Valiant Armoury Craftsman Series – The Bergamo

The Bergamo represents Valiant Armoury bringing their take on the iconic Oakeshott Type XVIIIc sword; a late medieval sword type that is renowned for a design that is optimized for powerful performance cutting. No attention to detail is spared on swords from Valiant Armoury’s Craftsman Series which is made entirely in the USA and this translates into this particular XVIIIc rising to be among the top performers available of the power-cutting XVIIIc class of swords on the market. Powerful and authoritative in the hand, it yet remains agile and strikes a fantastic balance between lightness and useability, but clearly has the mass and heft needed to power those cuts and land them with impact. It is a masterwork of material distribution in the design and its skillful execution that ensures it hits that fine balance of critical cutting mass yet feeling easy to maneuver in both hands.

The burly blade measures nearly 35 inches in length and is crafted from 6150 high-carbon steel which was twice-normalized for refined grain structure and tempered to a resilient 52 HRc hardness. Finished with durable appleseed edge geometry, it offers excellent cutting performance whilst the edge remains durable enough for practical and sustained use. The distal taper executed on the blade is impressive to put it mildly with a thickness of 6 mm being tapered down to a shallow 1.6 mm (approximately), this not only makes the blade quite lively with a point of balance at 5 inches, but also makes the sword feel and handle in a way that feels lighter than its true weight at over 3 lbs. The crossguard and pommel are satin-polished steel, and the well-carved hardwood grip at over 8 inches is tightly wrapped in top quality vegetable tanned leather for a secure, comfortable hold. A hot peen over the pommel gives it a very strong and lasting overall assembly and build durability.

It is paired with a premium wood-core scabbard tightly covered in high-quality leather featuring richly embossed detailing. The integrated hangers are knotted and interwoven into the scabbard and attach to an included sword belt of durable vegetable-tanned leather. The thick leather belt adjusts via a metal buckle with steel tongue, allowing the wearer to set the height and angle of carry to personal preference.