You know, given the size and weight of that thing, I would actually expect better penetration.

"a good sword is all about deep penetration"

obviously a sword like this is for felling and not sword to sword combat... but isn't having a handle above the hilt kinda stupid?

That potbelly man is the anti-Frazetta character.

This guy and his minions really hate animals. and chopping the heads off pigs must be the only exercise he gets.

Wait - before chopping off the toes of the cowboy boots he jammed MEAT in there?!?!

@4:

Not really - it gives the wielder a secondary hand-hold in a more balanced position, which can come in very handy when thrusting with the point of a blade this large.

@7:

Yes, it presents a very graphic depiction of the sort of damage this blade is capable of inflicting.

"It cuts an enormous flippin' hole!"

OK, six lbs of sword ... and how many lbs of coldcuts?

Listen here, sissy boy. If you're going to wield a greatsword in a dungeon and attempt to channel your inner William Wallace, remember:
WILLIAM WALLACE DOESN'T WEAR PLASTIC SAFETY GLASSES.

It slices, it dices, it makes chipped ice!

He gets just a little too excited at the end.

@1

Ever hit flesh with a bladed object? It's surprisingly durable and resists being hewn in twain very well. Billions of years of evolution isn't perfect, but it's given land animals multiple systems that all work together to resist penetration (skin, fat, muscles, bone). There's a reason the guillotine was such a big deal: it is really hard to chop a person's head off in one swipe, even with those big executioner axes.

I grew up on a cattle ranch with wild boar, and gutting a pig is a good lesson in this.

All the slicing of the bamboo is ridiculous. Go to the late-summer cherry festival at Bellevue College and watch the martial arts demonstrations. There's a local sword master who regularly attends, and he makes bamboo salad (figuratively) for the delight of the crowd. His sword is much shorter, much lighter, and it takes him a quarter of the effort to make the same cuts. Whoopdie fucking do, fatass.

oh god, the finishing poses are the best part.

Cold Steel makes cheap crap.

No, no, Unpaid, it's not cheap crap. It's overpriced, yeah. But Lynn Thompson is an First Class Asswipe, and that's reason enough for me to never give him any of my money.

Jesus Christ, I did not need to see all that pig-head slicing and the boots with real human feet inside them getting the toes chopped off. Gross!

@16

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I have hit flesh with a bladed object, both while butchering whole animal carcasses for cooking, and during knife practice. But thanks for the lecture.

I was commenting on the ineffectiveness of that two-handed sword as compared to some of the other videos on the Cold Steel site, where they use much lighter one-handed weapons, like the cutlass. I know why the cutlass is a more effective cutting tool than this monster Conan blade (curved blade, narrower blade profile, better leverage due to lack of counterbalancing), but I was still a bit surprised at how comparatively ineffective the two-hander was.

"Flick flick flick, and off comes a part. Twenty pounds of beef."

@8,
Comte, I understand how leverage works...I still say having a handle above the hilt is dumb.

"You're gonna praise my name!" LOL

Where's PETA in all of this? Where's their anti-chopping up animal carcasses 'cause it's not very respectful of our fellow animals campaign?

@25:

Why so? It's practical and useful - seems like the complete opposite of "dumb" to me.

I can imagine some fop wearing a lacy cravat making these guys into pincushions with a pansy little rapier.

I wonder how much it costs to get it with a +3 enchantment?

@28

Sorry Chris, I have to join the "it's dumb" camp. If you want leverage, you swing from the very end of the handle. If you want maneuverability you choke up to the middle handle. But if you want a 24 inch blade with a 24 inch handle, why not just make a naginata or a glaive? Or really, a Zulu iklwa would be the perfect mix of all those elements. Now you've got the long lever arm for power strokes, a mid-weapon handle for maneuverability, and an uninterrupted handle shaft for quick short jabs. And you've done it all at a fraction of the weight and cost of making the entire thing out of steel.

The only place I see a monster two-handed sword like that might be useful would be up against a heavily armored opponent who couldn't get around very well. And, in that case, a war hammer would be a much more effective way of getting through that armor.

It's a good sword-- certainly passable -- but I wouldn't call it a great sword.

Celebrity Jeopardy

Alex Trebek: Sean Connery, it's still your board.

Sean Connery: Uh.. I'll take "Swords" for $400.

Alex Trebek: It's actually not "Swords".. these are words that begin with "S". The answer is: "Popeye is this sort of man". [Reynolds buzzes in] Burt Reynolds.

Burt Reynolds: What is.. Popeye?

Alex Trebek: [sighs] No. [Connery buzzes in] Sean Connery. And, remember, these are words that begin with the letter "S", not "Swords".

Sean Connery: Saber!

Alex Trebek: No.

Sean Connery: It began with a bloody "S"!