Thumb Ring? Really? When I unpacked this sword from it’s somewhat damaged Cold Steel container I thought I was in for something special. I feel differently now. I was happy with just about every aspect of this sword until I saw the stupid thumb ring. The blade was beautiful, the grip was beautiful, the scabbard was beautiful, even the guard was beautiful. So what wasn’t beautiful? The stupid thumb ring. I have wide hands. My paws are just under 5 inches wide, which means I need every bit of space on a sword grip I can get. Hello stupid thumb ring. First of all the thumb ring pretty much blows the possibility of using this sword with either hand. Yep it sure does. Secondly I found the thumb ring to be awkward, and in the wrong alignment. If the designer felt compelled to include this idiotic feature, he could have at least had canted the thumb ring into a more natural position for the thumb rather than straight up and down. I don’t care what Cold Steel says about this thumb ring helping to control the sword, I find it exceedingly awkward. I would rather they had continued the guard to the pommel, like all other Polish sabers, it would have been a much better solution. On a minor note, the thumb ring also destroys the symmetry of the sword. On a practical note, apparently the designer never heard of blade shock. When a sword blade hits another sword blade a shock is transferred down the length of the sword blade. That’s why a swords grip is so important. A good grip helps absorb the shock to the blade, so that less of the shock is transferred to the sword hand. In simple terms, a good grips offers the sword hand a certain amount of insulation from sword shock. Having your thumb stuck inside a steel ring can become very problematic when dealing with blade shock. You’ll would probably wind up with a broken thumb, which would tend to put the kibosh on you sword fighting abilities. What if the sword is knocked out of your hand, does your thumb go flying away with the sword? Okay I get it none of us are going to step into a time machine and emerge on the eve of battle at Waterloo, but seriously this stupid thumb ring really hampers the ability to use this sword to it’s full potential, and detracts from it appearance. This thumb ring disaster has all the earmarks of some product liability lawyer’s doing. ” What you’re not going to completely enclose the guard? Then I insist on a thumb ring safety device to make sure we here at the company don’t face any class action lawsuits from the people using this sword.” I’m pretty sure that’s how it went down. I called Cold Steel to ask why they included this idiotic feature on what was otherwise a beautiful sword, but the drone on the other end of the line kept repeating “That’s the design, That’s the design, That’s the design……..” I guess I’m getting old. I remember when Nicholas Cage could act, and I remember when Cold Steel listened to their customers. Cold Steel all you have to do to make this sword perfect is eliminate the Thumb Ring. It will be easier for you to manufacturer, and as a selling point the saber will become usable by both right handed and left handed swordsman. I’m going to find a competent metal worker to remove the thumb ring on my saber. Hopefully he will be able to make it look good. Even if he doesn’t, at least I’ll be able to use my blade in either hand, and I’ll be actually able to grip the thing.
