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The Green Guardian
Review
Conducted by Jason Woodard
When I
first came up with this design I
envisioned it with a green grip to
represent the guardian of the forest.. I
worked really hard on this design making
many changes to it to improve it's
balance and performance. Eyal at
Darksword-Armory loved the design and
worked with me to bring it to life. He
made needed changes to help improve it
further. Changes such as a wider fuller
BS longer grip helped drop the weight
and give it better balance.
The
Guardian comes with a nice black leather
grip and matching scabbard. I was very
happy to see that Arms of Valor, Ltd.
does custom high end grips in many
colors. I had also heard great things
about these custom grips on the SBG
forum, but I had never had my hands on
one before or seen them close up.
 Brian
of DBK customs swords put this high end
green leather grip on my Guardian for
me. He also took the time to thin down
the grip which made a big difference in
the feel and control of the sword. I had
reviewed my Guardian before the high end
grip was added (the standard version has
a black leather grip) When my Newly
customized" Green Guardian" was shipped
back to me.......I was speechless!! I
had no idea how nice these high end
grips were. The leather is very high
quality and feels so good in your hands.
The green grip is so tight and form
fitting to the handle. It truly makes it
a different sword. It does not feel like
it could slip out of your hands no
matter what kind of swing you make!
The first
thing I did was take it outside to get a
feel for the new grip. I worked with the
sword for several minutes. Swinging,
thrusting, chopping moves. It responds
quickly and I can stop it on a dime! I`m
very impressed with the new grip. Brian
did a great job. Thanks Brian!
 Now
I was ready to give it a good testing to
see how it felt when hitting several
targets. First up I set up a one gallon
jug filled with water. I was able to
make several cuts on the jug working my
way down. You could feel the tight grip
with each swing. I think this makes for
much better control.. Next up 3 gallon
jugs filled the same. I cut through them
all at once with very little effort,
again the new grip helped the swing to
be very controlled. For the third test I
placed a pressure treated 2/4 between a
tree and gave it 15 or16 hard hits to
see how it would cut and hold up. As you
can see the Guardian made the cuts just
fine!
 The
fittings are all tight and the new grip
is in perfect shape. I really like this
new grip. It was more than I was
expecting, and if your thinking about
getting one of AoV's a high end custom
grips put on your sword DO IT!!! It is
well worth the money. I'm very happy
with the out come, and now I want
several of my other swords done with
these custom grips. First I'd like to
Thank "Eyal" For bringing my Guardian
design to life. Next I'd like to thank
Jason at AoV and Brian of DBK custom
swords for the best grip I've ever had
on any of my swords. I love it! Thank
you for your time... Jason Woodard |
