Ryan Sword test/review
Mar 30, 2013 19:59:09 GMT
Post by N2T on Mar 30, 2013 19:59:09 GMT
One of my first posts and my first review of the Ryan Sword.
First, let me say that I'm not a trained swordsman and I do not have a lot of katana experience. My sword using ability is strictly limited to padded and armored combat in a few different SCA style events over the years. I am also an avid hunter, camper, hiker and fisherman allowing me a basic knowledge of edged weapons/tools and how they should perform under stress. I also purchased this item as a first "real" sword and all damage done to the blade is at a personal loss to me, I have no affiliation with Ryan Sword other than as a customer. On to the fun.
First ordering. I had a great experience with Ryan Sword in this matter, I ordered the sword off ebay for 168 shipped. I loved the blade, however hated every other aspect of the sword. I don't like flowers and butterflies, and disliked the color of the rayskin, the tsuba, the brass color of the furniture, yes..the blade was nice. I contacted Ryan Sword after the purchase, had them switch out everything, black ray skin, black wrap, scabbard, iron tsuba, and change the edge geometry from a "med cut" to a hard target edge. All of this was done in about 3 days, pics of the new sword were sent to my account, and it was shipped to me after my approval, all free of charge and with pleasant and accurate back and forth communication from one of their workers. I am very impressed with the amount of back and forth, as well as changes made to my blade free of charge.
Unboxing, I didn't take pictures of this, but it's pretty strait forward. I got the sword in about two weeks from China (they provided a tracking number as well), sword arrived in a styrofoam container wrapped in yellow packing tape, simple but effective, sword was well protected from impact and shifting. The blade is full tang, 1095 through hardened steel, 28.7" blade, 10.6" handle, 40.6" overall.
Now just a couple pics, scabbard isn't anything special, it is black with kind of a texture added that looks like water drops or something, it holds the sword with no rattle and securely enough to hold upside down, nothing fancy but it does what it's supposed to.
The blade itself, is strait, with a lot of interesting features to me. There's a thin blood groove that runs the length of the blade, 2/3 the blade from the tip down is beveled on the back in kind of a false edge that removes a lot of weight from that area, the last 1/3 of the blade is full thickness across the back, however has a second blood groove there to keep weight down, the tip itself is widened at the tip for added strength, the edge is not razor sharp as I requested it to have more "meat" so as to chop through hard targets with less edge damage. I was still surprised at the keenness of the edge and with a bit of velocity it is able to make deep/clean cuts in cardboard and it's shipping box, half hearted swings seem to result in more of a crush than a cut, I think this has to do with edge geometry, tip speed and the strait blade, when I do my part however, the blade cuts deep and true but..I have to commit to the swing fully. Overall I would call the sword light and lively, and as I like a thrusting weapon, I consider the blade shape a really strong point of this sword.
back of first 2/3 of blade.
tip (note this is after testing).
Just a few shots of the sword.
Now some testing. When the sword arrived I give it a quick..um..test. I took it outside to my back yard and went to work on fence posts, coffee cans, and railroad ties. During my railroad tie chopping I impacted a nail cutting the head in half, blade damage was very minimal.
I also cut some copper wire, about 12 cuts were made, I have one very small roll spot in the blade from that test, I could not get a good picture of it, but again very minimal, chopping of wood did leave some blade scratches, but I didn't want a wall hanger, I wanted a chopper.
aluminum coffee can in an old bird house. Tip damage, none.
1/2" thick siding, very dense wood. No blade or edge damage.
Very thick old railroad tie.
flex test.
and the other way.
and after flex.
Blade still true.
As this is not a destruction test, I stopped hard target testing here (there were a few old tree stumps that I had a go at, but same results, no blade damage. Please note, all pics of blade taken after two rounds of testing and being wiped down with an oiled cloth to remove dirt/smudges.
I shall try some water bottle tests in the near future. But overall I am very happy with this blade. I did not take the blade apart as I currently lack the proper tools, but a quick search of ebay will show them fully taken apart. After testing, all furniture remains solid and as does wrapping. Thank you for reading and feel free to let me know if I missed anything you would like to see in the review.
First, let me say that I'm not a trained swordsman and I do not have a lot of katana experience. My sword using ability is strictly limited to padded and armored combat in a few different SCA style events over the years. I am also an avid hunter, camper, hiker and fisherman allowing me a basic knowledge of edged weapons/tools and how they should perform under stress. I also purchased this item as a first "real" sword and all damage done to the blade is at a personal loss to me, I have no affiliation with Ryan Sword other than as a customer. On to the fun.
First ordering. I had a great experience with Ryan Sword in this matter, I ordered the sword off ebay for 168 shipped. I loved the blade, however hated every other aspect of the sword. I don't like flowers and butterflies, and disliked the color of the rayskin, the tsuba, the brass color of the furniture, yes..the blade was nice. I contacted Ryan Sword after the purchase, had them switch out everything, black ray skin, black wrap, scabbard, iron tsuba, and change the edge geometry from a "med cut" to a hard target edge. All of this was done in about 3 days, pics of the new sword were sent to my account, and it was shipped to me after my approval, all free of charge and with pleasant and accurate back and forth communication from one of their workers. I am very impressed with the amount of back and forth, as well as changes made to my blade free of charge.
Unboxing, I didn't take pictures of this, but it's pretty strait forward. I got the sword in about two weeks from China (they provided a tracking number as well), sword arrived in a styrofoam container wrapped in yellow packing tape, simple but effective, sword was well protected from impact and shifting. The blade is full tang, 1095 through hardened steel, 28.7" blade, 10.6" handle, 40.6" overall.
Now just a couple pics, scabbard isn't anything special, it is black with kind of a texture added that looks like water drops or something, it holds the sword with no rattle and securely enough to hold upside down, nothing fancy but it does what it's supposed to.
The blade itself, is strait, with a lot of interesting features to me. There's a thin blood groove that runs the length of the blade, 2/3 the blade from the tip down is beveled on the back in kind of a false edge that removes a lot of weight from that area, the last 1/3 of the blade is full thickness across the back, however has a second blood groove there to keep weight down, the tip itself is widened at the tip for added strength, the edge is not razor sharp as I requested it to have more "meat" so as to chop through hard targets with less edge damage. I was still surprised at the keenness of the edge and with a bit of velocity it is able to make deep/clean cuts in cardboard and it's shipping box, half hearted swings seem to result in more of a crush than a cut, I think this has to do with edge geometry, tip speed and the strait blade, when I do my part however, the blade cuts deep and true but..I have to commit to the swing fully. Overall I would call the sword light and lively, and as I like a thrusting weapon, I consider the blade shape a really strong point of this sword.
back of first 2/3 of blade.
tip (note this is after testing).
Just a few shots of the sword.
Now some testing. When the sword arrived I give it a quick..um..test. I took it outside to my back yard and went to work on fence posts, coffee cans, and railroad ties. During my railroad tie chopping I impacted a nail cutting the head in half, blade damage was very minimal.
I also cut some copper wire, about 12 cuts were made, I have one very small roll spot in the blade from that test, I could not get a good picture of it, but again very minimal, chopping of wood did leave some blade scratches, but I didn't want a wall hanger, I wanted a chopper.
aluminum coffee can in an old bird house. Tip damage, none.
1/2" thick siding, very dense wood. No blade or edge damage.
Very thick old railroad tie.
flex test.
and the other way.
and after flex.
Blade still true.
As this is not a destruction test, I stopped hard target testing here (there were a few old tree stumps that I had a go at, but same results, no blade damage. Please note, all pics of blade taken after two rounds of testing and being wiped down with an oiled cloth to remove dirt/smudges.
I shall try some water bottle tests in the near future. But overall I am very happy with this blade. I did not take the blade apart as I currently lack the proper tools, but a quick search of ebay will show them fully taken apart. After testing, all furniture remains solid and as does wrapping. Thank you for reading and feel free to let me know if I missed anything you would like to see in the review.