Welcome to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ page). Below, we have tried to answer the most common questions visitors to this our Web site may have. If you find that your question is not answered on this page, please email us boldblades@carolina.rr.com or call us during business hours at 704-481-0810.

BOLD BLADES FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• Do you make your swords and other weapon? No, we do not have the time or the expertise to do that. So we purchase them from a number of different US suppliers including CAS Hanwei, Museum Replicas, Blue Ridge Knives, Viking Wholesale and others.  We import our bonnets, sporrans, belts – including waist and sword belts and baldrics, Clan Crest Blazer Badges, military patches, hackles, etc. From time to time we do fit antler and wooden handles to factory made dirk and sgian dubh blades.
• Why can’t I visit your business? As stated elsewhere in our site, Bold Blades is a home-based business, although we do utilize outside warehouse facilities as well. We are not licensed to sell to the general public from our location and therefore we do not do so.
• Are your swords battle ready? The usual definition of battle ready these days describes a sword which does not have a cutting edge or sharp point, has a peened tang and is generally sturdy enough to stand up to rigorous fighting with lots of blade to blade contact. We carry some swords which fit that definition but many of our blades are sharp and therefore too dangerous to use in mock combat. At any rate, as you can see in the disclaimer on our home page, we will not refund or replace broken swords and that sometimes happens in live steel fighting. Also, we are not privy to the metallurgy that goes into making the swords we sell and for that reason cannot offer any guarantees except that you should be able to admire and enjoy them for many years if you do not use them in combat.
• Why do you require returns be made within 30 days of purchase? Good question and one you could ask of a handful of individuals whose actions resulted in that policy. One gentleman ordered three very expensive items, kept them for four months, obviously wore and used them then sent two of them back for refunds. He got the refunds but that was the last time we did that and will not do so again.  We inspect most everything we ship, before we ship it and will not knowingly sell anything that is defective, although once in awhile something will slip through.  However, the customer has 30 days to look over the blade to find any manufacturing defects, which is plenty of time to do so and also decide if he/she likes the item. We will also not accept anything for return which has been taken apart. That also happened and the owner cross threaded the pommel cap on the tang of the blade, effectively ruining the sword. Not our fault but the blade is still in our scrap pile after eight years!
• Why do you import all your products? We would be happy to offer US made blades if we could find someone making them at prices allowing us to offer them to our customers at a reasonable price point. There are many custom sword makers in the US and a couple which turn out swords in quantity. However, they do not offer wholesale prices to dealers and the price points are quite high in most cases. They are certainly worth those prices but we do not feel our customer base wants to pay that much for a sword or dagger.
• My order came in an obviously recycled box. Why do you do that? It saves us money so we do not have to charge as much shipping. We are also recycling boxes and packing material which hopefully saves a few trees and keeps some litter out of landfills.  Please recycle as much of the packing material and boxes as you can.
• Why no shopping cart on your site? We are thinking about doing that but we enjoy the contact with our customers, answering their questions and hopefully establishing long term relationships. Shopping carts, while helpful, do not usually give the customer feedback regarding whether the item is in stock for shipment, something else we like to do and can best do by speaking our customers.