Braveheart Swords

Soon after this wildly successful movie was released, it was natural that Braveheart Swords were extremely popular and the market was soon flooded by all manner of unofficial replicas.

There was an officially licensed replica offered by Windlass Steelcrafts, and it is actually a pretty decent sword - unsharpened by default but with a nice full tang and carbon steel blade, but they were a few years late to the party..

A faithful recreation of the movie prop, down to the strip of tartan tied to the handle

Unable to cash in on the craze, this official replica came and went without much fanfare and is not particularly collectible these days, leaving only a bunch of cheap, rattly stainless steel knock-offs, the kind of decorative non-functional replicas you come to expect from a movie sword. Quality and prices of these swords varies quite wildly, but typically are US$50-100 for a very shoddily made Pakistani or Chinese 'display' model.

Being such a large sword, they are especially prone to 'sudden fall apart' if you try swinging them around in the back yard, and if you must buy one of these so called Braveheart Swords, at least buy one with a wall plaque so that you can hang it on the wall and leave it there where it belongs.

For serious fans of the movie, there are a few decent replicas out there. The best is made by Del Tin Armi Antiche of Italy, and is a faithful and solidly made functional replica that is a faithful replica of the movie sword - though you may want to grab a strip of tartan for it somewhere else..