fist choice

Is this from first hand experience or is this just from "I heard from a buddy..."? Now if this is first hand experience it is possible that you got just a bad blade. I have watched the videos for the Cheness spring steel tests and they are far from brittle. They can flex to about 135 Degrees and still return to PRECISE normal. Also, observe the test Paul performed on the Steel Drum, a brittle blade would've snapped in half or at best removed chunks from the Ha. Now I apologize if I come off as harsh but I'm not flaming on you sir, you may have had poor experience from a Cheness blade but both I believe are good buys for the money. Hell, any handmade sword under $300 is a good buy and with it being that cheap, NONE are perfect.

Buy what you think you like, if both are within the same price range just get what you like better or base it off of Paul's thorough reviews. Good luck with your first purchase!

If you take a look at the spec over at Kult of Athena, both Cheness Kaze has POB of over 6 inches. Even the one with bohi is right at 6 inches. That is way too far out of balance for a good sword. I made a mistake of buying a Cheness Delux Iaito, the balance is atrocious. My apology to all Cheness fans out there but if you add enough metal to any blade, it will be tough, but it will also be unwieldy. If you want a tough and unwieldy instrument, get an axe.

I also took a look at my Cheness Iaito and saw that it has zero distal tapper. That is one reason why it is unbalanced. Futhermore, if you look at a picture of a Cheness, it has no fumbari. Fumbari affect balance as well. Mr. Chen need to step up his game redesign his katana, it maybe good enough when nobody was making affordable katana. But with the introduction of DF Musha and Hanwei Raptor, Cheness was left behind, distance behind.

I would understand the reason for buying if a Cheness is significantly cheaper than DF Raptor or Hanwei Raptor. But a Kaze is actually $30 more than a Raptor or Musha.

I would have to agree that Cheness is not really in the game anymore for the price. Tough? Yes. Brittle? No. Hold a good edge? No.

I like the Kaze, though it is a different animal from the rest of the Cheness line up, being differentially hardened with a VERY nice hamon, especially after a mild etch. It is tip heavy though. I put a 13" tsuka on mine and now like the way it handles very much, but not with the stock tsuka.

Honestly, for that price for a longer blade, I would consider the Dynasty Forge class-b o-katana. I have one that is currently dismounted for some customization and it is quite a blade. The bo-hi lightens it so that is handles much like a shorter kat, but has much more presence in the cut. When I bought it, I thought that the class-b title would mean it was somehow second class to the regular DF musha line, but it is pretty hard to see where it might be lacking. Polish is about it. In every other way it seems to be put together just as well as it's slightly higher priced brethren. For that price, you could afford the regular musha line o-kat, though from my point of view, the class-b is a better deal. Either should serve you very well.