Devils Edge – Greek Kopis – High Carbon Steel Version

The Devils Edge Kopis has a blade of sharpened and tempered high carbon steel; the bolster and guard are brass and the grip is darkly-stained wood brass-riveted to the thick full-tang. It is paired with a scabbard of stitched leather with an integrated belt loop.

This Kopis is robustly constructed Kopis and a good pick for those who want to experience the great chopping power of these ancient Greek swords at a practical price. The thick blade spine and forward-sloping, elongated tip of the of the Kopis combine to give it a chopping and hacking power more akin to an axe than a sword! Its thrusting potential can also be surprising and a good warrior could use that to his advantage as his foe may look at his sword and expect a slash or a cut instead of the thrust.

The Greek warriors who bore the Kopis into battle could expect it to reliably carve into the helmets and armor of their foes – should a Kopis meet the rim of a shield it would not be surprising if the weapon would rend great notches and gouges onto the shield rim and body.

The shorter length of the Kopis was probably not a great issue as the spear was the primary weapon of the battlefield – The sword was to be used when spears became impractical for the front ranks of phalanxes which had become closely entangled.

Some early Kopis were actually quite long, nearly the size of a Spatha in length, though they likely had a thinner spine and a less pronounced elongation of the tip in order to ensure the weapon did not become unwieldy. It was with the dominating ascent of the Macedonian Phalanx that the shorter and thicker chopping Kopis became the preferred form.

The Athenian-born historian and mercenary soldier Xenophon remarked in his work On Horsemanship that: I recommend a kopis rather than a xiphos, because from the height of the horses back the cut of a machaira will serve you better than the thrust of a xiphos.