As we alluded to in the previous post, we have a LOT of new cool items about to hit the shelves at the SBG Sword Store. Here’s MY favorite (and its a great deal too, buy the big one, get the small one free!)..
Yes, it is the WORLDS LARGEST Wrench/Folding Knife Combination by one of Sam Sung, the owner of Ryujin Swords, Companies – S-TEC. I mean seriously, for $142 every Dad deserves one of these in his man cave (and it also comes with a smaller EDC version here for just $30 if you buy it by itself or FREE with every order of its big brother).
With that beast out of my system, here’s another by S-TEC, the most basic carbon steel chopper around with a price tag to match it ($19.99)
And then they offer what is perhaps my favorite type of knife next to a Tanto – the South East Asian Karambit with quick draw system (patent pending) for just – $24.99!
But if you like this basic entry level Karambit and want to get serious, another one of Sam’s companies – DEFCON – has you covered with the RAPTOR Karambit, available in Black or Bronze Finish.
EVERYTHING about these two blades screams premium quality – from the tempered CPM S35-VN w/ Silicon Nitride Coating blade to the milled 6AL4V Milled Titanium + Forged Carbon handles and smooth as silk cage bearing reinforced lock bar at $246.95 it’s worth every penny, and even better at our special price of just $185.95.
But we haven’t finished with our latest knifes just quite yet – for there is one more brand from Sam that spans the middle ground between S-TEC and DEFCON called Proelia.
My personal favorite, this little hard to classify D2 tool steel folder called the TX927 for $34.99 (which incidentally is a great price for properly tempered D2). But I have a soft spot for their interpretation of a Tactical folding Tanto, again D2 tool steel and again a bargain at $74.95.
That about catches us up with the knife expansion (well, we also quietly added a classic – the Hanwei Practical Plus Tanto for $194 here). After all, it was easy enough to list as we added not one but three new Hanwei Forge swords to the store – all Classics in their own right.
The first two are swords that are almost universally acclaimed by the community as worth every penny and then some, but are so rarely in stock in some cases nearly a decade has passed since they were last made available. But here they are, fresh stock straight off the boat of two swords that if you DON’T know about them, you owe it to yourself to have a look..
First up, the Banshee – an evolved, tactical version based on the Burmese Daab and a pattern typically found throughout what was once called ‘Indochina’ (Siam, Kampuchea, Burma, Laos, etc). But it’s really well made, incredibly good fun, and a steal at just $189.99.
But if you want to go beyond a steal and get a HEISTS worth of value, try this on for size – the Dark Sentinel!
Mixing elements of the Swiss Saber with the Japanese Katana, it is a solid performing cutting blade that tends to last for years and years without barely a scratch. And no, the $124.99 is NOT a typo..
And then one of Hanwei’s latest products, a special re-release of the Classic Tiger Katana designed by Paul Chen
Truly a sword we can strongly recommend – from the imported Japanese cotton ito to the brass leaf inlaid saya and absolutely stunning Swedish Powder Steel blade with real hada and hamon.. A tad expensive at its full price of $1650, but right on the money for $999.99 – you get your money’s worth and then some..
Well, hope you found something of interest for Dad this year.
PLEASE NOTE: While we will do our best to ship as fast as possible, orders placed now are NOT guaranteed to make it in time for fathers day. The sooner you get your order in, the better..
Fathers day is this Sunday the 21st of June, and believe you me, it will be upon us sooner than you can say ‘where the heck did that week go?’.
Behind the scenes, we are preparing a real bonanza of fathers day gifts for blade lovers of all types – and we sure have some REAL surprises coming up that are guaranteed to delight even the most jaded blade and sword enthusiast..
But to kick things off, we have a time sensitive offer that may not make it in time for the newsletter – as the special offer coming from the distributor ends this Thursday the 18th of June, and is just too cool to let it pass by without giving you guys a chance to grab the discount we are passing on from the master distributor.
So what is this mystery blade?
It’s name is ‘Whisper’ by Kizylar Supreme, designed Jason Breeden, Made in Russia – and is a fusion blade of East and West, a Russian take on the Japanese Tanto, the perfect blend of tradition and pragmatism.
We hate to use the word ‘super steel’ but if you are familiar with Bohler M390 steel you will know it is about as close as it can get for a knife. Evey aspect of this blade uses the best modern technology has to offer: blue/black layered 3d milled G10 scales and until the 18th, you can get it for just $147.99.
In the meantime, the closeout sale on Kizylar Supreme is still ongoing – with a collection of amazing quality Russian made knives on closeout from just $61 to $75 tops!
Stay tuned for more blades coming this week – but this is one of the nicest, so don’t wait too long and let it pass you by. There are less than 3 days left on this special, and stocks are limited with no rainchecks possible.
Probably our biggest post with the most new products and largest discounts EVER – with a few rather ominously appropriate for our times..
You might be forgiven from the lack of updates that not much has been happening at SBG. And no, it is not because of the Coronavirus – truth is we have been extremely busy behind the scenes preparing for not one but several major product launches and expansions..
And as the warehouses are still open and the couriers still delivering, not to mention how timely some of the new releases are (in an ominous kind of way) and come hell or high water, we aren’t going to let this thing stop us just quite yet..
‘Homeless’ Oddball products..
We already have a few ‘odd ball’ items here and there that did not fit into any existing category in our store. After all, our specialty is and will always be sharpened, battle ready swords.
But we also happen to offer, for example, the Saber Shogun Light Sword or items like this months ‘blade of the month’ the Boar Killing Spear by Forge Direct Chinese.. Neither of which are clearly swords.
And then we have a range of ‘short swords’ that come very close to blurring the lines between a sword and a knife. Take for example the extremely popular Ryujin Tak-Wak or the Wing Chun Butterfly Sword and you can see that it would not be so strange that, when presented with multiple opportunities to expand similar offerings at the same time, we might well go for it..
Now we already have a few Tanto knives here and there. From the cheapest $29 Ryujin Tanto to the occasional Japanese antique from Blades of Japan.
But as many of you may well already know, my friend Sam Sung (pictured left with yours truly) from Ryujin Swords is not just a word maker, but specializes in tactical and folding knifes with some truly stunning lines under the brand names S-TEC, Proleria and DEFCON.
So you could say the expansion idea was sparked when I saw his latest knife from DEFCON for 2020 aptly named ‘the Katana’ – because for me, it was love at first sight..
The blade is a 64 layer Damascus pattern made from 10Cr15CoMov steel and everything about it, from the Tanto tip to the itomaki style 6AL4V Titanium handle, was truly a fitting tribute to the Japanese Katana that bears its namesake.
Quite classy at $165 (but marked down to $115) – I also just HAD to offer this cool looking Kozuka style ball bearing action folder at the cheap end of the knife spectrum, just $25 from one of their other brands, S-TEC.
The move to add these two knives and expand a new official KNIFE SECTION to the store, listing all the existing Tanto and Daggers, was made all the easier by the announcement by one of our major sword suppliers, CAS Iberia, of a closeout liquidation sale from Russian Premium Knife makers Kizylar Supreme.
Click the link or the image to see what is on offer in this final closeout sale. But the expansion doesn’t just begin and end with knives, daggers and tanto (though these sections will be expanding their offerings in the coming days and weeks ahead)..
When we do something at SBG, we don’t do it by halves..
Until around 2 years ago (from memory here, so could be longer) we made the decision to stop carrying any and all unsharpened swords and training gear. But we had to re-evaluate everything when our friends at Darksword Armory went and outdid themselves by adding a range of high quality, fully functional wooden shields to their store.. Something I have personally wanted to be able to offer to the community for years now, but was never able to find anything decently made that didn’t cost a fortune.
Here is what they look like – basically 16 layer laminated wood with handle, strap and a satin print design on the front for $350. Check them out by clicking the image below:
Of course, the problem here is a lot like when you change the curtains in your home. Suddenly, the sofa doesn’t match anymore, so you change the sofa. Then the coffee table, and before you know it – you have a ton of new stuff..
Well, that is what happened when we added the shields – and so we decided to offer what we consider to be the best blunt trainers currently on the market by Kingston Arms – from 9260 single handed European swords to replicas of authentic training Longswords known as Federschwert (pictured below)..
But like changing the sofa, the coffee table was the re-addition of two synthetic training swords by Rawlings/the Red Dragon Armory… You know the ones.. (after all, we already had a Polypropelene Bokken)
And since we were going down THAT road, I spotted a few more items from the Catalogs by Sam Sung and found a few real little gems for super safe and super FUN sword fighting for the more casual enthusiast in yet another line he offers called ‘Sparkfoam’..
I mean, for $50, how can you go wrong with THIS? Lol..
A set of two latex, flexible fiberglass ‘boffers’ with a Deadpool style back mounting and plastic saya? And their medieval swords aren’t bad too – I mean how much fun would it be to go full power sparring with one of these bad boys?
There can be only one..
More to come..
Right now we are really only just scratching the surface of what we can bring to the table for sword related products like these. As always, we won’t be adding every single thing that we CAN – only products that we stand behind and believe are worth the purchase price..
In truth, we will be rejecting far more items than we will add. But there are some additional tactical knives out there, more very cool and affordable fun boffers by Sparkfoam, and more categories we can add for all manner of historical weaponry – as noted, we already have some spears (Japanese and Chinese) – so why not some axes, halberds, flails – you get the picture..
It’s not a race and we aren’t in a rush. Our goal is simply to be able to offer everything a sword enthusiast could ever want – and introduce new products that they otherwise may never have even seen or heard about (for example, that stunning folded steel ‘Katana’ knife by DEFCON..
LINKS TO NEW SECTIONS
Hope you find something new and exciting! It really is not so much a revolutionary change, just finding better ‘homes’ for existing odd ball items that did not fit any existing category, and expanding the categories with the kind of stuff WE would be happy to buy ourselves. Nothing more, and nothing less.
STOP THE PRESS – Last Minute Additions by A.P.O.C…
As a final piece of serendipity, just as we were about to make this announcement, the acclaimed A.P.O.C. series of blades just got a whole lot bigger.. And they added, yup – you guessed it, some tactical Knives to their line up – so if we had not taken steps to make a place for knives, we may have had to anyway..!
Here is the first two knives – both available for just $74.99 at the store.
Then there is another blade that blurs the line between shortsword and knife – a tactical version of twin Wing Chun Butterfly Swords (yes, they are sold as a set).
And who knows exactly how to classify this monstrosity..
Even the humble Kukri blurs the line between knife and sword..
But one that clearly is 100% all sword is one of my favorites, a tactical version of a Yataghan!
How awesome is all that! And especially as nothing here is over $129 – talk about stopping the press!
Oh yeah, and before we go..
Wait, there is more!
At the same time as all of this, we are also having a major scratch and dent sale on, including some premium blades with cosmetic flaws marked down with thousands of dollars of savings on offer..
Since scratch and dent items go so fast, there isn’t much point listing each one – just check out the entire lot here:
So there you have it – the reason why we have not posted for several weeks. It sure has been a lot of a hard work, but so much fun to be able to offer all these amazing new items to you all. Hope you find something new and something of interest!
Paul
P.S. A QUICK NOTE ON COVID-19 AND SHIPPING
While some major sword stores have actually closed down due to the virus – our suppliers, warehouses and the various couriers and the postal services we use are still running (though are, as you may have noticed, delivery services are rather busy of late). As such, the first major impact of the virus is that shipping may take up to twice as long as usual.
The second concern is of course, being exposed to the virus when receiving your delivery. It’s Avoid direct contact with drivers (i.e. practice ‘social distancing’) and to be 100% safe, handle incoming shipments with gloves and let cardboard parcels sit for 24 hours before opening if you want to be super cautious. See the article by Fastcompany.com How to Safely Receive Packages and Deliveries During the Coronavirus for best handling practices, just to be on the safe side..
In close association with the Master Smiths we work with, we have decided to trial a special ‘Blade of the Month’ deal on a selected piece from the Forge Direct line up. If sales go well, it will be an ongoing sale – if they do not meet the necessary sales target to be viable – then it will be a one off event.
Either way, the blade in question is not likely to be marked down like this for quite some time – so when you see a particular design you like come on special – grab it with both hands.
So without any further ado, here is the first Blade of the Month for March 2020 – the stunning Dragon Boar Killing Spear – now marked down by 25% until the end of March:
There is no doubt that the Coronavirus is having an extremely negative impact on the Sword industry. Most of the forges in China remain shut – with the primary sword making city of Longquan in lockdown – delaying production further after an already long break for Chinese New Year – and it is reflected in stock shortages and delays storewide – for example, we are completely out of stock of the Ryujin Custom Katana with bo-hi as well as many key components such as tsuka, saya and other bits and pieces.
But, as is often the case when things go bad, some extraordinary deals tend to pop up as we go into ‘survival mode’ – and this time around, there are plenty of awesome deals to choose from for lovers of Japanese styled swords..
First off, as the stock levels dwindle, our friends at Ryujin offer two limited edition offerings.
This one has all the bells and whistles, with a beautiful black iron, gold gilded tsuba depicting the circle of life as the Sparrow (Tsuzume) hunts a praying mantis as it in turn hunts a grasshopper and a highly detailed mother of pearl inlaid saya that is valued at $100 just by itself but the complete package can be yours for just $284.99..
With a solid bodied T10 tool steel blade, Hikata (hawk) themed gold inlaid tsuba and white glossy saya for $214.99 – this in itself is a good deal. But both swords come with a DELUXE leather bound sword case that we sell by itself in our store here for $74.99 – YOURS FREE with EITHER of these amazing deals..
Closeouts and Liquidations
It’s always a bittersweet moment when a product is sold off at a special price for final liquidation..
One I always liked in both concept and form was the Survival Kukri, but sadly the blade market was not sure what to make of it – sword lovers thought of it as a knife and knife lovers saw it as a sword, but for those few like myself whom it calls to – this is it’s final siren call at just $137.50..
In the short term, its a great deal for the lucky few – but in the long term, always sad to see one less quality blade on the market. But in this case, Paul Chen’s Hanwei Forge are shedding not just one product but an entire product line..
In this case all THREE Katana from the ‘Musashi’ performance series, including the razor sharp XL light and XL Katana and the T10 tool steel ELITE – now each one discontinued and being liquidated at BELOW WHOLESALE pricing
First in the series, the Musashi XL Light – a narrow entry razor sharp blade, this version with a bo-hi for extra speed..
Next up, it’s close cousin the Musashi XL – which is basically the same design and blade profile, but with a solid bodied blade for a little more cutting power and overall blade strength.
And then finally, the Musashi ELITE – this time a T10 tool steel blade with a more traditional geometry, but a slightly wider entry angle for easier cuts on traditional targets..
Click the images for the full product description and to understand the subtle differences between each type in the Musashi Performance series – this is a FINAL LIQUIDATION sale, so once each one is gone they are gone forever – and at just $475 each (usually closer to $700 – with a MSRP closer to $1000) they are not likely to be around for much longer..
News and Industry Updates – Prices are on the rise, so grab every bargain you can..
It is very much looking like the sword industry is facing a tough year ahead..
As you probably know, maybe something like 80% of all modern production swords are made in China – and a combination of pressure from the ongoing trade war and prices largely unchanged for over a decade has seen yet another key sword maker raise their prices hot on the heels of Hanwei, this time Cheness Cutlery..
In a statement on their website they noted on Valentines Day, Feb 14th:
Due to the current trade war between the US and China, we have been imposed a drastic increase in import duty from just over 2% to well over 17%. Coupling the new duty rate with rising production and shipping costs over the last few years, we can no longer keep our pricing the same. We often took pride in keeping our pricing the same as when we first opened over a decade and a half ago, but we can no longer maintain the current pricing. Price increase is to take effect on 2/14/2020. Thank you for your understanding.
CHENESS CUTLERY – NEWS
Being their exclusive distributor, SBG has also been forced to raise our prices to the same level while also working with even narrower wholesale margins, and now with two major players forced to give way to higher prices or go out of business, the writing is on the wall and it is only a question of time before prices start going up on swords EVERYWHERE..
Add to this supply chain issues from an extended Chinese New Year due to the Coronavirus and many sellers are also running out of stock – suggesting that next time they bring in a shipment prices will almost CERTAINLY be higher yet again..
Bargain hunters be on notice – while none of this is good news for a tiny industry that has been struggling for quite some time now – manufacturers will continue to try to generate sales by liquidating off selected product lines like you see with the Hanwei Musashi series above. So when you see opportunities like these, do not miss out. NOW is most definitely the time to grab as many bargains as you can..
A NOTE ON PROJECT X AND FORGE DIRECT
Due to the aforementioned Corona virus – production of swords in Longquan is still at a standstill after an already extended period of closure due to the Lunar New year celebrations.
With the city of Longquan itself still in lockdown in an attempt to prevent a local outbreak of the Coronavirus, we are all waiting for the all clear from the Chinese government before the smiths can start to filter back and commence work again – and as such, ongoing delays with Forge Direct orders of several weeks is to be expected.
Likewise, we have also postponed our scheduled re-release of Project X Japanese until the situation becomes clearer and have sent out email updates to all effected customers to let them know we haven’t forgotten about them and are doing our best to work through what is a very difficult situation.
We will continue to update you here as more information becomes available – our sincere apologies for this totally unexpected situation.
