Starting the month with a restock of popular swords – probably the most notable is the restock of the A.P.O.C. Survival Longsword – which was notably absent from the recent A.P.O.C. sale, and probably would have dominated the fairly lackluster sale we just finished a few days ago as this newest sword in the series has easily become the most popular in the A.P.O.C. line up:
But most notably, we start the month with a new entry from Kingston Arms that may well be the most authentic and best made affordable production Claymore ever seen – the aptly named, Kingston Arms Scottish Claymore:
Seeing the writing on the wall for the sword industry this year, Kingston Arms have opted to use a more inexpensive to work with steel – rather than 9260 spring steel (which is used on all the other Kingston Arms swords to date) they have opted for 65mn Spring Steel. But this means that this sword is the first in their medieval line up to be able to be offered for sub $300 (MSRP is $389, but by squeezing our margins we can bring it to you for just $274.99).
Awesome value, and as functional as they come and then some.
Scorpion swords Missouri based workshop has done it again with a fully functional Fantasy barbarian style sword called simply ‘the Barbarian’.
It starts life as does all the swords made by Scorpion Swords as a cut sword blank of 1095 carbon steel.
After drilling 14 holes in the hilt, the blade is then ground to shape – adding a fuller and shaping the edges.
Then follows the heat treatment process, firstly by heating the blade to 1500 degrees until it becomes non magnetic and then quenching it in brine (salt water). The 2nd step is Heat Tempering, which consists of heating the steel to 500 degrees for 2 hours, and letting it air cool. This makes for a Rockwell Hardness of approximately 57.
The walnut wood handle is then pinned and glued in place overnight, forming such a tight bond both with the glue and the 14 pins that it effectively is solidly fused in place and makes for a strong, one piece construction.
The handle is then refined, adding an additional 6 brass pins (to bring the total of handle contact points to 20), the blade sharpened and some engravings added before the handle is colored and the whole thing is finally ready to ship.
And there you have it, a very tough, very cool and super strong hand made in the USA Barbarian sword for under $300!
While there are many signs that 2023 is going to be a tough year for the sword industry, at least one of the bulwark manufacturers – Paul Chen’s Hanwei Forge – starts the year almost fully stocked and with more models of swords currently available now than at anytime in the last 3 years..
How long the most popular models will be available of course remains to be seen, but here are some of our top picks from the recent restock that savy sword buyers will snap up while they are available.
Top Picks from the Restock
Lowlander Sword
A true beast of a sword with a whopping 48″ blade and 21″ handle for just $359.99 gets you a whole lot of steel for a bargain price. No wonder it is never in stock for long..
True value at just $297.95 this classic hand and a half sword is very well built and powerful and a fantastic design that they got right the first time..
The bargains just keep on coming for Hanwei’s medieval line, and after many months of being absent we are delighted to announce the restock of the Tinker Great sword of War, another big and powerful, well made and well designed sword from the Tinker Pearce/Hanwei collaboration. Crazy good value at just $279.99.
If you love cutting swords and haven’t tried a good Dao before, THIS is the sword you need to check out. You will truly be surprised and delighted how easily it cuts with just one hand, and if you are a martial artist, you MUST have this sword in your collection. You will NOT be disappointed..
This is one that is rarely in stock for anything more than a few days at a time, partially because not many are made but primarily because they are easily one of the best value for money and truly unique swords to grace modern sword armories. Highly recommended.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what is on offer right now at Hanwei, so take a look and enjoy the literal smorgasbord of quality swords freshly restocked and waiting to add to your collection:
As you probably know, the Lunar New Year is due to fall on Sunday the 22nd of January, and all the sword forges we work with for Forge Direct are currently on holiday and will be until the end of the month.
What you may not know is that when they pick up tools again, refreshed and invigorated in the best sword making weather of the year, they tend to do their very best work. So it has become something of a tradition at SBG to offer our very best deals in conjunction with the forges to kick off the Chinese New Year with a bang.
As such, from today until midnight the 22nd of January we are offering a whopping 25% discount off each and every Master Smith forged blade from Forge Direct Chinese. But it gets even better, because in addition to all the classic Forge direct designs we are delighted to offer 3 additional models from our friends at the Baojian Sword Forge.
New Blade #1
Forge Direct Water Lily Jian
Weighing in at less than 2lbs total weight, the Water Lily is a stunning Damasus steel folded 1095 carbon steel blade with premium quality black ebony wood and solid brass fittings. Perfect for serious Taiji and Kung fu practitioners, collectors and backyard cutters alike! Normally $1000, down to just $750 with the 25% discount:
Ancient 2000 year old design with a stunning folded and differentially hardened edge and classic ring pommel counterbalance. Normally $1000, but available for just $750 as part of the Chinese New Year sale promotion.
A classic Tang dynasty ‘proto-tanto’ with a contemporary touch, this stunning piece of blade art has a folded steel, hand hammered blade with a unique serrated spine. $600, but down to only $450 as part of the Chinese New Year promotion.
But these new blades are just the tip of the iceberg, check out the entire range of classic Forge Direct Chinese blades and grab them at the best price humanly possible until the 22nd.
The only catch? Forging does not begin until the start of February so there will be a slight delay. But more than worth it for the steep discounts on offer..
Hope you had the best start possible to 2023. While it will most certainly be another trying and rather difficult year in a series of difficult years (mostly because many of the actions taken around the world from 2020 will have and continue to have many long, largely unforeseen or unmanageable flow on effects) we will do our best to continue to deliver as much value as humanly possible.
And at least the year starts off on a positive note, with not one but THREE new high end Katana from the artisans at Frenchie Jin’s Dragon King Forge.
All these new Katana are made using two of my favorite modern steels, a blend of 9260 Spring Steel and T10 tool steel – one steel shock resistant and durable, the other strong and hard wearing – mitigating many of the inherent weaknesses of folding a blade, and the by product – a stunning and very traditional looking hada (skin) of the blade with subtle but prominent Damascus patterning.
Add to this a hand clayed natural hamon and we have a very traditional looking, and performing, blade with all the essential characteristics of a historical Shinken.
Each of the three models made in this fashion is subtly different – some are heavier and longer, others shorter and faster – and each has their own specific premium quality fitting sets, with Dragon King’s distinctive use of silvered fittings.
Check each model out below
The Kinryu
The Flagship model, the Kinryu is a Dragon themed no-hi bladed sword optimized as a power cutter. Very attractive with a Dragon Horimono engraving on the blade and partially rattan wrapped, golden saya. Normal price on this one is $1,499.00 but available for $500 less right here at the SBG sword store:
A longer blade with a longer handle, the Kawanakajima Katana as a deep bo-hi to lessen the weight and is complimented by premium quality, traditional black and white fitting aesthetics. Beautiful and deadly – normally also $1,499.00 but just $999.99 at the SBG Sword Store:
The fastest blade, despite having no bo-hi to lighten it, the Taikyu weighs in at a mere 2lbs 4oz and has many of the characteristics of lighter styled antique Katana. Complimented with subtle teal and Koi themed fittings, it is also $100 less than the other models – $1,399.00 but down to a mere $899.99 at the SBG Sword Store:
And if that wasn’t enough, we also start the new year with a special discounted price on the previous pinnacle for Dragon King, a truly butt kicking fully functional replica of the Ogami Itto Katana made famous by the 1970s Japanese serial and movie, Lone Wolf and Cub.
The normal price on this stunning battle ready replica is usually $1,259.00 – and is marked down at our site for the bargain price of $827.95. But from today until the end of the month and while stocks last you can snap up this classic design for just $699.99!!
