Need Advice on a Good Katana

[coldharvest]

I stand corrected.
Cheers Expat, that's a beautiful site.
What have you got in the weapons room of Casa Expat?

[Expat]

I stand corrected.
Cheers Expat, that's a beautiful site.
What have you got in the weapons room of Casa Expat?

Nice stuff isn't it? Most is just a bit out of my price range though.

The weps locker is pretty sad here due to the local restrictions. Had to leave 90% of my stuff in Florida with my Father. Right now it's just my semi-auto shotgun and the old hunting rifle. I tried to bring the swords in when I moved here and although you can buy and own edged weapons longer than XX cm (I forget what), you can't import. Makes alot of sense huh? If I'd known that they'd be shits about it then I would have just snuck them in and not declared anything. Went to a sword show in Madrid last year and was very dissapointed. Total junk, haloween crap. Oh to live in a Socialist paradise.....

[IT_whipping_boy]

I have to say that with all the gun chat, I’m presently surprised by the number of sword enthusiasts.

As far as authenticity goes, I’ve just spotted some folded steel katana’s as low as $300 (the Paul Chen line). Of course, it’s imitation ray skin, non-bambo core, etc but that’s authentic enough for me. On the other end of the spectrum Bugei advertises custom hand made models. Orders take 6 to 8 weeks to fulfill and you have to call for price and availability. Considering their basic models run 1 to 2k, I dare not ask.

It’s good to see people out there committed to the original ideals of sword crafting when swordplay wasn’t play at all.

[Expat]

I have to say that with all the gun chat, I’m presently surprised by the number of sword enthusiasts.

As far as authenticity goes, I’ve just spotted some folded steel katana’s as low as $300 (the Paul Chen line). Of course, it’s imitation ray skin, non-bambo core, etc but that’s authentic enough for me. On the other end of the spectrum Bugei advertises custom hand made models. Orders take 6 to 8 weeks to fulfill and you have to call for price and availability. Considering their basic models run 1 to 2k, I dare not ask.

It’s good to see people out there committed to the original ideals of sword crafting when swordplay wasn’t play at all.

The Paul Chen swords should be good then. I'm strictly into collecting now (very low end) and I'm not interested in Kendo or Iaido. I look at a nice sword as a work of art. Not to sound all 'kung fu' or anything but I consider it meditative to maintain and handle a fine sword. I find it amazing the amount of meticulous work that must have gone into that sword. When you hold something that is three hundred years old, It's still beautiful, still bright with a clear hamon, and though it has never been sharpened since the day it was delivered, still like a three foot razorblade. People today just don't make things like that anymore.

[Outkast]

As the unofficial site sword-usage expert, I have to warn against buying any of the blades offered up so far for real limb-chopping action.

Some are fine, and would serve you well for Iaito, etc. But any of them would break the first time it entered a person, well before you did enough damage to count as 'self-defense'. Modern swords are not designed to penetrate humans. Tatami is in no way the same as human flesh, ligament, and bone. Old swords (before the machine-made WW2 garbage) were stronger, but they also broke quite frequently, and required a sword-polisher to even out the blade continuously so that breakage or weakening would not occur.

Further, a sword MUST be properly maintained. If you are already aware of this, then disregard. But if you are not, a sword must be frequently oiled, and the materials used must be top-grade, or else the blade will be destroyed. For a collectors blade, this would mean it's ruined. But for a self-defense weapon, this would mean that the blade may crack and splinter upon hitting a target.


I am not trying to discourage you from obtaining a sword, but I am discouraging you from doing so if you intend it for 'combat'. Surprising as it is, bokuto make better self defense weapons than modern swords. They can kill, cripple, or just stun depending on how they are deployed. Get a nice blade for Iaito made from Nihonto.com, but keep a hickory or other weapons-grade bokuto around for defense. (An added bonus of this strategy is that the police look radically different at a case where you lopped off a limb in self defense as opposed to simply knocking someone up side the head and giving a mild concussion. Self defense should always also take into account 'legal' defense...)

Have fun looking at blades, and ask me if you want more in depth details. Remember, in modern blades, you are looking for 'folded carbon steel'. Aluminum/Stainless Steel is for butter knives.

[IT_whipping_boy]

I’m aware of the points you brought up regarding maintenance and metal quality. As for “limb-chopping action”, that isn’t quite what I had in mind. I just want to know that if self defense situation presents itself in my own home, the thing won’t explode into shards on the first hit. I’m mostly interested in practice (if you call following diagrams in a book in your back yard practice) but I want something functional if need be. If you have any specific experience using Paul Chen’s, let me know.

As far as legal defense goes, don’t even get me started. Let’s just say that it’s my policy that any stranger climbing through my window in the middle of the night is dog meat. I’d rather get sued than get a call from the police saying they found my wife’s body in a dumpster.

[el3so]

any stranger climbing through my window in the middle of the night is dog meat.

But what about the bones?
Think those need cooking before our canine friends can process them...

[El Cynic]

Expat, have you tried Toledo? It was still producing some fine blades last time I was there.

[Expat]

Expat, have you tried Toledo? It was still producing some fine blades last time I was there.

The last time I looked around up there it was mostly ornamental crap. I found a couple of supposedly 'real' katanas produced by Muela, they were bar stock with clay hardened edges and they weighed about twice what a katana should. Cost was about $600. Spanish hunting knives are good and Toledo still produces all the blades for bullfighting (sharp bastards those), but Japanese swords, forget it.

[Outkast]

As for “limb-chopping action”, that isn’t quite what I had in mind. I just want to know that if self defense situation presents itself in my own home, the thing won’t explode into shards on the first hit.

I know what you mean (I just like exaggerating my speech- a storyteller thing, can't help it...) Basically what I meant is that, yes, there is a very good chance the blade will crack and/or break when hitting a human target. Most commonly, you'd make your cut on an lower or upper arm, since a person's first reaction to a bladed weapon attack is to turn the body and raise an arm/both arms in defense. These blades would most likely break as soon as they connect with bone.

As you probably know, you usually get only one chance at making a successful attack in a surprise self-defense situation. So avoid modern swords for this purpose.


For practice, I suggest Nihonto.com. Some of the other more ornamental swords listed here could actually break just during Iaido cutting since they are designed for looking pretty, Paul Chen included. Nihonto.com is your best bet (and the higher end ones there are suitable for tatami cutting too.)

[Expat]

As the unofficial site sword-usage expert

Did Kurt give you some kind of certificate or what? Cool.......

I'd have to disagree that most of the modern blades would shatter. Bar stock is used in a lot of other types of swords and have been cleaving limbs since the middle ages. Then again, I just collect. I don't cut. I couldn't even fathom being so cruel to one of my swords.

Let's say you're right though and the sword shatters. I'd say that for anyone with a half severed arm and and a huge piece of broken metal embedded in the bone that the fighting would be over for the evening. He's going to need a 400 pound Band Aid.

[Tarkan]

What if you made a sword from a leaf spring?

[soulohio]

seriously, a leaf spring? well, i think that leaf springs are somewhat thick to reduse deformity and still be inexpensive to manufacture. there would be some weight issues with a sword and a sword made out of a leaf spring is probably too thin to maintain it's tensile strength and not deform....plus it might not even make it through the forming process....heating and banging-extruding that inexpensive low carbon steel into the sword. might be fun to try it and see....i mean, in a mad max world a leaf spring beat into a sword might get you laid...

[coldharvest]

What if you made a sword from a leaf spring?

I made a Bowie knife from a leaf-spring, it works well and keeps a nice edge.

[Outkast]

As the unofficial site sword-usage expert

Did Kurt give you some kind of certificate or what? Cool.......

Yep, he just doesn't know it yet...

Let's say you're right though and the sword shatters. I'd say that for anyone with a half severed arm and and a huge piece of broken metal embedded in the bone that the fighting would be over for the evening. He's going to need a 400 pound Band Aid.

Trouble is, that unlike with a gunfight (my knowledge on shooting holes in people is only from a medical standpoint- not 'field experience'...) where shock sets in like a freight train after the bullet hits, blade attacks gets adrenalin pumping and your opponent is going to be kicking for a while longer.

Actual sword fights are violent back-and-forth affairs. Sword vs sword could go for hours until someone falls out from blood loss. Shock isn't instant, so snapping your blade before you've done your full damage would give your attacker the chance to get his licks in. He'll need that 400 lb Band-Aid alright, but only after the show's over. Your average person won't immediately go down with a flesh wound to the arm.

And these blades are really not made for severing bone. You might get lucky, but it's not cool to count on a possible chance of luck to protect the family. Would you rely on a firearm that has a great chance of misfiring or the barrel rupturing? I just don't think it's worth the risk.