Odachi Nodachi


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Odachi Nodachi

by Myles B

Hello, I am looking for an Odachi/Nodachi. I have found a few by spending hours on google. Although I know next to nothing about what makes a sword good. So I'm just wondering if you have any words of wisdom for me. I will be using it for choppong and hacking and such. I do have one in mind that I saw but I don't know if it would break or not ect. this is the one I was looking into.

Rittersteel Odachi

if that is a complete waste of money or will break or something please give me a heads up before i order it.

Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi Myles,

Yeah, I'm not very convinced by Rittersteel swords - and the state of the market for Nodachi and Odachi is a bit bleak at the moment..

However, that is all about to change - Valiant Armoury have been working hard on making a decent budget one and Hanwei have recently unveiled one that is not in the budget price range (actually closer to US$1,000) but is definitely the best one to date..!

So things are looking up - and I personally wouldn't bother with the Rittersteel...

Hope this helps.

- Paul

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Odachi Nodachi

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Sep 07, 2008
The size of your purchase deserves much research
by: Caleb

I'm gonna sound really snobbish here but I think it's important that you hear it. A lot of us have had years of ~leisurely reading/learning~ about swords without EVER having bought anything because it's a hobby. Although for me there's no merit and certainly no authority to our knowledge gained from such a leisurely learning, knowledge does add up over the years...

It's common sense that, the bigger the sword, the more expensive. You are SERIOUSLY looking at a big investment here. I'd recommend as much research as possible to secure your money's worth. Attention needs to be paid to its functionality... With almost twice the reach, the sword will generate twice the torque, generating around 4 times the power, requiring around twice the thickness for rigidity, making the sword almost 4 times as heavy. BUT, with a longer, heavier sword, the intention may be to sacrifice speed for momentum, thus subjecting the sword to "slower hits" and requiring less rigidity. Should the design be a heavy sword or light sword? If light, can tapering (shifting the weight away from the tip to the butt) be sacrificed? If tapering is crucial, how much more weight will you add to its butt to balance it out? If it must be both light AND tapered, can the sword be so thin that it is bend-susceptible? How with heat treatment affect all this? How will their product suit your applications? I know this is exhaustive, but I hope i'm able to paint a picture to you off how careful you may need to be to prevent buying something that cannot meet your expectations (We have absolutely every reason to have highones).

If this is your first sword, i'd strongly recommend a regular katana first. Buy it, and keep staring at it until you can come up with 20 things wrong with it. That way, whatever sword you buy next will have 20 flaws less. I apologize if I was too snobbish.

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