SWORD BUYERS DIGEST: Issue 5, March 2007 MAGAZINE

Sword Buyers Digest: MAGAZINE!

From the Desk of Paul Southren (Editor)

Hey Folks! that the amount of This would have to be the biggest issue of the content and spe- Inside this issue: digest yet… cials the Digest Delivers warrants I‟ve tried to trim it back to the usual 10 pages. some kind of fee, SBG Site News 1 Oh, how I have tried. but it ain‟t gonna But there were so many competitions, special happen!). Sword Industry News 2 offers, new articles, reviews and more that there Anyway, rather was simply no way to keep it within the 10 than take up even Shooting Swords: X- 3-6 page constraint that I normally try and limit it more room with treme Sword Tests! to… (sigh). my introductory rambling, let‟s get AoV Design a Sword 7 I can‟t promise that next months issue will be as Competition: Results big. Indeed, I am trying to keep it within 10 into it! pages as I feel that any more than this and I Darksword‟s Boromir 8 Cheers, Sword Review might as well turn it into a REAL magazine, but then I‟d have to charge for it—and as I have - Paul Southren Best SBG Reviews: 9 said at the onset, that is not something I ever Vote for the winner! want to do (though some people have told me DIY Workshop: Hybrid 10 Polishing

Ryumon Katana Ex- 11 clusive Special Offer! SBG Site News Best Forum Posts 12 Quite a few developments in February. While it is still a work in progress, this ground- breaking online guide is the first of its kind and Emails to the Editor 13 First off, the SBG Sword Store has seen some structural changes, with links to much bigger, consists of easy to understand, step by step in- clearer images and a cleaner, more ordered structions on basic to intermediate Longsword navigation and framing of individual prod- fighting techniques and, once completed, will ucts—creating the foundation for an expansion be a core part of a new focus on medieval and PLUS: into several other lines of Japanese Katana from Japanese sword training that will roll out across this month onwards. the site in the coming months.  Video of the Month However, in general SBG News, perhaps the Other wise, there have been a few additional  10% discount at most interesting and biggest new addition was reviews added over February, and behind the Reliks.com SBG contributor Adam Sharp‟s guide to medie- scenes there has been lot of background prepa- ration for a major expansion of SBG across the  Insiders Secrets of val longsword fencing, The True Swordsman. the Sword Industry board (I‟ve said it once and I‟ll say it again, what has been done so far is just the tip of the  And much more! iceberg). KEEP UP TO DATE WITH THE LATEST SBG SITE NEWS HERE

GENERATION 2 There aren‟t many available in the first batch, so you better get in quick. Click here for a The second sword in the much anticipated closer look at this sword on the AoV website. Reinhardt Collection is finally here, and it looks like a real beauty! MUSASHI SWORDS They have done it again... While it may not be a complete Katana per-se (unless you are a Yakuza gangster that is!), their $59 Rosewood Shirasaya Katana has one of the keenest and nicest quality blades I have seen on any sword under the US$100 price point. The original River Witham Indeed, if you didn‟t tell me the price, I would Viking Sword guess it would probably be around the $130- $150 price point...! While Shirasaya are generally not recommend as cutters „out of the box‟ (simply because, with no hand guard or ito wrap to keep a firm grip, there is a very real danger of fingers sliding down onto the razor sharp blade), some careful “While it may not be a preliminary tests found this sword to be quite a complete Katana per-se nice piece and certainly more than worthy for (unless you are a Yakuza display or even better re-mounting. Gangster that is!), their $59 Rosewood Shirasaya Katana has one of the keenest and nicest quality blades I have seen on any sword under the Based on a Viking Sword dredged up from the US$100 price point.” river Witham, (pictured opposite) that famed sword scholar Hank Reinhardt has always wanted to see „brought to life‟ - this stunningly beautiful fully functional replica is already a real „crowd pleaser‟ to some usually very criti- cal sword experts over at My Armoury.com The prototype design shown here has already undergone some modifications based on feed- back from My Armoury and our own SBG Sword Forum including a more rounded pom- mel and the fuller going up into the guard. The first batch is completed and will be arriving early this month. At $299 they are a little more expensive than most of Generation 2‟s one handed swords, but for a sword of this standard Click here for the full SBG Review it is still an excellent price. Multiple Water Filled Con- tainers quickly turn into As always, you can get your hands on the first nice „onion rings‟ with the batch from Jason at Arms of Valor with the COMING SOON! Musashi Rosewood 10% SBG discount— just enter the coupon I am currently working with some of the Shirasaya blade code „SBG‟ next to your name in brackets when sword industry heavy weights to put to- you order (or mention SBG when you call) and gether a sister site showcasing only the very when they process your card AoV will lower best sword manufacturers. Stay tuned for the price to just $269.10). more news on this in another issue.

© Sword-Buyers-Guide.com 2007 Sword Buyers Digest: Issue 5, March 2007 MAGAZINE! Page 3 Shooting Swords! Mike Harris‟ Swords vs Gun Experiments…! By Paul Southren (Editor) You may have seen it on youtube—where on a Japanese TV program a Japanese made Katana is „tested‟ against a .45 ACP Pistol and a .50 caliber browning machine gun (if you haven‟t, click on the pic to the right). Well, SBG‟s own Mike Harris decided to take this tests one step further, claim- ing that any half decent Japanese style blade should be able to handle the pistol tests. And backing it up with the following tests—which, for obvious reasons, you should certainly not try at home!

Here it is for all the world to see and some to scold me as an idiot for even thinking of doing this. That said, I think most will find the results interesting and informative. I decided to do my own testing, based on the previously mentioned shooting tests. I selected a Paul Chen/Hanwei Banshee. This The Original YouTube sword is the Hanwei reproduction of a Bur- Clip that started it all, mese Dha. It has a 21" blade and a 11" hilt. a Katana vs a 9mm The blade is single edged with a very thick handgun spine of .285" at the hilt and tapering to .200" at two inches before the tip. This is a very thick, rigid blade. It has been sharpened to a "paper sharp sword" edge and demonstrates a The sword was tightened into the vice and thick appleseed edge configuration. things were ready to commence. I also elected to test my Generation 2 12th Century Norman sword that has been dis- cussed in several other threads on the SBG Forum. This Generation 2 sword currently has a 29" double edge blade with a prominent “Here it is for all the fuller for most of the blade. The blade is .250" world to see and some at the hilt and tapers to .130" at two inches to scold me as an idiot behind the tip. for even thinking of The test was set-up using a padded vice to doing this. That said, I hold the blades and a cardboard target was think most will find the setup approximately eight inches behind the blade. The firearm used was a highly custom- results interesting and ized Colt Mk IV, Series '70 in .45 ACP cali- informative” ber. The ammunition selected was an attempt to duplicate that used in the above mentioned YouTube video. It consists of a 200 grain hard cast semi-wadcutter bullet at a muzzle velocity of approximately 900 feet per second. All shooting was done at approximately 15 feet distance from the blade. Appropriate safety equipment was used throughout the test. I backed away and fired the first round, and The Banshee was tested first. Here you see was surprised by a glancing hit. A few more the sword, vice, accompanying target, pistol rounds resulted in mostly hits and a few near misses. You can see the hits and misses. and a representative sample of ammunition.

© Sword-Buyers-Guide.com 2007 Sword Buyers Digest: Issue 5, March 2007 MAGAZINE! Page 4 Shooting Swords! (cont) Mike Harris‟ Swords vs Gun Experiments…! In the following closeup, the misses can be "beaters?" seen as perfectly round holes in the target The smears of lead are obvious on each side. almost in line with the blade. The hits pro- duced the ragged holes that appear further Most bullets hit more on one side or the other, away from the blade on either side. I was so thus the different smear marks on each side of impressed by the performance that I ended up the blade. shooting the blade with two full 8-round Next up was the Generation 2 12th Century magazines, for a total of 16 rounds fired. I Norman sword. It was placed in the vice and believe there are three clear misses. The other preparations were made to get under way with 13 rounds were either good center hits or the testing. glancing blows.

A Katana vs a .50 cal Machine Gun…

No surprises on what happens, but how it happens on the slow mo re- play is very interesting...

So, was there any appreciable damage to the blade? I will let the following pictures tell most of the story. I will say that I ran my fin- “I was so impressed by ger along the sides of the edge and could feel the performance that I no thing out of alignment. The edge seems fine. I'm sure there was some microscopic ended up shooting the damage, but then isn't that why we call them blade with two full 8- round magazines, for a total of 16 rounds fired”

The testing proceeded as before, except this time I was a little nervous. I really didn't care how the banshee turned out as it cost barely over $100 and I figured it would be easy to replace. But with "Gennie" there was an emo- tional investment. This sword and I have a history of doing a bunch of crazy stuff together. I had second thoughts and considered not doing this test. But my caution and "cost- benefit analyzer" seems have been on the fritz lately, so I ignored these feelings.

© Sword-Buyers-Guide.com 2007 Sword Buyers Digest: Issue 5, March 2007 MAGAZINE! Page 5 Shooting Swords! (cont) Mike Harris‟ Swords vs Gun Experiments…! The first two shots were complete misses, one But...everything is a learning experience. And just to the right and one almost a half-inch to I refuse to give up without exercising what- the left. Pitiful shooting, and obviously nerve- ever remedies possible to correct stupid errors induced. So I stopped and took a couple of and experiments. So, off to the workshop I deep breaths to calm the nerves. The third went. Upon close inspection, the bullet impact shot I barely pulled right and resulted with a actually bent a "U" shape in the edge, bending glancing impact. There was a little blade vi- it out to about 90 degrees, but not otherwise bration, but not much else. I settled down and damaging the edge. The part of the edge at the concentrated on sight picture and trigger con- center of the "U" was still "paper sharp", trol for the fourth shot. Bing, almost perfectly meaning it would still cut paper. dead center... So I resolved to try to correct this screwup by But... OH HELL!!! What's that?! Sure looks a judicious application of hammer and large like a big, honkin', nasty bend in the edge to diameter brass punch. It was not a terribly me. difficult process. The procedure was to place the center of the blade in a padded vice, just at the bullet impact. The "U" shaped impact was The shadow image re- about a half inch above the vice. I used the veals the extent of the brass punch and hammer to tap/beat the edge edge damage, which in back more-or-less into alignment with the rest an improperly tempered of the edge. medieval sword would cause instant shattering... After the corrective treatment, and a bit of judicious polishing I was off to test the cor- rection. I cut a few bottles with the repaired portion of the edge. Damn the luck to shoot it almost exactly at the COP! I also cut a six pack of bottles with the opposite edge. All cuts were made cleanly and without event. Now being ready to test the durability, I pro- “But..OH HELL!!! What‟s ceeded to place 100 counted blows on the tire pell. I started out slow, giving it a few half- that?! Sure looks like a force blows and examining the blade. After big, honkin‟ nasty bend being satisfied that it wasn't going to come in the edge to me.” apart I proceeded to really lay into the pell. After a vigorous 100 pell strikes, this is the result.

This was quite depressing, as I have formed quite an attachment to this sword. Here is a close-up of the damage.

© Sword-Buyers-Guide.com 2007 Sword Buyers Digest: Issue 5, March 2007 MAGAZINE! Page 6 Shooting Swords! (cont) Mike Harris‟ Swords vs Gun Experiments…! You can see the "polished" area and rubber residue from the No terrible damage. No bending. No cracking. No warpage. edge impacting and cutting into the tires. Here is a closeup of So...why did one sword pass the test with flying colors and the repair to the damaged edge. another sword of roughly equal quality fail so completely? Well...I'm glad you asked. It is my theory that it all has to do with the mass of the edge. Japanese cutting swords have what roughly translates to "meat" in the edge. The Banshee exhibits this "meat" in its edge, and has a very thick tang for support. Whereas the 12th Century Norman most certainly does not. The thickness of the Banshee blade, measured at .100" behind the edge is almost twice the thickness of the European design. This Generation 2 is a reproduction of a totally cut oriented European design from the 1100s. As such, it is thin and doesn't have nearly the cross section of the much later design reproduced in the Hanwei Dha. So, my conclusions are just about what I expected going into this test. A meaty blade of decent manufacture should be able to cut a lead alloy bullet fired at subsonic velocities without noticeable damage. A sword of relatively thin cross section and thin edge, like a Viking sword or other earlier medieval design may have significantly less ability to resist the impact force and may bend (if tempered properly) or break/crack (if tempered too hard). Hope everyone enjoys this little escapade. If you like it, and want to see more...or you think it's stupid but LYAO at my idiocy, and want to see me do something else that's overly stupid...

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There were really some very nice entries, but in the end there could be only two winners, one for the fantasy swords category and one for the historical. Here they are...

THE FANTASY SWORD WINNER HISTORICAL SWORD WINNER The Flame of Angels, By Adam Sharp The Torino, by Clayton Chester

One of Erik. T. Hilliker‟s Orcs. No doubt these guys will make an appearance as the antagonists in the Flame of Angels Poster...

HOW THE VOTING WENT...

It didn‟t surprise me that the number of people voting was a little low, after all—I made everyone kind of jump through hoops to look at all the entries and then use the form instead of just a simple click. This was intentional and even though only 41 out of 1,000 + SBG Newsletter subscribers voted (and it was just 1 vote between the Deriavis and the Paladin Sword!) the results on across the page speak for themselves.

SO, WHAT’S NEXT? Well, obviously to bring these great designs to life! ;-) The wheels are already turning and the designs have been submitted to Generation 2 to start production, plus the Flame of Angels Paladin Sword story has been sent to Erik. T. Hilliker to start the artwork. I‟ll keep you all posted with further updates and developments as they come to hand!

I had been looking for battle ready swords based from the LOTR films for awhile. In my search I came across Dark Sword Armories Darksword Boromir Sword armory’s home page. The guard is heavy steel I think, Seems well made They carry and very solid. The sword feels a bit heavy. So I “All their swords are many kinds of went and put it on a scale..It`s 4 Ibs 1 ounce.. The made from 1060 high battle ready balance point is about 3 1/2 inches down the swords and their site reads that all there swords blade. I spent some time swinging it around and carbon steel, tempered are made from 1060 high carbon steel, tempered getting used to the feel of it. It seems to move in to a Rockwell of 53 to a Rockwell of 53 with a full tang, oil hardened the hand well. You can use one hand but it feels with a full tang, oil and all their blades are handmade one at a time. better with both. The only real down side I can hardened and their I emailed them asking about the Boromir sword say is that dark sword armory is in Canada and blades are handmade and got lucky because they have just stopped due to international shipping laws which restrict making it. They do have some left if you ask. the shipment of "dangerous goods" they can not one at a time, Most of there LOTR sword run about $250.00 sharpen there swords prior to shipping. They do But The Boromir was $150.00 due to it being a come with a ready edge though. So I took the close out. Plus $40.00 in shipping. The owner sword down to my local knife shop a had a edge Eyal Said they spend about 9 hours on each put on it for $23.00. So I`ve got close to$220.00 sword.. I ordered the Boromir..It came by UPS In the sword..I was then ready to give the about 4 days after I placed my order. The packing Boromir a workout. First a set up a 2 litre bottle was done well. A good heavy coat of oil was on filled with water. The sword cut threw it very the blade. clean, Next I set up a thicker plastic gallon jug used for washer fluid and filled with water and The sword looks great up close! gave it a heavy swing. I think it cut this gallon jug better due to the added weight. Then for the last I set up heaviest plastic a jug used for antifreeze. It cut the best threw it. The top of the jug hardly moved but was cut clean in two. The sword feels good in the hand during a swing and cut..I would have to say I`m very happy with this sword and will most likely buy from dark sword armory again..The sword seems like a good deal for the money. Also Darksword armory is giving away a leather sword belt with each sword order this month. So If your looking to buy one of the strong- The handle is done in nice heavy tight leather and est,well made and balanced swords on the market the sheath is wrapped in the same leather. The this is the sword for you!!It`s a sword I`m proud sword fits very well in the sheath. As soon as I to own!! So check them out.. picked up the sword and gave it a looking over I Thank you for your time. Jason Woodard saw there is a small round stamp with a shield and the letters D S in the middle near the guard.

As you may recall in last months edition of favorite, go over to the to the link for the SBG the digest, we were running a special compe- voting form below and help select the winner, tition for the best review submitted to SBG. based on which review was the most informa- Well, the time has come to go over the en- tive and entertaining. tries and cast your vote. So here they are in the order they were submitted: It‟s all pretty straightforward, and like I said last issue, the winner will get to pick from a Hanwei’s New PK Katana selected range of Generation 2 medieval swords (kindly donated by Jason at Arms of Generation 2 Ranger Sword Valor) or Cheness Cutlery Katana (from yours truly at the SBG Sword Store). Cheness Cutlery Delux Iaito If you didn‟t get your review together in time Albion Ritter for the competition, don‟t worry—we will be A rare SBG review of an putting another one together some time down Albion high end produc- Boromir Sword the track. tion sword was also in- cluded in this months Hanwei Banshee Dha Votes will close on the 15th of March so we edition. have time to announce the winner and send William Marshal Sword them the sword of their choice from Genera- “If you didn‟t get your Mokko Wakizashi tion 2 or Cheness Cutlery. review together in time, Blackwind Katana CLICK HERE TO CAST don‟t worry—we will be YOUR VOTE putting another one Have a quick look over the reviews and see together some time what you think. Once you have found your down the track…”

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$219 obviously isn‟t much to pay for an au- The pics shown here are by a fellow Aussie, thentically differentially hardened Katana. Oswald Parker, who took around 1 week of But as most of you know, this is the lowest work to get the sword to this point—which is price you can pick up one of Cheness Cutler- why polishing a Japanese sword is sometimes ies „Kanbai‟ (Winter Plum) Katana. referred to as „polishing the soul‟, both of the With a natural, unetched and quite subtle sword—and the man. hamon it is truly quite a beautiful blade. But with a little elbow grease, the beauty of the nioi crystals created along the edge of the blade can really be brought out, giving it a true Nihonto appearance. The method of polishing a differentially Katana varies from person to person. Some BEFORE POLISHING—Subtle Activity people like to use the traditional Japanese Kanbai Tsuba polishing stones, though these are somewhat expensive, often costing as much as a low end production sword in themselves. However, a more economical approach is simply to use different grit sanding papers— starting with 220 grit and working up to “Bear in mind that it isn‟t 2000, 2500 or even 3000. something you can do The best online resource on how to do it overnight. And you‟ll need yourself is here: to be patient...” http://www.arscives.com/bladesign/ hybridpolish.htm Bear in mind that it isn‟t something you can AFTER POLISHING-A clear Choji hamon do overnight. And you‟ll need to be patient.

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OFFER EXPIRES 31st March 2007

Women and Swords—(What to say to the dreaded question “But you already have five swords? Why do you need more?”) http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=forumcafe&action=display&thread=1172320429

Tips on how to make your own scabbard http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=swordcustom&action=display&thread=1168224858

A talented Forumites Mini Nodachi sword http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=swordcustom&action=display&thread=1171857441

Favorite Sword Movies http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=forumcafe&action=display&thread=1171852939

Musashi Swords—opinions and reviews http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=japaneseswords&action=display&thread=1170649086

And the new cold steel Nodachi/Odachi (or as Kreigshwert put it—‟Nagaonodachi‟) http://sbgswordforum.proboards70.com/index.cgi?board=japaneseswords&action=display&thread=1171514987

VIDEO of the MONTH “This growing sport, being marketed to ing marketed to schools, corporations schools, corporations and individuals alike and individuals alike may well be (pardon may well be (pardon the the pun) quite a hit. pun) quite a hit...” The only things I don‟t really like is the fact that while this system certainly looks like good exer- cise and a whole lot of fun, all that pro- tective armour takes too much of the sting out of the fight— after all, I am firmly of the opinion that if you don‟t risk feeling a little pain, the end result is very unrealistic techniques (like in the video where they block with their fore- Sport Sword (R) Fighting arms, which is for obvious reasons—um, This fast paced fighting video by „Guard Up‟ not a very realistic thing you‟d you in a demonstrates a new trend emerging in sword sword fight!). Guard Up fighters in their full kit and caboodle.. fighting—‟Sport Sword‟ (R), Click HERE to Watch Personally, I am all for anything that increases the exposure of swordsmanship and swords to the Video the general public. And this growing sport, be-

© Sword-Buyers-Guide.com 2007 SWORD BUYERS DIGEST: “That‟s All Folks!” Back Issues: MAGAZINE I hope you enjoyed this October 2006 issue of the Sword buyers Digest Magazine as much November 2006 as I enjoyed putting it together for you! December 2006 See you all next month. Until then, stay safe and February 2007 have fun with swords! Paul Southren ADVERTISING SUBSCRIPTIONS Have a product that you think would be of inter- Subscribing to the Sword Buyers Digest is absolutely est to my subscribers? Send your enquiries to: FREE, to sign up visit my subscriptions page here [email protected] Emails to the Editor—Email of the Month...

Rather than provide several emails recieved this month, I have de- broke in half and flew across the room. I think the spine was too hard cided to publish one that was sent to me and permitted to be and a crack quickly propogated from the edge through the spine. shared here on the condition of anonymity. The Cas Iberia (not hanwei) swords (though no-one buys these any- Naturally, I will of course honour this request. After all, his obser- more) were somehat below average, though the 440C had a decent vatrions are likely to be considered controversial and likely to spring temper. cause bitter arguments on some very well respected sword forums. The Kris Cutlery sword was WAY too soft, and the edge deformed While he acknowledges that this condition will lessen the impact easily....bad enough that regular cutting could be a problem and credibility of his observations, this email was so interesting Himalayan Imports stuff is slightly above average, there generally that I just had to share it with you all. isn't any resistance to set, but they are also generally quite thick. Enjoy! The Angus Trim sword handled wonderfully, but I wasn't too impressed with durability- especially after I read the claims from various forumites and the maker that the swords had cut through the rims of Anon (name withheld upon request): Hi, steel drums without damage. The durability of the sword was aver- A lately some point during my sword collecting days (which have recently age. resumed) I decided that I wanted to know which production maker made The Busse is made of the famed "infi" steel. I never gave this one a the best piece in terms of balance, resistance to set, price point, and destructive test but there were some small edge rolls from cutting edge durability...similar to what you are doing to a great extent now. through wood. However, in a decision I now (somehwat) regret, I destructively tested But I have found there really are some swords that perform above swords from Paul Chen (2 ppks,and a practical), Cold Steel (warrior the curve...it doesn't always have to be a compromise between his- series katana, o-katana, chisa katana, and 2 handed gim), Criswell torical and durable....sometimes both are possible. (criswell Katana) Kris Cutlery ( 29" Katana) Cas Iberia (440C full tang katana, medieval sword of a model I can't remember) Himalayan Imports My wall of fame swords, of which there are 5, proved to be extremely (3 Katanas, various Kukris, Ram Dao, Janawar Katne) Angus Trim resilient to everything. Among them: (swedish bastard sword) Busse Knives (American Kensei) Windlass A two handed gim from cold steel...this one supports my belief that in (Sword of Ibelin) heat-treating, "everything can go right" This is one such piece. The I tested all of them in a fashion similar to how you tested the Maximillian other cold steel pieces I have handled have nowhere near the sword on your youtube video. Ridiculous, I know...but for some reason I strength of this one. It is capable of cutting through cinderblocks with didn't mind if the swords got damaged...and I always stopped before nearly no visible damage to the edge, no rolls or anything. It has cut things got too bad. None of the swords were irreperably damaged or through hollow steel piping with full force swings (the sword is about destroyed. Though there were a few failures, I didn't 'intend' to test to 48 inches long overall) multiple times and has only suffered minor failure, I tested until I got what I thought was a reasonable impression of edge deformation, and on many of those swings, no edge deforma- the sword's handling and durability. tion. It has never chipped, and can be bent 8 inches or more (I've only ever tried 8) out of line and return to true. On top of this it is not Among my findings (just concerning durability) overly thick of heavy. Kind of remarkable. Paul Chen swords are Katana in the truest sense, but also in a kind of A Ram Dao from Himalayan imports, this sword performs about as bad sense. The edges are very hard, and tend to chip. The spine is soft, well as the 2 handed gim but is extremely thick and prohibitively and the swords bend easily. heavy, so some of that resilience comes from the mass of the thing, The Cold Steel swords are a pretty good standard. Good resistance to whereas with the gim it is the heat treat. A tri-fullered tulwar from set and decent edge strength. around the mid-late 19th century. Below the performace of the above swords, but also somewhat lighter. if you ever want to chat about this The Criswell katana was interesting....the edge had great resistance to kind of thing, please don't hesitate to email me at (withheld). deformation and chipping....for the first 2 cuts. On the thrid cut the blade