YariNoHanzo Custom Katana
Sept 22, 2016 11:45:16 GMT
Post by Creedl0rd on Sept 22, 2016 11:45:16 GMT
Introduction
I was on the search for a good looking red/black themed Katana, but just couldn't find one. But then I looked through the Nobunaga Katana Shinken on the website of YariNoHanzo and really liked the fittings. They were unknow to me and looked better then the normal production ones. After that I found out about the custom Katana option and saw the same fittings. I was very surprised with the whole lot of customization options, in my opinion a lot more than on the other sites I have seen.
So I decided to customize my own sword and placed the order.
Their site states the delivery takes from about 4 to 7 months. For me it took about nearly 8 months, but that didn't bother me that much because of the great, fast and personal customer support I received from Francesco (which I believe is in responsibility of the customer support).
He could always give me informations about the state of the sword, and also sent me some images. It only took so long because of the lining up of bad things with the transport and the custom clearance.
But now it arrived and I can say I'm pretty happy with it.
Historical overview
From the measurments it's more like an O-Katana, but it doesn't have any historical overview, some of the measurments I placed are out of the regular, and I just thought these would look good.
Full Disclosure
This sword was purchased at the normal price and was not given to me as a free review sample. I have not received a compensation to give this sword a favorable review.
I decided to review this sword because it was hard for me to find full reviews of YariNoHanzos custom Katanas.
Initial Impressions
I think I have stated my opinion to the customer support and the circumstances of shipping enough above, now lets start with the sword.
It came packed in the option I choose (just a cotton bag). And I knew I ordered a pretty big sword, but the moment I took it out of the bag I just felt like: „Yeah thats the sword I imagined“.
A very heavy, long and red/black sword with a lot of straight lines on the blade.
Statistics
The sword cost me 516.00 Euros without shipping costs because of a special action. (YariNoHanzo is a european shop). It's made of 1060 steel with a suguha hamon.
Left side the speccs and things I ordered, right side the things I received (this part is only about the measurments of the blade and tsuka).
Nagas 80c 80cm to the Habaki start (about 83 to the Hamachi)
Motohaba: 34mm 33mm
Sakihaba: 26mm (26mm was the limit, but I placed a 30mm
request for 32mm by Francesco.
It didn't cost me more to place this wish).
Sori: 20mm 24mm
Tsuka: 30cm 30cm
Motokasane: 8mm 8mm
Sakikasane: 5mm 5mm
Not everything on top spot, but in my opinion by far close enough, and my wish with the wider Sakihaba was also respected, which is also proves the good customer support from Francesco.
You also need to write Shinken in the comment when ordering to receive a sharp one.
Components
I received everything as I choose, and it's a very nice sword. Nonetheless there were some little things which could have been better, especially at this price range (although only small things don't bother me that much).
The Blade/Nagasa
A nice long and beefy blade, with a good looking suguha hamon and a double bohi.
But right here is the first „little“ thing that could be better.
The Yokote is not geometrical (though maybe you get one if you request it?). In my opinion there should be a geometrical Yokote at this price. Because the Yokote is polished and not geometric you can't see the Hamon that good.
Sharpness is about paper-cutting sharp. Not the sharpest blade I own, but also not a bad one. It's about the same sharpness as the other production Katanas (Cold Steel, Ronin etc.) I own.
Other than the non geometric Yokote the blade is very nice.
The Handle/Tsuka
This is a pretty good Tsuka, the Tsuka Ito is nice and tight. And it's also with Hishigami (extra option).
The „few“ diamonds are also wrapped nice and look good.
The wood doesn't has a special shape, maybe a little hourglass. But this could also just be illusion from the katate maki wrap. Nonetheless the comfort is higher than with my other swords because the diamonds are very smooth and the crosssections from them don't stand out that much.
The Guard/Tsuba and the Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
The fittings look pretty good, they have this runny red colour on them which looks pretty good in my opinion.
The guard sits tight and doesn't move at all, but the Fuchi is a little bit loose to the side. Luckily that won't affect the function and is a very common thing on production pieces.
Everything follows the same style and for the metal parts I choose copper, which also has a good look to it.
The Scabbard/Saya
Now we are at the Saya. The Saya has only one big blemish: It rattles. Not the ordinary rattle, but a rattle where you can hear how the blade scratches the wood while it rattles sideways (but atleast it doesn't rattle THAT much).
Except the rattle it's well made. The blade sits tight in the mouth of the saya and it also won't fall out when you hold it upside down.
The horn is lacquered over, but because its black horn it doesn't really make a difference in the look.
Handling Characteristics
The Tsuka is very comfortable with the battle warp. It weighs around 1,6 kg (probably a bit more, my scale is not the best) and with the P.O.B. around 17cm from the Tsuba its a hard hitting and slow sword.
Test Cutting
I don't have decided yet if I will test cut with this sword, should I decide to do so I'm going to post the results here.
Conclusions
I think I got a good and well made sword, with a minor blemish and a little bit room for improvement.
In this price range of 500 Euros they could add a geometric Yokote.
The only thing I actually see as a blemish here is the rattling saya.
Pros
+ The costumization options.
+ The friendly and fast customer support.
+ No custom clearance for people in Europe (gets done by YariNoHanzo).
+ You can add extra wishes.
Cons
- Long waiting time.
- A little bit expensiv (especially if you are not from europe)
The Bottom Line
If you are ready to spend a bit more, search for good customization options and don't mind the long waiting time, this is a good place to order your blade.
If you life outside of Europe and have to pay custom clearance extra it's going to be very expensiv.
I hope you enjoyed my first review and got some insight on this product. If you have any questions just comment them and I will try to answer as fast as possible.
I was on the search for a good looking red/black themed Katana, but just couldn't find one. But then I looked through the Nobunaga Katana Shinken on the website of YariNoHanzo and really liked the fittings. They were unknow to me and looked better then the normal production ones. After that I found out about the custom Katana option and saw the same fittings. I was very surprised with the whole lot of customization options, in my opinion a lot more than on the other sites I have seen.
So I decided to customize my own sword and placed the order.
Their site states the delivery takes from about 4 to 7 months. For me it took about nearly 8 months, but that didn't bother me that much because of the great, fast and personal customer support I received from Francesco (which I believe is in responsibility of the customer support).
He could always give me informations about the state of the sword, and also sent me some images. It only took so long because of the lining up of bad things with the transport and the custom clearance.
But now it arrived and I can say I'm pretty happy with it.
Historical overview
From the measurments it's more like an O-Katana, but it doesn't have any historical overview, some of the measurments I placed are out of the regular, and I just thought these would look good.
Full Disclosure
This sword was purchased at the normal price and was not given to me as a free review sample. I have not received a compensation to give this sword a favorable review.
I decided to review this sword because it was hard for me to find full reviews of YariNoHanzos custom Katanas.
Initial Impressions
I think I have stated my opinion to the customer support and the circumstances of shipping enough above, now lets start with the sword.
It came packed in the option I choose (just a cotton bag). And I knew I ordered a pretty big sword, but the moment I took it out of the bag I just felt like: „Yeah thats the sword I imagined“.
A very heavy, long and red/black sword with a lot of straight lines on the blade.
Statistics
The sword cost me 516.00 Euros without shipping costs because of a special action. (YariNoHanzo is a european shop). It's made of 1060 steel with a suguha hamon.
Left side the speccs and things I ordered, right side the things I received (this part is only about the measurments of the blade and tsuka).
Nagas 80c 80cm to the Habaki start (about 83 to the Hamachi)
Motohaba: 34mm 33mm
Sakihaba: 26mm (26mm was the limit, but I placed a 30mm
request for 32mm by Francesco.
It didn't cost me more to place this wish).
Sori: 20mm 24mm
Tsuka: 30cm 30cm
Motokasane: 8mm 8mm
Sakikasane: 5mm 5mm
Not everything on top spot, but in my opinion by far close enough, and my wish with the wider Sakihaba was also respected, which is also proves the good customer support from Francesco.
You also need to write Shinken in the comment when ordering to receive a sharp one.
Components
I received everything as I choose, and it's a very nice sword. Nonetheless there were some little things which could have been better, especially at this price range (although only small things don't bother me that much).
The Blade/Nagasa
A nice long and beefy blade, with a good looking suguha hamon and a double bohi.
But right here is the first „little“ thing that could be better.
The Yokote is not geometrical (though maybe you get one if you request it?). In my opinion there should be a geometrical Yokote at this price. Because the Yokote is polished and not geometric you can't see the Hamon that good.
Sharpness is about paper-cutting sharp. Not the sharpest blade I own, but also not a bad one. It's about the same sharpness as the other production Katanas (Cold Steel, Ronin etc.) I own.
Other than the non geometric Yokote the blade is very nice.
The Handle/Tsuka
This is a pretty good Tsuka, the Tsuka Ito is nice and tight. And it's also with Hishigami (extra option).
The „few“ diamonds are also wrapped nice and look good.
The wood doesn't has a special shape, maybe a little hourglass. But this could also just be illusion from the katate maki wrap. Nonetheless the comfort is higher than with my other swords because the diamonds are very smooth and the crosssections from them don't stand out that much.
The Guard/Tsuba and the Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
The fittings look pretty good, they have this runny red colour on them which looks pretty good in my opinion.
The guard sits tight and doesn't move at all, but the Fuchi is a little bit loose to the side. Luckily that won't affect the function and is a very common thing on production pieces.
Everything follows the same style and for the metal parts I choose copper, which also has a good look to it.
The Scabbard/Saya
Now we are at the Saya. The Saya has only one big blemish: It rattles. Not the ordinary rattle, but a rattle where you can hear how the blade scratches the wood while it rattles sideways (but atleast it doesn't rattle THAT much).
Except the rattle it's well made. The blade sits tight in the mouth of the saya and it also won't fall out when you hold it upside down.
The horn is lacquered over, but because its black horn it doesn't really make a difference in the look.
Handling Characteristics
The Tsuka is very comfortable with the battle warp. It weighs around 1,6 kg (probably a bit more, my scale is not the best) and with the P.O.B. around 17cm from the Tsuba its a hard hitting and slow sword.
Test Cutting
I don't have decided yet if I will test cut with this sword, should I decide to do so I'm going to post the results here.
Conclusions
I think I got a good and well made sword, with a minor blemish and a little bit room for improvement.
In this price range of 500 Euros they could add a geometric Yokote.
The only thing I actually see as a blemish here is the rattling saya.
Pros
+ The costumization options.
+ The friendly and fast customer support.
+ No custom clearance for people in Europe (gets done by YariNoHanzo).
+ You can add extra wishes.
Cons
- Long waiting time.
- A little bit expensiv (especially if you are not from europe)
The Bottom Line
If you are ready to spend a bit more, search for good customization options and don't mind the long waiting time, this is a good place to order your blade.
If you life outside of Europe and have to pay custom clearance extra it's going to be very expensiv.
I hope you enjoyed my first review and got some insight on this product. If you have any questions just comment them and I will try to answer as fast as possible.