The Cutlass; the iconic sword of the seaman. Simple and effective, its robust design was used by Western navies for centuries. It was short enough for the close quarters of ship fighting, yet not so long as to be tangled in rigging or disadvantaged belowdecks. The curved blade of the cutlass makes it an inherently good slashing and hacking sword. Its tip as a thrusting weapon is not to underestimated, as it can sweep upwards or in from the side to give a surprising hook-thrust. British, American and Australian navies were still doing routine cutlass drills for their sailors into the early years of the 20th century. It was not until 1936 that the Royal Navy officially relegated the cutlass to a ceremonial weapon.
In the Age of Sail, there were numerous accounts of enthusiastic boarding crews ably armed with cutlasses that overwhelmed larger ships that would have outgunned them in a ranged fight. Such an action was the 1801 duel between the British 14-gun Speedy and the Spanish 32-gun Gamo. A crew of 40 British sailors subdued a frigate three times their number by clambering over the Gamos railings, cutlasses in hand and calling for reinforcements that did not exist! The frightened Spanish soon surrendered.
This cutlass has an unsharpened blade of high carbon steel. The hilt is of simple iron, further reinforcing the utilitarian, all-business personality of the sailing cutlass. The grip is wrapped with black leather and overlaid with spiralled brass wire. It comes with a leather scabbard with brass throat and chape accents.
TJ S. –
Bit of a beater from the start This sword had it’s promise of being a good sword to fight with without worrying about damaging intricate details or shiny metals. When it arrived I was a little disappointed to find that the grip has a very large circumference making it very hard to get a good grip on it unless you have larger hands. Upon getting use to the overly large grip, I found it handled very well for sword play and the general feel of the sword was comfortable and fluid. However, after only fighting with it sparingly, in no time the blade started to rattle in the grip and the secure feeling of all the hilt components was lost. Blade stood up to use really well. In the end, if the grip was a little skinnier and the general construction was more secure, it would be a wonderful sword good for a lot of abuse. All told, I’d say spend a little more money for a better quality sword.
Zac Saari –
Well it’s not the worst……….. My best friend bought this sword after having played through Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. He was hungry for a cutlass, and this is what he chose. I am holding it for him now, I have handled it many times, and every time I pick it up I just want to modify it somehow to make it better. The grip is too fat directly under the guard, and the side-ring-like piece of the knuckle bow is tilted in such a way that after any serious use, it bites into the wielder’s hand. Overall, this sword is unimpressive at best.
Sonny –
Really nice For the price this sword is great. Not battle ready or anything if you wan that spend more money. But if your looking g for a good wall hanger or costume sword it’s great. Will work perfect for my pirate costume
Nicolas B. –
Worth the price with modifications! I did not expect anything flashy from this sword upon my purchase. I was looking for a economical cutlass for costume work. The balance is not terrible, but the handle girth was absolutely gigantic. I unscrewed the pommel, stripped the leather off of the handle and turned the handle on my lathe to fix it up. The wood underneath is workable and turns fine. The scabbard is nothing special (I don’t think naval cutlasses had scabbards anyway?) but will work for costume purposes when weathered. It photographs well and can do some chopping too. If you want to put in a little bit of work to make this sword yours, it’s worth every penny!
Joshua Reinhardt (verified owner) –
The sword is well balanced slightly forward heavy, but not much. under 2lbs makes it lighter than historical examples (between 2lbs and 3lbs).
I purchased my cutlass unsharpened for sabrage. The blade is hastily hammered and ground quickly so don’t expect to have a perfect blade, you will have warbles, but the blade is good so far, I made an accidental solid hit against the thick metal leg of my coffee table while testing the handling and balance. The blade was unscathed.
The pommel and guard are well made from a hastily hammered mild steel, the guard is very thin and can be bent by hand, it actually came bent downward which made holding the blade painful when striking with the false edge, but a quick grunt uttering bend back into place made handling perfect.
I opened a bottle of champagne tonight, the blade was too light for me upon my first attempt, I was use to using a 4lb broadsword for the technique before, so knowing that I needed to strike a bit harder, I got it on the second attempt.
TLDR
Well balanced.
It comes with an okay leather sheath (not a hard wood scabbard).
Blade looks like garbage, functions just fine.
The guard is fine apart for the small outward extension to protect the back of the hand, that part is too flimsy to withstand a strike.
Handle is fine, wear gloves if you’re going to practice cutting, the twisted brass wires dig into your hand slowly.
You may have to replace it at some point, it doesn’t seem to be put together in a solid fashion.
Darius –
Like the previous reviwer I can confirm that the blade isn’t straight, but it is solid. However, unless you’re staring at it closely you don’t really notice and for less than $100 I guess I had lower expectations because other than that (and the somewhat flimsy scabbard but at least the scabbard doesn’t bend and wobble about like some others I’ve had) the thing is just fine. I purchased it as a decorative/costume piece so have no intention of smacking furniture with it or having it be hit.
Rick Mills (verified owner) –
Bought a pair of these, and had KOA sharpen them. They both came with a good edge. Aside from the knuckle bows, the loops of which could be done a little better, by not cutting the “spur” quite so deep before bending it around, as well as a more robust weld, I think these swords are good enough for a workmanlike example of the type of cutlass that were racked n’ stacked at various points around the ship, to simply be at-hand to repell boarders. I mean, there are ball-bats, and there are Louisville Sluggers
While I’m not a swordsman as yet, I have seen authentic examples (originals) that, themselves, have had loose & rattley knuckle bows, which could have benefited from an armorer’s attention, so I don’t know as the problem is that much to worry about, as irritating and distracting as it tends to be. Perhaps we are expecting too much from this utilitarian version of cutlass?