New DH 9260 Spring Steel Katana!

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Ever since Cheness Cutlery announced that they were going out of business due in April 2021 due to supply chain issues, it has been almost impossible to source a genuine 9260 spring steel Katana..

It is a notoriously difficult steel to work with – and so most forges avoided it, preferring to deal with 1045 carbon, 1060 carbon or 5160 spring steel (though that did not stop some unscrupulous sellers from marketing these more common steels as ‘9260 spring steel’ simply to get the sale)..

Indeed, the only other forge in China making 9260 Spring Steel blades is the forge of the A.P.O.C. sword line, though these are tactical swords and not traditional Katana like Cheness used to make..

But all this has changed with today’s release of the ‘Yokaze’ series by our friends at Ryujin Swords!

Yes, our friends at Ryujin have brought 9260 Spring Steel swords back with a vengeance – and this series ticks every box.

  • Differentially hardened edge with a very prominent, natural hamon
  • Same weight at the Cheness Kaze – 2.6lbs (2lbs 9oz) though slightly better balanced (6″ P.O.B. on the Cheness Kaze, 4.5″ on the Ryujin Yokaze)
  • Great quality fittings – cotton ito over real rayskin, matched gold and silver plated brass fitting sets with 5 different themes.

Overall, these swords are the complete package (and come with a free sword display box and cleaning kit) and amazing value at $374.99 – less than $50 more than the historical price for the Cheness Kaze ($329.99) but in our current economic climate with additional upgrades not seen on the original series, if the Kaze was still around the Yokaze would blow it out of the water..

If you are after a serious martial arts grade Katana at a reasonable price, the Yokaze tops the list – though as this is a trial run stock is limited..

Ryujin 9260 DH Yokaze Katana

Lots of Miscellaneous Items Restocked

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It has taken quite a few additional months than what we had anticipated, but once again it is a case of better late than never as we restock a large and varied assortment of swords, blades and training tools.

One extremely popular restock is the twin backmounted LARP Katana set by Sparkfoam – still amazing value and a whole lot of good clean fun for just $49.95

For REAL live bladed Japanese swords, we just refreshed our stock of the extremely popular (and still available at the special price of just $199.99) and quite historically accurate replica of the WWII Officers Gunto:

And from a much earlier time, the sword style which the Guntos styling is based upon, a Tachi – the stunning $299.99 ‘Daimyos Tachi’ with a hefty and ornately decorated brass saya that is almost solid enough to be a weapon in its own right!

For Chinese swords, we also see the return of the very affordable, meaty and solid blade of the Yong Lo Sword – still just $169.99 which is pretty insane value for a battle ready sword that looks like, well, looks like THIS:

And to round it all off, how about an ultra modern ‘claw in your pocket’ of the “Raptor” Folding Karambit by DEFCON – just $185.95:

Quite a wide variety of products back in stock with more trickling in as the year slowly begins to gather momentum..

Forge Direct Temporary Shutdown..

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With China soon to shut down all the forges for between 1-2 months starting towards the end of this month, and with a lot of price pressure on us that has been building since the beginning of 2020, we are temporarily closing down on any new orders for the Forge Direct Custom Katana 4.0 until the end of February/early March..

This is only a temporary shutdown to prevent customers getting frustrated by the long delays, and while there still are a few orders in the system we are still processing that may be impacted – we hope that the savings they made by buying it at what has become the old sale price of $779.99 with free shipping will make up for it because there is no way we will be able to maintain this price once we re-open in Feb/March (tentatively, the new price will be back to $899 – but even that is cutting it a bit too fine.. Only time will tell..)

Better Late than Never..

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Nothing really highlights the ongoing insanity of the global supply chain crises than when we list all the new swords that were supposed to have landed at least a couple of months ago in time for Christmas than this..

On Boxing Day, many new models have just become available for Christmas..

So without any further ado, here they are – our ‘Boxing Day’ Selection..

BLADE CULTURE INTERNATIONAL

While the Legendary Swords Project’s future remains very uncertain, at the start of 2021 there were a few swords whose prototypes showed so much promise that it would be plain wrong not to make a few into a small production. Now nearly 12 months later, we are delighted to announce a VERY LIMITED release of two new fully functional fantasy swords. Starting with:

The Brand of The Fallen

Loosely based on the German Zweihander and Scottish Two Handed Swords with a very dark twist, this has to be one of the meanest truly battle ready fantasy swords ever made. 45″ from end to end, everything about this sword is quite distinctive and unique – but nothing stands out more than the blade itself..

With 13 curves (a traditional and common style throughout South East Asia) Kris/Flamberge is very attractive but as similar swords were used by the German Landsknecht, it is not without historical precedent.

Definitely a sword you should be careful handling, as Kris blades can bite in unexpected ways..

Brand of The Fallen

The Aelutian Gladius

Ever bisected a water filled bottle before? Probably..

But how about with a thrust? Well, unless you have one of these – chances are no..

With a truly acute tip optimized for a deep and very wide thrust, its a very versatile and intimidating looking piece and includes a matching high quality scabbard.

Aelutian Gladius

Plus, a limited restock of the Castir

In addition to these two NEW swords due to popular demand we also produced a small run of the Katanesque Castir Sword, a curved single edge two handed saber with matching scabbard.

KINGDOM OF ARMS

Also made by Blade Culture International, but exclusive to Clyde Hollis’s Kingdom of Arms Brand, we see quite a few underrepresented swords finally hit the market as well as some companion daggers and Viking seax knives to create matching sets.

Here are some of the most notable new additions:

The Irish Kern Sword

The Matching Kern Dagger

10th Century Viking Sword

Matching 10th Century Seax

Brookhart Falchion

Brookhart Sidesword

Click here for the Full Kingdom of Arms Line Up

RYUJIN ART SWORDS

After humble beginnings, the so called ‘Art Sword’ line by Ryujin has been expanding quite a bit in the last month or so. And it just got even bigger with four new swords with 65mn Spring Steel blades that take it all to a whole new level..

The Radiant Dragon

The Akumu (Nightmare)

Aoitsunami

Five Elements

There are more swords still stuck in supply chain hell that will be released ‘for Christmas’ in 2022.. But look on the good side, at least they should not ALL sell out crazy fast this time (though we are already seeing some of the most popular ones going quite fast regardless – so if you see something you like, don’t sit on the sidelines or you might still miss out!).

In the meantime, you can check out every new sword listed in the order it arrived HERE on our New Additions Page:

New Additions

Tatami Mat restock and Christmas Orders

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First things first, as per our official guide to the holiday season – the ideal time to order any swords or sword related products has long since passed (any orders placed after the 8th of December may well have a hard time arriving in time for Christmas, so any orders placed from today – will probably not arrive until AFTER the holiday season).

Because swords can be damaged by excessively rough handling (and with the world’s postal and courier services pretty much fed up after nearly 2 years of almost single-handedly keeping the modern world moving along with very little respect or gratitude, rough handling for Christmas 2021 will likely be the norm rather than the exception) – we will not be doing any ‘rush orders’ or anything that will more likely than not just end up with a damaged or lost product at the worst possible time..

Best solution if you have left it too late? Gift Certificates

Tatami Mat Restock

In recent years, getting a supply of tatami mats has been a real challenge. So when we are able to get in a few boxes, it’s quite newsworthy.

Available in boxes of 20 (individually they work out to cost around $10.49 per mat) – stock is limited, so if you need some good mats at the best possible price, grab some while you can.

Box of 20 tatami mats

And while you are there, save time and messing around by buying an easy to assemble cutting stand kit for $99.99

Suitable for tatami, and by removing the central peg, can also be used for water filled bottles!

Cutting Stand

Post Script: Runaway inflation and shipping increases meant that the old price we sold the mats for actually cost us a small fortune (we are charging $20 shipping, but the actual cost is closer to $50-60 – and it meant we lost money with every recent order).

Not fun, but to make it viable we needed to raise the price – and for everyone who was lucky enough to get them at the old ‘pre-pandemic’ pricing, you will not see prices like that again anytime soon.