Darksword Armory

Darksword Armory (DSA) was founded in 1996 by Eyal Azerad, who has been studying Medieval and Renaissance sword making his entire life.

Using a specialized team of 6 smiths, they craft swords based on museum relics, swords in private collections and also based on medieval art.

Their swords have a reputation for being nearly indestructible, suitable for stage combat, re-enactment, or cutting if they have been sharpened and the blades are easily among the toughest on the market.

Their warranty is a guarantee for one year under normal (re-enactment) use, although this warranty is voided if the blade is sharpened after market.

MAIN PRODUCT LINES

---

EUROPEAN SWORDS

---

FANTASY SWORDS

---

ELITE SERIES

---

HOW THEY ARE MADE

Located in the industrial sector of Dorval (Montreal), Eyal and his team of Smiths individually hand craft each sword using the same techniques as those used in the middle ages, hence hammer and anvil.

Swords are made from either 1060 or 5160 High Carbon Steel, with the 5160 steel swords dual hardened to produce with a Rockwell of 60 at the edge, and 48-50 at the core.

Fittings are mild steel, wood and leather with some of their more ornate and expensive designs featuring cast in solid bronze, and the vast majority are peened for extra strength and durability.

KNOWN ISSUES

Some years ago Darksword Armory was embroiled in a controversy on the Sword Forum International. Complaints were brought up by a few individuals, words were exchanged, and DSA and Eyal left the table with an injured reputation that lasted for a few years. Recently with their partnership with SBG more light has been shone on this situation.

Here is a statement from DSA about the incidents:

“We started getting bad reviews from SFI forum by two members, one of them who purchased a 35$ apprentice made dagger, and from another user who had never purchased a sword from our company. Their comments resulted in a “snowball” effect on the SFI, resulting in about 20 different posts. We obviously took the reviews very seriously and took appropriate steps to find the source of the reviews, the reason behind them, and to correct the problem. After several days of research we found that the second author was actually a competitor of ours, also located in Montreal. The review was written after we received our first order from ARMA, who had initially ordered their swords from our competitor, but after an ARMA member purchased one of our swords, the group decided to switch over. His reviews were specifically intended to curb our activities (but failed).”

Since then, some controversy has raged on internet sword forums challenging the claim that the swords are actually hand made in Canada. While initially reluctant due to a break in and theft of all materials from the forge many years ago, Darksword eventually responded to this claim releasing several videos documenting the shop and it’s equipment, yet still some protagonists are not satisfied.

The most recent controversy has had to do with their tangs - and it is true that older models were a bit on the thin side, but were within historical tolerances. The main issue may actually have been one of modern demands for more robust tangs as standard, so in response they have beefed up their tangs - and are showing pictures of the tangs on their site - something no other sword manufacturer has had to do. Yet despite all this, vicious rumors still persist..

All controversies aside, the swords themselves may have some grind marks, hammer marks, blade misalignment or other cosmetic defects that do not truly effect performance – however the most common complaint currently is to do with their sharpening service.

By default, Darksword Armory swords come unsharpened, however the in-house sharpening service is considered by many sword enthusiasts as rudimentary at best to totally ineffective at its worst and often requires additional sharpening to be able to cut standard lightweight targets such as water filled bottles, tatami, etc.

WHERE TO BUY DARKSWORD ARMORY

A selection of Darkswords best Fantasy inspired swords are available at manufacturer direct prices right HERE at the SBG Sword Store

Prices at SBG are slightly lower than elsewhere due to free shipping and the application of an improved sharpening service (which is still not perfect, but a lot better than what it was previously) at no additional charge, plus reduced rates on the upgraded scabbard option, which comes as standard at SBG.

OFFICIAL SBG REVIEWS

---

I hope this information on Darksword Armory has been helpful. To return to the Sword Manufactures Dossier from Darksword Armory, click here