Good swords?

[NightOwl]

Howdy everyone!

Any tips for finding quality swords, and not just ones you see for 5.99 on the home shopping network or in home depot next to the light fixtures? I dunno what kind of sword I am looking for (alas, katana are cool, but are overrated...if anything I need a non-Japanese sword first t boost my already large ego ), but any tips would be great!

....ok, IF I were to buy a katana (I'm too weak I admit), are there any reputable katana smiths? I'll actually be studying in Japan for a year so travel isn't too much of an issue....

[lordtariel]

The Hanwei line by Paul Chen is absolutely great. They're a very expensive, but I've had a chance to actually try a dao before and it was a really solid sword and I felt worth the price. They make fantasy, European and Eastern weapons. You can find their swords at various places.

http://www.thesteelsource.com/html/hanwei.htm

http://www.discountcutlery.net/en-us/dept_21317.html

http://www.martialartsmart.net/Hanwei_Forge.html

[NightOwl]

Thanks lordtariel, I'll have to check them out. There is actually a smith not too far from my house, but I have no idea about how good their swords are.

[ARADOX]

Never bought one myself but if its aesthetics you're looking for you can't go wrong with kit rae, just google him, you'll find something, but martialartssupply.com has lots of stuff,is money a factor, coz a good katana can cost upwards of £200,000, and yes I do mean pounds not dollars, so it'd be around 300,000. Mind that these are VERY VERY VERY good quality, and not ebay rubbish.

[SBN Doug]

I bought mine through my school master. He and the Grand Master worked a deal with a swordsmith in Korea.

$1,400, but is solid in my hand and slices through the rattan rolled mats like butter.

[Neo Dragon]

or in home depot next to the light fixtures?

Whoah man what kind of home depo do you have over there? lol

[Andrew_Patton]

try the swords over at Kris cutlery ( https://www.kriscutlery.com ) the choices aren't very broad, but they're very durable and well made ( not to mention "budget level" cheap.

[bushido_man96]

https://www.albionarmorers.com

https://www.lutel.cz

[KarateEd]

Mantis Swords has a pretty good selection of both Asian and European swords.

Ed

[Tkd_MMA]

I only use blades made by Hanwei I have 4 swords made by paul chen and everyone is built like nothing i have ever seen. I prefer the Golden Oriole but that is alittle steep to for a sword around 1,500 for a learning sword i'd go for a Practical which goes for about 250.