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Post by Tom K. (ianflaer) on Nov 9, 2009 22:43:16 GMT
I completely agree with Kristie here, I made the mistake of talking swords with my mother-in-law a little while back when she was talking about the "really nice katana" she had bought her husband for the mantle for $50. I showed her one of mine so she could see a real hamon to which she replied "his has one of those" yeah, right. . . maybe if it was a Musashi Bamboo Warrior/santa special, but no it was a low end masahiro or maybe shinwa or one of those, I forget which. but she was totally unimpressed by my swords (kokoro Ichi and the Kensei UBCX) and she walked away thinking I had been ripped off and that she was a smart shopper.
oh well.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 0:42:05 GMT
I completely agree with Kristie here, I made the mistake of talking swords with my mother-in-law a little while back when she was talking about the "really nice katana" she had bought her husband for the mantle for $50. I showed her one of mine so she could see a real hamon to which she replied "his has one of those" yeah, right. . . maybe if it was a Musashi Bamboo Warrior/santa special, but no it was a low end masahiro or maybe shinwa or one of those, I forget which. but she was totally unimpressed by my swords (kokoro Ichi and the Kensei UBCX) and she walked away thinking I had been ripped off and that she was a smart shopper. oh well. Because, like as with most people, it's about looking "nice" (though how plastic fittings can even be mildly attractive is beyond me...) rather than functionality. It's sad she thought she was so smart... euch, especially when you consider one can get a real sword Musashi for <$100. Meh. I hope her hubby doesn't try to cut with it. And my worst sword is a "fencing foil". Actually used, but has been in such disrepair for years. Bent blade, some rust at the bottom, dropping-off rubber nubby thing. It's just not good.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 1:03:07 GMT
Well, trying to talk swords with people doesn't go well, usually, my family thinks i'm wasting money, "when i can get those swords for 50$ in a bazaar", and claiming "they all look the same" (though one is folded, one is shinogi, DH, the other is TH, and the last is a wakizashi...)
Anyways, my "worst" sword is my chinese nihonto, a folded shobu zukuri. I can't say it's bad, bcause, hell, it looks nice (just gotta lose those zinc fittings), it's properly heat treated, flexes and cuts as it should, pretty much a usable decent sword. I don't own any wallhangers, don't think i ever will.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 1:04:37 GMT
Funnily enough, BudK got me "into" swords. When I wised up and discovered stainless wasn't good for swords ( ), I began to do some serious research. In fact, as a general thing, it got me into history and now I'm slowly studying to become a history teacher. Funny how that works. Real-sword wise, the worst I've ever owned was the Windlass "Classic Medieval Sword". The quillions were too wide (as seen in another thread), and it was quite tip-heavy. M. I have to say, cutting power, cool pommel customization from Jason, razor sharp blade, and durability aside, the CMS would be my worst sword, mostly because of the dandruffy scabbard...
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Post by dand on Nov 10, 2009 2:00:07 GMT
The most godawful 'battle ready' sword I ever owned was the Windlass Crecy war sword. Oh, it looks pretty enough- but the locket for the scabbard didn't quite fit on the scabbard so there's about an inch from the lip of the locket to the neck of the scabbard (which is leather over wood core, but fits like it was made for a larger sword). The guard must not have been a good fit initially so someone cut it to accept the wider sword blade- I suspect the guard itself might be hollow, it has an awful 'cast' look to it. The pommel screws off to reveal a hidden nut used to tighten the handle assembly. I did take it apart and it is as underwhelming in its component pieces as it is fully assembled. With a PoB of 7.75" out, it is 45" of straight CRAP. I never bothered sharpening it as I bought it secondhand from a guy who was dealing in Windlass/MRL and DSA seconds...that's what I get. Like I'm fond of saying, you get what you pay for. I think I paid $100 including shipping and I feel I was robbed. Sounds like you got one of the knockoff versions....not an actual Windlass. I got taken in by a knockoff GBS.....and compared to a real Windlass it sucked.....and I know that the Crecy is another one that is commonly knocked off.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 3:08:51 GMT
Unfortunately there are companies out there that will sell anything that looks like a sword and even call it battle ready. That is one of the reasons Paul started this site.
My worst sword was/is (because I still have it) a stainless steel Katana I purchased on my first trip to Japan in 1994.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 3:30:01 GMT
Yeah my wife has known for a long time to never "gift" a blade or anything like that because I will smile, say its awesome and yyyeeeaaahhhh ......... she really knows deep down I died a little ............ the love of my life, empathic enough to know what I like, uneducated enough to not know what I should have
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 4:06:24 GMT
Okay, this came from Century Martial Arts ( normally a reputable supplier but this was quite a while back ) they offered a $250 Korean Cloud Sword in 440 stainless ( I was doing TKD and Gumdo in those days ) anyway, although my folks had me on a $30 a week budget at the time (I had an actual job, they were just trying to teach me to live on a budget) I squirreled away enough money to order it. The sword came to my friend's house (I couldn't order it to my own because of the parental units [I'm now grown and a father myself, this was a long time ago]) and a buddy opened the package. A couple of dry swings and it was "the flying helicopter of death." After burying the neighbor's dog, I learned my lesson. It's only real swords from here on out.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 8:16:26 GMT
After burying the neighbor's dog, I learned my lesson. It's only real swords from here on out.... This, my friend, is epic...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 8:20:10 GMT
Ahh, I didn't read the first post, so shame on me. The worst 'battle ready' swords I've ever owned...This is going to take a while, because there's three.
This first isn't exactly 'battle ready'; it's an iaito. It actually came as a daisho, but I never really used the waki. They are zinc alloy and made in Japan (mogito)...and the katana weighs more than my Bugei Bamboo does. I was trying to use this when I first got into iaido and hadn't built much upper body strength. The tsuka is plastic (my hapkido teacher had one of these break on him) and the saya is bright orange with black flecks. The headmaster at my first dojo dubbed it 'Rick James' Shoes' because of the garish paint, and the moniker has stuck with it to this day.
The next is our Rittersteel odachi. You know, the one that used to retail for more than $400.00? Yeah, that one. It started out as my fiancé's sword and, back when I didn't know any better, I fell in love with it and took to restoring some of the leatherwork. Well, I decided to try some odachi forms with it in the alley behind our apartment and ended up hitting the kissaki on the pavement. It took metal off. (Also, it's a welded push tang, not that that has anything to do with anything.) I decided to give it one last chance, so I tried to cut a couple waterbottles with it. It was incredibly similar to hitting them with a baseball bat...and that was with good edge alignment!
The third was actually solely my fiancés. It was a first gen CAS practical pro katana. It was his first 'good' sword. Through the years, we continued to become less and less impressed with it as our tastes became more refined...then one day, we took it apart and saw just how skinny the nakago supporting that big ol' blade was. Made us very nervous and he sold it within a few weeks. We always disassemble new swords, ever since we saw that.
There's our walk of shame down crappy sword memory lane, haha.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 8:42:41 GMT
After burying the neighbor's dog, I learned my lesson. It's only real swords from here on out.... This, my friend, is epic... You didn't tell the neighbor about his missing dog , right ? The one that come close to be the worst is my $30 E-bay shingunto that they advertised as battle ready with sharp edge .I couldn't cut my way out of paper bag with this one
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Post by brotherbanzai on Nov 10, 2009 16:56:31 GMT
Worst "real" sword I ever owned was one I bought many years from the sale bin that Atlanta Cutlery/Museum Replicas used to have in their store in Georgia. It was some kind of long sword with an all brass hilt. I thought it was a deal for $100, figuring I could use the blade and discard the ugly grip. Turns out it had a thin spot around 10 inched up the blade where the ricasso tapered into the diamond cross section. Made the sword a real wet noodle. I fiddled around with it trying to stiffen it up, this was before I realized that the heat treat didn't have an affect on how floppy it was (thanks to Sam for explaining that too me . I ended up cutting it down to a short sword to get around the thin spot. I put a decent hilt on it but it's still my worst sword. Looks nice though.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 17:36:04 GMT
I don't really have any terrible swords. I tend to research things I purchase a lot. The worst would be a Musashi Samsung-made katana (my first non-Euro). The blade is very good for the price, but the tsuka wrap is underwhelming, the same is among the worse I've seen (ridiculously small nubs,) and the saya is poorly constructed. I plan on rewrapping it, upgrading some of the koshirae, and trying my hand at making a new saya. I just learned that my stepfather has a daisho. He doesn't know anything about swords, but could have done a lot worse: he got a cold steel set. Unfortunately he only displays it
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Marc Ridgeway
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"The best cost less when you buy it the first time." - Papabear
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Post by Marc Ridgeway on Nov 10, 2009 18:30:28 GMT
My worst sword has to be at least as bad as anyones worst sword.... Its the budk galaxy ninja sword. Given as a well meaning gift from a unknowing friend...it is just awful. $12.98 at amazon.com....lol However , I fashioned it into something semi-reasonable...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 18:54:29 GMT
The most godawful 'battle ready' sword I ever owned was the Windlass Crecy war sword. Oh, it looks pretty enough- but the locket for the scabbard didn't quite fit on the scabbard so there's about an inch from the lip of the locket to the neck of the scabbard (which is leather over wood core, but fits like it was made for a larger sword). The guard must not have been a good fit initially so someone cut it to accept the wider sword blade- I suspect the guard itself might be hollow, it has an awful 'cast' look to it. The pommel screws off to reveal a hidden nut used to tighten the handle assembly. I did take it apart and it is as underwhelming in its component pieces as it is fully assembled. With a PoB of 7.75" out, it is 45" of straight CRAP. I never bothered sharpening it as I bought it secondhand from a guy who was dealing in Windlass/MRL and DSA seconds...that's what I get. Like I'm fond of saying, you get what you pay for. I think I paid $100 including shipping and I feel I was robbed. Sounds like you got one of the knockoff versions....not an actual Windlass. I got taken in by a knockoff GBS.....and compared to a real Windlass it sucked.....and I know that the Crecy is another one that is commonly knocked off. That must've been what I got, a knockoff Crecy...it is well beneath even Windlass' usual crappy QC. Must be doing knockoffs of the DSA Viking too as he was selling those as well, same price. Or, using DSA's pics to sell whatever it is.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2009 22:30:41 GMT
This, my friend, is epic... You didn't tell the neighbor about his missing dog , right ? The one that come close to be the worst is my $30 E-bay shingunto that they advertised as battle ready with sharp edge .I couldn't cut my way out of paper bag with this one The neighbor knew exactly what happened. Good thing it was my ex-friend Chuck who was the guilty party in that incident. We both learned a bit about swords, and he learned (the hard way from more than one direction) never ever ever mess with another man's sword and don't do sword drills when there are animals in the area.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 6:19:30 GMT
...you seriously hit the dog? Damn, those things are lethal accurate!
M.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 12:46:20 GMT
...you seriously hit the dog? Damn, those things are lethal accurate! M. No, my friend Chuck hit the dog after the sword went into the flying helicopter of death. It was all quite accidental. The jerk couldn't wait for me to get home from work, and opened my package before I got there. He knew I had ordered the sword. Both the owner of the dog and I were quite ticked off about their entire incident.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 11, 2009 21:17:47 GMT
Wow, that's pretty bad. Reminds me of a video that was circulating a while back from some shopping channel's knife program. They were featuring the aforementioned $19.99 craptana ninjatoes (misspelling purposeful) and the host was hitting the mune of one against a 2x4 and talking about how durable it was...and it broke, flew up and hit him in the chest. That was a 'doh!' moment for him I'm sure.
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Post by YlliwCir on Nov 11, 2009 21:48:32 GMT
I thought this one was a great deal when I got it from wait for it.......Budk! I have owned and still own a lotta crap but by far this next one is the biggest waist of space and money yet. Comes from a Rittersteel brand called "stage steel" but for the life of me I can't imagine using this thing in a staged production of anything. It's ugly and weighs more than four pounds. I guess it may work as a door stop. Yes these are still in my possession, I'm a bit of a pack rat. However, I might part with them for the right price. ;D
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