Condor is known to make inexpensive yet serviceable blades for a variety of purposes. For the life of me I can’t really think of a use for a cutlass beside hewing limbs and plundering the high seas but this guy on Sword Forum international documented a field trial where he cleared brush with ease and style.

YouTube viking SkallagrimNilsson posted a video demonstrating the cutting power of the piece. There’s a part in the middle where he uses a couple of other blades but stick with it, he goes back to the Cutlass and in an impressive feat for a blade that retails for $60 he slices into a wood table without damaging the blade.

Impressive. If you need a cutlass but don’t have a couple of hundred to spend this seems like a great alternative to the more expensive and now hard to find Cold Steel 1917 Cutlass.

I found one on Amazon for $45, which since you’ll want to beat around the woods with it. I guess if you live in an area where firearms are restricted (or you’re restricted from having a firearm) a “machete” that handles like a saber may seem like a good idea, though you’ll need to find a way to train with it to use it effectively. I also know many of my readers are eccentric enough to prefer swords and bows and the like to firearms – it’s your life live it how you want.

Sans access to a “Western Martial Arts” school I’d recommend reading, and re-reading, Alfred Hutton’s Cold Steel: The Art of Fencing with the Sabre then watching the Cold Steel Cutlass/Saber DVD which will at least give you a grounding in using these sorts of blades in combat.

But if you were really going to rely on a blade for combat, why not save up and get the best money can buy? Still this is a good buy.