Musashi Speckled Burgundy Katana w/o Bo-Hi
Sept 1, 2012 16:51:56 GMT
Post by Springs on Sept 1, 2012 16:51:56 GMT
I've seen a lot of reviews about Musashi's 1060 line, although barely any information about their no bo-hi swords. Because of that, I decided to make a review, to add another one to the great ocean they call the internet.
UPDATE : Added pictures of the tsuka and tang.
Introduction
I'm relatively new to buying swords - previously having only one, cheap $40 Musashi sword that I use primarily as a testbed for a lot of learning. I wanted to get my second one, step up the budget a little at a time. Being I'm more of a katana person myself (but I've recently developed a thing for European swords), I looked to the well known Musashi 1060 line. The bo-hi look always turned me off, something about it screams...I don't know, machined? Synthetic? Something like that. While it does make for a faster blade with the tachi-kaze, I know I wanted a blade that felt powerful, so I tried to find a no-hi blade at around the same price point as Musashi's 1060. That's how I found the Flowering Bamboo and Speckled Burgundy katanas from Musashi, at trueswords. The Flowering Bamboo was sold out, so I went with the Speckled Burgundy.
Historical overview
I don't think this katana is based on any historical blades. It's a straight forward, modern day production katana.
Full Disclosure
I bought this sword off trueswords for $79. My main interest in swords are katanas, jians and recently medieval swords. I guess I also got it because I've heard good things about Musashi.
Initial Impressions
The sword came very quick, packaged in the standard long cardboard box we know and love. Opening that, you get the standard Musashi sword box, which is mostly red and black with the word MUSASHI emblazoned on the top. In my excitement, I forgot to take pictures and threw out the box.
The sword was in a sword bag in the box. When actually touching the sword bag, I noticed that it was actually somewhat thicker and higher quality than I thought, at least, compared to my $40 katana. Taking it out, I held it in my hand it felt great. It's hefty, and that is exactly what I'm looking for. I took the sword out of the saya to inspect the blade. It was covered in a thin layer of oil and small amounts of wood, but no huge chips or anything. After some dry handling, the blade felt fairly quick and powerful. Not as light as a bo-hi sword, of course.
Statistics
(as written on the certificate)
Blade/Nagasa Length: 27"
Handle/Tsuka Length: 11"
Overall Length: 41"
Guard/Tsuba Width: 3"
POB (Point of Balance): About 4 1/2" from the tsuba. (or 4" from the habaki)
COP (Center of Percussion): (not really sure what this means)
Weight: Not too sure, my guesstimate would put it at maybe a little over 2 1/2" pounds.
Components
The Blade/Nagasa
The blade is 27", made of 1060 carbon steel. It sports a midare hamon, which is what the Musashi 1060 line is all about. The hamon is actually quite subtle, a little more obvious in person but rather hard to catch with photos.
The blade does not have a bo-hi, so it has the standard shinogi zukuri geometry. However, the shinogi is a tad rounded, not exactly the most crisp shape. It also has a counter polished kissaki, although it is purely cosmetic. It's also very, very subtle, taking a very specific angle with the light to actually catch it.
The polish is also fairly well done. It's very reflective, although not quite mirror polished. Almost there, though.
The Handle/Tsuka
The tsuka is 11" long and sports a brown cotton ito. It's fairly comfortable to hold, the diamonds are even and extremely tight, with real rayskin. It also has an alternating wrap, which is definitely nice. The tsuka is also quite solid - it was also rather...hard to remove, but I wasn't expecting it to be a cakewalk, so I made sure to prepare myself. I used oven mitts to hold the blade while i covered the tsuba/tsuka with a thick cloth, grabbed a small wrench and whacked the tsuba not too hard several times - this instantly loosened the tsuka and it came right off.
I was expecting it to have a huge crack, but no. It's perfectly solid, no cracks whatsoever. The only peculiar thing was a really tiny nick on the wood as seen in the picture - looks kind of like a crack due to the lighting/angle, but it doesn't even go in a millimeter deep. The tsuka is thick, and I have the peace of mind that it won't become a flying rotor blade of death when swinging it.
Also the tang says Sam Sung(not sure what his involvement is, but his name seems to show up in the certificates and tangs on Musashi swords quite often), and has the serial no. etched in very lightly. I was going to make a joke about how Samsung started making swords instead of electronics, but I'm sure someone else has beaten me to it.
The Guard/Tsuba
The tsuba is made out of some kind of oxidized metal. I'm not sure what exactly, but it's thick and heavy. Not sure what kind of theme it has, but there's a horse, mountains and some flowers. I also noticed during dry handling that some of the black oxidized material rubbed off on my hands.
The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
The fuchi and kashira are both wave themed, and look pretty nice. They're highlighted with gold paint and made of the same material as the tsuba.
The Scabbard/Saya
The saya is where this sword gets it's namesake. It's a deep burgundy color (although looks kind of brown in the pictures), with gold colored glitter all over it. It's quite interesting to look at as the glitter fades in and out when it catches the light. The lacquer on it is not completely smooth, however. There are a few tiny bumpy areas here and there, but is not immediately noticeable. The fit is great, no rattles and the sword is held tightly enough.
Handling Characteristics
I'm not a tall person, clocking in at around 5"5. The sword is just the right size for me. The lack of a bo-hi means that it would be heavier and more powerful, and it certainly feels that way.
Test Cutting
Unfortunately, being that I live in a relatively small New York City apartment, major test cutting with pool noodles/beachmats/tatami mats isn't going to be possible (I also have a rather low cieling too). Instead, I just cut up paper, and it does that quite well. Not to the point that I'd call it like a laser - but it's sharp. However, there is a major fault I noticed on the blade - about the first 3 inches, it's not sharpened. At all. You can feel the edge at that area be a little rounded, and it even catches the light enough for you to notice. Not a massive flaw, but it definitely is something that can't be overlooked.
EDIT : I've just learnt that the bottom unsharpened area is called the ubuha, and is intentional.
Conclusions
This sword, even now, still impresses me. The weight, the looks, the feel of it all just feels right. While it does have some flaws (and that's to be expected at this price point), the overall package is very well made. I would prefer a more prominent kissaki though, I love those.
Pros
- No-hi blade at a lower price point
- Handles very well
- Very nice blade, sharp
- Fittings are good and hefty
- Hamon
Cons
- Lacquer on saya is not so smooth
- Oxidized tsuba rubs off on your hands
- Shinogi is kind of rounded, not very crisp
The Bottom Line
This is currently my favorite sword (not that I had a lot to begin with!). At a less than $100 price point, no-hi blades are rare, and this is one of the rare ones. If anyone is looking for a no-hi blade and don't want to spend several hundred for it, this is probably your best bet. It is of course not perfect, as is the case with production katana at this price range, but for what you get, it's a great buy. I would definitely recommend this katana.
Presuming, of course, you can find it. They seem to be getting rarer, and trueswords is sold out.
UPDATE : Added pictures of the tsuka and tang.
Introduction
I'm relatively new to buying swords - previously having only one, cheap $40 Musashi sword that I use primarily as a testbed for a lot of learning. I wanted to get my second one, step up the budget a little at a time. Being I'm more of a katana person myself (but I've recently developed a thing for European swords), I looked to the well known Musashi 1060 line. The bo-hi look always turned me off, something about it screams...I don't know, machined? Synthetic? Something like that. While it does make for a faster blade with the tachi-kaze, I know I wanted a blade that felt powerful, so I tried to find a no-hi blade at around the same price point as Musashi's 1060. That's how I found the Flowering Bamboo and Speckled Burgundy katanas from Musashi, at trueswords. The Flowering Bamboo was sold out, so I went with the Speckled Burgundy.
Historical overview
I don't think this katana is based on any historical blades. It's a straight forward, modern day production katana.
Full Disclosure
I bought this sword off trueswords for $79. My main interest in swords are katanas, jians and recently medieval swords. I guess I also got it because I've heard good things about Musashi.
Initial Impressions
The sword came very quick, packaged in the standard long cardboard box we know and love. Opening that, you get the standard Musashi sword box, which is mostly red and black with the word MUSASHI emblazoned on the top. In my excitement, I forgot to take pictures and threw out the box.
The sword was in a sword bag in the box. When actually touching the sword bag, I noticed that it was actually somewhat thicker and higher quality than I thought, at least, compared to my $40 katana. Taking it out, I held it in my hand it felt great. It's hefty, and that is exactly what I'm looking for. I took the sword out of the saya to inspect the blade. It was covered in a thin layer of oil and small amounts of wood, but no huge chips or anything. After some dry handling, the blade felt fairly quick and powerful. Not as light as a bo-hi sword, of course.
Statistics
(as written on the certificate)
Blade/Nagasa Length: 27"
Handle/Tsuka Length: 11"
Overall Length: 41"
Guard/Tsuba Width: 3"
POB (Point of Balance): About 4 1/2" from the tsuba. (or 4" from the habaki)
COP (Center of Percussion): (not really sure what this means)
Weight: Not too sure, my guesstimate would put it at maybe a little over 2 1/2" pounds.
Components
The Blade/Nagasa
The blade is 27", made of 1060 carbon steel. It sports a midare hamon, which is what the Musashi 1060 line is all about. The hamon is actually quite subtle, a little more obvious in person but rather hard to catch with photos.
The blade does not have a bo-hi, so it has the standard shinogi zukuri geometry. However, the shinogi is a tad rounded, not exactly the most crisp shape. It also has a counter polished kissaki, although it is purely cosmetic. It's also very, very subtle, taking a very specific angle with the light to actually catch it.
The polish is also fairly well done. It's very reflective, although not quite mirror polished. Almost there, though.
The Handle/Tsuka
The tsuka is 11" long and sports a brown cotton ito. It's fairly comfortable to hold, the diamonds are even and extremely tight, with real rayskin. It also has an alternating wrap, which is definitely nice. The tsuka is also quite solid - it was also rather...hard to remove, but I wasn't expecting it to be a cakewalk, so I made sure to prepare myself. I used oven mitts to hold the blade while i covered the tsuba/tsuka with a thick cloth, grabbed a small wrench and whacked the tsuba not too hard several times - this instantly loosened the tsuka and it came right off.
I was expecting it to have a huge crack, but no. It's perfectly solid, no cracks whatsoever. The only peculiar thing was a really tiny nick on the wood as seen in the picture - looks kind of like a crack due to the lighting/angle, but it doesn't even go in a millimeter deep. The tsuka is thick, and I have the peace of mind that it won't become a flying rotor blade of death when swinging it.
Also the tang says Sam Sung(not sure what his involvement is, but his name seems to show up in the certificates and tangs on Musashi swords quite often), and has the serial no. etched in very lightly. I was going to make a joke about how Samsung started making swords instead of electronics, but I'm sure someone else has beaten me to it.
The Guard/Tsuba
The tsuba is made out of some kind of oxidized metal. I'm not sure what exactly, but it's thick and heavy. Not sure what kind of theme it has, but there's a horse, mountains and some flowers. I also noticed during dry handling that some of the black oxidized material rubbed off on my hands.
The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
The fuchi and kashira are both wave themed, and look pretty nice. They're highlighted with gold paint and made of the same material as the tsuba.
The Scabbard/Saya
The saya is where this sword gets it's namesake. It's a deep burgundy color (although looks kind of brown in the pictures), with gold colored glitter all over it. It's quite interesting to look at as the glitter fades in and out when it catches the light. The lacquer on it is not completely smooth, however. There are a few tiny bumpy areas here and there, but is not immediately noticeable. The fit is great, no rattles and the sword is held tightly enough.
Handling Characteristics
I'm not a tall person, clocking in at around 5"5. The sword is just the right size for me. The lack of a bo-hi means that it would be heavier and more powerful, and it certainly feels that way.
Test Cutting
Unfortunately, being that I live in a relatively small New York City apartment, major test cutting with pool noodles/beachmats/tatami mats isn't going to be possible (I also have a rather low cieling too). Instead, I just cut up paper, and it does that quite well. Not to the point that I'd call it like a laser - but it's sharp. However, there is a major fault I noticed on the blade - about the first 3 inches, it's not sharpened. At all. You can feel the edge at that area be a little rounded, and it even catches the light enough for you to notice. Not a massive flaw, but it definitely is something that can't be overlooked.
EDIT : I've just learnt that the bottom unsharpened area is called the ubuha, and is intentional.
Conclusions
This sword, even now, still impresses me. The weight, the looks, the feel of it all just feels right. While it does have some flaws (and that's to be expected at this price point), the overall package is very well made. I would prefer a more prominent kissaki though, I love those.
Pros
- No-hi blade at a lower price point
- Handles very well
- Very nice blade, sharp
- Fittings are good and hefty
- Hamon
Cons
- Lacquer on saya is not so smooth
- Oxidized tsuba rubs off on your hands
- Shinogi is kind of rounded, not very crisp
The Bottom Line
This is currently my favorite sword (not that I had a lot to begin with!). At a less than $100 price point, no-hi blades are rare, and this is one of the rare ones. If anyone is looking for a no-hi blade and don't want to spend several hundred for it, this is probably your best bet. It is of course not perfect, as is the case with production katana at this price range, but for what you get, it's a great buy. I would definitely recommend this katana.
Presuming, of course, you can find it. They seem to be getting rarer, and trueswords is sold out.