Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

kronckew · 24th August 2020, 05:06 PM

The UK prohibits the import of curved bladed knives/swords with blades over 50 cm. long.

There is an exemption available to collectors/martial arts members that they are OK if made by traditional means. I ordered two swords from Ron Kosakowski at Traditional Filipino Weapons a few years back. after buying the Visayan Barong above from him. One in a later batch had a slightly curved blade a few inches over the 50 cm. mark. Ron followed all the rules and had made it known on the customs form the sword was 'traditionally made' and thus exempt from the silly rule (silly in that a straight blade would have been allowed, no problem).

The UK Border Force Confiscated them anyway. Apparently, if one of a batch doesn't meet their arbitrary requirements, the whole shipment is forfeit.

With Ron's help and with photos & videos of TFW's blades actually being forged, along with some documentation from Ron, the UKBF grudgingly allowed the shipment into the UK to me. Some of TFW's items are somewhat loose in the interpretation of the appearance of the forms he has made by the traditional smiths he uses. He's got a bit better since our dance with the UKBF. The whole brouhaha took around 6 months of emails and surface mails, back and forth, before I received my goodies.

24th August 2020, 05:06 PM	#7
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,150	The UK prohibits the import of curved bladed knives/swords with blades over 50 cm. long. There is an exemption available to collectors/martial arts members that they are OK if made by traditional means. I ordered two swords from Ron Kosakowski at Traditional Filipino Weapons a few years back. after buying the Visayan Barong above from him. One in a later batch had a slightly curved blade a few inches over the 50 cm. mark. Ron followed all the rules and had made it known on the customs form the sword was 'traditionally made' and thus exempt from the silly rule (silly in that a straight blade would have been allowed, no problem). The UK Border Force Confiscated them anyway. Apparently, if one of a batch doesn't meet their arbitrary requirements, the whole shipment is forfeit. With Ron's help and with photos & videos of TFW's blades actually being forged, along with some documentation from Ron, the UKBF grudgingly allowed the shipment into the UK to me. Some of TFW's items are somewhat loose in the interpretation of the appearance of the forms he has made by the traditional smiths he uses. He's got a bit better since our dance with the UKBF. The whole brouhaha took around 6 months of emails and surface mails, back and forth, before I received my goodies. Last edited by kronckew; 24th August 2020 at 05:28 PM.