The Generation 2/Legacy Arms Templar Sword

It must have been my birthday last year, 2014. As a father, husband, and proud owner of a shiny new mortgage (2 years in), I don’t know when else I would even THINK of purchasing a new sword for myself. 

But, I had ordered it, and it had finally came:

I remember coming home from work, and seeing it. It was an unadorned brown long box that could have been anything to someone else. However, to an active sword collector, practitioner, and school-boy fan, it was like Christmas in August. That day, there would be a holy unveiling ceremony somewhere outside/around my house, with lots of room, and plenty of time to strip her slow.

The moment came.

After tearing, cutting, gnashing, and pulling my way through ungodly amounts of packing tape, cardboard, and newspaper wrapping….she need to be cleaned.

“Ha!” I thought, “at least they're thorough.

Cleaning the clinging oil from the blade, her shiny metallic appeal began to shine through at last. Then, she was clean. Gleaming there for me, for all the world, inspiring fear in every 12oz, 2 liter, and milk bottle in my recycling, I saw it in it's full glory:

The Generation 2/Legacy Arms Templar Sword

It was everything I had waited so long for. My credit card debt? Forgotten. My wife’s complaints and objections? A mere memory. It was thick and sturdy in my hand. Light and fast. (Factory) sharp and taking me back to the desert sands of Damascus.

Great choice…or so I thought.

Let's go back...

General Stats:

Overall Length:43''

Blade: 34 1/2''

Blade: 5160 High Carbon Steel

Weight: 3 lb 6.8 oz

Edge: Sharp

P.O.B.: 6 1/4''

Thickness: 5.1 mm - 4.1 mm

Width: 49.1 mm

Grip Length: 5 1/2''

Pommel: Peened

Fit:

The fit was excellent. Nothing rattled. Noting wobbled. Everything was tight. The length was good. The handle, rounded and covered with black leather. The cross guard, long enough but not flared or ridiculous. I had no complaints. A solid sword.

Finish:

The finish, same thing. The blade was polished to a fine silver sheen. The cross guard rounded and polished and to the same high quality. It’s length, adequate.

The leather of the handle was purposely, and minutely, cratered (I assume to give a better grip), and the red Templar cross in the peened pommel was that fiery deep red that just screamed “Knight of Christ.”

Handling:

Deadly. The hilt was long enough to go two-handed but still hit like a hammer, one handed. Slicing, no problem. Cutting? Right through...as long as you went parallel to the ground. 

Wait, what?!

Nothing, keep reading... 

It felt light and fast, and yet had some good heft so you know it could take a beating if crashed up against it. It fit snugly in my fist and promised both offense and defense, attack and parry, reach and reaction. A great combination.    

Construction & Durability:

AND THEN EVERYTHING IMPLODED.

While cutting on the pell post, I used a 2-liter Coca Cola bottle as my target. I sliced across, no problem. Water and neatly-shorn plastic everywhere. I set up another.

But on this go around, I decided to use the Posta di Coda Longa by Fiore, and come up from the ground at a diagonal angle:

Big mistake.

I hit the bottle wrong, missed the bevel of the blade's edge, and struck with part of the flat. 

THE SWORD BENT LIKE A PIPE CLEANER!

I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! 

After my initial shock and disgust, I unbent my sword-like object in the vice in my garage back to normal, but was now less sure about the blade I had only just pulled from the box! I felt I couldn’t trust it in battle. I couldn’t count on her to counterstrike. The best she could do was offense, and even then…(sigh)..

I researched. The temper is too SOFT. With a hard steel edge outside, but a tempered core of steel that was softer on the inside, one wrong hit and the blade would predictably warp and bend; giving you an almost wall hanger-like quality to your once mighty Templar brand. No.

See HRC Scale and heat tempering for more.  

Scabbard:

To add insult to injury, the sword did not fit in the cheap scabbard it came with! The scabbard was plain black, unadorned, and ill-fitted to the sword. I even had to send the sword BACK TO KOA to see what the issue was. They claimed it was nothing and the sword fit fine. Wrong. 

Worse still, even drawing out the sword was a challenge! The scabbard squeezed so hard, it wouldn’t let go of the blade. This could lead to serious injury to the “less than patient.” No thanks.

What did I just pay for??

Overall Rating:

What do I think now of The Generation 2/Legacy Arms Templar Sword? I cut with it. I practice with it. I sharpen it. I like it.

Do I trust it now? To a point, but less than I should.

I trust it to cut with the edge I put on it with the Accusharp. I don’t trust it to parry. I don’t trust it to respond to my moves, poste, and cutting angles. That can't be right.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. For $300 and above, I could name any number of long swords that bladers could buy and get much more for their money.

The Albion Crecy comes to mind.

The Valiant Armory Special Edition Sword of War, as well.

My Advice: Pass over this blade, save your hard-earned cash (as sword collectors are some of the poorest people in the world), and buy a sword that is DUAL TEMPERED with an HRC in the 50’s and 60’s, inside and out. You want to be sure you're getting everything you want for your money, and this blade simply comes up short. 

So ends my tale of steel woe….