How much do you have to pay for a decent sword?

PsychoSword

PsychoSword

Joined
Jul 2, 2002
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What does a decent quality katana/samurai/ninja sword run these days? Any recommendations? I need something for killing zombies! :eek:

:D
 
PsychoSword said:
What does a decent quality katana/samurai/ninja sword run these days? Any recommendations? I need something for killing zombies! :eek:

:D
Click to expand...
Here you go, try one of these. Excellent zombie killing chracteristics and only $11,340
 
gajinoz said:
Here you go, try one of these. Excellent zombie killing chracteristics and only $11,340
Click to expand...

:eek: Neat. :cool:


I would like to get a good katana or samurai sword, but I was hoping I could find a decent one in the couple hundred or three hundred dollar range.

I'm also interested in Whiteboy swords!
 
For a couple hundred, trying looking at the Hanwei Practical series, Cold steel line, and Kris Cutlery. One of them ought to offer what you're looking for and under $500. They are all decent beaters, but what I've read would claim the most practical being kris cutlery, then CS, then Hanwei. I like my Hanwei Practical a lot, but I dont cut anything with it. Saving that edge for the zombie invasion. And btw, a ninja sword IS a samurai sword. The ninja sword most people know is a movie fabrication. So the katana/samurai/ninja sword you're looking for is pretty much all the same sword.
 
try a google search for swords4samauri. pretty much marketable prices for swords you could use a little bit. as mentioned before, you get what you pay for. they are running from 200 and change to more than you're proably looking to pay. but if your gonna hack stuff up, just keep buying and breaking the cheap ones. If your bored, try to find some higher quality steal sword blanks and finish it up your self. save the real sword for when the zombies do get here, or you get fed up with your dog, whichever comes first.
 
PsychoSword said:
What does a decent quality katana/samurai/ninja sword run these days? Any recommendations? I need something for killing zombies! :eek:

:D
Click to expand...

there's actually a thread on what weapons people would want in case of a zombie invasion - howard clark's L6 katana turned up on a lot of lists. it seems to be pretty nearly indistructible.

see http://swordforum.com/summer99/howardclark.html for details

for production swords beyond the paul chen stuff you see everwhere, martialartswords, furuyama & last legends all seem to sit in the $600-1200 price range. shadow of leaves does some nice customization of the last legends blades.

see http://j-armory.com/FComp.htm for a photo comparison of paul chen, last legends and furayama swords.

normally anything from a popular smith is going to be very pricey - though i recently picked up a pretty nice katana from a lesser known british smith for $950 shipped.
 
There are really no "good" candidates in the $100- $300 range. There are usable production pieces in that range. There are usable antiques sold in the $3-400 plus range, but those wouldn't be good zombie killers. A good zombie killer is a nice shotgun. Or a chainsaw. At worst, a machete. Decent production blades start at $500 or so for katana-styled swords, you can get a nice ATrim western sword for about that price as well. A good custom blade would be $1000 and up, depending on the smith's quality and reputation. Howard Clark can command $3600 or more for an unfinished, unpolished bare blade.

Hate to be a sissy in this thread, but swords are designed and made to be used in a specific way. They're not sticks, and indestructibility is not necessarily a huge selling point. If you go around swinging them at things without knowing how to do so (JSA for katana, or Western styles for European swords) you're very possibly going to break that sword, and the pieces will end up in you or someone else - machetes and axes "hack stuff up." Swords are meant only to cut people, or objects approximating the physical characteristics of people.

Please play it safe :)
 
that you can have a near-indestructible sword. Just make it at least three to five times as thick, having no edge, and make the tang properly and there you go.

Worse than a crowbar but hey, it's "indestructible". One of the Marto swords would be a good candidate too. That 420J2 really hits the sweet spot as you crush zombie's skulls. Ashida Kim said so.
 
One good candidate in the $350-450 range would be a Criswell Katana. I would say the Paul Chen Practical Plus, but the last 2 I had experienced some Tsuka issues after about 10-15 cuts on traditional goza. I guess some of the Practical's can be hit or miss. I paid right around $9600 for my Howard Clark in full traditional mounts, and around $2000 for my Bob Engnath Shobu both of those are top-notch quality and traditional. One piece that was very surprisingly well-done was a Last Legend Tsunami, and that ran me about $750 on the secondary market. Sometimes you can pick up a piece that was lightly used and well cared for at a great discount if the seller is motivated to move it.
 
Hey Marauder, got any pics of the Clark and Engnath? Inquiring minds want to drool :)

Seriously, though, you can find any number of up-and-coming smiths who can put out top-notch work for less than you'd think. A lot of the cost of swords come from embellishment - if you decide that you don't need all the things that don't add to the sword's function as, well, a sword, you can save lots. Giving up features like folded steel or damascus, engraved or otherwise decorated mounts, and going for a simple monosteel blade with user fittings can net you a great blade. Personally, I think that a sword's beauty is in its function.

BUT, a production sword will always be made with a "lowest common denominator" mentality. Economics prohibit anything else. To paraphrase a man I admire in the sword community, factory blades lack soul. No part of their construction involved a craftsman striving to excel, to stake his name, reputation, and livelihood on the quality of his product. That alone is worth whatever premium it takes, in my opinion.
 
KnifeSaber,

No pics as of yet. I have some pics on regular film, but nothing I can get online. One of my non-knife related plans by the end of this year is a decent digital cam! On the Clark, alot of $$ went into the blade and the presentation-grade polish on the blade, the mounts themselves came from Fred Lohman and weren't that bad. I chose to go with somewhat basic mounts on it since I feel it enhances the natural beauty of the blade itself. The Engnath is the same way, basic mounts, etc. It has a lower-grade polish since I use it from time to time for tameshigiri practice. While I haven't owned one personally, I do hear good things about the Hanwei pieces coming via Bugei trading.
 
Sounds like a nice set. Who did the polish on your blades? Did you have Lohman do the furniture, as well as providing the mounts?
 
Cheap "ugly" good - Kris Cutlery, Himalayan Imports $175-$250
More traditional looking, good - Hanwei Practical Katana, Cold Steel $300 range
Rob Criswell (if available) $400 range - tactical look, strong, good cutters.
Bugei and Dynasty Forge make traditional style katanas meant to be used for cutting competitions, $500 and up.
Another custom maker I'd recommend is Bailey Bradshaw. He makes beautiful katanas.
 
busse combat has teased us with the return of the ak--american kensei.

if so this will be something to behold
 
For a practical Japanese style katana for tameshigiri (matt cutting) quality - Bugei Trading, Hanwei, Imperial Weapons, Last Legend, Cold Steel, Cicada Forge/Live Blade, Mugendo Bugodu. I'd put prices between $500 and $1,200.
For high quality Japanese Style katana go to Rick Barrett, Scott Slobodian, Howard Clark (just off the top of my head). Prices start around $3,000 just for the blade. But these are more art swords - not that they won't cut (they're made to), but you'll ruin a high quality polish that can cost anywhere from $150 to $1200 to redo.
For a real katana - go to Japan, shell out at least $7,000.
 
If you want a quality katana, at the lowest price, the "Hanwei Practical Katana by Paul Chen" would be the only one I would recommend purchasing. One step better, would be the "Practical Plus Katana". At this price, which is quite reasonable, there is no other sword worth buying that is "functional".

However if you just want a stainless steel ornamental sword ( aka. a wallhanger ).., than you need only pay a couple hundred bucks. But don't expect slaying any "solid" zombies, only imaginary ones will succumbe to it's cheap non-functional blade.
 
Probably the absolute cheapest functional swords are made by Knight's edge or Ritter steel. (I don't know how they're related, but they're both on the same site) http://www.rittersteel.com/japanese-samurai-swords-braided-leather.htm
Barring that, covecutlery has more expensive versions of the same thing, by Cold Steel, see their specials page. Quality is probably about the same, but the CS will probably be better finished.
 
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