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Post by snowbite on Feb 1, 2019 21:25:23 GMT
The Practical Plus Elite from SOTE arrived today, a mere 95 hours after clicking the buy button on Monday--it would have arrived yesterday if not for the polar vortex. Unpacked it and cleaned it up. Very rattly in the saya, but the habaki seats nicely and everything else looks straight and tight. A couple little scuffs on one side of the blade, probably from the loose saya. Tsuka wrap is extremely tight. I was lukewarm on the sunburst tsuba, but I love it now that I see it. Really like the matte finish on the saya, and horn fittings. The little extras really make it worth it. I'm very happy with it. Can't speak to the performance yet--won't be doing any cutting until winter is over. Not light & nimble like I was originally shopping for, but this will definitely fill the "looker/cutter" slot on the rack. What else do you want to know?
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Post by snowbite on Feb 1, 2019 21:52:11 GMT
This sword is truly a reference starting point for me & I'm very satisfied with it as a "traditional" katana (in my eyes, anyway). Now I can start bracketing with lighter/faster/weirder designs. If you guys taught me anything so far, it's "start making room on the walls."
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jinx
Member
The Kunoichi AKA Jedigirl
Posts: 16
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Post by jinx on Feb 1, 2019 23:01:24 GMT
Now that you checked off those qualities maybe consider a ko katana with bo hi. Small and light. I got a cheness tenchi ko kat as a fixer upper. For a practical cutter it's a cheap tough blade. Not much more but got what I payed for. No regrets though one is never enough..lol
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Post by zabazagobo on Feb 1, 2019 23:16:54 GMT
Nice, sounds good so far. Glad to hear the ito is tight, that's always an important feature. Look forward to hearing more of your thoughts as you put it through its paces.
Like nternal805 mentioned, now that you have a solid foundation on a standard 'vanilla' design, you can start figuring out likes/dislikes and experiment. I still think you'll enjoy trying out an unokubi zukuri at some point
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Post by Adrian Jordan on Feb 1, 2019 23:34:17 GMT
Congratulations on the new sword! Saya rattle, the bane of sword collectors everywhere. You can't escape it. Yeah, the Elite has a thinner but wider blade than the standard Classic blade. It makes it a better cutter but adds a little weight and pushes the point of balance out a bit, which makes it feel heavier, but adds a bit of power to the cut. The Practical Plus Classic like I have has a less robust blade and the POB is a bit further towards the tsuba, so it's really nimble, but wouldn't cut as well as yours, I don't think.
I'm assuming that, like the rest of us, the second you got your sword you realized that you aren't actually a one sword man. So congratulations on that, too! Self delusion is harmful, and I'm glad you don't have to suffer from that anymore. I was thinking about it and thought that I'd add another sword or two that you may want to look at when your battle chest is sufficiently replenished.
Of course, keep looking at the Huawei Unokubi-zukuri and Hanwei Practical Plus that were preciously mentioned. They're totally awesome.
I remembered another sword that I got to handle that was a blades. It was the Cheness Tenchi ko-katana. It's a shorter blade, somewhere between a wakizashi and katana, with a katana-length handle. Now, Cheness used to be a darling around here(and the collectors market in general). Their offerings never really improved with the level that competitors did, though, and there were some cases of not good customer service. So, proceed with caution if you order through them(you can also buy them thought the SBG Sword Store and be a bit better protected), but if you get a good one it's super fun. They also have a Kaze model ko-katana that has a DH blade. The Tenchi model runs around $200, the Kaze runs around $230-$240.
The humble Musashi Shirakawa. The Shirakawa is their DH 1060 line. Not fancy, cheapy-deapy and not as durable as any of the others mentioned, but a light, fast and fun sword. Value-to-price ratio is fantastic. Most models run between $100-$130. Great for a bit of fun when you don't want to risk one of your nicer swords, or when you have friends and family over and, after the initial inevitable scoffing and eye rolling at your immaturity for buying a sword, they hold the thing and immediately understand that they have to cut something with one. You can break one of these out with confidence that it isn't going to explode on impact, or the worry that they are going to slam the edge of the stand with your nice $300 sword. These can be found most places that sell swords. Swordnarmory is my personal favorite, Kult of Athena is great, but I'm sure SotE has them as well, and you already had a good experience with them.
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pgandy
Moderator
Senior Forumite
Posts: 10,296
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Post by pgandy on Feb 4, 2019 22:08:42 GMT
I keep coming back to the Musashi Bamboo that was so highly regarded here at SBG, and “ticks” a lot of my boxes. Decent steel, 27.5” blade, real ray skin, real hamon, brass fittings. However, the price has climbed to $124 ($146 delivered). Is this still a good value? www.trueswords.com/Bamboo-Warrior-Musashi-Carbon-Steel-Katana-Sword-30284Any other contenders that I’m missing? They are excluding the habaki. I measure including the habaki as that is included in the draw and the extreme reach of the cut, and mine is 28.5”.
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Post by snowbite on Feb 5, 2019 19:21:51 GMT
Thanks guys, once the credit card cools down I'm going to look into a ko or a waki. I'll keep looking at those unokubi from Huawei too.
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reptaronice1
Member
Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on May 28, 2019 17:17:50 GMT
Check out huawei if no one else has mentioned. What is ur budget?
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