A very fair and balanced review, even though the maker has been taking jabs at you for two years straight and refused to deliver the commission for months on end after claiming the sword was finished. No good deed goes unpunished in this day and age. Going by your detailed measurements, demonstration and characterization of this sword, we see it fits perfectly into the pattern of Kopciuch's business practices that I gathered from many other customers of him including myself. He knows in theory what makes a good sword. Unfortunately he is only willing to invest enough effort to make swords that look good in appearance. And they do look good, for the precious few types he is willing to make, he offers many varieties in the hilt fittings with historically inspired geometries and make them stand out in terms of aesthetics. I always reason that his sword would be perfect for museums to place inside a glass case, where nobody could actually handle them and find out their true caliber--how they handle, and how they perform in purposes swords have been created for. But then, wouldn't the museum save a few bucks to make high-resolution 3D-printed resin swords painted to look like steel, if not a single soul is ever to know how they handle? And once again, we see him blatantly embellish his stats to make them look appealing on paper. It only tells you one thing: he KNOWS how thick the sword should be. For this geometry, it had better be the 6mm base thickness that he listed--instead of the 4.5mm actual thickness, and having a convex distal taper due to the very triangular profile taper. But once again he couldn't bring himself to get down to the difficult work of grinding that distal taper because of the stock removal process he opts to employ instead of the more time consuming hand forging, which will draw out the distal taper more naturally. He is unwilling to spend the time to grind that distal taper as others who uses stock removal do (i.e. Lukas Mästle-Goer). How many times have we caught him embellishing the stats where he deems necessary? We have lost count. Anyone who isn't aware of this, please head to the description of this video and click my video that Kyle has linked. And then there's the Olympic level mental gymnastics that tries to claim the Blade Base Thickness is actually the Thickness of the Tang. When I first heard of this claim of his, I literally spit my coffee. Not a single person who goes to museum to measure originals and reports the tang thickness as the blade's base thickness. None. Ask Matt Easton. Ask Peter Johnsson. Ask Chris Fields. And NO MAKER reports the blade base thickness as the tang thickness either. Tang thickness is a separate stats, not to mention that the tang thickness/width are also tapered. About the targets cut (or rather--not cut) in this video, these are beginner-friendly targets. Doesn't matter what your sword is purposed for, it should cut through them without much problem if the sword is properly made. You didn't include the footage, but we know from your other cutting shorts, and review videos that you cut these perfectly fine with the majority of your swords. This sword's performance is likely second to dead last--only slightly above that noodle of a sword by Darksword Armory. If a sword can't even handle these targets, there is less than zero chance it will do anything to gambeson--padded armor that was worn by even the lowest ranked soldiers on medieval battlefields. And if you watch my video linked by Kyle, you will see just that: Kopciuch swords can't even leave a scratch on even the top layer of the gambeson, not to mention the 31 other layers below and the flesh underneath. In any case, I think there's a small niche market for his work, that is the collectors only hang swords on the wall--never to touch them other than the few times taking them off the wall to oil or wax them--therefore not really interested in the least bit of how they actually handle and perform in sword-related activities. Perhaps one of them would be interested in taking this sword off your hand?

Great review! I wanna say this video definitely didnt feel like it was an hour long. It flows really well, and I appreciate all the effort that went into making such a long video. I also appreciate your ability to remain so objective in this review. Honestly if I had spent that much on a commission, got the negative experience you did, and the sword didn't fulfill my requirements... Id be pretty irritated. That said it is beautiful. Again, nice work on review sir.

I had the exact same problem with the thickness as well. I ordered an XIIa sword which I requested to be at least 6 mm thick because it’s a massive sword. He lied on the website as well when he put in on there. The website said 6 mm but when I measured it, it was 4.3 mm. It seemed too floppy for such a big sword. I also ordered it sharp, but it was as sharp as a cheap Chinese pocket knife (not sharp!). Personally if you want to have a sword made according to your measurements I wouldn’t recommend this sword maker. Definitely not wort the money!

Really great review Kyle! This is the sort of in depth feature that keeps you at the top of our cohort ;-) It’s a very pretty blade and I like the choices you made in the commission. Thanks for highlighting what went right and what went wrong for the whole process!

Very good and fair review. Beautiful sword with some really nice features , but it seems like with a little more attention to details such as your requested grip shape, accurate thickness, and proper handling dynamics this could have been really special. Sorry those important aspects of it are missing that would have made it exactly what you were hoping to get. For me, handling dynamics for training and cutting are critical. Very useful info to have when considering commissions. Thanks for putting this out to the community.

Excellent review, Brother Kyle. I'm sorry to see that it was a disappointment in some ways. This sword definitely has a lovely medieval aesthetic. The base thickness is an interesting point. Considering their hand-forged nature, I wonder how many swords from a similar period would have one as low, especially on a 30"+ inch blade. One must also consider that period users may not have been able to count on consistently spot-on heat treatment or very high-quality steel, making blade geometry even more critical. Designs were not always made to optimize an application (Thrusting, Cutting) but rather be aesthetic and usable. This design fits that category. Salute.

I chose not to pick up a scabbard from him, but that mixed style of geometric and floral is exactly what I wanted. Nice to know that it lived up to expectations. His packaging is pretty nice (with that thick blue foam in the box)...the only one better so far I've seen is Mateusz Sulowski...bomb proof. That double fuller is gorgeous, but I see your tip is as rugged as mine, I found that sloppy and lazy. w/r to the crosses in the fuller, perhaps he thought the crossbar of the crosses being directly on the central ridge was an issue. In the other example you show, it looks like the bars of the H's are actually slanted from below the ridge to above the ridge...which would not work on the crosses. Sharpness was also an issue with me, several times I mentioned that I was not looking for razor sharp, but expected it to be able to cut backyard targets. Both of mine are literally butterknife sharp. Very disappointing.

Thank you for doing this. You may not make any money but you bring people joy.

On the thickness aspect, my view: Tangs can be thicker than the blade. Or more correctly, the thickest part can be at the transition of the blade part to the tang part (I hope I make sense with my description since they are both part of the blade). And that can be indeed covered by the guard. I am too lazy to do the math, but that should help absorb the vibrations and prevent them from propagating into the grip (so by playing with the thickness, in principle, you should be able to move the vibration node to where you want it in the handle). I am willing to concede this point to Maciej Kopciuch (while noting that Kyle complained abut the vibration node location in the grip; a thicker stock would have helped). But you guys are 100% right, no one is using that when talking about the thickness of the blade. It's the measurement in front of the guard. I think Kopciuch measures the thickness of the stock blade at 6mm before he starts work, but never bothers to remeasure it afterwords. With smiths that become too popular and overwhelmed with orders, I think they start to rush things (explains not seeing part of your message in regard to the crosses). So I can accept him listing the wrong measurement in a way. But what I cannot understand is why double down on it when so many people brought this up as a problem? I think he got stubborn on this point and he trapped himself. Now he feels he can't back down from his position. That's a shame, since even if he wants to work with a thinner stock, there are plenty of bade types he can still do (and which would work on multiple types of cutting materials, from pumpkins to water bottles). A last conjecture on my part, I think we want a thicker base for the blade, not to obtain a rigid blade (because an aggressive distal taper can change that, or conversely a profile taper and fuller can help with rigidity even on thinner blades), but as a way to absorb vibration. I would like to see this tested by someone at some point, in real life or via simulations (​I volunteer @dlatrexswords 😅).

Thanks for sharing your impressions on the sword and experience with the maker. Since I knew of Kane's opinion on the maker from his tier list video, I wanted to watch your video when I had proper time for it. One thing I was concerned with was the quillons being on the shorter side. I'm happy to hear that this was your intent from the start (I kinda remember you mentioning at some point that you prefer shorter quillons when cutting). And Maciej was right to go for the oxblood colour for the grip and chape (let's stick with this name; flaps sounds strange, rain-guard sounds misleading). It looks gorgeous, and I think it's one of those colour tones that you can work in a lot of detail in the leather (the fine details on the chape are superb). Now, I love the look of this blade. It's one of my favourite looking profiles. But since I know you are interested in backyard cutting, I don't understand why you went for it. Seen either as a Type XV or Type XVIIIb, these are blades that are hard to cut with, especially towards the tip. I also checked Albion's Ljubljana, because they share the same look for the blade, and its CoP is 50cm (compared to 53cm on your sword; btw, Albion's Brescia also has a CoP of 50cm, so we are talking about the same ballpark here). Since you have an Albion's Brescia, don't you find the cutting potential to be similar? Not the same, but closer to each other compared to other swords you have. Let me know your thoughts on this. Going back to Albion's Ljubljana for a moment, what makes me not want to get that sword (in addition to the $3.2k price 😱, man did I forgot how expensive it is), it's the 1.746kg weight. Without handling it to convince myself of the contrary, I think it's on the heavier feeling side. So seeing your sword only weighs 1.367kg, and hearing you say it feels nimble, it tells me that this is what I would want from this type of blade. A fast, nimble sword with good point control, that I can use in an unarmoured duel (like a judicial duel scenario) by keeping the point in the face of the opponent and binding the other sword (which is why I would want a 24cm wide guard over your current 16.8cm one, or even a slightly curved one). I'm talking about a different use of the point, so I don't need a 1cm thick blade and reinforced tip like for armoured combat (like Windlass's Black Prince; FYI, I saw it being listed in UK online shops now). So for what I have in mind, considering the geometry and the reinforcement provided by the double fuller, I don't need, nor want a thick blade. I want to keep the weight as low as possible (your statement that it feels like a shorter blade is what I would actually want).

Very interesting review, rather odd too. I mean that is a beautiful sword, the Hilt, the scabbard, blade. It looks really cool. As art it is well, a work of art. To bad it doesn't work as a sword, as well as it looks. Reminds me of the Albion Munich you reviewed that was functional and a work of art. Interesting guy... cut mail with it? I mean, I almost think he's just saying that knowing nobody is going to pay 2500$ us then go cut mail and damage their sword. Anybody who is gonna pay 2500$ is not going to damage it trying to cut "the foe of sword." Just a weird thing to say. I feel like I should read his essay or whatever, just to read it. Does he think an obtuse edge is better because it skates off the mail with minimal damage? Or does he expect to actually cut it? Bizarre... Anyway... pumpkins are fun🎃 they make that really satisfying hallow squishy sound and you can lop big chucks off them. I don't know, there's something primal when you cut one and leave a big "wound" in it. It just stimulates the caveman brain some how, I can't wait for pumpkin season. Not the most technical target, but fun to cut up. Also good chance to get some miles out of the swords in the collection that don't cut very well! Lol that's what do 🤘💀 thank you for your hard work making this man. It really is a very pretty sword

Your review is always perfect my friend😉

Great review. Loving that Brescia Spadona on the wall; any idea when you'll get a scabbard for it, so you can do a full review? No pressure, just curious.

Maybe a thin light feeling sword with these characteristics would be someone's ideal dueling sword? As I was watching the review I was trying to think of a practical application for the specific specs of this sword. I think a training sword seems like a good comparison. Maybe to someone that's used to dueling with a trainer it would be perfect? Or maybe we are over thinking it, and your opponent would be overwhelmed with how visually stunning your blade is and just concede the moment you draw?

i absolutely enjoyed this review, thank you for taking the time to make it and i am sorry the sword didn't end up being what you wanted, i think a $2000 + sword should be EXACTLY what you want within reason of physical possibility. because of the perhaps superficial similarity between this sword and the Balaur arms 15th century German longsword, i was wondering how they compare in your opinion?

I like the double fullers look on an acute blade (basically the blade of the Ljubljanica river sword). I can see why you wanted one. I'm curious to hear what you have to say (I'll watch your review in full latter).

After seing a lot of sword review, all i can say is that Peter Johnsson designs are the best... All things considered, aesthetic, weight, etc.. the best.

was that falchion in the picture also made in to a real 1? it will be a great idea

39:23 I guess he meant to thrust against mail over a roast? That is what those skinny late medieval swords where for.

I imagine a sword of that design would not be very good at cutting.

Witch one do you like must between this sword and your Lockwood sword ?

The guy who made this sorry excuse of a sword should be ashamed!

That thing is so beautiful.

I’m pretty tired of the pride flag always being shoved in our face. I’m out.