Paul Chen's Practical Ninja-to
Nov 29, 2008 13:49:34 GMT
Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2008 13:49:34 GMT
Review on: Hanwei's Practical Shinobi Ninja-to
By: Zavier (Singapore)
Welcome! This is my first thread, so if there's any suggestion on how to improve on it, feel free to tell me! Also, all pictures here are taken by my humble phone so pardon me for non perfect picture quality.
In this thread, i will do a review on Paul Chen's Practical Shinobi Ninja-to! Hope it will help you guys know more about this sword =)
Here are the specs:
Overall length: 34 1/2“
Blade length: 22 3/4“
Handle length: 10 1/4“
Weight: 1lb 14oz
Point of Balance: 4 1/2"
Width at Guard: 1.13"
Width at Tip: .85"
Thickness at Guard: .27"
Thickness at Tip: .22"
Intro:
The ninja-to has a straight blade profile and if you are wondering how well it cuts, it sure cuts extremely well. Yes, katanas have sori (blade curvature), thus it is supposed to cut objects more easily. However, sori on many katanas are about 1/2 -3/4 inch, which means it does not add any significant ease when cutting. Also, the super light ninja-to makes up for the loss of sori so you don't have to worry much about its cutting efficiency.
The Blade:
Another thing about the ninja-to is that its blade has the same construction as the ever popular Paul chen's Practical katana, which means that the Ninja-to shares the same tough blade as other series of practical katanas! Yep, it should be made up of 1065 carbon steel. It is also differentially hardened, producing an HRC60 edge and HRC40 back. The tang looks like it's single pegged but the blade is no where near the word 'wobbly'. The blade has a mirror-polished mune (back), lightly polished Shinogi-ji (flat section), and a Real Hamon! I haven't seen any ninja swords around with a real hamon except for Hanwei's ninja-to.
The Saya (Scabbard):
The saya is lacquered black in colour. It's not deeply lacquered but it is still very attractive. On one side of the saya lies the head of 2 demon-like ornaments with a ring in its mouth which the saego threads through. The saego is tied in a funny way and i've removed the cotton saego from the saya. The saya ends off at its tip with a blackened iron piece that adds to the beauty of the saya as shown in the pictures below. Well done! The saya is heavier than i expected it to be.
The Tsuba (handguard):
Another thing i like about the ninja-to is the tsuba. It is blackened and is square shaped like most traditional ninja swords. The designs on the tsuba are interesting, showing 4 types of hand movements practiced by ninjas in ancient times. This alone puts Paul Chen's Ninja-to above other ninja swords as most of them just have a simple square shaped tsuba.
The Handle:
The Saego wrap on the handle is synthetic suede. Although it does not look very nice when examined closely, the wrap provides sufficient grip and is durable. No rayskin used here. Instead, a plastic wrap that imitates rayskin is used. For mine, it's black in colour but a white colour version is avaliable too. The artificial rayskin wrap here can really be a turn off for some people as it looks kind of -fake.
The menuki used is gold in colour and it looks like a 3 head spear. Nice and simple.
(butt cap)
Kissaki:
The Ninja-to also has an angular shaped kissaki (tip) and together with its straight blade profile, this baby stabs through almost everything easily! However, the tip dents quite easily if you bang this sword around on hard objects such as concrete because the tip is very fine, which makes it dangerously sharp.
Test Cutting:
I bought this Ninja-to for about a month and half and i have done quite a few cutting on bottles. Many times i hit the bottles on the cap and the damages done are only minor scratches, which is not a big deal since many people prefer scratches on their blade to show that their sword is not some cheap wallhanger. Below is a video of me test cutting with Paul Chen's Ninja-to taken hours ago:
At about 0:34 i accidently hit the sword against the chair. The milk carton was severed in half, the chair cracked, but no damage done to the blade at all. Not even a scratch!
After practicing with my blade for a week, i decided to see if i made any improvements..
Alright, i still hit the chair at 0:45 but this time, the chair suffered a greater crack. I guess i got to get a cutting stand =/
Also, my horizontal cut failed me at 1:05 which made my maid (at the background) laugh. -.-
In additon, due to the relatively short blade of the Ninja-to, the weight is pushed back such that it can be used as a single handed weapon with ease and swung at God-Like speed! Haha, nah... but it's very fast. Really.
Final words:
Paul Chen's Practical Shinobi Ninja-to is an extremely durable and sharp sword. I would strongly recommend this sword! If you haven't own any katana, i think this will make a great practice sword before handling heavier katanas. There's another review on this sword by Paul Southren:
www.sword-buyers-guide.com/best-ninja-sword.html
His sword reviews includes clearly taken pictures, cutting videos featuring tatami with bamboo core, and a video showing the Ninja-to's terrifying stabbing potential. It's really a great review which demostrates the true power of this sword!
Historical Accuracy: - (Won't rate a sword meant for practical use)
Fit and Finish: 4/5
Handling: 4.5/5
Structural Integrity: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 3/5 (It cost me $568 because my currency is weaker than the US dollars)
Overall: 4/5
By: Zavier (Singapore)
Welcome! This is my first thread, so if there's any suggestion on how to improve on it, feel free to tell me! Also, all pictures here are taken by my humble phone so pardon me for non perfect picture quality.
In this thread, i will do a review on Paul Chen's Practical Shinobi Ninja-to! Hope it will help you guys know more about this sword =)
Here are the specs:
Overall length: 34 1/2“
Blade length: 22 3/4“
Handle length: 10 1/4“
Weight: 1lb 14oz
Point of Balance: 4 1/2"
Width at Guard: 1.13"
Width at Tip: .85"
Thickness at Guard: .27"
Thickness at Tip: .22"
Intro:
The ninja-to has a straight blade profile and if you are wondering how well it cuts, it sure cuts extremely well. Yes, katanas have sori (blade curvature), thus it is supposed to cut objects more easily. However, sori on many katanas are about 1/2 -3/4 inch, which means it does not add any significant ease when cutting. Also, the super light ninja-to makes up for the loss of sori so you don't have to worry much about its cutting efficiency.
The Blade:
Another thing about the ninja-to is that its blade has the same construction as the ever popular Paul chen's Practical katana, which means that the Ninja-to shares the same tough blade as other series of practical katanas! Yep, it should be made up of 1065 carbon steel. It is also differentially hardened, producing an HRC60 edge and HRC40 back. The tang looks like it's single pegged but the blade is no where near the word 'wobbly'. The blade has a mirror-polished mune (back), lightly polished Shinogi-ji (flat section), and a Real Hamon! I haven't seen any ninja swords around with a real hamon except for Hanwei's ninja-to.
The Saya (Scabbard):
The saya is lacquered black in colour. It's not deeply lacquered but it is still very attractive. On one side of the saya lies the head of 2 demon-like ornaments with a ring in its mouth which the saego threads through. The saego is tied in a funny way and i've removed the cotton saego from the saya. The saya ends off at its tip with a blackened iron piece that adds to the beauty of the saya as shown in the pictures below. Well done! The saya is heavier than i expected it to be.
The Tsuba (handguard):
Another thing i like about the ninja-to is the tsuba. It is blackened and is square shaped like most traditional ninja swords. The designs on the tsuba are interesting, showing 4 types of hand movements practiced by ninjas in ancient times. This alone puts Paul Chen's Ninja-to above other ninja swords as most of them just have a simple square shaped tsuba.
The Handle:
The Saego wrap on the handle is synthetic suede. Although it does not look very nice when examined closely, the wrap provides sufficient grip and is durable. No rayskin used here. Instead, a plastic wrap that imitates rayskin is used. For mine, it's black in colour but a white colour version is avaliable too. The artificial rayskin wrap here can really be a turn off for some people as it looks kind of -fake.
The menuki used is gold in colour and it looks like a 3 head spear. Nice and simple.
(butt cap)
Kissaki:
The Ninja-to also has an angular shaped kissaki (tip) and together with its straight blade profile, this baby stabs through almost everything easily! However, the tip dents quite easily if you bang this sword around on hard objects such as concrete because the tip is very fine, which makes it dangerously sharp.
Test Cutting:
I bought this Ninja-to for about a month and half and i have done quite a few cutting on bottles. Many times i hit the bottles on the cap and the damages done are only minor scratches, which is not a big deal since many people prefer scratches on their blade to show that their sword is not some cheap wallhanger. Below is a video of me test cutting with Paul Chen's Ninja-to taken hours ago:
At about 0:34 i accidently hit the sword against the chair. The milk carton was severed in half, the chair cracked, but no damage done to the blade at all. Not even a scratch!
After practicing with my blade for a week, i decided to see if i made any improvements..
Alright, i still hit the chair at 0:45 but this time, the chair suffered a greater crack. I guess i got to get a cutting stand =/
Also, my horizontal cut failed me at 1:05 which made my maid (at the background) laugh. -.-
In additon, due to the relatively short blade of the Ninja-to, the weight is pushed back such that it can be used as a single handed weapon with ease and swung at God-Like speed! Haha, nah... but it's very fast. Really.
Final words:
Paul Chen's Practical Shinobi Ninja-to is an extremely durable and sharp sword. I would strongly recommend this sword! If you haven't own any katana, i think this will make a great practice sword before handling heavier katanas. There's another review on this sword by Paul Southren:
www.sword-buyers-guide.com/best-ninja-sword.html
His sword reviews includes clearly taken pictures, cutting videos featuring tatami with bamboo core, and a video showing the Ninja-to's terrifying stabbing potential. It's really a great review which demostrates the true power of this sword!
Historical Accuracy: - (Won't rate a sword meant for practical use)
Fit and Finish: 4/5
Handling: 4.5/5
Structural Integrity: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 3/5 (It cost me $568 because my currency is weaker than the US dollars)
Overall: 4/5