Cold Steel 1917 Hybrid Cutlass

The Cold Steel Hybrid Cutlass is a slightly modern take on the Cutlass. Cold Steel has combined the blade of their Naval Cutlass with a guard loosely based on their 1917 saber. This amalgamation of the two swords creates a Cutlass with a blade that can hack and slash with all the panache associated with the cutlass. The thick-spined blade has enough heft that it can parry longer and even larger weapons and further protection for the swordsman comes with the expansive guard with a rolled edge for strength and holes to reduce weight. The blade is crafted from blackened 1055 high carbon steel. The thick tang has halves of a wooden grip securely affixed to the tang for a grip.. The sword comes with a leather scabbard with a blackened steel chape and a riveted and movable hanging belt loop. The Cutlass; the iconic sword of the seaman. Simple and effective, its robust design was used by Western navies for centuries. It was short for the close quarters of ship fighting, yet not so long as to be tangled in rigging or disadvantaged belowdecks. British, American and Australian navies were still doing routine cutlass drills for their sailors into the early years of the 20th century. It was not until 1936 that the Royal Navy officially relegated the cutlass to a ceremonial weapon. There have been numerous accounts of enthusiastic boarding crews ably armed with cutlasses that have overwhelmed larger ships that would have outgunned them in a ranged fight. Such as the 1801 action between the British 14-gun Speedy and the Spanish 32-gun Gamo. A crew of 40 British sailors subdued a frigate three times their number by climbing over their railings, cutlasses in hand and calling for reinforcements that did not exist! The frightened Spanish soon surrendered.