I’ve long wanted a nice samurai sword set (Katana and Waki) to display in the home. Having a low tolerance for non-functional weapons of any kind, I want them to be real swords. That said, I’m not trying to break the bank on something that won’t see any real use. I’m finding in my research a wide variety in prices, from $250 to $800. I’m also struggling with the quality of something from Cold Steel. Their swords are on the more reasonable side in so far as prices, but my experience over the years with them as a company has been hit and miss.
I know I want a full tang, and I want a traditional wrapped handle. I don’t mind paying extra if I’m getting a quality blade set, but I don’t want to get sucked in by good marketing.
Take a look at Ronin Katana. They make excellent working swords that I think are way better than the Cold Steel variants. In the $200 - $1500 this is a helpful site - http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/
I have a brief experience with a Cold steel sword as follows: former friend of mine had one, I was messing with on a couple occasions.
As I recall, was very blade heavy, not well balanced. It was sharp, did not feel or look “cheap”, but he did some slashing/cutting tests on a deer carcass, and the blade chipped on bone once. That’s all I got for ya.
Excellent information gents! Lots of great reading at SBG.
StraightShooter, thank you. I’m sadly not surprised. They seem to be a shell of the company they once were. Or maybe there are just lots of better options now.
You are welcome sir. You know, about Cold Steel. I agree, they aint what they used to be, however I do have a few things from them I really like, not ALL of it is junk. Some of the Tanto blades are really wicked stuff. And the owner is BATSHIT crazy. There tons & tons of better options, but there are as many worse ones…like Frost…S&W…and a few more I wouldn’t let someone walk into my home with!
Nice! Is that one if the custom blades they offer at SBG?
I went with the Golden Oriole. I’ve wanted it as long as I can remember and while it’s not specifically listed on the SBG page, Paul and many others gave it very favorable reviews in the forum. Something about a Samurai sword made in China doesn’t feel right but I’m not ready to spend the amounts necessary for a “real” one.
If I ever become incredibly wealthy I will gladly pay for a real japanese katana, but if you spent all that money I don’t know how keen I would be to use it unless needed. Thats the beauty of the chinese swords, you can beat the crap out of them and they keep on ticking. The sword above is not a custom, just a stock Ronin but it is razor sharp and has no issue cutting things in half be it a tameshigiri cutting mat or a paint can .
Yea, I read the authentic swords run from $5k to $30k and decided to put that on the “lottery list.” Lol! Especially considering the extra security I’d want for something of that nature. No leaving it out on a desk or wall…
I was out in Redmond Washington on business many years back and was over at a guy’s house that worked at Microsoft. He had been there for a while. He was loaded and clearly had stock before it split a bunch of times. Anyways he had a Katana and a Wakizashi that were a set he purchased over in Japan. The set was like 400 years old and he either removed or they didn’t come with a tsuka. I think he paid 50k for the set. Unbelievably beautiful. I have been in love ever since.
Check out http://new.uniquejapan.com/home/. They travel around Japan buying the antique family swords from locals and then resells them. Very cool site to check out.
They can run over $30k, depending on the lineage of the 'smith. If you ever decide to get into the real stuff, here is a website that can get you started on the right track: http://nihontoclub.com/about
I don’t mean to hijack the thread, but here is my katana and waki set:
Fujishima Yukimitsu ca. 1380 (Eiwa era)
Battle damage (parrying marks)
Bishū Onomichi Ju Goami Sadanobu ca. 1494 (Meiō era)
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