Ryan Swords

Ryan Swords

by JohnnieD
(Boise, ID USA)

QUESTION: Anyone know anything about this guy?

Typical, "too good to be true" prices. A lot of time and money go into his auction descriptions, including quality pics and demonstration vids. Nearly 100 sales, with 100% positive feedback, and glowing comments. Cheap enough to try, if only for a wallhanger....just like to know if anyone knows any good or bad?

Ebay http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZryan_katana688
Website http://ryansword.com/

Not all show the bamboo cutting/paper slicing vid. The bamboo cutting appears to be a living plant. Not sure if this would be softer or harder than green bamboo mounted for cutting with a sword. Looks good but..............

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

Some of the more expensive (tho' still not expensive for "quality" swords" offer all kinds of exchanges for different parts of the sword:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

The even more expensive (still cheap, if quality) with more impressive vid demos, involving steel drums and flexibility tests. Looks good but, like Cold Steel video demos, makes one wonder how many knives/swords they went through until they got one that cut the mustard (if you'll excuse the expression) :

He also offers extremely cheap, nonsharpened models, in which most of the expense is the shipping (from Shanghai)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...E:B:SS:US:1123

Seems like a pretty large, fairly professional operation (which could be good.......or bad).

Would appreciate comments from those that may have purchased one of these swords and, especially, from the more experienced members of the forum. Thanks, John in Boise Idaho

ANSWER:Hi John,

I'll have to open up the floor on these ones. I have heard some things about these sellers, but I cannot recall exactly what it was or where, and I haven't bought from them personally, so I am not much use for info on these.. ;-)

I have to say though, I am very skeptical of these pieces. The general rule of buying on ebay is to avoid buying direct from China...

Anyway, let's see what others have to say. :-)

Cheers,

- Paul

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Ryan Swords

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Nov 17, 2008
Rating

Unfair Accusations
by: Jeff

The swords ARE good quality. I HAVE used mine, I have cut milk jugs, soda bottles, water bottles, etc. Nothing too difficult, but it cuts through every time. Scratches? With the soda bottles; yeah there are. But that's because soda bottle plastic is actually quite hard; it does quite a bit of damage to any sword. Scratches would be expected (also why I don't cut soda bottles anymore).

Plus, these are not meant to be amazing battle-ready swords that could cut through a tree without any damage; they are fairly cheap yet high-quality swords that can easily hold their own. Put it this way; I would have no qualms using this to defend myself if I had to (never would, never want to, as that's not why I bought my Ryan sword), as the sword would hold up.

They are good quality, well made, and Ryan seems to be a fair seller. Maybe he has stopped responding to you because you won't leave him alone.

Nov 14, 2008
Rating

hahaha
by: wiwingti

for those who are thinking that i just want to make some trouble to ryan sword.
the can chop iron sword that i bought from him get scratches each time i used it, and that was when i used water bottles.
so don't try to convince everyone that everything that ryan sword is selling is good.

maybe some of his swords are good, but,he sale his swords saying lies.
i would say that, the poeple that are living good feedbacks, are doing the same thing that i did at first,
living feedbacks without trying it.

when i wrote that guy that i wasn't satisfyied, after a couple of try, i never had news from him.
i bought a musashi that value half of the can chop iron and it is more solid and sharpened more than this can chop iron one.

Oct 24, 2008
Rating

Why not read from the testimonials?
by: George (US)

I had buy a few from his store. Overall, I think he is very passion in his business.

For example, I received a broken SAYA for my third sword. I contacted him. He didnt questioned me at all, or suspect me if I am telling lie, caused from my own.

He asked me to send back, and he re-ship the new one to me. I am not only impressed of his qualities of swords, but his attitude in serving clients.

Here, I have a link you can read for what others who bought from him are saying:
http://www.ryansword.com/index.php?main_page=document_product_info&cPath=11&products_id=226

Well, hope I did helped you in judging Ryansword.
Good luck,

Oct 23, 2008
Rating

Is not fair to leave comment for Ryan
by: Jason

I believe many of those who leave bad comments just want to make Ryansword.com business drop and want to increase traffic for their own.

I believe many of you bought from him in ebay.
Do you think ebay will let go if his swords really bad?

I already bought few swords from him, and so far I am satisfied for what I paid for.

You cant expect a perfect swords with little money.
I can only say, they really delivered much more than I paid and now I already become friend of them because of their good service.

I heard there are doing some revamption to their website soon.
www.ryansword.com/showroom/

Buying from his website can buy even cheaper price swords with the same quality.

They are currently doing On Sale now...

Oct 23, 2008
Rating

Oct 09, 2008
Rating

Love this Guy
by: Jeff

I have NEVER before posted on a sword forum or website. My knowledge in the make, design, display, and use of swords is rather limited to amateur at best, but I hope to expand in my knowledge and own more katana.

That being said, and of course you can take this with a grain of salt, I stand by Ryan's blades. My first katana (and still only katana) was one of his. At the time I knew I wanted my first katana to be more than a wall hanger, maybe around the "beater" area of quality, but not ridiculously expensive. So I spent quite a bit of time on this site and online, trying to find a seller that had relatively cheap (around the $100 or $200 range) katana that can actually be used to cut through some milk jugs or light branches.

My friend stumbled upon Ryan first on eBay and immediately pulled me to him. From looking on line I decided his swords looked of quite high quality for a relatively cheap price. The descriptions talked of full tang, real samasake, carbon steel swords. The pictures suggested high-quality blades as well, and the measurements provided seemed consistent with a good blade.

So I purchased one (Cyclone Tsuba) and waited eagerly for its arrival. And upon its arrival my friends and I grouped around it to inspect its quality.

Weight felt good; not overly heavy at all. The saya looked of great quality, with no damage. The tsuka and tsuka-ito seemed well crafted and very tightly wrapped, and there were two mekugi and (from what we could tell) real . The tsuba was heavy metal, well crafted, and very tight on the sword.

The blade, upon bring drawn, was fabulous. Very straight, very well made (again, by our amateur eyes), and resilient.

Everything, again, was snug and tight for my sword. At first it seemed lose when I sheathed it; then I realized I had been doing it INCORRECTLY the whole time. A quick change in technique produced a snug fit so the sword was in no danger of falling out of the saya but could still be drawn easily.

The sword performs amazingly well as well. Cuts through milk jugs and small branches like they aren't even there, producing very clean cuts. I could literally "tomato slice" a milk jug until I got uncomfortable with how close I was getting to the log.

So impressed were we with the quality-for-the-price that I got my friend a wakizashi for her birthday from the same guy, and she later got her boyfriend a katana from him as well. Both of these swords seem to be of the same high quality as mine. We are very pleased with Ryan and will likely buy from him again (his eBay store seems to be down, but his own website is still up http://www.ryansword.com/).

Again, my friends and I completely admit to being amateurs; our knowledge comes from the internet, some discussion with more knowledgeable people, and our so far limited experience with katana; but we are happy with our purchases.

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Oct 09, 2008
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Submitted by: Jeff

Title

Comment
I have NEVER before posted on a sword forum or website. My knowledge in the make, design, display, and use of swords is rather limited to amateur at best, but I hope to expand in my knowledge and own more katana. That being said, and of course you can take this with a grain of salt, I stand by Ryan's blades. My first katana (and still only katana) was one of his. At the time I knew I wanted my first katana to be more than a wall hanger, maybe around the "beater" area of quality, but not ridiculously expensive. So I spent quite a bit of time on this site and online, trying to find a seller that had relatively cheap (around the $100 or $200 range) katana that can actually be used to cut through some milk jugs or light branches. My friend stumbled upon Ryan first on eBay and immediately pulled me to him. From looking on line I decided his swords looked of quite high quality for a relatively cheap price. The descriptions talked of full tang, real samasake, carbon steel swords. The pictures suggested high-quality blades as well, and the measurements provided seemed consistent with a good blade. So I purchased one (Cyclone Tsuba) and waited eagerly for its arrival. And upon its arrival my friends and I grouped around it to inspect its quality. Weight felt good; not overly heavy at all. The saya looked of great quality, with no damage. The tsuka and tsuka-ito seemed well crafted and very tightly wrapped, and there were two mekugi and (from what we could tell) real . The tsuba was heavy metal, well crafted, and very tight on the sword. The blade, upon bring drawn, was fabulous. Very straight, very well made (again, by our amateur eyes), and resilient. Everything, again, was snug and tight for my sword. At first it seemed lose when I sheathed it; then I realized I had been doing it INCORRECTLY the whole time. A quick change in technique produced a snug fit so the sword was in no danger of falling out of the saya but could still be drawn easily. The sword performs amazingly well as well. Cuts through milk jugs and small branches like they aren't even there, producing very clean cuts. I could literally "tomato slice" a milk jug until I got uncomfortable with how close I was getting to the log. So impressed were we with the quality-for-the-price that I got my friend a wakizashi for her birthday from the same guy, and she later got her boyfriend a katana from him as well. Both of these swords seem to be of the same high quality as mine. We are very pleased with Ryan and will likely buy from him again (his eBay store seems to be down, but his own website is still up http://www.ryansword.com/). Again, my friends and I completely admit to being amateurs; our knowledge comes from the internet, some discussion with more knowledgeable people, and our so far limited experience with katana; but we are happy with our purchases.

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Jul 24, 2008
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rayan katana,for me it is over.
by: wiwingti(marc lecompte)

recently i discovered a new passion, katanas.
my wife and i, decided to change decoration and put asian decoration in our bedroom so, it was the time for me to buy katanas, ho my god i was happy.
i started looking around on ebay and found these kind of katanas, that look so good and do not cost a lot.
i said to myself that, it would be the best thing to do( because i was starting buying on ebay)
i ordered 4 katanas from this guy.
i would have long to say but i'll save it for when ill be accepted member lol.
one thing i can say for now.
take care all of ya,i was really but really disapointed of his katanas.:p

Jul 12, 2008
Rating

Bought the "Ninja" & 1 knife sword
by: Chris

I have to say after receiving the package (with some anxiety) I opened it to find a decent looking sword for around $40. It has a few cosmetic problems like rough finishing were the knife goes and around the seppa. The blade was coated in the usual grease so after wiping it off I was pleased to see a nice looking shine with very few scratches on it. It is well glued to the handle so you won't be taking this one apart. When looking down the spine of the sword I noticed the tell tale "hammer" marks that made the blade look as though it was doing the wave. It seems to be straight though and it fits exceptionally well into the scabbard even with the knife on the side. One of my biggest peeves is when the sword falls out by it's self and this one holds well! The biggest draw back was the kurikata that was supposed to be ornamental turned out to be just a typical wooden knob. I'm no professional sword critic, but I hope someone who is will be able to really decide if this is a good place to buy from!

Jan 01, 2008
Rating

advice?
by: B.Miron

Please bear in mind that these are the impresssions of a gang of thugs relatively new to the beloved sport/art we all practice here. While it is true that this fella has some items that are not run of the mill, quite beautiful, & some of a historical design, he also has a range of furniture that goes from a split cast type that never really stays tight & might be considered visibly unattractive to quite lovely, high quality carved. We did not see any real hamons on the cheaper items we looked at (not really important from a point of view of function ) & there is, of course, the good stuff; beautiful. We think all this stuff comes from several different forges around Longquan, indicating that his selection of offerings was chosen obviously over other items or from a much larger resource base.
The tantos, among other things for example, are from a forge that we have never seen in the U.S, at least, we are not familiar with their manufacturers; they are of a good to high quality, the furniture is impressive & they are not made for any other big names that sell in the u.s. that we are aware of. They are not copies, as are others, of bigger name brands. It is interesting that he seems to stick almost exclusively to that one grade of steel (this could be a marketing issue implimented to take advantage of their particular expertise or to facilitate some sort of limitation of products) Everybody can't sell everything, you know? an indication that these guys are really chinese entrepreneurs in so far as it is not one of the grades of steel usually offered to us here (the U.S.)
We think that (& this was discussed at length) this is the stuff these guys are using to have their fun personally, in a local sense. It is clear they believe in their product; the videos are great, aren't they? Going through a legal money launderer like paypal takes the risk out of losing your money as well, more or less.
Having said all that, here is the bad news. Unless you have seen something you absolutely cannot live without (this has happened to us several times; swords, wives, cars, etc; not necessarily in that order) you must consider two things; support & shipping (how much is that gonna be plus the unknown sword? as opposed to a nice cheness with free shipping?) I know, I know, but consider that we are all old men & are over flowing to the point of ridiculousness with common sense except possibly when dealing with the wives.
First, they are far away; the swords, not the wives. Wwould they put any sort of warranty in writing? Again, the sword guys, not the wives. Can you get these swords through any sort of existing realationship with a more local wholesaler/retailer (ie swords of might, trueswords, etc. If you do not ask by the way, you shall never know)
The only other way to go, of course is to take a chance, buy something inexpensive (a tanto) & see how it goes. We sincerely hope there was a useful idea somewhere in all this. Good luck.

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Jan 01, 2008
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Submitted by: B.Miron

Title

Comment
Please bear in mind that these are the impresssions of a gang of thugs relatively new to the beloved sport/art we all practice here. While it is true that this fella has some items that are not run of the mill, quite beautiful, & some of a historical design, he also has a range of furniture that goes from a split cast type that never really stays tight & might be considered visibly unattractive to quite lovely, high quality carved. We did not see any real hamons on the cheaper items we looked at (not really important from a point of view of function ) & there is, of course, the good stuff; beautiful. We think all this stuff comes from several different forges around Longquan, indicating that his selection of offerings was chosen obviously over other items or from a much larger resource base. The tantos, among other things for example, are from a forge that we have never seen in the U.S, at least, we are not familiar with their manufacturers; they are of a good to high quality, the furniture is impressive & they are not made for any other big names that sell in the u.s. that we are aware of. They are not copies, as are others, of bigger name brands. It is interesting that he seems to stick almost exclusively to that one grade of steel (this could be a marketing issue implimented to take advantage of their particular expertise or to facilitate some sort of limitation of products) Everybody can't sell everything, you know? an indication that these guys are really chinese entrepreneurs in so far as it is not one of the grades of steel usually offered to us here (the U.S.) We think that (& this was discussed at length) this is the stuff these guys are using to have their fun personally, in a local sense. It is clear they believe in their product; the videos are great, aren't they? Going through a legal money launderer like paypal takes the risk out of losing your money as well, more or less. Having said all that, here is the bad news. Unless you have seen something you absolutely cannot live without (this has happened to us several times; swords, wives, cars, etc; not necessarily in that order) you must consider two things; support & shipping (how much is that gonna be plus the unknown sword? as opposed to a nice cheness with free shipping?) I know, I know, but consider that we are all old men & are over flowing to the point of ridiculousness with common sense except possibly when dealing with the wives. First, they are far away; the swords, not the wives. Wwould they put any sort of warranty in writing? Again, the sword guys, not the wives. Can you get these swords through any sort of existing realationship with a more local wholesaler/retailer (ie swords of might, trueswords, etc. If you do not ask by the way, you shall never know) The only other way to go, of course is to take a chance, buy something inexpensive (a tanto) & see how it goes. We sincerely hope there was a useful idea somewhere in all this. Good luck.

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