$60-$500 Katana Buying Ramble and Suggestions

This is a video for folks looking to buy a katana from the $60-$500 range. This video makes an attempt at some recommendations for people looking to buy a katana and gives an overview of some of the available options commonly found in swords.

The majority of the video focuses on mass produced swords out of China.

Good spot to buy swords:
https://www.kultofathena.com/

Recommendations:

These are all off the shelf models that have impressed me in terms of durability and value for the money. None of them are perfect but all of them have been worth the asking price in my opinion.


$60 - Musha 1045 Katana
https://www.kultofathena.com/product/...
   • Musha Musashi $50 Practical Samurai S...  

$130 - Ronin Katana RK #13
https://roninkatana.com/samurai-sword...
   • Ronin Katana Entry Level Katana RK#13...  

$260 - Hanwei Practical XL
https://www.kultofathena.com/product/...
   • CAS Iberia Practical Plus Katana (PPK...  

$300 - Ronin Dojo Pro
https://www.kultofathena.com/product/...
   • Ronin Katana Dojo Pro #9 O-Katana Des...  

$330 - Hanwei Raptor
https://www.kultofathena.com/product/...
   • CAS Iberia Raptor Katana Drunken Revi...  


These are the customization sites I have worked with. My experience has been different because each of them knew I had a YouTube channel. There have been pros and cons to each.

I think JKOO has the best pricing but the feedback I have heard suggests they have the most challenging website to use and have more mistakes than others. They still make good products at a good value but you will want to be sure you specify exactly what you want.
https://www.sinosword.com/


Swords of Northshire seems to have the best hit rate in terms of getting orders right and I think the website is the easiest to use. You pay a little more but the service seems worth it.
https://www.swordsofnorthshire.com/


Ryansword has been somewhere between the two. They also have a tarnished reputation in the sword community for reasons that are not entirely related to the quality of product they produce. My experience with them has been positive overall.
https://www.ryansword.com/


General recommendations -
Get a sword you are not afraid to use and then use it! For a good value on a durable sword, I recommend a through hardened 1060-1095 blade. They tend to be the most reasonable in terms of budget.

When you get a sword, it is not a bad idea to lacquer the handle. You can get spray lacquer at a hardware store. You may also want to add a dab of glue to the kashira (end cap) to make sure it stays on. Most of these sub $500 swords have mediocre handle construction. It is common across the majority of swords in the market.
This video might have some tips
   • Katana Repair:  A Crappy Guide to Sim...  

Nate V did a good job giving some more general tips.
   • What Sword Should I Buy? - The 3 Ques...  

Other Ramblings about what to buy from me..
Top 3 katana -    • Ramble Time: Top 3 katana for backyar...  
What is a "custom" -    • What is a "Custom" Katana?  Comparing...  
What sword should I buy -    • What sword should I buy?  

Also if you don’t want to buy products from China but are still on a budget, then TFW and BCI both offer swords made in the Philippines. They cost a bit more but have been good products overall.


Link to the new facebook spot -   / matthewjensenswordreview  
Link to the new patreon spot -   / krunan  
Link to my ebay sales page - http://www.ebay.com/usr/krunangree