Ryumon Hand Forged Samurai Sword 17-Inch Overall

Ryumon RY-3045 Hand Forged Samurai Sword (Tanto)I purchased this "Tanto" from Amazon. With my promotional discount, and my free Super Saver Shipping discount, I only paid $36.53 for it with shipping. I also consider it to be worth the current list price of $46.53 as well.I put the word "Tanto" in parenthesis, simply because it is not listed as a Tanto, but it surely fits the description, and that's why I purchased it.Upon receiving it, I anticipated it being simply a display piece, but I was actually fairly impressed with its' construction upon inspection. It's total length, when placed within the scabbard is exactly 17".The Handle (Tsuka) Assembly:Appears to be made of solid hard wood, wrapped nicely with real, white ray skin and tightly over-wrapped (tsuka-ito) in the traditional diamond pattern with cotton cord. The pummel (Kashira) of the handle is likely a zinc alloy, but is nicely made with gold eyelets and attached tightly to the handle via the cord wrapping. The handle also contains a nice dragon ornament (menuki) on either side, under the cord wrapping and traditionally offset. I do not know if this is full tang or not, but my suspicions are that it is not, as it only has one peg (mekugi), about an inch and three quarters from the tsuba. The peg appears to be made of hardwood. Never-the-less, it's only a 15.5 inch total length "Tanto" (without the scabbard), thus it really doesn't need the support of a full tang as a true long or short sword would need. The collar (Fuchi ) between the handle and guard is nicely adorned in traditional markings and seems to also be made of zinc alloy.Note: "Full Tang" simply means that the handle has a core of solid steel that is the full length of the handle and is usually formed from the same piece of steel as the blade. This gives a knife or sword maximum support, strength and durability.The Guard (Tsuba) Assembly:The guard is a zinc alloy, and contains a rather nice depiction of a dragon with its' tail on the side of the blade, and its' head on the side of the handle. Though the guard is simply a zinc alloy, it is quite thick, thus fairly strong. The guard is also quite tightly mounted, thus does not move around at all (some cheap models do). With regular use, you might find things starting to loosen up in time. The wedge shaped metal collar (habaki) between the tsuba and blade appears to be made of real, quality brass. The spacer (seppa) between the habaki and tsuba also appears to be brass and of good quality and has a "gear-tooth" appearance.The Blade:The 1 inch blade is carbon Damascus steel and appears to be of good quality. It also contains the folded lines throughout the blade and on both sides (lots of collectors are not fans of this design). It is only semi-sharp out of the box, but could easily be honed to a razor sharp edge. The blade itself is 8 and 7/8 inches long, not including the habaki. Since these are "hand made" (likely with a hammering machine), the specifications will likely be slightly different from piece to piece. The blade contains a nice "blood groove" running 7 and 1/4 inches from the habaki. This grove makes the blade look rather aggressive in my opinion and is a nice addition to the blade. The blade is a 1/4 inch thick at the habaki and gradually narrows as it approaches the needle sharp tip. Obviously, the cutting edge is the same thickness from the habaki to the tip.The Scabbard (Saya) Assembly:Is very light weight, thus likely not a high quality wood. However, it is nicely made to fit the "Tanto" quite tightly, and does not allow the "Tanto" to fall out when held inverted. You must pull with a good deal of force to remove the "Tanto" from the scabbard. The "knob" (Kuri-kata) on the side of the scabbard (for attaching the cord) is adorned with traditional accents (usually gold in modern reproductions). Though these accents are likely not real gold, they still look quite nice against the glossy black lacquer finish of the scabbard. The scabbard also contains the traditional cord (Sageo) used to tie the "Tanto" to ones waist or shoulder... Though I doubt it's long enough to actually use, it still looks quite nice when simply left tied to the scabbard.The Storage/Display Box:The box is made of rather cheap wood (feels almost like balsa or cheap pine), and is lined with what looks like imitation yellow silk atop a Styrofoam cushion liner. All this is laid within the box to give it a very nice custom fit for the "Tanto" and scabbard. The storage box and lid are "box-jointed" together at the corners and appears to be strong enough to well serve its' purpose of a storage/display container.The only drawback that I can see, and it's really just a personal preference, is that it would be nice if it included a cleaning/care kit as well as a small sharpening stone (as some other models do).All in all, I highly recommend this quality "Tanto" for both display and practice. Though it is of good quality, I would not recommend it for regular, or survival use.As with all my reviews, the above is only my opinion or observation of an item that I own or have tested. Consider that it is possible that I may have either purchased/tested a faulty unit or an exceptionally good one. Your experience may differ from mine, better or worse. Paying attention to the up or down trend from several reviewers will help you make an educated decision on whether or not the item is for you.Best of Luck!!

impressive in every respect, in appearance. I have not tested it in a practical application, that will have to wait for a while yet.

I recieved a poor quality sword. After taking few regular practice swings it became loose inside the handle. That was a show stopper.Also sword came unsharpend. Beware of poor quality control of this supplier.Sent it back for refund.