RONIN KATANA RK SERIES 1045 ENTRY LEVEL MODEL 4 REVIEW !!!
Jan 17, 2014 20:19:47 GMT
Post by Prabibushido on Jan 17, 2014 20:19:47 GMT
Introduction
No pics yet, as im customizing it. But will upload shortly.
Befor i start the review i would like to say that im not trained in iado or tameshigiri. I have trained under a sensei in Aikido sword, which he taught me the basics of handling and cutting techniques. Not in depth[thankfully he knew IADO]
But everything else i had to self learn.
The Ronin katana rk model 4.
www.roninkatana.com/RK-series-katana.html
Im going to keep the review brief, im sorry about the pics, i will upload once im finish customizing it.
So after being away from katanas for 3 years i decided to jump back in with a new brand which i didnt really trust.
I own top range Hanweis from the Tiger, tsunami, to cheness o katana, raptors, and the PPK series, all being brilliant Cutters.
So there was no need to really grab a new sword TBH. :shock:
Historical overview
Made in the Dotanuki image, a sword fast produced during times of war, and lethal in battle.
Full Disclosure
I brought this sword from Oriental weaponary UK, arrived next day. Many thanks to them for their service.
Initial Impressions
But i saw the reviews espeically from SBG , and desruction test videos and didnt actually beleive what i was seeing. The sword was resialiant for 1045 and quite impressive.
And so i decided to pick up the cheapest of the ronin brand being the RK series. For £139 Uk money . Cheap for a brand sword. But id pay that money for a good brand.
I didnt have high hopes at all for the sword, but once i got it out of the box my impressions changed.
SAYA
nice laquer, no marks , and basic .
ITO WRAP
Fake silk cotton, wrapped well, no shoddy work and looked presentable.
RAYSKIN
cant tell if its fake or not, defo doesant have a plastic look about it at all. Will paint black though.
FITTINGS AND TSUBA
no complaints at all. Nice and basic.
BLADE
its here that i was impressed. The blade is polished well, much better than some of cheness. The HAMON however is great , but not as prominant is had hoped. I needed to clean the residue and grease off first. The blade afterwards showed beuty. I do wish the hamon was more prominant because its REAL !! and its much more nicer than many swords out their.
Which is shocking that the sword is under $150 with a Real hamon, and capable of cutting.
The sword has a BO-HI BUT.... BUT. its not deep at all, very shallow, and ive never had a bo-hi sword with a groove as showllow as this. Really it seems great becuase, it has not taken much beef off the sword, as most deep bo-hi swords do. And makes the sword balanced and light.
Now... im pretty impressed, with one thing in particular.
The weight and feel. Ive handeld many swords, some of the heavy duty cutters i own, always did everything well, but the weight put me off. Funny enough im 6ft 2 with a strong build. And for some reason the lighter swords have always made me feel satisfied with cutts and swings, and made me feel as if i put the effort into technique rather than blade doing everything.
Test Cutting
here goes. The light and excellent weight and balance of the sword really made me use my technique better.
The heavy duty cutters like PPK ect, always do most of the work for you. Not here.
COKE BOTTLE
taken out with ease, but bottom was left ... wasnt impressed. It was a simple swing with no technique just to test.
Milk bottles plastic Easily taken out the sword didnt take no scratch or damage.
easy enough at this point.
WASHING SODA BOTTLE/ MUCH HARDER taken out with ease ? But why did the sword take out this harder bottle and than the coke bottle ?
Lucozade bottles so i stepped up my sword tech , and used the cutting technique as if its iado.
The bottle taken out with ease.
Conclusions
n conclusion i noticed one thing that many of you may not notice or do. Heavy duty cutters have made us lazy
or me at least . This sword actuallu challenged me to cutt better. And what i notice is that 1065 plus steel swords for backyard cutting have become much more user freindly. Thats not to say the Ronin isnt. But the ronin requires much more technique that something like a pc raptor. The sword requires a bit more skill than i initialy thought it would.
Anyway i wish to test the sword again. The cutting was brief, and judging from the destruction test , this sword can take on much much more.
Overall im very happy with the katana. At the price paid.. its a steal and shockingly im more happy about cutting with this sword than i am with some of my top expensive models. Simply beacause of weght and balance. It feels much more freindly in hands, and i do weight lifting too. So this sword is available to anyone. What pains me is that the katana is cheap, and on another level than other katanas at the same price point and sooo much inferior, and people will ignore this brand. I understand RONIN have become popular on this site, so to test their lower range was great. And this sword will become my semprini sword, as i will literally use it to the max, and update everyone on how it goes.
this sword is worth the price. And ronin have impressed me so far............
maybe in the future i will buy their more reknown swords of dojo pro. Maybe.
Pros
- Weight and balance
- Strong for 1045
-REAL Hamon and is very pretty
-bo-hi not deep, making the blade light and balanced.
-can cutt well
-PRICE !
Cons
-Hamon not as prominent
-fittings could of been better
The Bottom Line
OVERALL
HANDLING 4.5/5
BLADE 4/5
FITTINGS 3/5
CUTTING 4/5 [SO FAR]
DARE i say that this sword is better than Hanwei PPK XL, or raptor due to weight balance and price, with real hamon and cutting ability.
Thanks
i can answer any questions. feel free to ask.
Also i own following brands
Hanwei
kawashima
cheness
masahiro
No pics yet, as im customizing it. But will upload shortly.
Befor i start the review i would like to say that im not trained in iado or tameshigiri. I have trained under a sensei in Aikido sword, which he taught me the basics of handling and cutting techniques. Not in depth[thankfully he knew IADO]
But everything else i had to self learn.
The Ronin katana rk model 4.
www.roninkatana.com/RK-series-katana.html
Im going to keep the review brief, im sorry about the pics, i will upload once im finish customizing it.
So after being away from katanas for 3 years i decided to jump back in with a new brand which i didnt really trust.
I own top range Hanweis from the Tiger, tsunami, to cheness o katana, raptors, and the PPK series, all being brilliant Cutters.
So there was no need to really grab a new sword TBH. :shock:
Historical overview
Made in the Dotanuki image, a sword fast produced during times of war, and lethal in battle.
Full Disclosure
I brought this sword from Oriental weaponary UK, arrived next day. Many thanks to them for their service.
Initial Impressions
But i saw the reviews espeically from SBG , and desruction test videos and didnt actually beleive what i was seeing. The sword was resialiant for 1045 and quite impressive.
And so i decided to pick up the cheapest of the ronin brand being the RK series. For £139 Uk money . Cheap for a brand sword. But id pay that money for a good brand.
I didnt have high hopes at all for the sword, but once i got it out of the box my impressions changed.
SAYA
nice laquer, no marks , and basic .
ITO WRAP
Fake silk cotton, wrapped well, no shoddy work and looked presentable.
RAYSKIN
cant tell if its fake or not, defo doesant have a plastic look about it at all. Will paint black though.
FITTINGS AND TSUBA
no complaints at all. Nice and basic.
BLADE
its here that i was impressed. The blade is polished well, much better than some of cheness. The HAMON however is great , but not as prominant is had hoped. I needed to clean the residue and grease off first. The blade afterwards showed beuty. I do wish the hamon was more prominant because its REAL !! and its much more nicer than many swords out their.
Which is shocking that the sword is under $150 with a Real hamon, and capable of cutting.
The sword has a BO-HI BUT.... BUT. its not deep at all, very shallow, and ive never had a bo-hi sword with a groove as showllow as this. Really it seems great becuase, it has not taken much beef off the sword, as most deep bo-hi swords do. And makes the sword balanced and light.
Now... im pretty impressed, with one thing in particular.
The weight and feel. Ive handeld many swords, some of the heavy duty cutters i own, always did everything well, but the weight put me off. Funny enough im 6ft 2 with a strong build. And for some reason the lighter swords have always made me feel satisfied with cutts and swings, and made me feel as if i put the effort into technique rather than blade doing everything.
Test Cutting
here goes. The light and excellent weight and balance of the sword really made me use my technique better.
The heavy duty cutters like PPK ect, always do most of the work for you. Not here.
COKE BOTTLE
taken out with ease, but bottom was left ... wasnt impressed. It was a simple swing with no technique just to test.
Milk bottles plastic Easily taken out the sword didnt take no scratch or damage.
easy enough at this point.
WASHING SODA BOTTLE/ MUCH HARDER taken out with ease ? But why did the sword take out this harder bottle and than the coke bottle ?
Lucozade bottles so i stepped up my sword tech , and used the cutting technique as if its iado.
The bottle taken out with ease.
Conclusions
n conclusion i noticed one thing that many of you may not notice or do. Heavy duty cutters have made us lazy
or me at least . This sword actuallu challenged me to cutt better. And what i notice is that 1065 plus steel swords for backyard cutting have become much more user freindly. Thats not to say the Ronin isnt. But the ronin requires much more technique that something like a pc raptor. The sword requires a bit more skill than i initialy thought it would.
Anyway i wish to test the sword again. The cutting was brief, and judging from the destruction test , this sword can take on much much more.
Overall im very happy with the katana. At the price paid.. its a steal and shockingly im more happy about cutting with this sword than i am with some of my top expensive models. Simply beacause of weght and balance. It feels much more freindly in hands, and i do weight lifting too. So this sword is available to anyone. What pains me is that the katana is cheap, and on another level than other katanas at the same price point and sooo much inferior, and people will ignore this brand. I understand RONIN have become popular on this site, so to test their lower range was great. And this sword will become my semprini sword, as i will literally use it to the max, and update everyone on how it goes.
this sword is worth the price. And ronin have impressed me so far............
maybe in the future i will buy their more reknown swords of dojo pro. Maybe.
Pros
- Weight and balance
- Strong for 1045
-REAL Hamon and is very pretty
-bo-hi not deep, making the blade light and balanced.
-can cutt well
-PRICE !
Cons
-Hamon not as prominent
-fittings could of been better
The Bottom Line
OVERALL
HANDLING 4.5/5
BLADE 4/5
FITTINGS 3/5
CUTTING 4/5 [SO FAR]
DARE i say that this sword is better than Hanwei PPK XL, or raptor due to weight balance and price, with real hamon and cutting ability.
Thanks
i can answer any questions. feel free to ask.
Also i own following brands
Hanwei
kawashima
cheness
masahiro