The Cold Steel O Katana [with added blade pics]
Dec 17, 2008 23:38:33 GMT
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2008 23:38:33 GMT
This is my review of THE Cold Steel O Katana entitled
The Biggest Beater
let me start by saying I LOVE O KATANAS
and
i know this is a just over $300 katana, but it can be found for $300, i got mine about 3 years back for even less.
The Cold Steel Warrior Series O Katana, item number 88BOK, is not only the biggest sword that cold steel offer, it is the biggest badass production katana in the world (isnt it ironic that this company is american? lol i love it)
by production katana i actually mean production katana, not a long handle nodachi, not even a 14'' tsuka, which i still think is too long for a katana (at least for me).
the thing is huge, but imo it is very well proportioned.
i stand at 6'2'' and weigh like 260
i can just about handle this sword
although there is no nukitsuke yet, i can do noto.
i cant speak for everyone but i have let a couple of smaller mates have a go, the one whos like 5'8'' had difficulty handling it, he always looked like touching the floor with the tip... lol so i took it away.
this is not a historically accurate sword, this is a modernday superbeast.
a true american katana.
its like the humvee, and i have to say that id love to drive a hummer. who wouldnt?
just look at these amazing specifications:
(i have measured this myself)
Weight:
3.2lbs
three pounds and three ounces
51 oz.
no matter how you write it, it is massive.
Steel:
1055 High Carbon, mono spring tempered.
NO etched hamon, the way i like it.
Blade Thickness:
5/16"
8mm
a quarter inch
a beast
The Hi is very well carved, deep, smooth, and ends very nicely
Blade Length:
36" Thats THREE whole feet of blade, the length of some swords.
with a full length, very well carved, hi., that makes one hell of an amazing high tachi kaze (sword wind sound) on all good cuts.
it not only cuts like a lazer, it sounds like one, or sometimes better.
Sori:
1 full inch
but on a blade that size you cant even tell...
Fittings:
all iron
all of a nice plain dragon desigin
brass Menuki
Tsuka:
12.5"
Real Samé
High Quality (same as DF musha) Cotton Ito
this is not soft and cotton like, it is tight and hard.
Saya:
Black Lacquered Wood
metal end cap
Pretty standard, but it fits well and feels very strong
nice quality sageo.
comes w/blue violet cover bag
Overall Length:
this is amazing, four foot one
49"
four feet and one inch
50" in saya
we've all heard cold steels slogan 'the strongest sharpest knives and swords in the world'
some people may laugh at this, some may shake thier heads, but i have a few cold steel knives, they are all very strong and very sharp.
as with cold steel generally, and fred chen forge typy blades, the cold steel o katana is very very sharp
this is a sheet of SERIOUSLY HEAVY DUTY cardboard
with a similar consistansy to some thin sheets of lower quality wood
yes yes i know i shouldnt be cutting cardboard lol
but damn does it just want to cut it
as for strong, its proven itself worthey to me
the destruction tests they do are often FAR more extreme than me, or im sure anyone else here would put a sword through.
but this gives me the confidence not to worry at all on hard targets.
if i manage to acquire a massive bottle, or an old chemical drum (even the 4mm thick reenforced tetrapotasium pyrophosphate chemical drums i can sometimes get, now those are hard targets)
then my straight up sword of choice is my cold steel o katana
the blue drum, while it is not the badass chemical holding plastic mentioned above, is a hard target imo.
ive heard of a few peoples bad experiences with cold steel, as with cheness, but this is the case with most production katanas.
these 'duds' are relatively few and far between
as with cheness
cold steel have sold thousands of katanas
realisticly the chances of a dud are 1 or 2 percent tops.
i cant prove the slogan, but i cant disprove it either.
i can say this;
FIT & FINISH
5/5
not quite the best polish, but this is what you are buying when you buy the warrior series. the polish is very smooth consistant and nice however, no complaints.
uniform super sharpness
imo a top quality thourough hardened blade
to my knowledge cs blades (just like df) come from a fred chen forge, ive had this 3 years, but i seem to have amassed a few of these fred chen type forges blades this year, and i have to say that i like them all.
the fittings are super tight and of a high quality
like i said with my musha review, i find it hard to believe this is a $300 (well it can be sometimes) katana
the quality of the cotton ito is superb, both the material and the wrap.
the saya is spot on. perfect fit.
HANDLING & PERFORMANCE
4.5/5
but honestly i want to say
5/5
because i can handle it fine, for something of the size it handles well, and it has an obvious performance boost.
for cutting id say 6/5
obviously if anyone buys this expecting a short fast nimble katana then they need to go read a book.
this katana puts any light or medium target (ie bottles and mats) in its place, very little force is required to leave small bottles standing.
and it simply glides through mats.
it is what it is, the traditional american 'big one' & something i love.
here in england stuff is getting smaller and smaller, from car engines to food.
last year a packet of crisps was 32g, the year before 35g,
now this year a standard pack of crisps weighs a poxy 28grams.
this katana is designed for the proverbial 'big cut'
and it lives up to thier hype.
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY
5/5
its easily as tough as TH 9260
enough said
watch lol
that is the plastic i mentioned earlier, its 4mm thick, hard as... well, harder than most targets.
these bottles inteded use is to be able to take a 6 foot fall onto concrete, whilst holding 5 gallons of nasty tetrapotasium pyrophosphate, and not break.
they are my definition of a HARD target
(by the way the video is in desparate need of a few ratings if anyone would be so kind there are others in the series but this is the one where i tried my hardest)
VALUE FOR MONEY
5/5
i got mine for under $300, normally it costs a wee bit more
but imo it is worth every penny cent whatever
a true superbeast blade
high quality TH and well crafted
rather similar in many ways to my dynasty forge musha class o katana, only really lacking slightly in the polish, but more than making up for it in size.
but the whole point of this sword is its size
as i started with
I LOVE O KATANAS
i have a dynasty forge musha class o katana
a cheness o katana
and obviously a cold steel o katana
thier blade lengths are;
Dynasty 31.5"
Cheness 33"
Cold Steel 36"
in order of my least, down to my most favourite;
Cheness O Katana
Dynasty O Katana
Cold Steel O Katana
OVERALL RATING
5/5
The Cold Steel O Katana
THE BIGGEST BEATER
more photos to follow.
especially of blade & hi.
The Biggest Beater
let me start by saying I LOVE O KATANAS
and
i know this is a just over $300 katana, but it can be found for $300, i got mine about 3 years back for even less.
The Cold Steel Warrior Series O Katana, item number 88BOK, is not only the biggest sword that cold steel offer, it is the biggest badass production katana in the world (isnt it ironic that this company is american? lol i love it)
by production katana i actually mean production katana, not a long handle nodachi, not even a 14'' tsuka, which i still think is too long for a katana (at least for me).
the thing is huge, but imo it is very well proportioned.
i stand at 6'2'' and weigh like 260
i can just about handle this sword
although there is no nukitsuke yet, i can do noto.
i cant speak for everyone but i have let a couple of smaller mates have a go, the one whos like 5'8'' had difficulty handling it, he always looked like touching the floor with the tip... lol so i took it away.
this is not a historically accurate sword, this is a modernday superbeast.
a true american katana.
its like the humvee, and i have to say that id love to drive a hummer. who wouldnt?
just look at these amazing specifications:
(i have measured this myself)
Weight:
3.2lbs
three pounds and three ounces
51 oz.
no matter how you write it, it is massive.
Steel:
1055 High Carbon, mono spring tempered.
NO etched hamon, the way i like it.
Blade Thickness:
5/16"
8mm
a quarter inch
a beast
The Hi is very well carved, deep, smooth, and ends very nicely
Blade Length:
36" Thats THREE whole feet of blade, the length of some swords.
with a full length, very well carved, hi., that makes one hell of an amazing high tachi kaze (sword wind sound) on all good cuts.
it not only cuts like a lazer, it sounds like one, or sometimes better.
Sori:
1 full inch
but on a blade that size you cant even tell...
Fittings:
all iron
all of a nice plain dragon desigin
brass Menuki
Tsuka:
12.5"
Real Samé
High Quality (same as DF musha) Cotton Ito
this is not soft and cotton like, it is tight and hard.
Saya:
Black Lacquered Wood
metal end cap
Pretty standard, but it fits well and feels very strong
nice quality sageo.
comes w/blue violet cover bag
Overall Length:
this is amazing, four foot one
49"
four feet and one inch
50" in saya
we've all heard cold steels slogan 'the strongest sharpest knives and swords in the world'
some people may laugh at this, some may shake thier heads, but i have a few cold steel knives, they are all very strong and very sharp.
as with cold steel generally, and fred chen forge typy blades, the cold steel o katana is very very sharp
this is a sheet of SERIOUSLY HEAVY DUTY cardboard
with a similar consistansy to some thin sheets of lower quality wood
yes yes i know i shouldnt be cutting cardboard lol
but damn does it just want to cut it
as for strong, its proven itself worthey to me
the destruction tests they do are often FAR more extreme than me, or im sure anyone else here would put a sword through.
but this gives me the confidence not to worry at all on hard targets.
if i manage to acquire a massive bottle, or an old chemical drum (even the 4mm thick reenforced tetrapotasium pyrophosphate chemical drums i can sometimes get, now those are hard targets)
then my straight up sword of choice is my cold steel o katana
the blue drum, while it is not the badass chemical holding plastic mentioned above, is a hard target imo.
ive heard of a few peoples bad experiences with cold steel, as with cheness, but this is the case with most production katanas.
these 'duds' are relatively few and far between
as with cheness
cold steel have sold thousands of katanas
realisticly the chances of a dud are 1 or 2 percent tops.
i cant prove the slogan, but i cant disprove it either.
i can say this;
FIT & FINISH
5/5
not quite the best polish, but this is what you are buying when you buy the warrior series. the polish is very smooth consistant and nice however, no complaints.
uniform super sharpness
imo a top quality thourough hardened blade
to my knowledge cs blades (just like df) come from a fred chen forge, ive had this 3 years, but i seem to have amassed a few of these fred chen type forges blades this year, and i have to say that i like them all.
the fittings are super tight and of a high quality
like i said with my musha review, i find it hard to believe this is a $300 (well it can be sometimes) katana
the quality of the cotton ito is superb, both the material and the wrap.
the saya is spot on. perfect fit.
HANDLING & PERFORMANCE
4.5/5
but honestly i want to say
5/5
because i can handle it fine, for something of the size it handles well, and it has an obvious performance boost.
for cutting id say 6/5
obviously if anyone buys this expecting a short fast nimble katana then they need to go read a book.
this katana puts any light or medium target (ie bottles and mats) in its place, very little force is required to leave small bottles standing.
and it simply glides through mats.
it is what it is, the traditional american 'big one' & something i love.
here in england stuff is getting smaller and smaller, from car engines to food.
last year a packet of crisps was 32g, the year before 35g,
now this year a standard pack of crisps weighs a poxy 28grams.
this katana is designed for the proverbial 'big cut'
and it lives up to thier hype.
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY
5/5
its easily as tough as TH 9260
enough said
watch lol
that is the plastic i mentioned earlier, its 4mm thick, hard as... well, harder than most targets.
these bottles inteded use is to be able to take a 6 foot fall onto concrete, whilst holding 5 gallons of nasty tetrapotasium pyrophosphate, and not break.
they are my definition of a HARD target
(by the way the video is in desparate need of a few ratings if anyone would be so kind there are others in the series but this is the one where i tried my hardest)
VALUE FOR MONEY
5/5
i got mine for under $300, normally it costs a wee bit more
but imo it is worth every penny cent whatever
a true superbeast blade
high quality TH and well crafted
rather similar in many ways to my dynasty forge musha class o katana, only really lacking slightly in the polish, but more than making up for it in size.
but the whole point of this sword is its size
as i started with
I LOVE O KATANAS
i have a dynasty forge musha class o katana
a cheness o katana
and obviously a cold steel o katana
thier blade lengths are;
Dynasty 31.5"
Cheness 33"
Cold Steel 36"
in order of my least, down to my most favourite;
Cheness O Katana
Dynasty O Katana
Cold Steel O Katana
OVERALL RATING
5/5
The Cold Steel O Katana
THE BIGGEST BEATER
more photos to follow.
especially of blade & hi.