"I just received this baldric and felt the need to submit a review to address what is not stated or shown clearly at all. The description states: “Frog is left open so you can stitch it closed to fit the sword of your choice…. The European Baldric can be worn with any sword we sell.” The photo of this baldric does a very clever job of not showing you what the “frog” area looks like. The model’s hand is conveniently grasping all around his scabbard and covering the “frog.”
I don’t understand why the previous reviewers all felt the need to give it such a high rating, because in my opinion it is seriously flawed in that it is not functional as sold without some significant work on the part of the purchaser. One reviewer literally said that there is no way it will hold a sword, then gave it a 4 star rating anyway. ??? Now, I will agree that the leather itself appears nice and thick and strong, and I don’t have a problem with that. I didn’t buy this to wear as a decorative leather sash around my chest, however, I wore it to carry a sword at my side.
So what’s the problem? First, if that is a frog then I am a sasquatch. Look at other listings for sword and dagger frogs/hangers for sale here at MRL. Those have some means of securing the sword/knife in place, whether it is via leather straps that have adjustable buckles, belt studs, or via cord lacing that can be pulled tight according to the size of the blade being secured. Not on this baldric. You get literally two thick slabs of rectangular leather extending from the belt lined up on top of each other but totally unconnected except for where they attach to the belt. It’s like they only half-manufactured it, and then tried to sell that as a positive feature. You might be able to turn this into a sword frog with some work, much like you could turn a whale-bone into scrimshaw (okay, that would take a lot more work but the principle is the same).
“Frog is left open so you can stitch it closed to fit the sword of your choice.” Based on the common perception of what a sword frog is, including those sold here, I would interpret this to mean that one needs to simply tie the two slabs of leather together after placing the scabbard in the frog. Inherent in that is the assumption that there is some means to do so, i.e. at least some holes of some sort. But, No, there aren’t any holes in the leather to do this. When they say “stitch it” they literally mean get out your tools and supply your own stitching materials. Oh, and you will probably need an awl or leather punch as well. Which also pretty much means that you can only set this up for one sword since stitching it in this manner seems a bit more permanent than on the other frogs.
“The European Baldric can be worn with any sword we sell.” Yes, that’s because it non-discriminately doesn’t hold ANY sword, as-sold.
Now, if you have no problem with doing a little leather work then this won’t be an issue for you. If this were sold as a partially-finished product that very clearly stated the amount and kind of work that needed to be done to make it functional, I would not complain as long as it was disclosed. As stated, the quality of the leather itself is fine- nice and thick- but ultimately unable to carry a sword without doing some leatherwork. If I sold you shoes with no holes for shoelaces, claiming it was so you could secure them on your feet in the manner of your choice, would you buy them? The only difference here is this wasn’t, in my opinion, fully disclosed as clearly as it needs to be. I give it two stars for these reasons."