Cold steel blades — cold steel, which is designed to consist at least of blade and handle.

Cold steel decorated arms — cold steel characterized by relief and other decorations of blade, hilt and scabbard.

Status of arms

Authorized cold steel is a weapon which appearance and size, as well as rules or bearing and established attribution are regulated by departmental or general governmental decrees, orders, charters and other official documents.

Awarded arms — cold steel granted for personal service. Blade, hilt or scabbard must have writings about the services of the person awarded and (or) image of signs of awards granted.

Complimentary arms — arms granted as a sign of recognition of importance of the person awarded. Blade, hilt or scabbard may contain writings and (or) images reflecting relation of its owner to an organization (State Emblem, corporate logo etc.), as well as writings and (or) images, relating to the grantor. Complimentary arms may be individual and (or) memorable.

Individual arms — arms having writings and (or) images on blade, hilt or scabbard which personify it in relation to the owner (monogram, family emblem, portrait etc.)

Memorable arms — arms having writings and (or) images on blade, hilt or scabbard which state the reason of its granting.

Honorary arms — arms which fully or partially meet the attributes of awarded (individual, memorable) or complimentary ones.

Types of arms

Bebut — a sort of Caucasian or Central Asian dagger with curved double-edged blade. In Russian army it was used by non-commissioned officers of machineguns’ groups, gun crews of light and mountain artillery and staff of artillery. It was worn in wooden scabbard upholstered with leather and covered with lacquer. The scabbard was fixed on the belt by means of a ring. In early XX century it was a personal weapon of non-commissioned officers.

Broadsword — colds steel weapon with broad straight or slightly curved blade of medium length and plain guard consisting, as a rule, of only cross-piece.

Dagger — a cold steel with short or medium straight ????????? (more rarely- curved) blade and plain guard, usually consisting of only cross-piece. The only exclusion were English and Dutch naval officer’s daggers of late XVII — 1st third of XIX century, which had curved blades and hilts with chains. Hilts of hunter’s daggers of XVIII-XIX centuries often had a front arc and shield.

Hanger — originates from Arabian «handzhar», a thrust and cutoff weapon intended for hand-to-hand fight. It usually has a double blade.

Knife — a cold steel with a short, often single-edged blade. As a rule knife did not have a guard at all. Or it was re[resented by a plain cross-piece. “Palash” broadsword— originates from Hungarian word «pallos» is a cold steel with straight long and broad blade and massive guard, usually formed by a cup and several arcs.

Rapier — originates from German word «rapier» and means a cold steel with long straight narrow three or four-edged blade and guard in the form of semicircular cup. It was exclusively a thrust weapon.

Sabre — a cold steel with long curved single-edged blade and quite a simple guard.

Stiletto — originates from Italian word «stilleto» and means a western Europe variety of hanger with narrow three or four-edged blade and straight short cross-piece.

Sword — a cold steel with straight long and broad blade and plain guard, usually consisting only of cross-piece. Massive head of sword’s handle to a certain degree served as counterweight to blade. “Shashka” cavalry sword— originates from Kabardian- Circassian «sa» «shkho»- cold steel arms (in foreign literature it is considered a type of sabre) with blade of insignificant curve and hilt with a plain guard or without it. Its distinguishing feature is hanger for carrying a-la Caucasus, i.e. blade edge back. In addition to it rings are located on arced side of scabbard.

Sword (epee) — originates from Italian word «spada» —cold steel arms with long straight narrow or medium blade and complex guard consisting of cup, one or several arcs of various forms and cross-piece.

Yataghan — cold steel arms used in Turkey and in Balkan Mountains. In contrast to other types of cold steel arms with curved blade, yataghan’s sharp blade is located on concave edge. In the second part of XIX century some armies adopted bayonets with yataghan-type blades.

Constituent parts of cold steel arms

Arc — an integral part of cold steel guard. The front arc joins handle head and cross-piece or cup. Side arcs usually branch from the front ones and joint cup or cross-piece.

Blade (flat bar) — a constituent part of cold steel, made in the form of steel straight or curved flat bar with single –edge or two-edge sharpening . Blade section could vary very much: hexahedral or diamond-shaped (sword), wedge-shaped (sabre) etc.

Blade — a cloistered edge of blade. Re-sharpening angle is determined by a blade purpose.

Butt end (back, blunt side) — a non-cloistered edge of blade opposite to blade.

Button (nut) — a semicircular or faceted lug on the top of the head of handle. Serves as a hilt- fixing element. Sometimes it has a hole or a ring for fixing of sword-knot.

Cup of hilt — flat or arched to blade pint metal plate of various forms, fixed on the cross-piece and being an integral part of guard. “Elman” — a widening of fighting part of blade with two-sided (two-edged) sharpening, which passes into point and designed to give blade extra weight and increase the power of thrust. It is mainly common for oriental sabres.Groove— a longitudinal groove in blade serving for its weight reduction or increase of its rigidity (bending resistance) without loss of solidity. A blade may have one or several grooves of various length and width.

Guard — originates from French word «garde» — an aggregate of protective elements of cold steel hilt. It may consist of cross-piece, arcs and cup.

Head of handle, hilt (knob, cane-head) — upper part of cold steel handle. It may have any form at all. It is riveted or screwed on blade shank.

Handle (neck) — a part of cold steel hilt, fixed on blade’s shank and intended to be held by hand. It is either a wooden pipe or consists of two wooden or corneous plates- cheeks. Pipe-type handles were usually covered with leather and bound with wire.

Handle back (ridge) — a surface of cold steel handle which continues the line of blade’s butt end. The back fits palm if handle is held.

Hilt — a component of a cold steel representing a union of handle and guard.

Point — thrust end of blade, pint of junction of lines of butt end and blade.

Ring — a detail of cold steel scabbard fixed to sword-belt strap.

Scabbard set (casing) — metal facing on leather or wooden scabbard. It usually consists of mouth, one or several nuts and tip.

Scabbard (sheath) — a metal, wooden or leather cold steel case, equipped with some appliances for hanging (rings, a hook, a cramp etc.). Scabbard is hung by means of so called “passing” strap of sword-belt.

Shank (stem) — a steel stripe or stem holding the hilt of cold steel, leaving blade toe.

Toe (cheek) — upper part of blade which immediately adjoins hilt. Toes were usually branded.