Musha Hand Forged Zetsurin 1045 Carbon Steel Katana, Samurai Sword. for Collection, Gift, Straw Mat Cutting Practice

This katana is sold by a few other vendors and I read some bad bad reviews on it and a few positive ones and I had fifty bucks so I ordered it for fun. What I got was actually nice functional katana that does katana like stuff. So in that since I feel like I got every dollar worth plus much more. If I were a Samurai back in the Edo period then this is not the katana I would want to go to battle with. Here's what i mean, this katana is 1045 Steel full tang so its already better then the fake stainless steel katanas that are brittle and prone to shattering. Keeping in mind the 1045 is the lowest acceptable grade steel for a sword it still makes the cut. For under fifty dollars its a real freaking sword! Not razor sharp but can be sharpened. It has a obviously fake hamon so its not clay tempered or anything BUT its still a real katana sword! even if its a bad one.. From what I hear most people #$%^ up there first sword so if you wanna go slashing away and random stuff this could be a good sword to do that with, if you break or bend it your not out a hole lot of cash. Its got a interesting look that might be cool for decor. The knife honestly is junk, i think of it as decoration only but still looks neat. The blade is clean and straight and has a good balance to it. If you have a higher price range and want something you can be proud of that is stronger t10,1060 and 1095 will all be stronger steels and will have better craftsmanship from like $120-$300 but that number can also go way way up into the thousands but again under for fifty you still get a real katana sword and to me that impressive as hell.

My first katana, and this Musha seems definitely one of the best ways to go. Love the feel and construction. Artful simplicity.Very nicely painted wooden saya, nice enough to get mad when I chipped it on the floor trying to first remove the katana. I think the knife is only there to trim the inside of the saya as desired and if needed, which mine did, and it promptly bent; so maybe it is meant to be removed after that initial task bcs it's just kind of in the way of a clean draw. It's more of a letter opener than a thrower, though the knife is still a really thoughtful addition for that utilitarian reason alone.Feels great; well done.

I remember waaay back in the day modifying a katana I owned that had 440 stainless steel blade welded to a rod that went into the tsuka(handle) which was then secured via a nut, then hidden inside the tsuka gashira (end cap of the handle). These types of swords were pretty much all we had access to, next to high end Japan made aluminum bladed ones.Anyway, what I did was cut/trim the tsuba(hand guard) so it basically looked like this Musha sword. I practiced a lot with bokken (wooden sword) that usually had no tsuba so I was used to not having one.I then found a shirasaya (type of non ornamented handle and saya (scabbard) used to protect the katana blade from rust prior to embellishing) type. I wrapped the handle with the traditional cord wrap look using epoxy and shoe laces! The sword again, basically looked like this Musha.All that said, I was happy to find this sword based on what I already mentioned. My item had the following CONS:1: Red saya was more like, “very brown with some red in it”.2: Saya also was “wavy” on the surface. I was wiping it down and could feel a ton of dips in it. Strange that the gloss lacquer doesn’t show this though but that’s a good thing i guess.3: Tsuka Ito(cord wrap on handle) was very loose.4: Kogatana/Kozuka: the little utility blade that comes with this was loose in the sword cloth. So be careful when taking the sword out of the cloth. The Kozuka isn’t sharp at all and is very flimsy. At least mine was. It’s a chisel grind blade(ground on one side of the blade) made for right handers. Gonna try to see if it’ll actually get sharp since it feels like sheet metal. If it does get sharp I’ll use it as a letter opener…5: Hamon.(Wavy pattern on edge side of blade) I can’t stand the etched on fully symmetrical Hamon they put on these blades. Just sayin.6: Habaki.(Metal piece that holds the sword in the saya.) One side in big letters, Musha. The other side in big letters, China. Gonna try to get these off. It is better than having it on the blade though…PROS:1: Sword fit very well into the saya. Just right.2: Fuchi (collar at the very top of the handle) was done nicely and I always liked the symbol on it, Tomoe, the symbol for war.3: I’m very familiar with these softer carbon type blades and they’re easy to sharpen, can cut great if you’re not using it as a machete. However, if you make these steel types too sharp they’ll chip easy or the edge will roll. So just “sharp enough” and practice cut on proper “things”.4: This sword would make for a nice display piece.Best thing is the price! I mean c’mon…it’s about the same price as 1-2 large specialty pizza with some sides and 2 liter sodas! Maybe even less! It’s a functional sword, great for practicing, etc etc…I liked this one even with all its faults. So much so, I just bought the black version for display. I intend on using this red one strictly for practice drawing/cutting after I put some gaffer’s tape over the loose cord wrap for now.Considering what you get for the price, maybe this should be a 5 star…

it's a really pretty sword. an obvious display piece. We only display functional weapons in my house and while this ships sharp, it's not up to the quality of Musashi's purpose built cutting swords.... So me and my son bought two of these, dulled them down*, and now we use them as Iaido practice swords.* if you want to dull a sword without utterly destroying the blade, use a screw driver, and sweep the rounded shaft of the driver much like one would a sharpening steel, except instead of trying to straighten the cutting edge with the steel, you're folding it over on itself. this will leave the sword in a state where you could resharpen it again in the future, but still dull enough to use for drawing practice with relative safety. (you will still get minor cuts if you grab the blade fiercely instead of the handle, but you wont lose a finger).