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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 13:26:57 GMT
So far my day at work as been very calm, and I have access to internet, so I am spending this time by browsing through swords /knives sellers ... I really am the epitome of productivity ... Easy jokes aside, I have been browsing through SwordNArmory website and checking out their products. Frankly, I don't know what to think, exactly, they have very few products from sword-makers that I know of and some of the swords they show have interesting characteristics (if they send you what is described on their site ...). For example ; a few sub 200 $ katanas made out of T-10 steel ( www.swordnarmory.com/category-s/304.htm ) ,a large number of stainless steel wallhangers and some weird looking machetes from unknown manufacturers (most of them don't look very functional to me, and this one ; www.swordnarmory.com/Full-Blackened-Carbon-Steel-Kukuri-Knife-p/tk-0578-3.htm , seems like a rip-off from Cold Steel kukri machete, in my opinion). Did anyone here deal with this seller ? What do you think of them ? Any comments, input is welcome and appreciated
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Post by YlliwCir on Aug 7, 2009 13:32:02 GMT
I dunno, Sebastion, a quick look around the medieval section puts me off. Some look like some cheap ebay knock offs I've seen.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 13:43:10 GMT
Agreed, most of their non-japanese-sword stuff are low-priced wallhangers, I cringe jsut by looking at them.
On the other hand, I am half-curious, half sceptical about their functionnal katanas.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 17:38:27 GMT
one of there t-10 katanas i have its the same one sold by roninswords its pretty nice i think a good buy
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 18:40:18 GMT
Their japanese sword selection seems good enough and if that was all, I would give em a shot...but they have cheap stainless steel western swords labeled as battle ready and that really puts me off. Enough so that I personally am very put off from buying from them.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 7, 2009 19:52:53 GMT
I looked at what they are calling Chinese swords.... There's one by Chis Zhou that would be worthwhile, but I would order directly from Zheng Wu if I wanted that. I am NOT impressed.
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Post by sicheah on Aug 7, 2009 20:30:08 GMT
I'll am skeptical that these swords are actually made by Chis Zhou himself. LPBoyle is right, if I really want a sword by Zheng-Wu, I will spend a lot more ordering directly form his forge. Edit: Beware of $3000 Han-Wu sword
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2009 1:23:53 GMT
I find it a bit troubling that there isn't any clear indication that those stainless steel SLO aren't made for cutting. As far as I know, 440 stainless steel is too brittle for anything longer than a dagger or knife. 3k $ han sword ... reminds me of the 17k $ Tachis from Handmadeswords.com , speaking of them ... SwordnArmory seem to offer some of their kats ... On a side-note, Jonis, from UBC, got one of their sword, here'S the clip ; That ko-kat' seems good.
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SlayerofDarkness
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"Always give everyone the benefit of the doubt."
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Post by SlayerofDarkness on Aug 9, 2009 1:44:21 GMT
Tom K recomended one of there swords to me not too long ago. It was a 'ninja-to' in the style of Cheness' Oniyuri, but there were only 5 made or something like that. I think it was around $330. But I doubt Tom would have recomended something that he wasn't confidant about... Just food for thought. -Slayer
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2009 2:11:59 GMT
Personnaly, I think some of their katanas and other japanese swords seem ok and decently priced. I am just a bit wary of lesser-known sword producers and those who sell these less known products.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2009 2:19:28 GMT
Well in the last news letter Paul had arranged a discount for members, which i doubt he would have done if the vendor was a bit iffy in his eyes. Also Kevin mentioned he has viewed their swords at one of the cutting gatherings & he was pretty impressed.
I'm sure they, like most business try to carry a wide rang in all category's to cater for all tastes, not an easy thing to do at the best of times, i also believe they are in the proses of up dating their web site as they are aware it has fallen behind in some area's due too them getting busy in other area's.
Just a little info that may help with the bigger picture, cheers.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2009 2:55:24 GMT
Doh, forgot about that. I agree that Paul is commited to refering buyers to reliable and high quality sellers, I forgot that he offered a discount for this seller in the last few months.
Thanks for the info and helping us see the bigger picutre, SPud.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2009 10:51:53 GMT
I don't know how much valuable information I have, but I'd like to toss some stuff out there. I can honestly say that I have handled, dissected, and cut with a handful of their Japanese style blades...and I was impressed, especially when considering the price range of the pieces. The T10 "light cutter" they have with the Musashi style tsuba was one that really caught my eye. I dulled two of the swords down for no-hi iaito. The hamon, while relatively hard, was very tough. Between the two blades, they ruined one of my stones. If I'm not terribly mistaken, it's also one of the blades I watched nail wood, asphalt, as well as concrete at one of the cutting parties with little more than cosmetic damage. Jenn and I are lucky in that they are based only a fourty-five minute drive from our house, so we've had the opportunity to go down and cut with them on a pretty regular basis. A blade I got to cut with at a recent cutting party was a special order through their forge. It was came in with a big hitatsura hamon. While I am generally not a fan of hitatsura, this hamon was probably the nicest hitatsura hamon I've seen on a Chinese-produced blade to date. I watched it nail a block of wood by accident, too. Came out of it with a scuff and a very slight bend (Imagine hitting used tatami omote with a hard swing and bad hasuji with, say, an oil quenched Gunto. The kind of bend one sees on a regular basis in a dojo.). Considerably better than any of my Hanwei blades would have done. In fact, with the sound of that hit on wood, a lesser blade may have been toast. Now, I have no way of knowing about some of the other stuff...but if I had to make a guess, the titles seem to be taken directly from the suppliers on a good number of the cheaper blades. The "battle ready" stainless SLOs are probably called so by the manufacturer, and it's pretty commonplace for companies selling a wide range of products to simply use the information provided rather than burn up manpower trying to think up new names right away. I think Spud is right, too. I do recall one of the guys mentioning something about updating the site. If tweaked and streamlined, I think things would look a lot less iffy to people. If you guys want, I could look deeper into it since we are down there cutting a lot. Maybe do some reviews, maybe toss some ideas at them. I might even be able to get a look at some more non-Japanese blades to help broaden my horizons some.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2009 15:29:16 GMT
Some reviews of the non-Japanese blades might help, especially for those of us who follow different traditions of sword arts.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2009 5:02:01 GMT
I have to agree with Hyoujinsama; I've handled their Japanese blades, and they are very good. Fantastic heat treats, lovely hamons, decent geometry and they cut VERY well. I too wanna check into the European/Chinese blades on their site though; perhaps offer some perspective when I do. I have seen one Chinese blade up-close, a tang dao. Gorgeous! Very well made and the fittings were very nice. (Also Hi! First post w00t! XD)
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2009 5:24:15 GMT
Now, I have no way of knowing about some of the other stuff...but if I had to make a guess, the titles seem to be taken directly from the suppliers on a good number of the cheaper blades. The "battle ready" stainless SLOs are probably called so by the manufacturer, and it's pretty commonplace for companies selling a wide range of products to simply use the information provided rather than burn up manpower trying to think up new names right away. I think Spud is right, too. I do recall one of the guys mentioning something about updating the site. If tweaked and streamlined, I think things would look a lot less iffy to people. See, I don´t buy that. True swords does the same thing but they at least take the time to make sure a none safe sword doesn´t get labeled as a ¨battle ready¨ sword. Not taking the time to do this little quick check speaks rather large volumes about the retailer´s commitment to his products and the welfare of the customer and the community at large. No issue with selling stainless steel swords along with real swords...MAJOR issue with selling a SLO as a battle ready sword because s/he could not be bothered to do a quick check on what the hell s/he was selling (and this assumes a best case scenario...worst case is that the person running things has it on there on purpose to boost sales). Yes it maybe overly critical...but I trust KoA and AoV so much because I KNOW they the proprietors of both will take the time. In fact Jason of AoV specifically asked for help so that improperly marketed DSA swords have the corrected time frame when he used their marketing blurb so customers could better know what they are getting. That is commitment to the customer and the community...and that is somebody I trust to buy from. If swordnarmory is working on redoing everything to fix this, then I will say at that point, it´s worth looking into more. Starting up can have some hick ups and sometimes you just need something up and running and I can understand that. But I have seen their website up for a while so this benefit of a doubt doesn´t have very much of a window left.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2009 8:10:48 GMT
Good points, there.
I'll talk to them about it next time we go down to cut...which will actually be this coming weekend, if all goes well. I really do think, though, that it's a simple error in web management. I'm deffinately no authority on swords, but I do know a touch. The people there really are interested in consumer safety and satisfaction, and I get that feeling due to all the questions they ask about such matters.
Taking your post into consideration and thinking more about how Jenn and I interact with them when we go to cut, I still think that it's a matter of saving time while setting up the site. If I had to guess as to the reason that the descriptions have remained the way they are for so long, then I would say that it is a slip of the mind. Just judging by the swords we've handled and the swords they've added to the site, then looking at how they've asked us so many questions and wanted so many opinions on their cutters, I think that the focus is currently directed at bettering their cutting line. Thinking about wallhangers is hardly what I do when messing with real quality.
Like I said, though...I'll check into it. I hope I'm right on this matter, and I'm fairly certain I am. I'll keep you posted.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2009 16:01:48 GMT
I've seen their site but nothing spectacular about it far as I could tell. Looks like he's just at the beginning...his selection will probably grow and be of better quality as he learns the marketplace.
Who knows, he may just want to cater to the wallhanger crowd, with a couple of light collectors thrown in.
I'm not a fan of misleading advertising but I've heard enough arguments on both sides about the terms 'battle ready' and 'fully functional' as it pertains to this day and age.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2009 19:59:05 GMT
Their customer service seems OK.
I very recently ordered an aluminum iaito from SwordNArmory. I was disappointed. In short -- flimsy, cheap, tacky-looking.
I e-mailed the company and within hours received an e-mail saying SwordNArmory was sorry I felt that way and asked me if I wanted a refund or replacement. I asked for a refund as well as wrapper to send it back to them for free.
I got a return mail authorization number within hours and will return the iaito this weekend.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 10, 2009 20:37:38 GMT
I just realized where I know that name from...I bought some knives from them. Air Force tantos I think...decent, nothing fancy, just good for what they were made for. Low-cost plus fast shipping...but other than that, I couldn't tell you much else about the company or its products.
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