a guard could take a hard hit so it is great to see how the swords react when they do take a hard hit. I see no problem with your testing - you do what you do and what happens happens. That is why I am viewing this. Regarding the loose pommel and nagel, my father was a blacksmith, welder and metalworker and made knives, specialty tools, etc so I learned a tiny bit. They are simply not installing the parts in the "hot rivet" way and with the square cross section, as you mentioned. Both together would last forever. The "hot rivet" technique is more time consuming and skill demanding and the square cross section is also more costly. The reason all the swords are the same is all the companies are trying to reduce costs on this important but difficult assembly and the required expensive components. I hope they do make improvements because they need to be made. LK Chen seems to be pretty good in this regard, I agree. Thanks for the reply and thanks for another great review. When you make your disclaimer saying you are not an expert I sigh and say to myself "that is just what I'm looking for." By the way, I haven't noticed your sound editing and that is exactly the way sound editing should work. Thanks again. Great reviews. Stay safe. Cheers!
this is the proof in the pudding. look at Katana, then search europe for the closest thing to one. and it blows away the east asian version. ever seen the Viking squares. they are waaaaay more hardcore than shuriken. it's the same with all japanese weapons.
The backstory here is that Balaur Arms is Kult Of Athena's own brand of swords. They designed a Kriegsmesser and had a company, OTC in India produce it. Well OTC was shady and lied about the steel they were using and also sold some of Balaurs designs as their own on the side. KOA fired them and went to different makers, then OTC took the stolen messer design and produced it for Cold Steel. That's why they are so similar because the CS one is a stolen design and Balaur Arms decided to make some aesthetic changes (the twisted guard ) to differentiate it.
Also side note, im sure others will point this out aswell but the whole "copy homework" Thing is basically true, this sword was originally going to be made by a different manufacturer for the Balaur arms brand, when Balaur arms changed manufacturer this sword was already a WIP so when Cold Steel started working with that old manufacturer they finalized the design and released it under their brand. Then when Balaur arms decided to work on this sword with LK Chen they basically just updated the design.
For claiming to not know messer very well, you still did a very comprehensive overview with all the right spotlights! Glad to see this latest in your series, and glad the blade held up so well. On my wishlist for someday…
Thank you sir.
Thanks for this very thorough review!
It gave me some things to make sure I compare with my Albion Knecht when I review the Balaur Arms one next month.
If you have the cold steel and Albion then it would be fun to see them all laid out next to each other. What stuff did you see here that you will keep an eye on?
@@Matthew_Jensen Peen shape and connection of the nagel to the guard primarily.
Finally a krigsmesser with a scabard
its does not feel like butt either.
Your videos always reinforce the idea that blades are much cheaper and easier to execute than fittings.
The clean cut on the ice bottle was badass!
The reason it is so similar to the Cold steel one is because the CS is a stolen design.
The backstory here is that Balaur Arms is Kult Of Athena's own brand of swords. They designed a Kriegsmesser and had a company, OTC in India produce it. Well OTC was shady and lied about the steel they were using and also sold some of Balaurs designs as their own on the side. KOA fired them and went to different makers, then OTC took the stolen messer design and produced it for Cold Steel. That's why they are so similar because the CS one is a stolen design and Balaur Arms decided to make some aesthetic changes (the twisted guard ) to differentiate it.
I saw whole thing played out on Facebook, where OTC tried selling the unreleased messer as their own on various sword pages and almost bought one myself. Only to see the exact same sword reappear in Cold Steels catalogue later.
Glad to see reviews on this messer coming out as I have been debating this & the CS one
what do you think after watching?
@@Matthew_Jensen I think the BA is the way to go. Hopefully they did the Nagel issue but I think that the CS's blade bending is REALLY bad.
Yes CS could address the tempering issue but even so the prices are not too different but the BA is balanced better, is a bit fancier & has a scabbard included.
Saw this one and been wondering about it. Glad your review is out.
Thank you for the review love your work! I’ve been wanting one for a while but I will wait for a later batch to fix the pommel and nagel issue.
thank you
Fantastic video work. Editing, voiceover, etc. Great work and good day!
I havnt done destructive testing with my sword yet, but other than that, this review seems to sum up my thoughts on this sword, It has a fantastic blade, but the hilt could use some work. That being said I preordered the first wave of these and Im totally satisfied, I mainly wanted a pretty sword I could do some light test cutting with and thats what I got. I am interested in getting more swords from this range of LK Chen+Balaur arms swords now tho!
"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." *
Excellent review. Right to the point
Damn man that ice jug cut was clean 🤘 I'm not really impressed the pommel came lose but I'm sure lk chen can and probably will fix that and the nagle problem.
That scabbard though 😍 I really like that scabbard. Especially the little cake frosting knob on the chape. I'm trying to think of a cooler looking sword and scabbard package in this price range but nothing really comes to mind. They put a lot extra work into the aesthetics which they really didn't have to bother with people would have bought it anyway. Well I pretty much made my mind I'm getting something from lk chen's euro collection. Probably this one or the Alexandria
It is nice to see.
Been looking forward to a review on this one
Great review! I am thinking about getting the Knights Templar Arming Sword. Kult of Athena got a hit on their hands in my opinion with this line.
9:47 what is the long sword on the wall with the red scabbard. Have you done any videos with it. It has a attractive cross guard.
Still debating on grabbing this one, but I grabbed one of their longswords. :)
you could just make one..
@@Matthew_Jensen I could, but then that would be one of mine, not an lk Chen one :)
Been waiting for this one. Prepare for multiple comments.
LK Chen being involved is intriguing.
5:43 Is that the osoraku-zukuri Thaitsuki nihonto second from the top on the stand?
indeed, the s05 was sent for review a while ago. I did an unboxing but still working on the review.
@@Matthew_Jensen would be cool if they were still made in Thailand
Those tests don´t resemble the actual purpose of a sword at all in my opinion, but it´s clear that you like what you do and this is what its about.
Do you mean wacking it with a stick?
I'd definitely pay more for it have the nagel properly connected.
Hopfully some small tweeks would make this an instant recommend.
LK Chen seems to take comments and reviews seriously, so I would venture to say that the next iteration will likely have a square peg on the nagle.
Not sure if that is the only solution but I hope the come up with something.
Would this be a good candidate for remounting as a katana or naginata?
emoji here
Is this sword still being sold anywhere? The link doesn't seem to work anymore
Wondering if there should be a channel that just beats up scabbards
would you like to see it smacked around some?
What happened to these? I didn’t even get to see them on sale and now they’re totally wiped from KOAs site
These loose pommels and nagals are to be installed as hot rivets which then contract and pull everything tight. Likely these "peens" have not been done hot and that is why they always loosen. Cutting corners? Lazy? Incompetent? Ignorant? Who knows
I am not sure why it has the issues other than perhaps using another sword as a basis for the construction method. The good news is LK Chen is pretty good about making improvements future versions will probably address these things. I am also guessing most people will not hit the guard like I did so it may not come up.
@@Matthew_Jensen In real combat a guard could take a hard hit so it is great to see how the swords react when they do take a hard hit. I see no problem with your testing - you do what you do and what happens happens. That is why I am viewing this.
Regarding the loose pommel and nagel, my father was a blacksmith, welder and metalworker and made knives, specialty tools, etc so I learned a tiny bit.
They are simply not installing the parts in the "hot rivet" way and with the square cross section, as you mentioned. Both together would last forever.
The "hot rivet" technique is more time consuming and skill demanding and the square cross section is also more costly. The reason all the swords are the same is all the companies are trying to reduce costs on this important but difficult assembly and the required expensive components.
I hope they do make improvements because they need to be made. LK Chen seems to be pretty good in this regard, I agree.
Thanks for the reply and thanks for another great review. When you make your disclaimer saying you are not an expert I sigh and say to myself "that is just what I'm looking for."
By the way, I haven't noticed your sound editing and that is exactly the way sound editing should work.
Thanks again. Great reviews. Stay safe.
Cheers!
this is the proof in the pudding. look at Katana, then search europe for the closest thing to one. and it blows away the east asian version. ever seen the Viking squares. they are waaaaay more hardcore than shuriken. it's the same with all japanese weapons.
Cs can fit into a baulur arms scabbard eh.....sounds like baulur arms makes cs messers....just like dsa outsourcing everything to India....
The backstory here is that Balaur Arms is Kult Of Athena's own brand of swords. They designed a Kriegsmesser and had a company, OTC in India produce it. Well OTC was shady and lied about the steel they were using and also sold some of Balaurs designs as their own on the side. KOA fired them and went to different makers, then OTC took the stolen messer design and produced it for Cold Steel. That's why they are so similar because the CS one is a stolen design and Balaur Arms decided to make some aesthetic changes (the twisted guard ) to differentiate it.