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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 0:47:08 GMT
I bought the Musashi Shirasaya from swordsofmight.com for $40 dollars. What attracted me to it was the price, and after watching paul cut tatami with it I was convinced that anything that performed like that for 40 dollars was definitely a must buy. It also looked very simplistic and graceful to me. I liked the rosewood saya. The sword arrived in a cardboard box, nothing too special. But it was packaged very well. It also came with a sword bag. It was held in place by styrofoam spacers. The shipping was very fast with SOM as usual. And they packaged it very well. Musashi Red Shirasaya Features: Here is some information about the sword: Hand honed carbon steel blade (Sharpened) Matte red finish on scabbard and handle Single pegged Makes for a great custom sword project Comes with black sword bag Measurements: Blade: 27" Handle: 10 1/2" Overall: 38 1/2" Weight: 2 Lbs DESIGN, FIT AND FINISH The Blade: The blade has a cosmetic hamon, but it isn't one of those "sharkteeth" type triangle looking ones you find on cheap wall hangers. The hamon is there just for aesthetic purposes. This can be a positive of negative to some people. To me it just adds to the looks of the sword, and I think it is nicely done on this sword. The blade does have a bo hi. This sword is VERY light. Sharpness wise the blade was sharp right out of the box. The kissaki had a very thin point, and that is most likely why it got bent a little already when my friend hit the tip on the stand. In general, the blade is sharp, but it will chip easily if abused. The habaki: This fits tight in the saya. This is the way I like it to be because after drawing and resheating a lot they eventually loosen up. The finish on the saya and tsuka is very nice in my opinion. It has this smooth feeling, and had no chips on it what so ever. The rosewood color looked fantastic. Of course being a shirasaya there isn't much to say about the fittings. CUTTING Well I don't use this for cutting to much, because it doesn't have a tsuba...but I have done it and I was pleased with the results. Bottles are no problem, and it cuts half and full tatami mats without much issue. My cutting form isn't the greatest, so if I can cut tatami with it, then someone who actually has training and can cut with their eyes closed i'm sure. Here is a video of me cutting full and half mats using two swords, the tenchi and the rosewood shirasaya. Please keep in mind this was the 3rd cutting session of my life, so my form is terrible I'm sure. But this goes to show you that if I can cut with, then anyone can. The shirasaya was used from the beginning until 17 seconds in. Then from 40 seconds until the end of the video. CONCLUSION AND SBG RATINGS Overall this is a GREAT deal for 40 dollars. I'm thinking of getting more to give to people who are interested in swords since it is so cheap! For the price you cannot beat this. It will serve you well as a display piece and for occasional cutting. The blade is razor sharp. The fittings are..well non existent, but that's expected with a shirasaya. SBG ratings Historical Accuracy: ?/5 (not too sure here) Fit and Finish: 4/5 Handling: 5/5 (very light and easy to maneuver) Structural Integrity: 3/5 (the blade will easily chip, and the kissaki will bend easily if you use it on harder targets) Value for Money: 6/5 !! OVERALL: 4.5/5 Despite the flaws, for 40 dollars the value for the money gives a 4.5/5 overall. Buy it now! Swordsofmight.com is a GREAT place to buy. Jason is a great guy to deal with, they ship FAST, and they have the best prices. I will definitely buy from them again.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 1:37:37 GMT
that is one hell of a bargain blade $40 for a cutter is very very cheap, it costs more than $40 for a night out or a new computer game. it amazes me how this thing (and other sub $50 swords) can actually be made and sold for a profit. makes me wonder... but its not like its the end of the world if it breaks, you can just get another the next day, but it looks to perform well enough. (good cutting by the way) and if it cuts mats its sure to slice bottles.
sometimes i really envy you guys in the us for sword buying. for me to get this over here id prob end up paying like $130-140. i wish i coulda got my first ever sword all those years ago for $40, cos it seems of a similar quality.
well found bargain good review +1
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 9:50:10 GMT
Good review very informative about this blade. its cheap but seems to perform very well. I do have a question to the enthousiasts out there. Is there anyone who knows where to buy this sword of an european vendor? Cause the only option we have in europe is buying in america and shipping it over which costst allot! so if anyone would have info on this plz tell. grtz
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 13:56:31 GMT
same problem i have jeroen
exactly the same problem
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 14:36:12 GMT
that is one hell of a bargain blade $40 for a cutter is very very cheap, it costs more than $40 for a night out or a new computer game. it amazes me how this thing (and other sub $50 swords) can actually be made and sold for a profit. makes me wonder... but its not like its the end of the world if it breaks, you can just get another the next day, but it looks to perform well enough. (good cutting by the way) and if it cuts mats its sure to slice bottles. sometimes i really envy you guys in the us for sword buying. for me to get this over here id prob end up paying like $130-140. i wish i coulda got my first ever sword all those years ago for $40, cos it seems of a similar quality. well found bargain good review +1 At $40 there is no profit to be made. The sword is being sold at cost basically... and then of course there's shipping involved. My guess is msmalik paid about $55 total for the sword.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 25, 2008 15:10:50 GMT
same problem i have jeroen exactly the same problem Its just sad really. What I don't get is them using UPS which seems like an expensive packaging service. Parcelforce and TNT postage seem much cheaper in my opinion.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2008 1:26:02 GMT
I bought them from SOM. They are selling for 39.99, and shipping wasn't too bad either, it was like around 8ish if i remember right, but i'm sure there has to be at least SOME profit made. I think SOM might get them directly from the forge in massive quantities, and might get them cheaper? not too sure. Why would they sell them if they make nothing?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2008 17:40:37 GMT
I bought them from SOM. They are selling for 39.99, and shipping wasn't too bad either, it was like around 8ish if i remember right, but i'm sure there has to be at least SOME profit made. I think SOM might get them directly from the forge in massive quantities, and might get them cheaper? not too sure. Why would they sell them if they make nothing? At $48 shipped that's quite the price. My guess is that he's making a couple of dollars profit in the shipping if he's got a shipping account with his preferred courier. Its also possible he bought them in a massive bulk quantity so he's got some more room on price. I know that I couldn't ship at that price without losing money - I'd be negative after paying paypal fees if the orders are placed using paypal. EDIT: I forgot to touch on why sell something and not make profit. If you've got a large quantity of a particular product and its just sitting in your warehouse collecting dust its actually costing you money from a logistics point of view. As such there will come a time when you decide its necessary to just sell off the items at cost to recoup the money you put into them. If you get desperate enough to move the product you may even sell below cost - just to clear them out of your storage and free up some of that money and space for new product. It happens often in business, especially retail. Yes you want to make a profit in everything you sell however that isn't always the case. Whenever you buy stock you're taking a chance. If it sells you make money. If it doesn't sell you've just stuck a large sum of money into this stock that is now also taking up valuable space in your warehouse. If it sits long enough, it goes from not making you any money to actually costing you money. Think of the fact that you could be using the money tied up in that non-selling product to stock product that could be selling right now. Also consider the space that stock is taking up - and what could be there right now that would be making you money. In the end if you have stock that isn't making you money and its been sitting there for a while you'll want to sell it off at cost - just to recoup your investment and clear up space. If that doesn't work then you sell it off below cost to at least get some of the money back and again - to clear up space. Now some retailers will designate these sales as "clearance" or "discounted". Other retailers will simply try to note it as a "drop in price." If they decide later that there is a market for the product again then the price will jump back to its normal retail price so they can start making money again. All just basic economics and retail. That's why if you want to buy a used car from a car lot - look for the ones that have been on the lot the longest. Usually a car that's been on a lot for 90 days or more will be considered a dinosaur. Those are the cars that the dealers will want to move the most - and as such they'll be most willing to wheel and deal on them. My future sister-in-law got an 05 Honda Pilot for $8000 under asking price from a local dealer because they happened to have picked a vehicle that was on the lot for over 120 days. The dealer gave them the vehicle for less than what they put into it (from auction and service etc) just because it was there for so long.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2008 9:21:53 GMT
same problem i have jeroen exactly the same problem Its just sad really. What I don't get is them using UPS which seems like an expensive packaging service. Parcelforce and TNT postage seem much cheaper in my opinion. What on earth is Parcel post and TNT postage?! The only shipping methods I know of in the US are UPS, DHL, FedEx and USPS.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2008 9:37:25 GMT
Its just sad really. What I don't get is them using UPS which seems like an expensive packaging service. Parcelforce and TNT postage seem much cheaper in my opinion. What on earth is Parcel post and TNT postage?! The only shipping methods I know of in the US are UPS, DHL, FedEx and USPS. Same things as the one you listed international shippers. TNT postage sends out in almost every part in the world if i got it right. I got my chikara with TNT postage from australia to belgium it cost me around 100 euro while shipping a musashi sword from the usa to belgium would 180 euro with USPS
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2009 19:06:58 GMT
I put the images in the forum so you don't have to click on links, makes viewing a lot easier.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2009 1:37:54 GMT
im in the process of finishing up a review on a masahiro sword and i found a uk site selling this for £50 in a sale (so like $70)
regular price £70 !!!!!!! thats like $100 !!!!!
it confuses me further as this sword is illegal here.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2009 23:07:02 GMT
im in the process of finishing up a review on a masahiro sword and i found a uk site selling this for £50 in a sale (so like $70) regular price £70 !!!!!!! thats like $100 !!!!! it confuses me further as this sword is illegal here. What specific sword of masahiro? And why would it be illigal in the UK ? You guys are allowed to have live blades right? grtz
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2009 7:24:24 GMT
Wow , you cut the tatami mat in the living room , you are very brave man I will neve hear the end of it from mom if I do something like that . Nice reveiw by the way.
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Insane
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Post by Insane on Mar 10, 2009 21:45:25 GMT
Good review very informative about this blade. its cheap but seems to perform very well. I do have a question to the enthousiasts out there. Is there anyone who knows where to buy this sword of an european vendor? Cause the only option we have in europe is buying in america and shipping it over which costst allot! so if anyone would have info on this plz tell. grtz I bought mine here: www.masterofswords.eu/N_home.html€59,- a bit more expansive, but do we have any choice?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2009 21:51:42 GMT
In the interest of safety I would like to remind everybody that blades mounted in shirasaya are not designed to be cut with unless they are properly mounted. Shirasaya are designed so they don't detract from the beauty of a blade.
Nice informative review though, thank you.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2009 17:21:03 GMT
Nice review, its always interesting to see someone cutting in their living room! Great pics, esp the close-ups.
Btw, good tip Blood
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 1:02:12 GMT
Nice review here. I actually have one of these myself, and it was my first katana (if you can call it that). It's kinda late for me to do a review on it though, as I've beaten it up horribly. One of my friends and I decided to have a mock sword fight a while back using my shirasaya and a crappy carbon steel saber I bought. I used the saber, which was unsharpened, and he used the shirasaya. The shirasaya stood up well, but was nicked slightly. On the other hand, the saber took much more damage.
Anyway, I've never had any problems with my shirasaya getting bent easily, and it's taken quite a bit of abuse. I still have it, and plan to (eventually) resharpen it and turn it into a decorative sword, or prop sword actually. Karma to you, good sir. ^_^
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Post by kaijinbutsu on Nov 12, 2009 1:17:09 GMT
Shirasaya are designed so they don't detract from the beauty of a blade. A shirasaya is a storage saya and tsuka used to protect the nagasa when not in use.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 12, 2009 1:46:27 GMT
A shirasaya is a storage saya and tsuka used to protect the nagasa when not in use. To be technical, I believe it's "toshin". "Toshin", if I'm not mistaken, is the entire bare blade while the "nagasa" refers only to the cutting part. ^_^
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