Limited International Ordering is Back..

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It’s been a rough year for shipping swords around the world – it all started in march and hit again early this month, forcing us to temporarily suspend all non-North American (US and Canada) shipments..

The situation is still a fluid one, and it appears that some of our affiliated warehouses, suppliers and shippers have been effected more than others..

Right now there are FOUR brands that can be shipped to the following destinations:

  • Argentina
  • Australia (excluding Victoria, please provide proof of AFIAK membership)
  • Brazil (expect high duties and tariffs)
  • Canada (many other brands can be shipped to Canada not listed here as they are shipped overland)
  • Costa Rica
  • Germany (may require extensive paperwork and customs delays)
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Poland
  • South Africa
  • Thailand
  • United Kingdom (may require extensive paperwork and customs delays)

And here are the brands currently available:

FORGE DIRECT – Japanese and Chinese Swords, FREE Worldwide Shipping

RYUJIN SWORDS – Katana, Custom Katana and budget Chinese Swords

BLADE CULTURE INTERNATIONAL – Filipino swords (currently)

SCORPION SWORDS – Tactical and Historical swords made in the USA

You can read more and see some recommended buys here on the International Sword Sales Page

As the international shipping situation keeps changing, we strongly recommend you buy what you can when you can as we have no idea if things will improve or get worse – but based on what we have been seeing the last few years, the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better..

In the meantime, we will continue to research new shipping options to break the impasse and ensure that our sword loving brothers and sisters across the world are not left out in the cold..

Two New Special Offers – one from the East and one from the West..

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With the 15% sale off on all Cas Iberia distributed brands having just come to an end, you might be thinking ‘what could possibly be next’..

Well, it is looking like November is THE month for sword specials – because following hot on the heels of the previous special comes not one but TWO new heavily discounted products just in time for the holiday season..

The first is my personal favorite of the two – partially because it is so well made yet priced as low as humanly possible – but partially because it is a one off limited edition sale as the forge that made them went out of business..

INTRODUCING:

The Limited Edition 65MN Spring Steel Oakeshott Type XIIa Knightly Two Handed Longsword added to the HOT SPECIALS section by our good friends at Ryujin Swords.


65MN Spring Steel Oakeshott Type XIIa Knightly Two Handed Longsword

It is as the name suggests a classic Oakeshott Type XIIa – a cutting war sword from the 13th and 14th centuries and the type of sword most people think of when they envision a Knightly two handed longsword (click here for more information on these swords on the main site).

Extremely sharp with a beautiful spring tempered 65mn Spring Steel Blade, it has a genuine leather wrapped wood core handle, iron fittings, hex nut assembly for easy customization and a free faux leather scabbard, frog/suspension system and sword belt all for a mere $214.99..

The sword alone should sell for $450…
But you can get it for $214.99 as part of this final sale and liquidation
Ryujin Oakeshott Type XIIa

Just $214.99

And the second sword, this one under the Ryujin name, is a different blade style than the standard Shinogi Zukuri (the most common Katana shape/style) – the so called Unokubi Zukuri style (Cormorants neck).

Originally this type of blade appeared on a variation of the Naginata called a Nagamaki – but cut down versions were turned into swords like this one, and were characterized by exceptional handling.

While it is not customizable (it was pre-assembled at the forge) the T10 tool steel blade with real hamon is made by the same team and the same way as the $229.99 Ryujin Custom Katana. But to introduce this new blade style (which, if it sells well at the promotional price, will become available as a full custom Katana sometime in 2020) we are slashing the price down from $229.99 to $174.99 – but only while stocks last.

In the meantime, here are a few more pics..

The unique partial bo-hi and distinctive mune (spine) of a true Unokubi-Zukuri blade
Side view of the blade showing the clear lines of the natural hamon
The complete package
Close ups of the tsuba and the handle with white ito over genuine rayskin
Nice and tight assembly
Akashiro Unokubi Zukuri Katana

Just $174.99

TRIVIA: It is not mentioned in the description, but Akashiro means ‘Red/White’ in Japanese, referencing the color of the fittings. Akai = red and Shiroi = white, so it’s a compound word ‘red-white’ or in Japanese, 赤白

In the meantime, here is a picture of what the original blades looked like before they were remounted as a sword.

BLACKNOVEMBER 15% OFF Coupon code for 5 top sword brands until 14th of November!

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AKA – the Good News..

Smart Sword Buyers get in on this kind of deal and secure their Christmas shopping gifts well ahead of the rush..

And it really doesn’t get much better than THIS. From today until Thursday the 14th of November 2019 simply use the coupon code BLACKNOVEMBER (all capitals, no spaces – just click the coupon code for it to be instantly applied to your order).

Here are the 5 brands covered under this deal – and remember, if you order 3 or more swords shipping is FREE too!

Hanwei Forge (Paul Chen)

Kingston Arms

Dragon King

Legacy Arms

A.P.O.C.

All are listed together in the Hot Specials Section for your convenience. So check out what is on offer today, be the early bird and get the sword while they are still in stock

Hot Specials

P.S. Just a FYI, due to our agreements with the distributor of all of the above brands we were never actually able to send any of these outside of the USA – so the shipping issue mentioned in the previous post does not make any difference.

Temporary Halt to ALL Non North American Addresses..

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

Prohibited by whom exactly?

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..

Surface only limits USPS to Canada…
Potentially hazardous, prohibited or restricted now all of a sudden..

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.

Swords don’t explode…

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..

Hark the Heralds: Doomsday Sword # 02 Has Struck..

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The second sword in the Doomsday Sword Series designed by official SBG Sword Tester Jason Woodard and hand made in the USA by Chris Palmer from Scorpion Swords has just been revealed.. And she, the Dark Ninjato, is a beauty..

With it’s distinct ‘American Tanto’ tip, the Dark Ninjato is primarily a thrusting sword but can also be used for snap cuts, slicing, cutting and hacking pretty much anything that gets in it’s way..

Here’s some ‘behind the scenes’ of how it was made

Jason Woodard is a prolific sword designer. In his spare time he often spends hours drawing all manner of swords on 1:1 scale, and has imagined literally hundreds of unique and cool looking swords that only exist on paper…

The initial design concept

But as we have seen many times before, while Jason may be a great sword designer, Chris Palmer at Scorpion Swords takes those designs and makes them a reality..

The process begins with a bar of 1095 carbon steel which is ground and cut to shape before it is tempered and hardened to give it the durability Scorpion Swords have become famous for.

Tempered and ready for the final grind
Now THAT is what you call full tang..
10 Pins and a generous layer of epoxy effectively makes it a one piece construction
Apocalypse or not, there ain’t no way this thing is going to come apart..

The end result? An incredibly tough sword that is almost unbreakable – all hand made in the USA – for under $300..

Blued (blackened) blade with the classic American Tanto Tip

Can’t ask for much more than that?! Click the button below for more information.

Doomsday Sword #2

P.S. With Christmas right around the corner, you need to get your order in now and even then it not 100% guaranteed to be completed in time. But we will do our best – but wait even a few days more and you won’t see it until 2020 hits..

Get Apocalypse Ready TODAY!