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Cold Steel – Man At Arms Collection – Messer Sword

SKU: KOA_CS88GMSSM Categories: , , , Tag:
(3 customer reviews)

$186.99$219.99

Cold Steels Man at Arms Messer is constructed with a forged, tempered and sharpened blade of 1090 high carbon steel; the blade is finished with a deep bluing treatment to blacken the blade. The guard and pommel are blued steel and the wooden grip is well-polished and stained. The companion scabbard for the messer is black leather with a blued chape and throat locket.

This contemporary version of the Messer is fitted with a large knuckle-guard that doubles as a knuckle-duster – it is placed far enough from the grip to ensure it does not interfere with even a large hand on the grip. The clamshell nagel imparts improved defense for the sword hand.

A robust chopper with a pronounced clipped thrusting tip, this practical Messer is every bit a mean and nasty chopper as it looks. Well able to intimidate the opposition and hack its way to victory on the Renaissance battlefield or in a self-defense scrum.

Overall Length28''
Blade Length21 7/8''
Weight1 lb 15.5 oz
EdgeSharp
Width43.3 mm
Thickness4.1 mm - 2 mm
PommelNut
P.O.B.1 3/4''
Grip Length4 1/4''
Blade [1090 High Carbon Steel]
TypeMesser
ClassBattle Ready
ManufacturerCold Steel
Country of OriginIndia

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3 reviews for Cold Steel – Man At Arms Collection – Messer Sword

  1. James Whitworth

    Great handling but not accurate. Overall this is a awesome sword. It’s lighter than even my Hanwei oxtail dao. It’s also solidly constructed. My biggest gripe is that it’s not technically a messer because it’s not a true full tang. If it was built like a knife with a full tang with wood scales it would be much more accurate and probably much better built. My biggest issue with many Cold Steel swords is that a lot of them have hidden tangs that are glued in place. As a result you can’t really see how big the tang is or how it’s constructed. Despite that this is very solid and of course it’s low maintenance being blued. Plus it’s hard to beat the price.

  2. Raul Cenan

    I got this sword a little while ago. I do like the design and handling a lot, however I wasn’t quite happy with the grip shape (tapers together too much at the guard) so I wanted to make my own custom grip. Sounds easy enough, the tang is threaded so I unscrewed the nut holding it in place then proceeded to use a rubber mallet to knock on the guard to get the grip off. Firstly, the grip is on pretty tight so that’s a good thing if you do not intend to mess/customize the sword. Everything was going good until I noticed that the knuckle-bow started to break at the 90 degrees “bend”. it basically turns out that the construction of the guard is in several steel core pieces which are surrounded by some softer cast metal (iron?) and the steel core pieces are not welded together so if exposed to repeated impact the outer casting will break. I did not hammer very hard on it, just enough to knock the grip loose but it was enough to break the guard. It’s really a shame as the design of the guard (visually) is quite nice but the construction method is questionable. As far as James’s worry about the tang goes: the tang is fairly burly with just a short piece of thread on the end and it appears that the threaded part is not welded on but a part of the actual tang that is threaded, so the blade and tang should be pretty strong. Again, it’s not a bad sword and looks good for the money but the knuckle-bow cannot take any impacts due to the construction. So if anybody wants to customize the grip: DON’T unless you want to break the knuckle-bow. I wonder if cold steel sell the guard as a separate piece? Right now I’m looking into repairing the broken knuckle bow with some silver solder… might be stronger than the original but it will ruin the finish… or I could make my own guard out of ONE PIECE of steel but that’s a lot of work. I also sharpened the false edge on mine and did some extensive sharpening compared to the factory edge. I will make a custom deer antler grip for it since I already took it apart.
    Bottom line: it’s a good sword for the price if you don’t intend to mess with it but do not use the knuckle bow for any sort of impacts as it might break on you. I am not particularly sour at Cold Steel since I decided to mess with the product and it wasn’t very expensive, but for future reference the knuckle bow connection should be welded underneath the outer casting to make it an actual structural piece.

  3. Robert E Malecek (verified owner)

    Good cutter, a few durability concerns.

    I bought this sword for recreational cutting, big game (hog) dispatch, and sabrage. The sword looks good and came with a keen edge, but I’ve had a few problems I feel are worth mentioning.

    When it first arrived I used it to cut a few boxes, a few bottles, and a a few 20-25 mm green Aspen shoots, but while it cut all of those cleanly and with authority, the Aspen shoots were enough to loosen the hilt on the blade. Attempting to tighten the hilt with the pommel nut caused the wooden grip to crack before the hilt tightened up (the hilt has stayed tight since I tightened the pommel nut and cracked the grip). I had intended to replace the grip material with bone or antler anyways, so I’m not heartbroken about the grip, but considering this sword’s reputation as a fearsome cutter on a budget, it should be mentioned in my review.

    Second, the chape and throat doesn’t seem to have been debured before they finished the metal, and they are moderately sharp. But you didn’t buy this sword for the sheathe.

    The edge has held up to the cutting that loosened the hilt and to all the cutting since then, including a test on fresh flesh and bone (the shanks of a roadkilled deer), until I used it for sabrage for the first time, whereupon it rolled the edge quite severely.

    I’ll be able to re-profile the blade to have a more robust edge, but I’ve used knives with keener edges to sabre champagne before without damage (specifically a K-bar plain edge and a Buck 120) and I’m a little disappointed that I won’t be able to keep the very keen factory edge, and it’s admirable performance on the mixed targets I’ve so far subjected it to except (except the champagne bottle glass). Hopefully I’m able to find a profile that cuts aggressively but strengthens the edge enough to continue to use this sword for sabrage.

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