"Knife or Death" Ronin War Sword

Storm Crow

Storm Crow

Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
2,506
I'm sure some of y'all have seen the new open cutting competition show on the History Channel, "Knife or Death". While I haven't gotten to compete on it (Several "Forged in Fire" competitors, including Rashelle Hams from my episode, have been on. She did quite well.), I did get to be involved in an interesting way.

I was contacted by Tu Lam, retired Green Beret and one of the three hosts of the show, when he saw some of my carcass splitters on Instagram. He asked to meet me at Blade Show to discuss a project.

bladeshow13 by James Helm, on Flickr

All three hosts of the show were getting blades for themselves to do some cutting for demonstration and promotional material for Season 2. Travis Wuertz built his own piece of awesomeness. Bill Goldberg, the wrestler. had a big cleaver built by Wayne Meligan, who had competed on Season 1. Tu was interested in having me build him a blade for him.

In particular The Mutant double-edged carcass splitter that was my reaction to seeing the first episode of the show caught his attention.

bladeshow12 by James Helm, on Flickr

We discussed what he was looking for, his thoughts, my thoughts, made some sketches, and continued the discussion after I got back home. What I ended up building was a kind of pan-Asian dao that Tu named the Ronin War Sword. There are influences from Chinese pudao, Korean hyeopdo, Vietnamese yem nguyet dao, and Nepalese ram dao.

ronindao03 by James Helm, on Flickr

The steel is, of course, 80CrV2, with a 16" blade and 18" handle. The weight ended up just over 3 pounds, with the point of balance right behind the front Turk's head knot. The handle wrap is toasted hemp cord over a neoprene foundation, impregnated with West System marine epoxy.

ronindao06 by James Helm, on Flickr

The main edge is a tall flat bevel with secondary bevel, while the spine side and clip are zero-ground convex edges. Stout, and hair-shaving.

In addition to a forward lanyard hole, I laser-engraved Tu's dragon logo on the blade.

ronindao07 by James Helm, on Flickr

I built an open-backed Boltaron sheath for it.

ronindao04 by James Helm, on Flickr

A look at the War Sword in my hands...

ronindao08 by James Helm, on Flickr

...and a far more dramatic shot of it in Tu's grip. It looks better with him!

ronindao01 by James Helm, on Flickr

I know that there has been at least some cutting done with it in association with the show. Tu made a nice, clean cut on a big fish using the convex side.

ronindao09 by James Helm, on Flickr

The Ronin War Sword and the other hosts' blades have been all over social media in promotional material, but Travis' sword is the only one that I've seen (in very quick shots) actually on TV.

I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up the latest issue of Knives Illustrated to see that in their interview with Bill Goldberg and Tu Lam, that Tu discussed the Ronin War Sword and they included a picture of him with it. That makes two months in a row that my work has ended up in Knives Illustrated. :D

ki01 by James Helm, on Flickr

ki02 by James Helm, on Flickr

In spite of living a nearly hermit-like existence, I sure get to meet some interesting people and do some interesting things. :D
 
Way cool.

One thing though, Some reading your thread header (including myself) might immediately think of a Ronin Katana Sword Company medieval XVIIIc war sword.

That looks like a great sword for the KoD courses and having multiple edges a plus. Other makers have their own take on the show but being able to use both side a common trait. Only a few have flipped their sword around to suit the job at hand.

Cheers
GC
 
Epic stuff, Storm Crow. I like seeing your distinctive blade work get so much attention. I got to check out the Wuertz blade while on the set, it was really nice, but I wish I'd have gotten to see your Ronin war sword in person.
 
Awesome but that weapon looks smaller in your hands for some reason.:D Pretty cool slasher especially with the double edge, and I'm still wanting one of your awesome bush swords.:thumbsup:
 
Thanks, guys! :)

Horseclover - Tu is the one who named it, after his company, Ronin Tactics, that he founded when he left the military.

Mecha - I'd love to get to check out Travis' sword. I actually had a couple of guys who were on the show contact me after making their run, complimenting me on Tu's War Sword after getting to see it on set. Looking forward to Season 3 coming up. :D

d762nato - Tu could run a speed bag with his pecs. :D It may look smaller in my hands, but it looks like he's ready to lead the Mongol hordes into battle in his hands. Have we talked about a bush sword before?
 
Congrats James, I don't believe I've talked to you but have checked to see if your books were open a few times. Thanks,

Doug
 
Cool beans!

I rid not see him at the Show (assuming Blade Show West).

But it was nice to meet you, take a pic, and converse briefly at David Browns table, and look at your knives back at your table. (Youbwere holding the Keffler Silverback we were looking at in the pick with us all)
 
Bigfattyt - I enjoyed getting to meet you as well. :) Tu talked with me at the main Blade Show in Atlanta. He wasn't at the Portland show.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top