Cold Steel Talwar Sword , Black

Very nice looking. The only problems are that the brass on the sword came a little bit bent, and that the scabbard covers it in this gray-ish powder. Not sure if it's dirt or something else. However, it holds up well when cutting (no nicks or dings, and minimal scratches).

This talwar is supreb in quality and durablity. The brass guard, hilt, shealth and fittings set this sword apart from the rest of the Cold Steel offerings, and the 1095 steel blade is a gigantic step up compared to the usual 1055 featured in Cold Steel's swords. It is sharp and able to shred through paper and cardboard with ease. Furthermore, the swordsmanship style that this blade demands is draw cuts, because the round pommel will not allow you to use your wrist. Thus, you must do research on Indian Swordsmanship to master the Talwar. It looks stunning and gorgeous and the grip is comfortable with bare hands. This is the best value for the money for Cold Steel swords, because they normally sell under $200. I would recommend this sword based on the ease of use in unsheathing, draw cutting, and sheathing it.

Quality is generally acceptable, only some little defects. The blade not perfectly smooth, I found 4 slightly sunken places when I was wiping it. Not easy to see bur can be easy to feel when sliding finger on it. These sunken places are focus on 1/3 of the tip on the blade. Protruding part of siperlik (Quillion) was bent and it cloud not fit ağızlık (locket) but fortunately the siperlik only narrow about 2 mm or less so I can adjust it by myself. I guess this is caused by a collision in transit, not a flaw in the product itself.

UPDATE: This sword is quite close to authentic because it favors draw cuts. It's a perfect draw cut sword for in close range cuts. On that front it is perfect. With a lot of negative reviews concerning QA and overall quality of CS swords but also raves from fans, this one stands out as a fair representation of the positive sides of a CS sword. Pros: +Great balance not too far down the blade; about 4.3 in from the guard. +Beautifully cast guard, handle, pummel cap and nut (as one unit). +Sharpened blade, even though only halfway from mid blade to the tip. +Good handling for what sabers do - slashing, without breaking your wrist. +distal taper - YES. +Not too much grease on the blade (use WD 40 and paper towels for an easy cleanup) +No mirror polish but a beautiful polish for cutting if you wish yet still good for collecting. Cons: -If you have fleshy bottom of palm where it connects to inner wrist, the disc pummel will scrap/chafe -the disc pummel cap is not perfectly flat; but for Amazon's price, it's not that bad. -One more with the disc pummel: somewhat restrictive to my wrist follow through. That's the summery. The box came and I was very pleasantly surprised that even though there waw no extra Amazon official box packing it, the CS official box was not damaged in anyway (kudos to local USPS). When I opened the box, I was even more happy to see Cold Steel really designed everything to prevent tip damage in shipping. Plastic wrap with a piece of plastic "cap", and styrofoam plus additional cardboard paddings in inside front of the box in case the tip pierces through the large and long "cap". CS really stepped up to push this model. it is also a higher carbon steel: 1090. Probably makes little difference to most average user like me. I swung it over and over again for about 15 min., trying very hard to like it despite the disc pummel bumping into the bottom of my inner palm. No good. I really wanted, even tried hard to just justify it, thinking it's a culture thing. The brass handle, guard, D ring, and disc pummel cap, all adds to an exotic but gorgeous furniture to a nicely balaced blade with good width. But when I tried to swing through, the disc with its intricate and clean relief, just bumps and chafes my palm bottom. Not as bad for my left hand but not suitable. Had to return it. I wish they modified the disc to be smaller, which may ruin the look and probably the balance. I could try to repummel it but for this purchase, I just wanted to try handling it. Damn, almost perfect. If it works for your hand, and you like the furniture, go for it. I hope this helps, because it really is a nice sword and a steal at this price!

I had purchased the previous version like 10 years ago. That one had the British cavalry sabre attached to an Indian style hilt. A fine piece, but not exactly* historically accurate. This newer version has a talwar style blade attached to a talwar style handle. It is advertised that the blade has been designed with inputs from Sikh weapons expert Sardar Nidar Singh. It shows. The balance is closer to the hilt. The blade is sharp enough to cut paper. The whole build quality is excellent. Some notes: *Historically, there are many examples where European blades were attached to Indian hilts - but these were more so for straight blades. The disc pommel on the Indian hilt will restrict movement of the wrist. It is by design. If one was to deliver a cut with the talwar, the fist has to be held inline with the wrist, like when one is punching. A cut is delivered at its intended location by the movement of the deliverer's elbow, shoulder, actually the whole body. A talwar is nor designed to be handled like a rapier or a pen.

I would have given this a much better review except the disc at the pommel cuts into my wrist painfully, with any sort of handling. I doubt they used this much during testing. The blade itself is excellent, the handling is great, but the disc at the bottom needs to be more of a bowl shape instead of flat, to prevent the edge from digging into the wrist.

one of the better creation by cold steel. typically, their product is too heavy, but this one is not. it is light( compared to cold steel's other saber/saber like object), well balanced. the hilt structure is perfect for keeping the wrist in place at proper angle. if not it will tell you that you are swinging the sword wrong. over-all, very satisfied with the sword. Oh, it is paper shaving sharp out of the box.

An excellent blade, scabbard, and handle. The large brass ring at the end of the grip can be a wrist problem with sustained use.

So this sword is meant for you to do draw cuts, this sword & Indian martial arts teaches to use the fully body including shoulder & foot work during the cut. You are not to use your wrist or like the negative reviews they, it will dig into your wrist. First week of practice, i felt this pain. I realized i was trying to use my wrist & need to use my body more. After correcting my form, I have never had the pommel dog into my hand. Matter in fact I have 1/3-1/2 inch left before I even to the pommel. The balance is phenomenal and makes up for any flaw if there is. Oh and it’s super sharp of of the box! Be careful or you will cut yourself really badly! If you get something from India like this with brass & shipped to your door, you might save $100-$150 but quality sword makers if what you need to find. A lot of them are ripping Canadians off. I’m getting a Sirohi Sword exactly like this for $155, luckily my cousin is bringing it or I’d probably pay around $300 to have it shipped. I also had to speak to over 10 sword makers all over India. This cold steel Talwar was my first and I know with them the quality is gauranteed. I have many of their products! But it, $430 is very cheap for this! It is insane, plus the ones from India don’t come sharp!

At first I was super satisfied with this item, however after a short while this metal piece inside the handle started to move which is connected to the blade itself so the blade become super wobbly I tried to hammer it down to keep it secure but it doesn’t work now I am stuck with a wobbly blade, I love this company but this issue came just a short while after purchase and feels unsafe