28", no-hi, black cotton ito, C10 Black Dragon Fittings, P2 Dragon Tsuba, Black textured saya, black same

by Morgan Carter
(Rapid City, SD, USA)

28" blade

No hi

Tsuba P4 - Dragon vs soldiers

Fittings C10 - Black Dragon Fuchi/Kashira

Ito A1 - Black Cotton

Black Same

Saya - Black, textured

As you can see, I ordered the P4 tsuba, but got the P2 tsuba.I think it works just perfectly, which is why I chose to keep it when I was informed of the mistake before my sword shipped to me. The blade is stunning and beautiful. It's by far the most impressive of any of the blade I own. It's also the only one with a real and prominent hamon. The polish was incredible on the entire blade, except for the kissaki, which was an overlooked area of the sword in the first generation of SBG custom katanas. Despite this, however, I'm still incredibly impressed with the sword and specifically the blade.

I was very happy with the way the design came together, and it actually looked almost exactly how I had pictured it in my head. The thick no-hi blade is heavier than I expected, with the sword+saya weighing in at 2.2 lbs. The weight of the blade gives a point of balance at 15.5 cm from the tsuba, which is more than sufficient for smooth and balanced handling i my hands. It has a very nice, solid feel to it and I prefer it to my other, cheaper and thinner blades.

The wrap was incredibly tight and secure, and the fittings, which go perfectly with the rest of the sword are tightly secured. There is nothing loose on this sword. Even the habaki is very securely fitted into the saya. Overall the workmanship and quality of the blade is definitely the best out of the swords I own.

When test cutting it, I only had water bottles available, but they proved to be to easy for the finely sharpened edge. They were easily cut cleanly with the smallest effort on my part. I barely had to swing, and despite my incredibly imperfect technique, the jugs were cut in half a bit too easily.

This is definitely the sharpest, best fitted, best polished, and overall best looking sword in my collection, and was also the best deal for the money. The only thing I would wish for is that I could share more of the pictures I took so everyone else can appreciate the beauty of this katana as much as I do.