Cold Steel Talwar Sword , Black

This talwar is supreb in quality and durablity. The brass guard, hilt, shealth and fittings set this sword apart from the rest of the Cold Steel offerings, and the 1095 steel blade is a gigantic step up compared to the usual 1055 featured in Cold Steel's swords. It is sharp and able to shred through paper and cardboard with ease. Furthermore, the swordsmanship style that this blade demands is draw cuts, because the round pommel will not allow you to use your wrist. Thus, you must do research on Indian Swordsmanship to master the Talwar. It looks stunning and gorgeous and the grip is comfortable with bare hands. This is the best value for the money for Cold Steel swords, because they normally sell under $200. I would recommend this sword based on the ease of use in unsheathing, draw cutting, and sheathing it.

I had purchased the previous version like 10 years ago. That one had the British cavalry sabre attached to an Indian style hilt. A fine piece, but not exactly* historically accurate. This newer version has a talwar style blade attached to a talwar style handle. It is advertised that the blade has been designed with inputs from Sikh weapons expert Sardar Nidar Singh. It shows. The balance is closer to the hilt. The blade is sharp enough to cut paper. The whole build quality is excellent. Some notes: *Historically, there are many examples where European blades were attached to Indian hilts - but these were more so for straight blades. The disc pommel on the Indian hilt will restrict movement of the wrist. It is by design. If one was to deliver a cut with the talwar, the fist has to be held inline with the wrist, like when one is punching. A cut is delivered at its intended location by the movement of the deliverer's elbow, shoulder, actually the whole body. A talwar is nor designed to be handled like a rapier or a pen.

Quality is generally acceptable, only some little defects. The blade not perfectly smooth, I found 4 slightly sunken places when I was wiping it. Not easy to see bur can be easy to feel when sliding finger on it. These sunken places are focus on 1/3 of the tip on the blade. Protruding part of siperlik (Quillion) was bent and it cloud not fit ağızlık (locket) but fortunately the siperlik only narrow about 2 mm or less so I can adjust it by myself. I guess this is caused by a collision in transit, not a flaw in the product itself.

UPDATE: This sword is quite close to authentic because it favors draw cuts. It's a perfect draw cut sword for in close range cuts. On that front it is perfect. With a lot of negative reviews concerning QA and overall quality of CS swords but also raves from fans, this one stands out as a fair representation of the positive sides of a CS sword. Pros: +Great balance not too far down the blade; about 4.3 in from the guard. +Beautifully cast guard, handle, pummel cap and nut (as one unit). +Sharpened blade, even though only halfway from mid blade to the tip. +Good handling for what sabers do - slashing, without breaking your wrist. +distal taper - YES. +Not too much grease on the blade (use WD 40 and paper towels for an easy cleanup) +No mirror polish but a beautiful polish for cutting if you wish yet still good for collecting. Cons: -If you have fleshy bottom of palm where it connects to inner wrist, the disc pummel will scrap/chafe -the disc pummel cap is not perfectly flat; but for Amazon's price, it's not that bad. -One more with the disc pummel: somewhat restrictive to my wrist follow through. That's the summery. The box came and I was very pleasantly surprised that even though there waw no extra Amazon official box packing it, the CS official box was not damaged in anyway (kudos to local USPS). When I opened the box, I was even more happy to see Cold Steel really designed everything to prevent tip damage in shipping. Plastic wrap with a piece of plastic "cap", and styrofoam plus additional cardboard paddings in inside front of the box in case the tip pierces through the large and long "cap". CS really stepped up to push this model. it is also a higher carbon steel: 1090. Probably makes little difference to most average user like me. I swung it over and over again for about 15 min., trying very hard to like it despite the disc pummel bumping into the bottom of my inner palm. No good. I really wanted, even tried hard to just justify it, thinking it's a culture thing. The brass handle, guard, D ring, and disc pummel cap, all adds to an exotic but gorgeous furniture to a nicely balaced blade with good width. But when I tried to swing through, the disc with its intricate and clean relief, just bumps and chafes my palm bottom. Not as bad for my left hand but not suitable. Had to return it. I wish they modified the disc to be smaller, which may ruin the look and probably the balance. I could try to repummel it but for this purchase, I just wanted to try handling it. Damn, almost perfect. If it works for your hand, and you like the furniture, go for it. I hope this helps, because it really is a nice sword and a steal at this price!

one of the better creation by cold steel. typically, their product is too heavy, but this one is not. it is light( compared to cold steel's other saber/saber like object), well balanced. the hilt structure is perfect for keeping the wrist in place at proper angle. if not it will tell you that you are swinging the sword wrong. over-all, very satisfied with the sword. Oh, it is paper shaving sharp out of the box.

An excellent blade, scabbard, and handle. The large brass ring at the end of the grip can be a wrist problem with sustained use.

No doubt it's a good blade. But it's a very uncomfortable sword to use if you're like me an only know European swordsmanship. Also if you wear gloves anything above medium your hands will probably not fit. The disk pommel will want ti kill you.

I've always wanted one of these and was wary of the cheap Indian wall hangers while not being able to afford a real antique version. This fits the bill and is sharp as a razor to boot. Nice scabbard, great weight and balance. Looking forward to the Indian Mutiny!🤣