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AKA – the ‘Bad News’ (and yes, we are on it)

The EXACT reason is still unclear – but since March this year ongoing difficulties shipping swords overseas came to a head when every single sword we tried to send to Europe, regardless of whether it was shipped from China or the USA, was getting rejected..

NOW it appears that the issue has hit several other countries, including my country of birth, Australia. So it just got VERY personal..

At the moment, it appears that there is a directive specifically targeting swords as items ‘too dangerous’ to be sent by air. Here are some pictures of a sword we tried to ship to Australia but was rejected and covered with the following series of unpleasant stickers..

USPS was, until now, the BEST and most affordable way to ship a sword overseas. But now that it appears to be off the table, it leaves only private companies like UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, etc capable of shipping – but even these companies are hit and miss now (not to mention typically cost 3 times as much as USPS used to, incur additional fees and charges at the destination and basically make sword buying cost prohibitive if it costs almost as much to ship as it does to buy the product itself)..

And then the only other option, to use a forwarding service like those introduced on the main site here – is also becoming harder..

With everything unclear and up in the air (pardon the pun)
it is with great regret that we have no choice but to temporarily suspend all non-North American orders until we have found some kind of answer to this insidious problem.

I honestly don’t know what this directive is supposed to achieve.

Swords don’t explode or leap out of the boxes and start attacking people by themselves (well, not if the box is made well enough – and most swords have the blade sheathed when they ship, those that don’t are packed in such a way to avoid sudden ‘box piercing’ such as by using a plastic tip sleeve in conjunction with other measures). So there’s absolutely no reason for them not be allowed on a private carrier company such as DHL, etc.

And while in theory I suppose terrorists who somehow got into the cargo hold (unlikely) and were able to both find a sword shipment (again, unlikely), get them out of the boxes and come back out of the cargo hold without being sealed in for good could come up brandishing a sword, it sounds like a whole lot more trouble than it is worth – not to mention using a sword in a confined space is not as easy as the movies and would not be all that hard to overpower.. (these imaginary terrorists would be better off coming up with kitchen knives – and AFAIK they are still okay to ship)..

So please bear with us – so far the only country not effected by all of this is Canada, as the swords can be shipped overland. But everywhere else is out until we can find either the root cause of this apparent global manifest specifically targeting ‘swords’ and/or find a shipping company or forwarder who knows what is going on and is willing to take our business, small as it may be, just on the principle of it..

We will keep you updated accordingly. A solution MUST be found and we will do our best to find a way out of this.. So watch this space..

Yup, the clearance sale is nearly at an end – slightly over a dozen no-hi and less than a dozen with bo-hi. Just too good a deal to let it slip, but at these prices and with the final grab for them now on – better get in quick if you don’t want to miss out.

While the pen may be mightier than the sword, it was the spear that was the most common and effective battlefield weapon for millennia. Whether for hunting, war or self defense – in an open space it was almost impossible for a swordsman to close the gap while being turned into a human pin-cushion..

So to celebrate this mighty medieval weapon, until the end of August we have hot specials on not one but two classic Asian spears.

The first is the classic Yari – the Japanese spear. With a tip differentially hardened like a Katana (but on both sides of the blade) it was and still is an intimidating piece of armory – capable of keeping wild animals or wild humans at bay as the case may be..

And then there is the classic Tiger Boar Killing Spear by Forge Direct. With a Master Smith forged and folded dismountable 1095 carbon steel blade and steel pole decorated with hand carved Dragon decorations, it is both visually stunning and until the end of the month, available not for $749 but with a whopping 25% OFF bringing the price down to just $562 SHIPPED (which is no small feet, as these packages are quite long).

Grab these deals while you can – swords are a niche business, functional swords – a niche within a niche and spears (functional spears) as rare as hens teeth. So spice up your sword collection with one or both of these awesome battle ready recreations.

BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!

As you know (or should know!) one of the things that make SBG different than other sword sellers out there is we only sell real swords. This means we don’t sell anywhere near as many swords as other vendors who stack their shelves with mostly wallhangers or wallhangers being falsely marketed as functional swords..

So when we were offered an exceptional deal on some really high quality polypropylene Bokken (training swords, usually made of wood as Bokken literally means ‘wood sword’) we had to pass on the savings to you guys by offering them in our accessories section – after all – there is no way anyone could confuse a heavy truncheon like sword for a steel blade (at least I hope not.. I am sure I will get at least one email asking how to draw the blade out! Lol).

Each Bokken (one a full length Katana, and the other a shorter Ko Katana) has a high level of attention to detail, with simulated ito wrap (and even menuki for a realistic grip) and comes with two interchangeable tsuba fixed in place with a tight fitted habaki (so you can also take them off entirely if you like).

But from now until the 10th of June, when you buy one you get another one FREE – either two Katana, two Ko Katana or one of each, the choice is yours!

To get started, simply select the sword of your choice, add it to the cart, click the green rewards button to select your second free sword and your done!

A couple of common questions

Question: Are these swords suitable for sparring?

Answer: Yes, but unless you want to get knocked out or break some bones, it is recommended to use minimal force and lots of control.

Question: Are they truly indestructible?

Answer: Side by side tests reveal that they take minimal to no damage on hard tests that crack or severely deform wooden bokken. However, their one weakness is that a well made Katana can slice them in half with a perfectly timed blow, while it usually takes 3-4 strikes against a wooden one.