Yeah, I hate swords ... the giant claymore broadsword and other swords I have hanging on my wall are a bunch of FILTHY LIARS!! The Clay is the prettiest, but there's a lovely katana, several rapiers ... basically I'm a nut.

What do you guys think about the swords on www.allswords.com ? They look pretty good to me and I was about to place an order but thought maybe I should check here first.

Depends on whether you're interested in having a decent selection of historically accurate swords. Most of those aren't really true copies of what you'd have found in history.

This site is good if your looking for a broader selection of swords and weapons that are more like the real things: http://www.museumreplicas.com/webstore/homepage.asp The quality is not absolutely top notch, but better than most sword makers. These you could actually use if you wanted.

The addition of the ridiculous is sortof unavoidable. If they didn't use a thing in ancient history, either they didn't think of the idea (rare) or it was a stupid idea that is just designed to look cool. A lot of the swors that add wings and spikes all over the place ... well if you used it you might slit your own wrists.

I collect swords and knives(mostly knives) but i am thinking about stopping because nowadays it is so hard to find a good sword or swordmaker, one of my friends just had a sword sepcially made for him by some sword maker in China, the guy will only make swords for you if he knows you personally so i can't get one, but he makes quality swords not like the ones you find here, if you want a good sword you should ask everything you can about it, find out what type of steel they made it from, the method of which it was tempered, and how many layers it is made out of.The majority of swords you buy in the States are display swords designed to look good so you can hang it on your wall, but if you want a sword of perfection you should probably go to China or Japan or try to find a swordsmith from China or Japan who has an ancestral history of swords.

i like swords and love the straight sword ,is nice. i like the katana as well.
the clay more is amazing not designed to cut just to break bones!!

Im a bit of a sword nut too. Im a fencing instructor at my local village club and have a collection of katanas and medieval swords(although none of them original or valuable).But my real passion is the cavalry sabre.
I have bought a 17h2 Clydesdale x shire,as close as I could get in size and build to a belgian warhorse and spend a few hours a week training in mounted swordwork. its harder than you may think!

When I was about 10 or 12 years old, my Cousin who had landed on Iwo Jima as an 18 year old Marine, showed me souvenirs from 1944 and two were Japanese swords. As I remember, there was very little difference in the two but he remembered that one came from one Island and another from a different location. The blades were not rusted even though he took no care and never sharpened them. The handles were loose on the tangs and there were Japanese characters cut into the metal under the handles. The blades were incredibly sharp after so many years and had some etching along the edges, The handles were laced with a black silk cord and each had carved ivory talismans laced under them. One was a feather and the other looked like a fish. He got rid of them after that, probably threw them away with the way he felt about Japanese.

Missileer

You should check just in case your cousin still has them.

Japanese officiers carried swords that came from their families. These families were all samurai which means the swords they used were very often passed on from one generation to the next. Depending on the age, the artisitry of the sword, and most important if the swordmaker was well known. Your cousin might have thrown out a Renoir or Picasso without evening knowing it. Some of these very old Katana's and Wakazashii (which were used in WWII) are worth thousands of $.

I have a katana but what I really want is a straight sword.

I've been a bit slow to respond to this one. I love swords as well, as does my wife. Current collection:
Scottish Claymore (Two-hander.
Replica of one of Robert the Bruce's many swords)
Rapier
2 Smaller decorative rapiers
1 Katana
1 Wakasashi
1 Battle Ax
1 Warhammer
1 Dirk
1 Plain ol' Buck Hunting Knife (counts I guess)