DSA Elite
Aug 26, 2010 17:25:03 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2010 17:25:03 GMT
DSA Elite katana review
By Étienne Hamel
Intro
When I fist saw it I was thinking ‘’is it a standard model ‘’ but we’ll se if it is right now!!!
Enjoy this review!!!
Specs
Weight : didn’t have a weighter with me but eyal said it was approximately the same weight as the others on his site
Total lenght : about the same as the others on the DSA website
Blade lenght : about the same as the others on the DSA website
Tsuka lenght : about the same as the others on the DSA website
Blade material: 1095 carbon steel
Ito: since the standard model was with chemical fibers i think it is real silk but I don’t know
Fittings: the same as the 2201 model
Initial impression
When I fist saw it I was thinking ‘’is it a standard model ‘’
mine didn’t came with the wooden box (too bad for the displaying box customisation project) nor did it came with the maintenance kit or with the little booklet, only with the nice fancy black sakura silk sword bag (I love this bag ).
Fittings and finish
Tsuka: the tsuka is of rikku style wrapped in believe it or not katate maki style I was really surprised when i saw it. The underwrap is obviously real ray skin ( not as soft as the fake one ) as mentioned in the specs section I don’t know if it is silk or chemical fibers…(can be kind of tricky to find a difference…)
Fittings: the way of describing the fittings is quite simple… it’s the same as the 2201 model !!! (could be quite a downer for some people.) so nothing to say about it…it has the same dragon menuki we get everywhere these days.
Saya: the saya is lacquered in a nice red like the 2201 model (planning to paint it the same red or more of a rust color but textured or maybe a brown with golden cracks) it also seems to have some horn on it (koiguchi) but I could be mistaken it's nearly 1/8'' thick... I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
Blade:
with what I’ve seen on the DSA website and on the reviews on sbg swords about the standards line it seems there is some differences to notice.
First the notare (or midare maybe) hamon that I find really beautiful, a counter polished kissaki (would be better for an Elite to have a geometric one), I don’t know if the back of the blade is the same with the standart line but there is this small angle that we find on traditional katanas (the traditional shape not flat grind and all…)
The blood groove (yes I got one big surprise heh ) finish the same way as the standard line but not very a big deal for me anyway..
Now the polishing, very nice polish I did get … well that was before I began cutting with it of course
Handling
I’ve made some dry handling and despite my very poor skills I find it quite fast and agile and it got definitely a place in my room forever (next step a wakizashi…where will I get the money )
Cutting
I don’t know how to put this maybe it is my skills that are so poor that I can’t even cut a 2L bottle or maybe it was the bottle that was made strong (looks hard for a 2L damn you A&W )
Conclusion
Pros.
-fast and agile
-lovely silk bag (hey everyone have their tastes )
-nice hamon
-maybe some horn on the saya
-maybe silk ito
-awesome polish (exept for the kissaki)
- alternate katate maki
Cons.
-same bloodgroove as the standard line
-counter polised kissaki
-gear like seppa (planning to change them maybe for KC ones or some on ebay)
-same fittings as the standards models
-maybe chemical fiber ito
-cutting edge (can be changed to a pros. not enough testing for my taste)
I’ll update the review this week for more pictures and more testing so the cutting part may change (i know there is some spot uncovered but it's my neighbor who takes the shots of the sword so i can't do anything since my cam is all [censored]ed up )
By Étienne Hamel
Intro
When I fist saw it I was thinking ‘’is it a standard model ‘’ but we’ll se if it is right now!!!
Enjoy this review!!!
Specs
Weight : didn’t have a weighter with me but eyal said it was approximately the same weight as the others on his site
Total lenght : about the same as the others on the DSA website
Blade lenght : about the same as the others on the DSA website
Tsuka lenght : about the same as the others on the DSA website
Blade material: 1095 carbon steel
Ito: since the standard model was with chemical fibers i think it is real silk but I don’t know
Fittings: the same as the 2201 model
Initial impression
When I fist saw it I was thinking ‘’is it a standard model ‘’
mine didn’t came with the wooden box (too bad for the displaying box customisation project) nor did it came with the maintenance kit or with the little booklet, only with the nice fancy black sakura silk sword bag (I love this bag ).
Fittings and finish
Tsuka: the tsuka is of rikku style wrapped in believe it or not katate maki style I was really surprised when i saw it. The underwrap is obviously real ray skin ( not as soft as the fake one ) as mentioned in the specs section I don’t know if it is silk or chemical fibers…(can be kind of tricky to find a difference…)
Fittings: the way of describing the fittings is quite simple… it’s the same as the 2201 model !!! (could be quite a downer for some people.) so nothing to say about it…it has the same dragon menuki we get everywhere these days.
Saya: the saya is lacquered in a nice red like the 2201 model (planning to paint it the same red or more of a rust color but textured or maybe a brown with golden cracks) it also seems to have some horn on it (koiguchi) but I could be mistaken it's nearly 1/8'' thick... I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…
Blade:
with what I’ve seen on the DSA website and on the reviews on sbg swords about the standards line it seems there is some differences to notice.
First the notare (or midare maybe) hamon that I find really beautiful, a counter polished kissaki (would be better for an Elite to have a geometric one), I don’t know if the back of the blade is the same with the standart line but there is this small angle that we find on traditional katanas (the traditional shape not flat grind and all…)
The blood groove (yes I got one big surprise heh ) finish the same way as the standard line but not very a big deal for me anyway..
Now the polishing, very nice polish I did get … well that was before I began cutting with it of course
Handling
I’ve made some dry handling and despite my very poor skills I find it quite fast and agile and it got definitely a place in my room forever (next step a wakizashi…where will I get the money )
Cutting
I don’t know how to put this maybe it is my skills that are so poor that I can’t even cut a 2L bottle or maybe it was the bottle that was made strong (looks hard for a 2L damn you A&W )
Conclusion
Pros.
-fast and agile
-lovely silk bag (hey everyone have their tastes )
-nice hamon
-maybe some horn on the saya
-maybe silk ito
-awesome polish (exept for the kissaki)
- alternate katate maki
Cons.
-same bloodgroove as the standard line
-counter polised kissaki
-gear like seppa (planning to change them maybe for KC ones or some on ebay)
-same fittings as the standards models
-maybe chemical fiber ito
-cutting edge (can be changed to a pros. not enough testing for my taste)
I’ll update the review this week for more pictures and more testing so the cutting part may change (i know there is some spot uncovered but it's my neighbor who takes the shots of the sword so i can't do anything since my cam is all [censored]ed up )