Gunto Review
Nov 30, 2012 18:13:18 GMT
Post by kingrikoraru on Nov 30, 2012 18:13:18 GMT
Hung Shing True Sharp Gunto
BY: Paul Nguyen
11/30/12
(Pictures will be up as soon as I fix my camera. My cat was messing around with it this morning and it fell and now it's broken )
I emailed Ricky a while back asking for some discontinued model or scratch and dents that I could buy to try out his swords. I plan to get one of better models in the future, and right now I'm talking to him about a tachi. Anyway, my question was if he still has that gunto from last year and sale, and of course he has one left I think so I got it on a whim, and now here's my review on it.
(Ricky was super nice about all my questions and what not. Excellent customer service and I hope that once he figureout the price of steel, I can get that custom tachi made ^.^)
Stats:
Weight: 2 lbs. 4oz.
Nagasa: 28' in appx
Tsuka: 10' in appx
Looks:
The blade it self is made from T10 steel with real choji hamon from clay tempering. The hamon itself is good, but not so prominent from acid etch so it doesn't seem fake. I'm going to assume that the brown ito is imported Japanese silk, and according to website the sageo is synthetic. The same seems to be artificially age as it sports an aged yellowed color. The saya itself is green, wrapped in cord to give it that authentic gunto feel and look to it, and the gunto fittings itself are made out of brass. A couple of the gunto fittings are rather loose, and one piece actually detached itself and is not sliding around, scracthing up the saya, but that's understandable on a very good budget sword. Also another point is that while the gunto fittings are brass, the tsuba itself is made from cast iron, which while durable stands out a bit from the rest.
The saya is a bit tight for the blade, but it is done very well. It is actually very thin, making the katana as a whole a bit lighter,and plus I really like a thin saya. The koiguchi itself is also made from brass.
Because most gunto are made to be wielded one-handedly, the blade sports a deep, wide bohi making it very light. This along with the shorter tsuka turns it into a very light blade, making it very lively in the hand and fun to wield. The polish on the blade is a smith's polish, which I prefer over the over-the-top mirror polish. However, there are a long, blade-length line where the polishing was not too good.
Handling:
The blade feels like. Every once in a while, you just get a katana that just feels light and right. According to Ricky, the traditional geometry blades cuts very well, and along with his sharpening job, it becomes a beast in the right hand. I mostly did dry handling, with some water bottle cutting and it is effortless to make a one handed cut. It slices paper pretty well, though it could be better and will absolutely wreck cardboard and water bottles. I'm too broke for mats plus it's freezing outside so that will be done at a later date when I update this review with pictures too. Overall, I love the way this blades handle and the only other katana blade I could compare it to is my lightning fast musashi, but that itself is shorter and because it is a moroha zukiri, it was meant to be alot lighter. However, this blades is just as fast which amazes me.
Conclusion:
All I can say is how much I'm amazed by this sword. It is gorgeous for a budget katana, and handles like a dream. A true gunto I say though I cannot compare it to other market guntos like the Hanwei or Munetoshi one. For the price I got it for, it is an absolute must to buy and will give most sub-300 dollars sword, even up to 400-500 dollars price range, a run for their money. The only downside is that the fittings are not top quality and are a bit loose, but everything else about this sword rocks. It just looks like a much higher quality sword and with Ricky sharpening job,it will make tamegirishi a blast. Anyway, updates will come when I test out this blade more but this is it for now. I just had to put this up because of how much I like this katana.
Score:
Handling: 4.5/5
Aesthetic/Fittings: 4/5
Cutting: 5/5
Customer Service: Too good to be graded on a point scale
Pros:
-Very light, fast sword
-Looks pleasing and can be a good wall hanger, but why would you put a beast cutter on a wall?
-Low price range with higher ends quality
-Razor sharp
-Nice hamon that isn't too much
-Good polish
Cons:
-Fittings were loose and not top notch (Understandable for a lower end katana)
-Saya is a bit too tight
-Polish is not the best, but good enough.
-Trying hard to find out anything else, but there isn't really anything that is majorly wrong with this sword.
-...Oh yea, they only made 5 of these and it's not on regular stock
Final words: I think this is a great entry level, budget katana that thinks it should be a mid range katana. It's like driving a Toyota-priced car that handles and feels like a BMW. It's a great buy to say the least, so let's hope Ricky starts making these again.
BY: Paul Nguyen
11/30/12
(Pictures will be up as soon as I fix my camera. My cat was messing around with it this morning and it fell and now it's broken )
I emailed Ricky a while back asking for some discontinued model or scratch and dents that I could buy to try out his swords. I plan to get one of better models in the future, and right now I'm talking to him about a tachi. Anyway, my question was if he still has that gunto from last year and sale, and of course he has one left I think so I got it on a whim, and now here's my review on it.
(Ricky was super nice about all my questions and what not. Excellent customer service and I hope that once he figureout the price of steel, I can get that custom tachi made ^.^)
Stats:
Weight: 2 lbs. 4oz.
Nagasa: 28' in appx
Tsuka: 10' in appx
Looks:
The blade it self is made from T10 steel with real choji hamon from clay tempering. The hamon itself is good, but not so prominent from acid etch so it doesn't seem fake. I'm going to assume that the brown ito is imported Japanese silk, and according to website the sageo is synthetic. The same seems to be artificially age as it sports an aged yellowed color. The saya itself is green, wrapped in cord to give it that authentic gunto feel and look to it, and the gunto fittings itself are made out of brass. A couple of the gunto fittings are rather loose, and one piece actually detached itself and is not sliding around, scracthing up the saya, but that's understandable on a very good budget sword. Also another point is that while the gunto fittings are brass, the tsuba itself is made from cast iron, which while durable stands out a bit from the rest.
The saya is a bit tight for the blade, but it is done very well. It is actually very thin, making the katana as a whole a bit lighter,and plus I really like a thin saya. The koiguchi itself is also made from brass.
Because most gunto are made to be wielded one-handedly, the blade sports a deep, wide bohi making it very light. This along with the shorter tsuka turns it into a very light blade, making it very lively in the hand and fun to wield. The polish on the blade is a smith's polish, which I prefer over the over-the-top mirror polish. However, there are a long, blade-length line where the polishing was not too good.
Handling:
The blade feels like. Every once in a while, you just get a katana that just feels light and right. According to Ricky, the traditional geometry blades cuts very well, and along with his sharpening job, it becomes a beast in the right hand. I mostly did dry handling, with some water bottle cutting and it is effortless to make a one handed cut. It slices paper pretty well, though it could be better and will absolutely wreck cardboard and water bottles. I'm too broke for mats plus it's freezing outside so that will be done at a later date when I update this review with pictures too. Overall, I love the way this blades handle and the only other katana blade I could compare it to is my lightning fast musashi, but that itself is shorter and because it is a moroha zukiri, it was meant to be alot lighter. However, this blades is just as fast which amazes me.
Conclusion:
All I can say is how much I'm amazed by this sword. It is gorgeous for a budget katana, and handles like a dream. A true gunto I say though I cannot compare it to other market guntos like the Hanwei or Munetoshi one. For the price I got it for, it is an absolute must to buy and will give most sub-300 dollars sword, even up to 400-500 dollars price range, a run for their money. The only downside is that the fittings are not top quality and are a bit loose, but everything else about this sword rocks. It just looks like a much higher quality sword and with Ricky sharpening job,it will make tamegirishi a blast. Anyway, updates will come when I test out this blade more but this is it for now. I just had to put this up because of how much I like this katana.
Score:
Handling: 4.5/5
Aesthetic/Fittings: 4/5
Cutting: 5/5
Customer Service: Too good to be graded on a point scale
Pros:
-Very light, fast sword
-Looks pleasing and can be a good wall hanger, but why would you put a beast cutter on a wall?
-Low price range with higher ends quality
-Razor sharp
-Nice hamon that isn't too much
-Good polish
Cons:
-Fittings were loose and not top notch (Understandable for a lower end katana)
-Saya is a bit too tight
-Polish is not the best, but good enough.
-Trying hard to find out anything else, but there isn't really anything that is majorly wrong with this sword.
-...Oh yea, they only made 5 of these and it's not on regular stock
Final words: I think this is a great entry level, budget katana that thinks it should be a mid range katana. It's like driving a Toyota-priced car that handles and feels like a BMW. It's a great buy to say the least, so let's hope Ricky starts making these again.