kaze vs. tenchi

by Xian
(Canada)

QUESTION: I have read both the kaze katana and the tenchi katana reviews and cant tell the difference... The kaze katana has a differentially hardened blade with a 9260 spine? so its really tough and super sharp? while the tenchi is an all 9260 blade that can turn a metal barrel into pretty little sculptures? so tenchi wins in toughness, and kaze wins in sharpness? its that the biggest difference between the two? oh and about the hamon, is the kaze a natural tamper line while tenchi a cosmetic one? may i have an opinion on which sword would be better for what task? I want a nice sword that is tough enough that i dont have to worry too much on the durability but also looks(dossent have to be) traditional and is nice enough to just display and has a nice sharp edge that dossent have to be sharpened often, i beleve that the hamon is the swords expression for beauty so im really looking for a nice hamon on a good beater. What has a prettier hamon tenchi or the kaze? the kaze can pretty much handle what the tenchi can right? only the tenchi can be pushed further?

To anyone who owns both tenchi and kaze, any personal notes, opinions, information and such on the comparison of both swords would help alot!!

the kaze being able to cut that freestanding paper is (to me) more wicked than beating on a metal drum since i can safely assume that i will not be attacking metal drums anytime soon.

ANSWER: Hi Xian,

Well, you never know - those metal drums have a habit of sneaking up one people... ;-)

But that aside for a moment, I am quite confident that the Kaze should suit your intended usage and you have pretty much hit the nail on the head. The Kaze is fine for normal targets such as waterfilled bottles, bamboo, tatami, etc. And it is easily the most attractive of the two - with a natural (real) hamon.

Anyway, from what you are lookin for - the Kaze would be your best choice.

Hope this helps.

- Paul

Comments for kaze vs. tenchi

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I don't own a Tenchi, but...
by: Caleb

I'll have to disagree with Paul on this one...

"but also looks(dossent have to be) traditional"

That's the problem right there. The Kaze (which i own) is NOT beautiful ~enough~ in my opinion. More beautiful than the Tenchi, of course. But it's still WAAAAAY too far from looking anything traditional...

You want both toughness AND beauty. Your choice is difficult in that while the Tenchi is the tougher one, Kaze is (presumed) the beautiful one...

Again i remind you, the Kaze is more beautiful than Tenchi.

BUT: the mirror-polished Kaze is in every way WAAAAY too un-traditional like to me. The ~traditional look~ dictates a bright yakiba (The area between the hamon and the cutting edge) and a dark ji (the area between the hamon and the ridgeline...google sword terminology if needs be) Additionally, the shinogi-ji and mune has to be ~more~ mirror-like than the ji (whereas with the Kaze, the whole thing is just really mirror like) You can make the Kaze look more ~traditional~ by soaking it in lemon juice, which will automatically ~frost~ up the yakiba only, leaving the ji mirrored and comparitively darker. (You cannot, however, significantly make the shinogi-ji and mune more mirror-like because the whole thing is already really mirror-like)But...see what i'm getting at? It's still not very traditional. BETWEEN THE KAZE AND TENCHI, I'D SAY THEY'RE *BOTH* PRETTY UN-TRADITIONAL LOOKING.

(continued)

I don't own a Tenchi, but...(continued)
by: Caleb

(continued from abbove)

IMHO Kaze beats Tenchi in looks by inches; Tenchi beats Kaze in toughness by miles. The Kaze is of course sharper: like glass. But like glass, it shatters easily. A brutal axe is not sharp like glass no matter how well sharpened. But it can chop trees (and well, oil drums). I think Paul's advice to you assume this principle: *IF* you're gentle with the Kaze (like you should) the toughness that the Tenchi offers becomes irrelevant, whereas its beauty is something the Tenchi can never offer. However, my take is, *IF* you can tolerate the fact that the Hamon effect is fake (but looks more traditional because it has a frosted look in the Yakiba) then you can enjoy the fact in knowing that, not only do you own a REALLY tough sword, but if you learn basic-sharpening (from woodworking), which you can easily learn in weeks with cheap materials like sandpaper and metal polish, you can learn to strop your Tenchi--without ruining the fake Hamon effect--to be sharp enough to shave hairs. Trust me: i've sharpened unhardened ~stainless steel~ to be that sharp; hardened 9260 can be much sharper (WITHOUT shattering, in the case of the Tenchi. Same cannot be said of Kaze)

Yes i did damage my Kaze rather easily due to improper use. But please let me say that, for me, I like to push things to the limit--hence I end up breaking things. But before I do--that's how long the duration TOUGHNESS allows me: the more, the longer before something breaks.

Your other options are Hanwei Practical XL Katana, and the Austrailian Chikara. From SBG pictures, both come out of the box with the traditional frosted-yakiba look (again, if you look at Kaze photos, there is no frosted yakiba. A real hamon at the right angle, yes, but Hanwei and Chikara has that too). Mind you, the Practical XL looks REALLY fake: they probably matte-brushed the yakiba on top of a real hamon--masking it. But you get the tradtinal look--and a real hamon--without lemon juice. Chikara looks GREAT: i would get that sword instead--but it IS pricier.

It's a tough call. But in the end of the day, Paul is a real salesman with real exposure to a sword community public. His advice is probably best. Heh.

(NOTE)
by: Caleb

I'm the one who wrote the below 2 entries...I got the order wrong. Please read the bottommost one first, before reading the one above it. Thank you.

Thanks
by: Anonymous

OMG THANK YOU ALL!! This is why i love this site!
Ok i do agree with the sharpening of the tenchi but im a horrible sharpener(ittle be sharp but ittle be scratchy). Thats why ill go with the kaze, any sword over $100 bucks for me is somthing ill start taking care of anyways. And thanks for the lemon trick!!! ill keep that in mind. All i need to do now is save up and buy!!

Thank you for answering my questions!

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