regarding ontario 'black wind' and hanwei practical ninja-to

by ben
(connecticut, usa)

QUESTION: Hello paul...before i pose my question id like to echo what everyone else has said - that your site is an incredible resource, even for someone who knows a thing or two about budget swords...its obvious youre a man of integrity and very honest in your reviews...a quality i can definitely appreciate in a world where everyone wants to sell you something... (albeit you sound like a cheness advertisement sometimes xD its obvious youre very fond of their line and also you and them have something of a rapport, which is not a bad thing ^^)

gushy stuff aside, i was curious about the 'black wind' ninja/katana thing (( reviewed here ---> http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/battle-ready-ninja-swords.html by Mr. B Smith of usa )) ...it seems the vendor linked to at the bottom of the page doesnt stock this item anymore, and i was curious where the "best" place to buy this would be; im sure i could find it by myself even browsing through your 'preferred vendors' page, however you seem to have insight into these sort of things that i might not have (such as price, quality, integrity of vendors, etc...) and i also wondered if you personally had any experience handling this sword.

also, after reading your review of the 'hanwei practical ninja-to' (( reviewed here --> http://www.sword-buyers-guide.com/best-ninja-sword.html )), ive decided to buy this sword and fit it with genuine same and a silk ito wrap, because i also am not too fond of the stock tsuka it comes with ( i hate the black faux ray skin as much as you hate the white :P ) i guess the question on this is: is there any chance youll be inclined to sell this sword through the sbg store, or perhaps one of your preferred vendors where youll get a small kick back for the recommendation? because i think thats only fair...

thanks in advance for reading my long winded mess of questions and comments :P and thanks again for your wonderful site ^^

ANSWER: Hi Ben,

I didn't know that eblades had stopped stocking the Black Wind... This sword is actually not stocked at any of the recommended vendors (in truth, it is very rare outside of knife vendors, which I am not very familiar with due to import restrictions to Australia that make swords easy to ship in, but knives very (very) difficult.

As such, I cannot really recommend any of the sellers of this item first hand but can only point you towards the list of stockists from Ontario Knife Co...

Sorry about that.

As far as the Practical Ninja sword goes, I do have a special agreement with the vendor I recommend where to buy this sword from at the end of the review. The first reason is that the price is competitive, they inspect before shipping, they have a 90 day guarantee - and SBG gets a small kickback to keep us going and growing - so everyone does get something good out of it. :-)

Anyway, I'll have to investigate about a reliable seller for the Black Wind, but if you happen to find out more please drop me a line so I can update it. :-)

Kind Regards,

- Paul