Anyone know anything about katana's?
 

http://bugei.com/index.htm

I want one for some reason, but not a cheap home shopping channel special.

I think I'll buy myself one as a college graduation present, then I just need to figure out how to use it.:D

They are just so cool I must have one!

Some kid on Long Island was just convicted for killing his stepfather with one. The Japanese swords are the finest made. They laminate the steel by hand and some of the swords are dozens of layers thick. They hold an edge like no other sword. My dad says the Japanese with swords cut the heads off of tens of thousands of Chinese in the course of WWII.

On a sidebar, the same technology works for woodworking tools, and the Japanese chisels are without peer. They also cost the most. You get what you pay for.

Please no Hari Kari. Your honor and face remains intact here at MS.

I hang out with a "motorcycle club" sometimes, although I don't ride myself. A friend of mine in that group rides a Katana, he's ok happy with it. From what I understand, it's the slowest 600cc sport bike available, and it's nicknamed "Can-o-Tuna". From seeing the bike, and from my limited knowledge on bikes, the first thin I noticed is how short the rear end is, and how wide the farings are. Personally, if I was shopping for a 600cc bike, I'd rather get a Honda.

06 kawasaki 636:D :D :D

even tho we arnt talking about bikes,the katana(motorcyle) is junk.

and now back to the regularly scheduled posts/:D

Bugei are great, their swords are top notch.
What did you want to know? And if there's something I can't answer, ask on the Blades UK Forum. There's a wealth of knowledge to be had there. :)

Folded steel laminate blade is the secret. I think Cold Steel is the only knife manufacturer that follows this process offering 3 times folded blade in their "military classic" fighting knife that resembles the Randall, considered the finest general purpose bowie sized knife in the world.

Cold Steel makes katanas too but why bother with a sword that you will never use? More likely it will be fun for thrashing at bushes for awhile but then you will get bored with it. Instead I'd recommend getting yourself one damned fine bowie sized knife that you can use for practically anything like dressing deer and game or as general purpose blade for the rest of your life.

Surf Randall, Marbles and Cold Steel knives on ebay.... These are the best manufacturers of knives. Ebay has an amazing population of knife collectors. Offering lots of vintage discontinued models in perfect condition, better craftsmanship then modern day blades. Prices range from about $200- $800 for the best there is.

But if you must get a katana and actually plan to learn how to use it, then start with a well-ballanced wooden practice sword that you can bring to dojo's for instruction and competion, sparring with others.

Indiana Jones--Temple of Doom (Raiders of the Lost Ark?)
 

One of my favorite movie scenes of all time: the black-suited ninja like dude, whoopin and spinnin his big curved sword in front of Indiana Jones to the oohing and ahhing of the crowd......until Jones pulls out his revolver and blows the guy away.:rolleyes:


If you want to get a sword, and since you are a Patton devotee, why not get a US Army Cavalry sword of the type that Patton designed? At least you would then have an antique that would hold its value then, instead of something you would later look back on as a piece of crap bought during your video game stage:D

PS: I have two CSA officer's swords in my office and 3 SS daggars and a death's head ring that I have inherited over the years.

It was the first movie. Raiders of the Lost Ark and the guy was some sort of assasin brandishing a cimitar. He was flailing it around real official like, and the crowd oohed and aahed and parted so he could have a straight shot at Indy, then Indy took out the gun and shot him. It was a scene that went from suspense and fright to a big laugh. That movie is a classic.

I think there must be also antique Katanas out there, just as there are Civil War Swords. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a good collection of them as well as armor and armaments from all over the world including 16th Century armor from Germany. My sons really like that stuff and so do I. The craftsmenship is unbelievable, and the condition is flawless.

Doug you're right yes, the Japanese did kill a lot of Chinese when they invaded which is mostly the reason why my grandparents were literally running for their lives at the time. As a result it's a sore subject and they only talked about it once when we were doing a family tree. As a result there are a lot of holes in the chart due to lost memories or suppression.

Anyhow that scene in Raiders is funny but it was accidental because Ford was extremely sick at the time.....freeze frame the DVD and you'll see that he looks like he's about to keel over. So becuase he was sick they opted to just shoot the swordsman. :D

Those cold steel blades are tri-laminated. You can see the seam on either side of the sharpened blade.

The true Japanese blades have many many more layers as the numbers of layers are compounded at a geometric rate. After just 20 folds you have a million layers which creates an amazing product when complete.

It's gotta be a Hattori Hanzō blade...

Either way, I can take out anyone wielding one with my Kimber Ultra 10 .45 for about the same price.

GD movie nerds gotta ruin everything.:rolleyes:

ps: I thought you were getting a Van Staal for graduation--much more smarter betterer choice.;)

The Japanese woodworking chisels actually have a very hard layer of steel laminated to a softer layer of iron (old ship anchors were preferred at one time) so that when you sharpen them, they are easy to sharpen because you are mostly honing the iron, but the thin layer of hard steel at the cutting edge will hold it's edge longer than any other chisels that I know of.

Speaking of WWII, I remember when the miniseries "The Halocaust" came on Dutch TV. Per our Pa, we were not allowed to watch it. And he sat in the den reading a book for the evenings that it was on, so we would not turn it on. He was forced labor for the Nazis in a plant manufacturing optics for gun sights. He and his other Dutch and Belgian engineer friends figured out some way to ruin the accuracy of the sights while still allowing them to test out correctly. He had to deal with the Germans later in life in his role as a metallurgical engineer for Philips but he never liked the majority. It is kind of like Canada vs. the US but Germany invaded the Netherlands three times in a 100 year period.

Imo
 

Instead of spending graduation money on a weapon; why not take the same money and do some travelling.
Ever been to Amsterdam? The Grand Canyon?? San Francisco??
Costa Rica???
:cool:

hash brownies?:D