Cheesy Marketing Gimics in the Knife/Sword world.

[T.L. Johnson]

Yes, yes, yes. ATrims have DT. A&As have DT. Even DTs have DT. What is being contended is whether actual medieval weapons, as crafted and and wielded upon the battlefield, actually had DT.

[Karl Foster]

Originally posted by T.L. Johnson
Yes, yes, yes. ATrims have DT. A&As have DT. Even DTs have DT. What is being contended is whether actual medieval weapons, as crafted and and wielded upon the battlefield, actually had DT.

Wasn't this discussed in another thead?

Yes, swords from the medieval period (& before) show DT. Many who have examined/measured artifacts have recorded this. And, many of these swords showed evidence of "battle field" damage/wear.

I have never had the chance of doing this, but I trust the expertise of the people who have done this... Tinker, Atrim, John Clements, Peter Johnson, Bjorn Hellquest, Ewart Oakeshott... Did I forget anyone?

When so many experts in a field and especially experts who don't always agree with each other about certain subjects DO agree on this one topic, then it adds credibility to that topic.

[Andrew Winston]

Originally posted by Karl Foster
I have never had the chance of doing this, but I trust the expertise of the people who have done this... Tinker, Atrim, John Clements, Peter Johnson, Bjorn Hellquest, Ewart Oakeshott... Did I forget anyone?

Yes. Dr. Lee Jones.

[T.L. Johnson]

Originally posted by Karl Foster
Wasn't this discussed in another thead? ...

Simply take a look at the discussion that arises from Pontus' thread, and take note of the flow of conversation that ensues.

I'm not getting into this-- just trying to make what is being said more clear...

...I ain't winning that battle, aren't I.

[Steven Tanner]

Jake Powning also does distal tapering on his longer blades, and he studies historical blades quite thoroughly.

[Terry Orton]

Greetings, this is my first posting in these fora.

I'm in Seattle and have made and sold knives and swords in the past.

I'm aquianted with Tinker and Angus, and they have given me some very good advice on improving my quality.

Yes, to be a good consumer DO know the tricks that are used to market-not all are honest.

To my way of thinking, a good maker will demonstrate the quality of his work and he will want you to be informed enough to make a good choice.

The best makers have a bug about perfection and quality.Thier eyes light up and they get all excited about describing how it is they achieve what you see.

It's never QUITE good enough, we keeping looking to advance to the next milestone.

But we also want customers who know what a good blade is, to know what to look for.

Hype is the last thing we NEED to do.The work should speak to you by just holding it and feeling the life in it.

When a good blade maker creates a thing of utility and beauty from scratch,make no mistake, he puts a piece of his soul into it.

But like any artist,what matters in the end is how your art speaks to those who see it.

And if you make it right it sells itself.

At that point, using silly marketing tactics is pointless.

Regards,Terry

[Pontus W]

I think you make an good point Terry.

The gimics is used by poeple who really cant argue for the quality of the sword, they need something else. As you say a "proper" sword maker want the buyer to recognise the quality of the sword.


(as I recall the ammo was stuffed with to much powder, making the M16 jam or even break after being "used" for a while)

[Denis M.]

It’s not fair to equate this to an Ax and the Sword, because we ignore the role of ammo and accessories. We might as well compare bows to swords and crossbows to axes and pole-arms.

Wall hangers do their job of looking good on a wall depending on the standard of aesthetics used. I believe the problem has more to do with ignorance than the said inherent superiority of the tool in mention. If your sole intent were to decorate your office with a wall hanger that you never intent to touch or use, you’d be wasting your money buying an AT. The usage of wall hangers as swords is a byproduct of ignorance. The same could be said to the use of an AT to a tree, or an axe to a rock. “Battle-ready” wall-hanger swords represents marketing from people who are trying to make a buck, who would probably sell penis enlargement pills otherwise.

I hope that made sense …

[Karl Foster]

Consider this a request/warning.

Please, if you want to discuss firearms, then do so in a forum that is for them.

If there are any more firearms posts, I will selectively delete all firearms posts in this thread.

[Alexander Chin]

Karl is right. Though I would enjoy participating in the disussion of the AK vs. the M16/AR15 it violates the forum rules. I have removed the firearms related posts.

[Scott Wallace]

I can understand where most people are comming from when they complain about retailers giving customers bad information or leading them to believe that a particular stainless steel sword or "battle ready", but in defence of retailers, not all of them are like that.
I worked for 3 years in a rather large east coast knife retail chain and even though we were judged on sales performance, some of us, myself included, didn't care about making the sale if it ment passing along information to an inquiring customer. When they asked what our oppinion of "battle ready" was, I didnt my best to explain it to them in a way that they could understand, and as honestly as I could.
Maybe I didn't make as many sales as some other people in the company, but I like to think that my customers walked away with some valuble knowledge that they could use whenever they buy a sword, and whoever they buy a sword from.