Less than 24 hours to go…

Yes, now less than 24 hours to go before the window of opportunity to order a custom made sword in batch 42 of the SBG Custom Katana slams shut…

This, the second and last batch for 2017, prominently features red and black fittings this time around, and the folded blade option and upgraded Rayskin saya are also very popular. Below is a collage of all the mockups of the designs we have under our belt so far.

Haven’t seen any Daisho sets this time around or tanto, but there is one REALLY nice Wakizashi in there with the works – Sanmai folded T10 blade with real hamon, rayskin reinforced saya, optional koshirae set – you name it – it has it, and for all that is $649 – which is an insane price considering all the work and 2 levels of QC checks we subject these too.. (and unlike many other so called custom sword offerings, we actually DELIVER what was ordered)..

So if you want to get your order in before it is too late, you have less than 21 hours to get it in before this post becomes rather irrelevant..!

SBG Custom Katana

I liked it, but what do I know..

25% Off and ‘try before you buy’ offer on the BCI Chinese Jian

I have never been shy about letting people know when I was wrong about something, after all, when it comes to swords I am a jack of all trades and master of none.

So when I got some additional feedback on the new BCI Chinese Jian from an experienced CMA (Chinese Martial Arts) practitioner with 23 years experience, I listen and take it seriously.

When it comes to Jian, I know a fair bit about the different types, styles, history and what the ideal balance point requirements are for serious practitioners. And to me, the super lightweight BCI Jian (just 1.42lbs) was hard to put down. But despite this, it does not fulfill the requirements of high level Gong fu Practitioners – so I have had to rethink it..

In its own right, separated from the requirements of CMA practitioners, it is an excellent sword. And even the gentleman who pointed out its flaws from a CMA point of view to me had the following positive comments to make on it..

  • It has an  ‘aged and battle-ready look.’  There is a no-fuss, all-business and minimalist almost Zen-monk like aesthetic to the sword.  Brown and black are the ‘Chan’ or Zen colours in China.
  • You could say the guard is a ‘matte black,bat-shaped guard.’ The bat has positive connotations in China- and cool factor.
  • Dignified and elegant in appearance.
  • The broad, strong blade is well weighted for quick, accurate thrusting and advance lunges. It has the right strength for powerful ‘stop-thrusts’ and  good ‘pressing-power’.
  • The very sharp, stable and substantial blade is well gripped by the light weight cord-bound handle that allows for a sense of powerful extension of your arm in cutting.
  • The balance point and strength of the blade provide a strong sense of ‘forte’ (the part of the blade from mid-sword to hilt) for stable parrying.
  • The blade is perfectly suited for a confident ‘hanging guard’.
  • The wax cord binding on the handle provides positive grip with continued practice without becoming overly tacky or sticking.
  • The lightweight, minimalist scabbard keeps the overall feeling of lightness and readiness to the whole piece.
  • amazing 645gram weight.

But yes, it is just not what CMA practitioners are after.

So here is the deal..

We have seven of these swords still in stock – and once they are sold, that’s it. This is the first and the last run..

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY – PLUS a 25% DISCOUNT!

Because we cannot afford to carry the stock for a long period of time, first off is a huge 25% discount. This means we are selling them at a loss, but we need to recover the cash to put into new projects.

So to see if this rare and heavily discounted sword is right for you, I am offering a 30 day trial period where you can inspect it, do some dry handling, and see for yourself if you find it hard to put down like I did. If within 30 of receiving it, you decide you don’t like it, shoot us an email and you can send it back, no questions asked, and a full refund granted. The only limitation is because of this trial period, we have decided to make it available to US customers only – international shipping is just too expensive to be able to offer this, especially as we are already offering it well below the wholesale price we actually paid.

If this sounds good, then give it a try. While it failed to meet the stringent handling requirements of Gong Fu, as you can see in its own right, it is an awesome sword – at an awesome price, and I hope, with an awesome offer to see for yourself if you like it first hand and if not, just send it back..

Stock is limited to only 7 pieces and as I said, once they are all sold and gone, that’s it.

Click here for more information

SBG Custom Katana – Offer Extended until 4th of November

Just a very quick update – partially because I realized that on the original cut off date of the 29th of October I will be traveling on business without any internet connection, and will not be able to get all the orders to the forge until early November anyway, and partially because we confirmed that we can extend slightly longer than the original cut off date, I am pleased to advise that we have been able to extend the current batch order period to the 4th of November.

So for those of you who needed just a little more time to either set aside the required funds or take their time to ensure the design is just right, now you have it!

Click here for more details

Hanwei Tinker Longsword – in Stock, But not for long..

It is simply too popular for its own good.

I am talking of course about the Hanwei/Tinker Longsword – so popular that it is almost ALWAYS out of stock, and when it does come into stock, they go so fast that it makes your head spin..

But the good news is, we have secured 10pcs of the sharpened version of this wildly popular sword. Though naturally, how long they remain in stock is unknown.

So if you have been checking every site you know looking for one, well – right now we have 10. So get them while you can.. (the last time we had any in stock was February, so if you miss this chance, well – it might be a long wait).

SBG Custom Katana – FINALLY Taking New Orders..

From the emails I have been getting the last couple of months THIS is the blog post announcement that many of you have been waiting for..

With Batch 41 now 90% shipped (and easily one of our best batches ever, with a 0% error rate for the selected customizations and only a couple of very minor QC issues that most other companies would gloss over, but not on the SBG Custom Katana..) we are FINALLY ready to start taking new orders on the SBG Custom Katana series..

The order period will only be from the 17th of October to the 29th (we need to keep it short to ensure we don’t run into the shutdown for Chinese New Year) so don’t put it off, it is only a 12 day window of opportunity and once it shuts, it will not be until this batch comes in in February that we will be offering another chance to get one of these fantastic swords (honestly, we really should increase the pricing on these – right now we only just break even, and treat the $500 swords as $1000+ blades with the two levels of quality checks we apply to this line).