Damascus Long Sax, Unknown, 17 1/4"

While the langseax might not get as much love as the more traditional Viking swords, this one is light and fast...considered more of a "knife" this would be seen almost as more of a "machete" albeit a drop-dead gorgeous one. The handle fits the hand beautifully, and the blade is absolutely stunning...rather than acid-etching like most sword makers would, Cold Steel elected to polish the blade, not only making it easier to maintain but giving the pattern a more shimmering watermark look.

First, this is a beautiful seax! Nice detailings and gorgeous Damascus! Its a very faint pattern, but definately there. The blade is broad and thick. It feels like it could easily hack through a shield. The edge is gorgeous with no secondary bevels. It reminds me of looking at my first wakizashi years ago. The fittings are well made. A little blingy for my tastes but not bad. The pommel is nicely rounded with a nut that blends in with the lobes. The grip is the weirdest part. Its long. The knife can still be used, but it just feels off. It feels like it needs a shorter grip to be held in a good handshake grip. Handling wise, it is heavy, but not too difficult to move around. I've got strong wrists and I am able to do snap cuts, but it may be too much for some. Really, its like a dark age meat cleaver. I'm really surprised you dont see many reviews for this thing. Oh! And the sheath is nicely made with smooth leather on both the outsude and inside and heavy brass fittings. I would recommend this in a heartbeat if you don't mind the long grip. Its a stout, Dwarven cleaver!

the point is turned up a bit more than it should be for this style of knife, making it more bowie like than regular anglo-saxon seax's. its sturdy, not suuuuper sharp, but its about as sharp as something like this should be. the damascus is legit, but fairly faint. if you dont know any better, it can look like oil stains. i prefer damascus that looks like this personally, but to those that light the super high contrast stuff, id look somewhere else. the sheath holds it well, despite its weight. i really like the traditional hook up system, anter tines, tied to your belt are how you use this style. push the tines point first through the brass rings, then turn them horizontal with the rings so they cant just slide out (look up a video if you have to) be careful putting it into the sheath though, it can kink while you do it, and if youre not vigilant enough to straighten it, you can send the point right through the side of it. i like it enough that im looking into buying the sword version.

My Blade came with a discolored wooden handle & a cheaply crafted pale/faded leather-like sheath.