Review: Cold Steel’s Aluminum Head Sword Cane
Pat Cascio 07.11.16
I’ve been intrigued by sword canes for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I’ve seen quite a few sword canes in novelty shops, and that’s all they were: a novelty. But I always thought they had some potential as a self-defense weapon of last resort and even as a survival tool.
I decided to try out the Cold Steel Aluminum Head Sword Cane to see how it works in that role. Truth be told, on some days I can be caught with a pretty good limp myself (osteoarthritis in my right hip and lower back) but I can get around without a cane. Still, the idea of using a cane as a walking aid as well as for self-defense isn’t a bad one. When I was actively teaching martial arts for 35 years, I taught stick fighting to my students, and the sword cane can be used for many stick fighting techniques.
A quick look at the Aluminum Head Sword Cane is in order:
- Blade: 25.75 inches, 1055 carbon steel
- Shaft: fiberglass carbon fiber composite
- Overall length: 37.625 inches (about right for use for most folks)
- Highly polished 6160 aluminum removable head
- Total weight: 25.3 ounces
Please keep in mind that this sword cane is meant for stabbing, not slashing.The actual sword is hidden inside a sturdy fiberglass carbon fiber shaft that’s virtually unbreakable. Believe me. I gave it my best shot, and it is still intact.
Approximately one third of the sword portion (the fighting end) has a triangular shape to it, and the tip is very pointy. The blade is sharpened somewhat, but again, this is to be used for stabbing rather than slashing. The blade is held inside the fiberglass carbon fiber shaft via suction, and no matter how hard I tried to get the blade to release from the shaft by flinging it around, it stayed put until I intentionally drew the sword from the shaft that hides it.
The bottom end of the cane also has a sturdy rubber tip for sure gripping when walking on city streets or hiking wilderness trails. The fiberglass carbon shaft can be used as a parrying weapon while you use the sword portion for stabbing or even “slapping” someone to discourage further attacks on you.
I showed the sword cane around to quite a few folks, and they all loved the look and feel of it even without realizing it was actually a sword cane and not just an ordinary walking stick! They were surprised and shocked when I drew the sword from the cane, and all commented on how wicked the sword looked.
I carried the sword cane while shopping and hiking down some logging roads, and the darn thing really helped me keep my footing on gravel roads. No one suspected I had anything other than a walking stick or cane. Cool!
I did some limited testing where I stabbed the pointed sword into stacked cardboard, and it penetrated deeply. I also used the cane to “slap” the stacked cardboard to see if the head of the sword would come loose. It never did.
One of the biggest tests came when I wanted to photograph the sword cane for this article. With the shiny aluminum head and the equally shiny sword, it was quite the challenge to get some good pics, and I’ve been into photography for more than 40 years.
Suggested retail for this cane sword is $239.99, and you can’t order the sword cane from Cold Steel headquarters in California, nor can you possess one in California or Wisconsin. For some reason, all orders have to go through their Arizona office. At press time you could order one here for $156, and they were selling factory seconds for 95 bucks.
So if you live in the big city and are often walking mean streets, take a close look at the Cold Steel sword canes for another option in a weapon for defending yourself. Even if you carry a gun, a cane sword or walking stick might make a great less-lethal self defense tool. It gives you one more self-defense option, with the advantage of having it in your hand right now, and it will sure give a bad guy a reason to be someplace else when you draw that sword out of the shaft!
I’m not aware of any place where an ordinary walking stick is illegal, and Cold Steel sells plain ol’ walking sticks that are similar to their sword canes. With a little bit of training, you can become quite deadly in the use of a walking stick, so if you’re in a location where the sword cane is illegal, take a look at the walking sticks/canes that Cold Steel offers.
