Strongblade Knight Protector ReviewStrongblade are quickly getting a reputation for producing just that – strong blades – at VERY competitive prices. With almost no sword over US$150, the value for money factor is definitely there – and as we will see from this review, these swords have a lot of things going for them...
I was first told about this sword by a friend in the business who happened to be in the middle of negotiations with Strongblade. We started talking about it and it began to grow on me. I don't know if it was the Nickel plating that sold me or just the all around look of the sword, either way it definitely caught my eye.
Specs
Overall Length 39 1/2"
THE BLADE
For an economy priced sword....this hand forged blade is very impressively done. The edge is remarkably straight for a hammered blade as well as the 3/4 length fuller. The blade is polished to a mirror shine with no big nicks or scars in the blade. I am also very impressed at how durable the blade feels. There is very little flex in the blade so it should be a very good chopper. For those of you who are smaller it may not be a very wieldable sword due to its weight but for someone like me it fits very well in my hand and packs a lot of punch.
The leather on the grip is wrapped very well with a nice stitching down the side. If this is intended to be a chopper I would however recommend either roughing up the grip a bit or using less polished leather. On the shelf it looks great but if your hands would get sweaty or wet I could see grip becoming a major issue. If you have large hands the cross guard has fairly sharp edges and it scrapes on my hands if I don’t have gloves on, but for most people I don’t see this being a problem.
THE POMMEL A traditional round pommel with raised center fits well on this sword even with the fact that it is slightly oversized. It is larger then most round pommels I have on other swords but it does a very good job at bringing the POB closer to the hilt which is very important due to such a stout blade.
The guard is simple with a very slight upward curve to it. It is wide enough to cover the hand but not too wide as to look out of place. The edges as mentioned before are a little sharp on the guard which can cause chaffing on the hands but even thin gloves could remove that problem. Both the Guard and Pommel are nickel plated and polished to an exquisite shine. That is a real eye catcher on this piece.
(Not quite sure why that leather patch is on the hilt by the blade but is it supposed to be there and the glue didn’t stick or is that to be removed?) It does however eliminate the click when sheathing the sword and prevents scratches. (Which is what I’m guessing it’s for).
I am truly speechless when it comes to the scabbard. The throat and tip are polished to a high shine to match the guard and pommel. The leather is pristine with no scars or cracks in it. The stitching is also very tight. It is also very heavy duty. I would not worry one bit about it bending or breaking. I own $300 swords with cheaper looking scabbards then these.
After sharpening one side of the blade I used it for some small cutting tests. The 4L milk jugs were like butter, and I was able to cut thin slices off of them once I became familiar with how the sword handled. I then moved on to 2L pop bottles for a little more resistance and those too were an easy cut. After that just to see how it would stand up being a heavy blade and all, I did some thrusting tests on a sheet of 3/8 plywood. To my surprise, I punched it straight through over 4 inches on my first thrust. Very impressive. It’s a little sluggish when you first start swinging it but it doesn’t take long to get used to how it handles. A great cutter.
Well I will say this, for a $150 dollar tempered sword its a pretty good bang for its buck. The scabbard is great and the sword looks great. It is a great addition to my collection.
It’s definitely worth taking a look at. I give it 2 thumbs up.
Naturally enough, Strongblades tempered swords are available from their website here. Bear in mind that their swords comes in two versions, tempered and un-tempered – so be sure that if you want the functional versions to tick the box to select the tempered version.
into their checkout to watch the price of the Knight Protector go down to just $141.55! Plus by using the discount, you'll not only save money but you’ll also be helping me out as small portion of each sale earns SBG some referral credits to help offset the costs of running my site. Truly a Win-Win Situation if ever there was one...!
I hope this review of the Strongblade Knight Protector Sword has been helpful and informative. To return to Affordable Replicas of Medieval Swords, from Strongblade Knight Protector Review, click here
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It wasn't long before the order was in and the sword was on its way. Maybe a week or 2 after the order date, the sword arrived. When i first opened the box, I saw just the sword wrapped in not only bubble wrap but packing foam as well. After removing it I discovered that there was another box underneath it. Opening the next box I found a beautiful matching black leather scabbard with steel throat and tip. And it comes with sword Oil?? Yup...now I'm excited.
