Yes, I know, the first step of recovery is admitting you have a problem. So here it goes. I, Dodie Huber, have a problem with swords, and if I’m honest, other items that slice and dice. There, I did it, however at the current time I have no plans to correct the issue. If you have been following me, you know that I’ve been waiting for my new training Katana to come in, and it finally has!
I decided to purchase it from a company named Swords of Northshire. I wanted my new training katana to be of the same quality, or if possible, better than my other training katana that I have at our little house in the woods. I searched for places that were local to me, where I could physically see them, and hold them. When I didn’t find a place nearby I looked to the all knowing Google to help me find a reputable place on the world wide web.
The idea of buying a sword online was worrisome. It would not be sharpened, for training purposes, but the balance and feel of a training sword is so important. It truly becomes an extension of yourself. After a ton of research I found Swords of Northshire. They have all levels of quality swords and you can even have them customized. When you purchase the sword it is sent off to be hand forged for you. The prices are a mix of reasonable, to really expensive, depending on what you like.
I have to say, I became very worried around the second week after purchasing the sword. I emailed them twice and got nothing back. I hadn’t spent a thousand dollars, but it was still a nice chunk of change. I had read so many reviews that their customer service was fantastic, but after purchasing the sword and not hearing back, it felt like maybe I had been tricked out of my money. This is just me being paranoid. So I went to their Facebook page, again fantastic reviews and drop dead gorgeous swords that had been posted there, and requested a status on my sword in their chat option. A day later they responded stating that it was being forged. They also apologized for the delay in response. They said they had become very backup up. Okay, cool. I understand.
Two weeks later I still hadn’t heard back so I emailed again. I voiced my concerns about the lack of communication and my worries about being had. They immediately sent over pictures of my sword. My sword! I was so excited! Part of their process is to send pictures of your sword and get your approval before shipping it. One week later it arrived from China. It had to go through customers first.
The quality of the sword was way beyond my expectations, and I had expected a lot. This would become an extension of me and it had to feel perfect. I had brought my other training katana back to our in town house to compare and wow! It’s heavier, but the balance was even better than my katana. The stats of the sword is listed below. If one day I want to sharpen it, perhaps the zombie apocalypses is coming, I have that option. Would I buy another sword from them? Most likely. The beauty of this sword blew me away. I will just have to go into it with the expectation that there will be a period of time where their communication will be lacking. I’m not sure I would buy a sword over the price of $500 though, unless their communication improves.
If you are interested in the different types of steel used for katanas, you can click HERE to read more.
Hand Forged 1060 High Carbon Steel Blade Full Tang Samurai Dragon Engraving Katana Sword
– HAND SHARPENING: Unsharpened
– SAGEO (Sheath Cord): Dark Brown
– SAME’GAWA (Rayskin – Under Wrap): White
– ITO (Handle Wrap): Light Brown
– ENGRAVING: Name in Japanese Kan..
– Content Engraving: Dodie
Without further ado, here are the pictures of this beauty.
