Som katana ?

[gypes37]

Is this being made to order now or do you have them being made now and waiting for restock. I didnt get the chance to grab one when they came out and my birthday is coming up in about a week or so lol.

[Flashing Steel]

i think he's waiting for a restock... i think jason told me it'd be about another month til they were in and that was a couple weeks ago

[Jason Moore]

Still waiting on word from the forge.

[goose710]

jason
since we're on the SOM subject, is there talk of a wak.?? other than as previously descussed
da gooseman

[Jason Moore]

No doubt about it Goose, just waiting for the Kats and then starting on the Waks...

[goose710]

Jason
i need at least Three!!!!!!!! starting with #1 to match my kat
da gooseman

[gypes37]

A wak sounds cool... not too sure why but lately i prefer waks to kats.

[Jason Moore]

I will definitely let you guys know as soon as I know.

[Kurubushi Kamu]

Wakizashi #3 to match my katana would be nice... :-?. Oops, did I say that out loud? Thanks J! KK

[mikeah]

I did something good today and I want to reward myself, so when can we expect the SOM swords back in?

As far as the Wakizashi, I'm pushing for a 20" blade and 10" Tsuka. The longer than standard handle will provide better balance for fighting and permit the use of it in confined spaces 2 handed. Getting your hands apart provides more leverage and better control. Like the SOM, leave off the bo-hi. That will make it silent.

[Stitch]

Just a thought for future SOM swords, but what about a SOM "O-Katana"? Something like 1095 carbon steel with a 35 inch blade, 15 inch handle, and perhaps a 2 1/2 inch sori.

How wicked would that look? =P~

again, just a thought.

[illmade2]

How about something non Japanese and in a less expensive price range for those of us with a very limited budget...how about a SOM Kurkri, Bowie, Bolo, Axe, Dirk. etc. Something down and dirty, a user for backyard or backwoods.

[Taygrd]

how about a SOM Kurkri, Bowie, Bolo, Axe, Dirk. etc. Something down and dirty, a user for backyard or backwoods.
Kurkri ? :> That sounds nice.

[illmade2]

if you really had to get the Japanese feel to it, you could do something like what a guy on ebay calls a Japanese survival knife
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_japsurvival.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=japsurvival.jpg)
http://swordsofmightforum.com/%5BURL=http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=japsurvival.jpg%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_japsurvival.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D

[Travis Morris]

if you really had to get the Japanese feel to it, you could do something like what a guy on ebay calls a Japanese survival knife
http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_japsurvival.jpg (http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=japsurvival.jpg)
http://swordsofmightforum.com/%5BURL=http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/?action=view&current=japsurvival.jpg%5D%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/illmade2/th_japsurvival.jpg%5B/IMG%5D%5B/URL%5D

David Goldberg :-?

[Dotanuki]

Jason,

Remember to save Wakizashi #7 for me, whenever they arrive!!

[Caliper]

I'm saving up to get the SOM katana and wak toguether, eagerly awaiting :evilbat:

[Stitch]

So no one agrees on an O-Katana?

[Mako]

So no one agrees on an O-Katana?
I don't think there'd be a lot of interest personally but that's just my opinion, a 35" blade with such a steep sori may look wicked but it's practicality for 'Mr Average' would be limited.

On the other hand...

As far as the Wakizashi, I'm pushing for a 20" blade and 10" Tsuka. The longer than standard handle will provide better balance for fighting and permit the use of it in confined spaces 2 handed. Getting your hands apart provides more leverage and better control. Like the SOM, leave off the bo-hi. That will make it silent.
...a 10" tsuka would make it a chisa katana, not a conventional wakizashi but that could be a good thing from a commercial point of view because I've read that a lot of guys love this kind of sword and there doesn't appear to be much choice on the market these days...is there?

[goose710]

Mako
I have a cheness "chisa katana", 21" blade, 10" tuska i like it very much, seems better balanced one hand or two. I'd like to see a SOM wak have that option. maybe two models 6'/10' tuska.
da gooseman

[mikeah]

The problem with a very long and heavy blade is that it will be slow. If you collect these to look at or to cut with that is a different thing. Personally, I want to be able to pick it up and be able to fight with the blade. Not being a professional warrior, I don't have the style, skill or the strength to handle the longer blade.

>>...a 10" tsuka would make it a chisa katana, not a conventional wakizashi

But as a mini-katana it is lighter, exceptionally fast and equally deadly. It also works better in an American house with the standard 8 foot ceiling. Sadly, I have taken out a light fixture or two with a standard Katana. For home defense or a fight against multiple opponents (where speed is critical) the 10/20 would be very nice.

Practicality is the key.

Also I'm writing a novel about Samurai Japan. My main character prefers the Wakizashi for those reasons. I actually have a Wak with those measurements from handmadeswords, and it is nice (a Damascus blade) that I use to choreograph the fight scenes. There are a few problems using an actual sword for that purpose however.

[Caliper]

who will you be fighting against with your Katana?!

[Monkeybear]

I find the 10/20 wak to be very intriguing. I like the 14-28 kat too so maybe its the 1-2 ratio that appeals to my eye more so than the practical applications. The rule of thirds applied to swords :p

[mikeah]

who will you be fighting against with your Katana?!

You never know. I have some padded swords for practice. Why buy a sword if you never intend to use it for anything?

:SandS:

[illmade2]

Because you want too!!! I've collected for thirty years, haven't been in a sword fight yet...don't feel like I have missed a thing.

[the blade master]

well said illmade just because someone collects guns dont mean you have to go shooting folks etc etc i also collect khukeries dont mean i have to slice and dice every one i see mikeah this is a sword collecters forum with the emphasis on sword collecter

[Caliper]

You never know. I have some padded swords for practice. Why buy a sword if you never intend to use it for anything?

:SandS:

but if you loose, someone will run away with your sword and your head :duel:=))

[the blade master]

hi caliper
to avoid you having to chase your head downhill DUCK FASTER:celebration:=))=)):duel:

[mikeah]

Some folks do test cutting with the blades. Some do iaido/kendo forms with them. Some practice the art of fighting with them. The point to a "practical" katana is that it is useable as a sword, functional for disassembly and polishing/sharpening, and a good source of exercise by way of a martial art.

I have a really pretty katana that my kids bought for me from that Franklin Mint place. Magnificent, pretty, but worthless as a genuine weapon. It just hangs there on display. The ones that I prize are the ones that I keep close to me made from good steel, and that I would choose to pick up if my life depended on it. My best blade is a nice folded steel that is razor sharp. Unfortunatly it has tasted blood (mine).

Why buy dancing shoes if you won't wear them to dance in? Why buy a bowling ball just to look at? Even as a collector, don't you want to know how to use the tool?

[the blade master]

mike hi
most guys here are well versed in the use of the katana in martial arts iado self defence and some like me are not i personaly collect them because of the history of the katana the religious significance to the
samurai worrior and what the katana meant to them the process of making the katana as you dig deeper you will see what im trying to say in my own hamfisted way its the same with my scottish broadswords and my nepalese khukeries get to know dotanuki mako tagryd goose and others talk to them what the first two dont know aint worth nowing.regards mick

[Torawashi]

You never know. I have some padded swords for practice. Why buy a sword if you never intend to use it for anything?

:SandS:

.....If you have to ask, you'll never know.... B-)

[Monkeybear]

Why buy a sword if you never intend to use it for anything?

:SandS:

It never occurred to me to ask why. I simply found out that affordable Chinese katana-esque swords existed and I immediately went to "which one should I get?". Once I started paying one off I told my better half who brought up the question of "why?"; to which I still have no response.

[Maynar]

Why do men climb a mountain?

Because it's there. ;)

[illmade2]

I have functional swords, you can check my collection..I have functional axes...functional war clubs...functional war hammers....functional kurkris...but I am a collector..I have five functional weapons with in 3 feet of me every night when I sleep not counting a 80lb German Shepard at my feet and a GF that you really don't want to wake up. If some one ever attacked me in my home I could functional them to death but thats not in anyway why I collect...I collect because I love the history, the shape, the feel and the mystic of those weapons.

[bobO]

I use at least one of my swords once a day. Sleep with my Zato leaning up against the night stand. Use the kurkris to split kindling for the fire.

[the blade master]

hi illmade
you know your comments mirror mine exactly oh yea:ohyeah:

[illmade2]

What you have a 80lb German Shepard and a Girlfriend that is frightening to wake up too???

[the blade master]

not saying nowt she's watching me right now with that wiered look in
her eye again like she had when the dog was neutered :flaming:

[Caliper]

damn, you guys have issues, hahaha

I bet your wives sleep with a shield between you in case some of you wake up from a nightmare slashing into the air :mace:

[the blade master]

mine dont have to she sleeps with one eye open always

[illmade2]

Mine sleeps with a shortsword and a half dozen daggers on her bed side table

[mikeah]

Self Defense is a perfectly valid use for a sword. I also keep several near me when I sleep.

We seem to be strange people.

[andysoard]

Not really, you can never be sure what can happen while you are sleeping. I heard that a person defended his Playstation from a robber with his sword.
Anyone else hear about that a while back?