Fred from United States, UT Public Profile

Compact katana. Purposely made with overly thick & wide blade to cut more like a full-size katana. Good for indoor practice. Heavy enough I believe the stated 42.5 oz weight. Mine has 24.7" blade, 10.9" handle, 4.8" POB , & wide 9" long thick tang (all relative to tsuba); tight faux silk ito wrap & 2 solid handle pegs, reasonably sharp. Zero grind like most Japanese swords. Little distal taper (8mm at guard, 6mm near tip). 1.4" wide blade at tsuba (leads to wider but still comfortable handle). Almost no flex in blade. Since heavier & slower should work better on larger & heavier “force sensitive” targets instead of lighter “velocity sensitive” targets. Only issues are barely loose tsuba (guard), missing 1 of 2 fork decorations on handle side of tsuba, & slight scuffing on blade. Nice overall but purposely inexpensive & quality user sword so negligible issues to me. Swings well & oftentimes whistles, feels heavier but not too bad, and well balanced (but personally glad didn't get larger ones). Reasonable use one-handed; sings two-handed. One of my favorite swords!

Not Perfect, But Good. * Pros: Really sharp, no loose parts or extra large gaps, everything straight & manufactured properly, scabbard not loose, very nicely balanced, handles well with one or both hands. * Cons: Long scratch on leather grip on one side, scabbard leaves large marks on blade, scabbard really tight. * Overall: Very nice functional stabbing & cutting sword for use with one or both hands. Handles much better with one hand than Cold Steel's similar Hand-and-a-Half Sword, but doesn't cut nearly as well. If you want it for a display piece, don't put it in the scabbard at all to reduce difficult-to-remove blade marks. I like it.