Additional thoughts, information and hints for our sword lines and products, including detailed introductions of new swords as they come in, special discounts and more.
Just in time for Christmas, two container loads of new Hanwei stock has arrived and restocked some old classics across the board – plus introducing Hanwei’s newest blade for Zombie Slaying, the Hanwei High Performance Survival Kukri..
The restock is extensive, many blades that have not been available all this year are back – and much to my personal delight, so are two classic razor sharp cutting Dao including one of my favorite swords of all time, the Practical Gongfu Broadsword..!
Seems everything is selling out fast all over the place, but this is one deal you won’t want to miss out on if you are a fan of tough, fully functional medieval swords..
The RK Euro swords by Ronin Katana are running out of stock, Model #7 is already sold out and only limited quanties of model 8 (Viking) and model 9 (Arming) remain.
I am actually in the process of writing up a full review and test results after putting these swords through their paces with Lancelot Chan and Anthony Choi in Hong Kong, but to give you some idea – these swords performed quite well. Sharp enough to easily cut water bottles (something medieval swords struggle with) yet durable enough to cut super thick bamboo that even some high end Japanese swords struggled with, at the special introductory price they are a true bargain and not to be missed.
True enough, they may not be very historically accurate – and while they handle much better than many other sub $300 medieval swords, they are no ballerinas, the overall quality is such that there is no way we will be able to hold them at this price for much longer.
In the meantime while I work on the review, here is a video showing some of the testing we conducted.
On the 26th of July the latest shipment from Ronin Katana came in, and in it there were a few surprises..
Here is the first – Sword Parts for Sale from the Dojo Pro and RK Budget Series line!
There are three main koshirae (furniture) of a Japanese Katana apart from the blade – the tsuka (hilt/handle), the tsuba and the saya (scabbard) – and now Ronin Katana sells all three!
The first is the tsuka, as this is the hardest part of a sword to swap out.
Essentially, the best method of re-assembly is with a drill press, a steady hand and some mekugi pegs (not included, so either make your own or re-use the originals if they are undamaged). Basically you mark out what angle you will drill at to avoid sticking a hole through the ito wrap on the opposite site, attach the tsuka to the nagako (tang), drill through in one action and put in a new peg or two (don’t worry about extra holes in the tang, antique Katana that had been remounted often had tangs like swiss cheese!).
This method takes some basic DIY skill so another method used by some people is to simply epoxy the new tsuka on..! (not recommended, but it will do in a pinch and as long as you are quicker than it takes for the resin to start to dry).
The second sword part available is the saya – which comes available in two variations – black with black buffalo horn accents or black with brown accents.
These are very high quality saya (buffalo horn is rarely seen on swords at this price point) with good, hard wearing synthetic silk sageo (tied) and suitable for a 28 to 30″ Dojo Pro Katana.
In theory, these saya could also be used on other manufacturers swords – but it really depends on the curvature of the blade. Each one will take a little fiddling around with filing the inside mouth of the saya to get a perfect fit, but they are a good option for people who either don’t like the default saya that comes with their preferred sword, someone wanting to turn a standard Ko Katana into a Shinobigatana, or who has damaged their saya or just wants a spare.
The final category of spare parts for swords Ronin has brought in for us is of course, tsuba. They Have 36 tsuba available, each used on a current Dojo Pro or RK Budget Series sword and come in either iron ($45) or zinc alloy ($25) respectively.
Here are some of my favorites.
To swap out a tsuba, again some filing is necessary to get the best fit possible, but its nothing too technical – only slightly harder than swapping out a saya.
Anyway, it is a lot of fun to see these options become available. Shipping is $5 in the USA ($8 Canada, $12 everwhere else) but becomes free if you piggyback your order with something else (like a sword, other components etc).
Just a quick note that the Cheness Cutlery warehouse will be closed from the 31st of July to the 8th of September 2015 as they will be visiting suppliers and service providers in Asia.
During this period there will be no shipping of any Cheness Cutlery products, so we STRONGLY suggest that if you have your eye on a particular sword of theirs you order now to avoid disappointment.
The last day to order before the shutdown is midnight the 29th of July, 2015, Eastern US time..
I sometimes wonder, what would swords look like in the 21st century if they continued to evolve as valid battlefield weapons?
To some degree, the humble Machete is the result of the evolution of swords and continues to see use in many conflicts across the world, from Africa, Latin America and anywhere else where hand to hand combat still plays a signficant factor in warfare.
But throughout history, and especially in Europe, the sword evolved and changed many times, from the Gladius to the Spatha, Viking single handed swords, arming sword, longswords, estoc, rapiers and finally sabers..
But, except for WWII with the Japanese Gunto, the sword pretty much stopped being widely carried on the battlefield with the 1917 saber and became mostly a dress weapon..
But what would have happened if it had not stopped there? What would the sword look like?
ENTER COLD STEEL
Love them or hate them, their is little doubt that Cold Steel is an innovative company. Not only do they produce a very wide assortment of swords of almost every major type ever used throughout history, but recently they started their own drive to “evolve” the sword – taking the best of history and combining it with modern technology to produce the next generation of swords.
It started in 2010 with their “Katana Machete”..
And continued with their highly effective re-invention of the Gladius, the aptly named Gladius Machete, which we have just added to the store (the Katana Machete has been available at our store for a while now, click here if you are interested).
But now in 2015, it continues with 3 new “evolved” swords as below.
CHINESE WAR SWORD MACHETE
Related to the two Machete above, the new Cold Steel Chinese War Sword Machete is a variation of the Chinese Daodao, or great sword.
This sword was made infamous by its use dutring the Chinese boxer rebellion circa 1899-1901 and was used again against the Japanese in the Sino-Japanese war and proved to be extremely effective in those comparitively recent times.
Training with the Dadao
Newly released in 2015, the Cold Steel Chinese War Sword Machete takes this highly effective, devestatingly powerful blade and combines it with ultra modern polypropelyne, Cor-ex and plasma cutting techniques to bring it firmly into the 21st century – and at an extremely affordable price point..
Now as mentioned, the Saber was the culmination of Western swords – and pretty much ceased to be a weapon of war in 1917 during WWI. But as Sabers have a special fascination for Cold Steel President Lynn Thompson, it should come as no surprise that he might one day decide to design his very own Saber, and this is the result..
Bringing the Saber into the 21st Century – the Thompson Saber by Cold Steel
Here is what Lynn had to say about it – in his own words:
“I wanted to make a battle sword. Not a dueling sword as such, but a true sword fighter’s sword for the modern martial artist. I believe that the edge is superior to the point when facing multiple opponents. You have more opportunities to defend, counter, riposte and move without becoming transfixed on an opponent for a vital second – therefore, while it does thrust well, the Thompson Saber is a cutting tool first and foremost, on foot or on horseback.
Its ground to my exact specifications; hair shaving sharp for the first six inches from the point, then gradually less sharp down through the rest of the blade, leaving enough material to block, parry and even bludgeon an opponent’s blade. It’s deeply blued to aid in rust resistance, but also to make the blade harder to see in the fast paced cut and thrust of combat.
It has a modified 1904 Saber guard, offering amazing hand protection and a sizeable ray skin wrapped handle that will accommodate even big modern fencer’s gloves.
I designed this sword to be able to make deep cuts even with a flick of the wrist, and it makes monstrous cuts when “drawn” through the target. If you study bladed arts and appreciate the combative potential of the sword, I’m sure you’ll love this saber!”
And finally, a zombie hunters dream – the Chaos Khukri..
The Khukri (or Khukuri, Kukkri, Kukri depending on how you wish to spell it) was made famous by the Nepalese Gorkha and is to this day a much respected, fearsome sidearm with tremendous chopping power as 40 bandits reportedly discovered for themselves as recently as 2010 when a lone, retired Indian Ghurka soldier named Bishnu Shrestha was claimed to have killed 3 of them, wounded 8 more and caused the rest to flee!
Whether or not this story is true, there is little doubting the basic designs effectiveness. And Cold Steel have brought it screaming into the 21st century by adding a comtemporary, heavy duty steel knuckle duster style trench knife guard to it that is an effective weapon in its own right..!
Definitely ultra modern looking and easy to carry, this would have to be a perfect choice for when the zombie apocalypse hits..!
Whichever way you look at it, these new designs are most certainly interesting and we are proud to offer you another option to the SBG sword store, bringing them to you at heavily discounted prices.
