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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 16:46:24 GMT
Hi everyone. This is my first post, but I've been lurking for awhile I've been interested in anything sharp for a long time now. I've stuck to knives up till now, but I think I'm ready to meet my first sword. Almost better than working up to asking that first girl out on a date! I've been waiting for the opportunity to buy one of Paul's Custom Pro's, but it doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. I came across this forge on the Net (www.thaitsuki.com) and was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. I'm interested in the Kumori Katana. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks, Chris. BC, Canada.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 17:56:10 GMT
Hi everyone. This is my first post, but I've been lurking for awhile I've been interested in anything sharp for a long time now. I've stuck to knives up till now, but I think I'm ready to meet my first sword. Almost better than working up to asking that first girl out on a date! I've been waiting for the opportunity to buy one of Paul's Custom Pro's, but it doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon. I came across this forge on the Net (www.thaitsuki.com) and was wondering if anyone had any experience with them. I'm interested in the Kumori Katana. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks, Chris. BC, Canada. NOOOOO The Thaisuki question. It comes up every so often. Overpriced garbage wallhangers, non-functional and barely sharp, is what they are. STAY AWAY. For that kind of money, get a Paul Chen higher end sword. Much cheaper, too, and a MUCH MUCH MUCH better sword. Try our forumite wiwingti. Awesome stand up chap, rock-bottom prices, fantastic swords
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Post by Dan Davis on Apr 5, 2010 18:05:13 GMT
Do not waste your money on thaitsuki
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2010 18:35:05 GMT
RUN LIKE THE WIND!
What's your budget?
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ecovolo
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"Ich bin ein Landsknecht."
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Post by ecovolo on Apr 5, 2010 21:33:24 GMT
Kawi:
People on this board will tell you to buy a different brand of katana they favor: Paul Chen, Cheness, Bugei, etc.
Read the reviews of katana here: /index.cgi?board=reviews&action=display&thread=10166
. . . and make your own decision.
--Edward
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 2:39:12 GMT
Wow... thanks very much everyone! I totally would have thrown my money away. Like I said, I'm new to this and part of my disease is needing to have the best of everything I'm interested in. Appearance is very high on my priority list but I want it to perform well also. I've got about $500 to spend. Any suggestions? I've been to wiwingti's site and am considering buying through him/her.
Thanks again for heads-up!
Chris.
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Post by Kilted Cossack on Apr 6, 2010 2:54:00 GMT
Chris:
I haven't bought from Marc at wiwingti----yet!---but would not hesitate to buy from him, or recommend him to others. I have bantered with him, learned from him, and people here on the board I respect have bought from him with complete satisfaction. His prices seem to be cutting edge, and his customer service the same. (Get that? "Cutting edge"? I'm killin' myself here!)
As a matter of fact, if I was in your shoes (they'd better be 10.5 XW!, or they'll bind me) I'd seriously consider e-mailing wiwingti and laying out what I was interested in in a katana, outlining a reasonable budget and probable applications, and just ask him to recommend something. Maybe I'd double check here later, but maybe not.
Marc's "one of us."
One of us. One of us. One of us! (Sorry, some weird Robert Altman/Lyle Lovett synapses firing right now!)
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Post by randomnobody on Apr 6, 2010 3:04:35 GMT
For $500 you have some great options. If the SBG Pros are out, the mid-range from Hanwei (Wind & Thunder, Tsunami, if the Shinto is still there...wasn't the Golden Oriole in that range, too? ) are some fine options. You also have a fair selection of Dynasty Forge's Bushi line, which are also good swords. Other options include Red Dragonfly (tough to find a link for this one )and even Kensei. If Cheness is your thing...eh, you could do worse. Not much worse, but worse. The blades are pretty good, overall, but the rest is just sorely lacking and the finer details I personally look for just aren't even close...but they're decent starters, albeit mayhaps a touch overpriced. Oh, almost forgot Sword n Armory's Munetoshi line. These look like some decent up and comers. Also check out Ronin Katana as they've got some nice stuff, too. Granted, it looks like almost everything at the site is sold out...but the owner's a member here and will probably be around with more stuff. That's about all the trustworthy brands I can think of...if I left any out lemme know. If you're going Hanwei or Dynasty Forge, go with Marc at Wiwi. Anybody else...check with Marc first then go with Kult of Athena or check with some of the other members. Oh and Thaitsuki bad etc. Of course, this is assuming you're looking only at katana. If you're a Euro type, try Valiant Armory's Angus Trim/Christian Fletcher pieces and Hanwei's Tinker stuffs.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 4:11:45 GMT
Hanwei, Hanwei, Hanwei, Hanwei.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 6:04:49 GMT
...looking at thaitsuki's kumori katana, I'd say you can build a similar look out of the SBG customs... I couldn't find a Professional build that would quite match the dragon theme, though the coloring and general appearance of the tiger-themed " Torakami" is close. ...and I could've sworn there was a similar tsuba for the $330 entry-level custom, but I can't seem to find it. Might have been discontinued with the first series. Still, for a dragon theme and similar coloring to the kumori, there's the B42 alloy tsuba, C16 fittings, A2 ito with black rayskin and the S12 saya. Still, there are plenty of attractive designs out there under a budget of $500. I've never seen quite the combination that you had your eye on, but I'm sure you can find something that catches your eye and won't let you down, listening to the folks here.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 8:22:29 GMT
Kawi: People on this board will tell you to buy a different brand of katana they favor: Paul Chen, Cheness, Bugei, etc. I'm not trying to come across as argumentative or crass but usually there is a reason that people prefer one manufacturer over another in all area's of merchandise. Kawi asked the community for input and it seems that the community felt strongly on this topic. Unfortunately there isn't a "Little Sword Shoppe" in every city where we can go in and hold and feel different blades and try them on for size, so these forums are the next best thing. When I was ready to buy my first blade, I studied heavily, with about 95% of it being on these forums and I was thrilled when it arrived.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 15:42:56 GMT
Thanks for all of the input everyone! It's all been extremely helpful and imformative. I'm going to spend some time researching the differant choices. I tend to just jump when I should look first. I'm going to try and avoid that this time.
I really wish the Custom Pro's would open up to more orders. I might just end up waiting for that to happen, although it's not easy to wait!
Thanks again! Chris.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 16:27:55 GMT
You could camp the Classified section for somethign real sweet. $500 is a good bit for something awesome. Patience.
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ecovolo
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"Ich bin ein Landsknecht."
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Post by ecovolo on Apr 6, 2010 16:54:55 GMT
Kawi: People on this board will tell you to buy a different brand of katana they favor: Paul Chen, Cheness, Bugei, etc. I'm not trying to come across as argumentative or crass but usually there is a reason that people prefer one manufacturer over another in all area's of merchandise. Kawi asked the community for input and it seems that the community felt strongly on this topic. Which is exactly what I tried to avoid. I've seen too many threads devolve into opinionated arguments over "brand x katana is better than brand y". So, I refer the original poster to our review section. There, the poster can make an informed decision based upon hands-on reviews of a sword. --Edward
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2010 16:58:16 GMT
Ahh, I see now. You were trying to remind him that we have a huge list of swords that have been reviewed and not to have a knee jerk reaction to what any one person says in this thread.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2010 20:27:39 GMT
Rehashing this thread after seeing the Thaitsuki website. Are they seriously trying to pass off their katanas as nihonto? www.thaitsuki.com/Seriously? If you read this page it really sounds like they are trying to make the buyer believe they are buying a genuine nihonto.( "original Thaitsuki Nihonto samurai sword ", "Thaitsuki Nihonto samurai swords are handmade, fully functional and "battle ready" Japanese Katanas" and this one "These Japanese Katanas, handmade by Thaitsuki Nihonto, are the highest quality traditionally made Japanese swords,") I doubt very much the forge is actually in Japan, which is where it would have to be to actually be producing nihonto, and as the production of authentic nihonto is strictly regulated I doubt there would be anything as mass-produced as these. In fact, real nihonto, being hand-made, are all pretty much one of a kind. They claim 'the Thaitsuki Nihonto Forge in Asia', which could mean China, Korea, but I'm guessing Thailand for obvious reasons. Just for this reason alone ( blatant deception ) I would steer anyone clear of these swords. Am I right? Or is the term nihonto just becoming as universal as the term katana to describe any Japanese-style sword regardless of origin? To me, it would be like a company building replica Shelby Cobras, but actually calling them Shelby Cobras and having nothing on their website claiming otherwise. I don't know, but this Thaitsuki company really rubs me the wrong way.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2010 17:28:50 GMT
From the "Kumori" description: "Traditional tsuka cheated with black gross genuine rayskin.More safty confident with 2 mekuji."
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2010 20:21:28 GMT
There are many reasons that company "rubs me the wrong way" also and you have mentioned only a few.
Nihonto are generally understood to be produced in Japan.
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