Carbon Steel Swords or Stainless Steel Swords? Which one is Best
Are you a beginner sword collector?
This article will mainly focus on the two general material that can be found in today’s swords.
- Carbon Steel
- Stainless Steel
The two main difference with these two types of sword materials is that one, the stainless steel is not suited for cutting or contact exercises and two, it is a lot more easy to take care of. But let’s dig a little deeper.
1- Carbon Steel
Carbon steel is the authentic material that as been used in the creation of swords since the medieval ages. If you are looking to start a collection of “functional” or “battle-ready” sword, these are the type of swords you need.
Carbon steel swords are capable of standing the rigors of cutting exercises and contact. But as for the maintenance, it is a little more complicated. You see, carbon steel is very vulnerable to rust so the two rules of thumb with this type of swords is to keep them out of contact with air and moisture. This can be achieved by applying a small coat of oil or wax to the sword.
These swords are often more expensive than stainless steel swords, simply because they are the real deal.
2- Stainless Steel Swords
Stainless steel is a combination of carbon steel with nickel and chromium which is though to be invulnerable to corrosion. While this is not entirely true, it is a lot easier to take care of this type of sword because this type of metal is much less reactive than Carbon steel.
Stainless steel can rust if it is in direct contact with water, the difference is that is can be cleaned a lot more easily than the carbon steel blades.
Which one is for you?
The choice is up to you. If you want to collect the kind of swords that are real, sharp and able to stand the rigors of contact exercises, carbon steel swords are for you. You will just need to take care of them periodically. On the other hand, if you want to collect fantasy swords or movie swords, you will find that most of these are made of stainless steel and are much easier to take care off.
Carbon steel:
- Fully Functional
- More expensive
- Needs care
- Real swords
Stainless Steel:
- Cheaper
- Easy to clean
- ”Not functional”
- Decorative only