sword-buying-guy

2006-01-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Link to the SBG Overhaul Blog...

Ok, the new blog is up and running now, so if you want to check it out and stay in touch with what's going on at SBG, I suggest you check it out here.

This is where all the critical updates and changes will be recorded, so things will be pretty quiet here while until the SBG Overhaul is complete, while on the otherhand, the SBG Overhaul will be posting quite frequently.

I'll see you on the other side of the Blogosphere! (It will be worth your while to check it on a semi-regular basis, as there will be a few unexpected and exclusive surprises for visitors from time to time!)

SBG Overhaul

Paul

2006-01-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

General Site News

At the moment I am just adding the finishing touches to the latest edition of the Sword Buyers Digest Newsletter. It's gonna be a big one - with the full interview with Paul Chen from Cheness Cutlery, announcements on the imminent site overhaul and how to get a 12% to 15% discount off the very best prices for good quality swords online!

It's also gonna be the last newsletter to go out until the site overhaul is complete, so if you haven't already signed up for it - now would be a good time (its going out at 1:00am on the first of February, so there isn't much time..)

The modifications to Sword Buyers Guide will also be starting a little later on today, with the changes being explained with a behind the scenes look at what is going on in a second blog (I'll let you know the link as soon as the newsletter is loaded and ready to go and the changes begin in earnest).

So please excuse the general chaos and the occasional "half dressed" days when SBG may look a little confusing. I am going to be trying to keep these disruptions to a minimum by planning each pages layout in advance and to be honest, because of the way these pages are build, there wont be any blanks or "Under Construction" signs, just a few pages here and there that don't match up with the general look and feel of the rest of the site.

Australia Post Update

My fellow Aussies can breathe a sigh of relief! It looks like the whole "Australia Post refusing to ban overseas shipments of swords" was an overreaction. Turns out there is new legislation that bans "weapons" from being transported overeseas by Australia Post, and by weapons they include gun parts, grenades, bayonets, etc - but in the fine print it specifically says that swords are excempt...

Now its still going to be a bit of a pain for a while as individual postmasters may err on the side of caution and make the wrong decisions, but at least it isn't an overall ban on swords. I was sent the full legislation below for anyone who wants to read it - check it out below if you are feeling bored...! :-)

That's all for now, will be checking back here again shortly...

Paul

REGARDING THE POSTING AND RECEIPT OF FIREARMS AND WEAPONRY TO/FROM OVERSEAS VIA AUSTRALIA POST

Australia Post will no longer accept international postings containing firearms, including all firearm components, or items of weaponry.

Items of weaponry include grenades, mortar shells, canisters, bayonets or items which resemble these articles (including replicas) for carriage to or from Australia.

Customers with import or export permits should be advised that their permits are still valid but that Australia Post will no longer carry these items.

EXCLUSIONS FROM THE DEFINITION OF “ITEMS OF WEAPONRY”

Australia Post will continue to carry items such as knives, daggers, swords, and axes, which have a valid import or export permit where required and are legally permissible to carry into Australia (if inbound) or into the country of destination (if outbound).

PLEASE NOTE: Australian Customs regulations prohibit or restrict many of these items. It is the responsibility of customers importing or exporting these items to make their own enquiries to ensure the goods are acceptable, and to obtain any relevant permits.

Information regarding Customs regulations on knives, firearms and warfare items can be found at 1300 363 263, information@customs.gov.au or www.customs.gov.au.

OTHER CARRIERS

Private carriers may accept these items. Australia Post is unable to recommend which carriers may/may not carry firearms/weaponry to international destinations.

ARTICLES CURRENTLY IN TRANSIT

Articles that may have already been sent from an international destination to Australia will be assessed on a case-by-case basis until the end of January 2006. A longer discretionary period will apply to articles sent by sea mail.

With regard to air-conveyed mail, from 1 February any firearms or items of weaponry detected from an international destination will be returned to sender.

DOMESTIC CARRIAGE

The domestic carriage of firearms and weaponry conditions remains unchanged.

POLICY DECISION

100% of imported mail carried by Australia Post is subject to X-ray, metal detector or sniffer dog screening. Suspect articles detected in Australia or en route by X-ray or metal detectors can cause substantial delay to entire despatches of mail pending security clearance.

Although some countries may accept the delivery of firearms and weapons, it may be necessary for these items (en route) to pass through the postal service of countries where they are prohibited and may be confiscated by customs and reported to police or other authorities. Again, this may cause serious delay to entire despatches of mail.

There is an increasing propensity around the globe for goods to be security screened in transit through airports and other (non-postal) handling points.

With an unacceptable increase in the number of incidents causing serious delays to mail and potentially creating security issues, we have chosen no longer to accept or carry the items which cause these effects.

ADVICE PROVIDED TO INTERNATIONAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATIONS

The following advice has been provided to international postal administration via the Universal Postal Union (UPU):

“The postal administration of AUSTRALIA asks partner administrations to be aware of the following prohibitions effective from January 2006 relating to any article in the international post.

The following goods are prohibited as imports (or in transit) from carriage by post:

(i) articles containing or suspected of containing firearms, weapons or items of weaponry including grenades, mortar shells or canisters, or parts thereof – even if rendered inert;

(ii) articles that resemble or may reasonably be taken for any item in (i) above, including replicas or stage props; and

(iii) any article, whether deleterious or not, that may reasonably be construed by its appearance or make up to constitute a potential security risk to persons or property.

Australia Post would appreciate the co-operation of partner administrations in informing postal users that the items described above are not admitted in the international mail stream to Australia. Should such articles be lodged or posted inadvertently, please do not despatch the postal article concerned to Australia.”

Australia’s entry in the UPU List of Prohibited Articles is being amended to reflect the above-mentioned prohibitions.

2006-01-25T04:01:00.000-08:00

Major Site Overhaul Immiment!

I've decided that, since it's almost the 1st "birthday" of Sword-Buyers-Guide.com it is time for the site to get a bit of a facelift...

In fact, there are actually there are three major issues that I wish to address.

The first issue involves the general flow and readability of each of the major pages, with each major page to become basically a kind of overview with natural in context links to more detailed information and reviews (as it stands, heaps of stuff is "buried"!).

The second issue involves historical accuracy and comparisons to the original swords most modern affordable replicas are based upon. Originally, I wasn't going to concern myself too much with historical accuracy - but the bigger SBG has become, the more I feel it is neccessary to at least provide some reference points and compare the modern reproductions and contemporary replicas to the originals...

But the third development is perhaps the most exciting of all...

The third development is concerning price - namely, for every sword that I review or highlight I will actively hunt out the VERY BEST PLACE to buy it for the absolute cheapest price online (from a list of only the best, established sword sellers). I will also be working with some of the big guys to provide my visitors with deep discounts that far exceed the current best prices on the net!

So in short, within the next 2 months, SBG will be the place to not only get info on the best value for money swords, but to also save big $$$ getting them.

It's all very exciting stuff - and I'll be telling you more about it shortly as well as documenting the changes in a second dedicated blog. So stay tuned!

Paul

2006-01-20T01:57:00.000-08:00

Australia Post Banning International Swords to/from Australia!

First it was the ban on sword possesion in Victoria. Now it seems that Australia post, in their infinite wisdom, has decided to ban the transportation of swords to and from Australia (though domestic shipping is still, at this point, acceptable).

Why?

I don't know.

It just doesn't make sense...

Now as you may know, personally I much prefer to ship a few swords at once from the US by UPS rather than reply on Australia post (see my article on this here

But for single sword purchases that used to be sent to USPS (US Mail) it means that the cost of shipping swords from the US has jumped from around $40 to $50 (USD) to USD$150 for UPS!(talk about a price hike!)

To help counter this, I've been talking with a few of my favorite sword sellers and manufacturers and I am trying to arrange to bring in some bulk shipments to Australia to sell/distribute from Sword-Buyers-Guide.com at prices as close to the original US+Australia Post prices as possible.

Hopefully, this will help redress the balance for the "1 sword at a time" local Aussie sword buyer - while making enough money to cover my costs and help fund the continued and expanding presence of my website (the costs of buying new swords to review + shipping + Voucher give aways + website hosting costs, etc, etc is really starting to get out of hand!!)

Anyway, it might be a few months off before I've got some swords up and ready for sale here, but I'll be doing what I can.

I'll keep you all posted.

Paul

2005-12-31T23:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year
...And general site news

Happy new year guys! I hope that 2006 will be a prosperous, safe and happy one for you and your families.

Well, the latest edition of the Sword Buyers Digest should have just hit your inboxes and it's a big one. Lots of general site news, announcements, some cool vids and of course the members lounge.

However, I've just made a few site changes that weren't in this issue - notably, you might be wondering where the reviews on the Windlass European sword and the Cold Steel Scottish Broad sword have gone...?

Well, have no fear (?) I've placed both of these under the Medieval Swords category. And of course, this can only mean one thing...

...Yup that's right - I am making space for more content and reviews! I'll tell you more about exactly what's coming up shortly, but suffice it to say, I am pretty excited.

Anyway, I won't harp on - just thought I'd wish you all a very happy and safe new year! Catch up with you all again shortly.

- Paul

2005-12-21T01:57:00.000-08:00

P.S. - Just in case anyone is ACTUALLY reading my blog (I get hundreds of vistors to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com a day, but I've got no idea who, if anyone, actually reads this blog!) I've decided to turn on the comments option. I was just getting crap spammy comments before so I turned it off, but on the off chance that there is actually someone, somewhere who stumbles on my blog - feel free to comment, good, bad or indifferent!

(Oh dear, I can almost hear my voice echo!!! Hehehe!)

2005-12-21T01:30:00.000-08:00

International Sword Shipping (for Aussies!)

As many of you know I live in Australia - and since there aren't really any sword sellers in Australia who offer much value for money, I order by swords from the USA (specifically from Arms of Valor, as you already probably know!).

At the moment I am preparing for my next order - and I'll keep you posted on my "shortlist" as I go - but I thought I'd add a few little pointers for those of you outside of the US who wanna order some swords (boy, my American friends sure have it good over there! Shipping isn't a concern, lucky guys!!)

First off, shipping costs.

To ship a single sword from the USA to Australia costs around US$150 for UPS. You can get smaller swords sent by the "mail" for around US$50, but you can't track the order anywhere near as well, you have to worry about custom duties, etc and basically, it's more of a headache than its worth. With UPS, swords come ULTRA fast, in fact the fastest order time has been 3 working days!

Another great thing about ordering sword by UPS is that I've never had ANY hassles with customs, duty, etc - they just come straight to my door :)

(I assume though that it might be a different story in Victoria due to the prohibitive sword laws...)

Miminizing shipping costs

Where it gets interesting is that the cost of sending 1 sword is almost the same as sending up to 4 medium sized swords as UPS charge a single sword at a 30lb weight limit (due to their size). So it makes sense to order more than 1 sword at a time from an economical point of view. If you can't afford to buy several swords at once, go in with some friends!

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few of these tips with my Aussie readers since getting decent swords here is such a pain in the ass!

In the meantime, I have the fun (and actually quite difficult) task of selecting my next order! It's actually quite difficult as I have to balance my own personal desires with what I think will be helpful to people to review on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

More on this in another post!

2005-12-15T00:41:00.000-08:00

Only 4 More Sleeps To Go...

Yup, that's right - only 4 more sleeps before the 15% discount on Gen2 swords from my friends at Arms of Valor is over, gone - kaput!

So If you've been procrastinating on getting some of these cool beater swords my only advice is - DON'T! This kind of discount isn't likely to come around again for quite some time...

All you gotta do is put the initials of my site (SBG) next to your name in their checkout when you order and you'll save a total of 15% - but this offer only lasts until midnight the 19th of December...

2005-12-10T23:07:00.000-08:00

Medieval Swords Action Vid

Been a bit "dead" here on the blog I know, but I'll be making up for it...

Just for a bit of fun, I've decided to gather as many of the old "vids" shot with my digicam and upload them to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

The old digital camera doesn't have sound, but I've added a cool soundtrack to the the first vid, which is basically footage of my two favorite Gen2 medieval swords - the "Maximilian Sword" and the "Historical Black Prince".

I also recently bought a new one that DOES capture sound but I am having some troubles uploading it to the site (thanks Kodak!) however I'll eventually iron out all the bugs - or failing that - have a nice pic of a "Die Camera Die!" on the members lounge next month! (hehe, just kidding!)

Anyway, the medieval swords vid is here so if you want a bit of a laugh, check it out! It certainly demonstrates first hand just how tough and sharp these swords are!

2005-11-25T22:51:00.000-08:00

DIE MOUSE DIE!!!

No - it's not German for "the mouse the"...

Just lived out one of my dreams...

For the last few months my mouse has been playing up and freezing at the most inoppurtune times and I just haven't got around to getting a replacement. It was a pain when it happened as the only way I could get it to work again was to reset the computer... :(

But I put up with it - but today was different...

Because today that damn mouse has pissed me off for the last time!

You see, I was just adding the finishing touches to one of the Free ebooks I am planning to make available to members of my newsletter, the sword buyers digest, when damn thing froze up.

No biggie. After all, I am used to it...

But somehow, after my computer came back from reset limbo and I went back to try and finsish off what I was doing - I was stunned and shocked to find that my document was simply blank. Nothing! Pages and pages of nothing at all...!

I tried quite a few different things to get it back, after all - this ebook was cool and is basically a beginners guide to test cutting, which targets to cut rated from the easiest to the hardest, which targets are suitable for different types of swords, what scratches and what doesn't - and a hell of a lot more. But despite my best attempts it couldn't be recovered. I had to face it, all those long hours and days I had spent typing away like mad had been for nothing...

Naturally enough, after I had managed to calm down (which took a little while I might add!) I went across the road and bought myself another mouse. And planned - my revenge...

Since this evil, nasty little mouse had caused me to lose my ebook on test cutting (and which, unfortunately, will have to wait until the NEXT issue of Sword Buyers Digest to come out) I thought it appropriate for it to become a part of the next issue...

Generation 2 Maxamilian sword versus the Evil Mouse from Hell!

2005-11-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

Generation 2 Christmas Discounts!

Ho Ho Ho! (sorry, that was very corny!)

But this really is great news - from the day after thanksgiving my favorite sword sellers Arms of Valor will be offering a 10% Discount on ALL Generation 2 swords!

Add to this your 5% SBG Discount (which I am sure you guys all know about by now, but if not - just add the initials of my site, SBG, next to your name in brackets and the guys at AoV will adjust the final price in your favour by 5%) and you'll save yourself a whopping 15%!!

If you've visiting Sword-Buyers-Guide.com you'll have some idea of how cool I think the Generation 2 sword are...

So if you've been thinking to get one but haven't quite got around to it - take advantage of this offer - I am not sure how long this sale is going to last!

2005-11-12T22:11:00.000-08:00

Could it be - the best value for money medieval replica sword around??

The new review of my latest two swords in now LIVE on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

I've put these swords to the test alright - cut up an army of water filled plastic bottles, slammed them into thick wooden chopping blocks, chopped wooden logs in half and even did a rather grusome display of what they might do to a human arm (that I made with wood and "lamb flaps")...!

Anyway, there's not much point saying too much here other than there is a CLEAR winner which I believe may well be the best VALUE FOR MONEY Medieval sword on the market today - so mosey on over and check out my new review here

2005-11-09T02:59:00.000-08:00

New Contender for the Affordable Japanese swords market?

If you've ever visited Sword-Buyers-Guide.com you'll know that I firmly believe that the Paul Chen Hanwei line of entry level Japanese swords such as the Practical Plus Katana and the Practical Katana are the very best value for money deals on the sword market today (note, I don't say "katanas" - plural for Katana is - um, Katana!).

However there is a possible new contender for a low priced yet functional Japanese blade, and as if it wasn't just too much of a coincidence - his name is also Paul Chen!

Check out the review sumbitted by fellow Sword Forum International Forumite JD Daniels here

2005-11-08T03:49:00.000-08:00

My new additions to the family...!

No it's not the dog (that's Kimba checking out the new arrivals) but I just got a couple of very nice new additions to my family from Arms of Valor - the Maxamillion sword and the Black Prince by Generation 2 - and I have to say, my first impressions of these babies is more than favorable! :)

The order was only just completed my (Australian) time Friday, and arrived my time Tuesday! Talk about FAST delivery - that's all the way from New Hampshire USA to South Australia in less than 5 days (3 business days and a weekend!) with no customs hassles, no extra duties to pay - just straight to my door, (the way ordering swords would be).

I think that getting new swords for me is about as close to that feeling when I was a kid at Xmas time! I pretty much ripped open the box and proceeded to tear away at the tightly wrapped swords inside, cleaned off the usual waxy gunk that protects them, and had my first look.

I am not going to review these swords in detail here as I'll be saving that for my full review on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com
- but let's just say DAMN! These swords are very tightly made (and both with peened pommels), nicely balanced (especially the Black Prince, which is almost a hand-and-a-half, and can certainly be weilded as one), sharp, springy and well - pretty much spot on the mark!

I just can't wait to put these two babies to the test!! The handling is truly quite remarkable, and when I first gave the Maxamillion a swing I was immediately aware of the damage potential THESE ARE VERY MEAN, EXTREMELY FUNCTIONAL SWORDS!

I'll keep you posted as to when the review is up, but boy, just between you and me - I think you'll come to see that these swords are an absolute BARGAIN when you consider that the most expensive is just US$239!! (if you wanna get some of these before my review, just remember to put SBG in brackets next to your name for your 5% discount! That would work out to be $227.05 for the Black Prince and $194.75 for the Maxamillion!)

2005-11-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

Special Discounts for all SBG Readers!

I was chatting with one of the guys from my favorite seller of swords online a few days ago, Arms of Valor and he mentioned that he was happy to give everyone who visits Sword Buyers Guide.com a 5% discount of the total price of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING for sale on his site!

(Well, I actually mentioned this in my previous post - though I disgusied it under the heading "Happy Halloween". Hehehe! You never know what little gems you'll find hidden in my blog and site...!)

Anyway, needless to say, I was pretty excited by this (coz I get a discount too!:)) and it feels great to promote what I truly believe is quite an exceptional sword seller, especially when there are so many dodgy sword sellers out there who hardly know their stock and are just chasing $$$.

All you need to do to get this discount is basically tell 'em "Sword Buyers Guide.com" sent you, by putting the initials of my site (SBG) next to your name:

E.g. "Joe Andrew Peter Brian Samuel Peterson the III (SBG)"

And they'll manually deduct 5% off the total cost of your order (if your name is Joe Andrew Peter Brian Samuel Peterson the III!!)

Have a look around - you'll see that this is the very best deal on the net because not only do you save money, but you are dealing with an established (since 1998), customer service orientated and well - extremely honorable - seller of swords.

There will be quite a few more posts about the upcoming newsletter, new reviews (I just bought a couple of very cool Gen2 swords from Arms of Valor today! Drooool!) and a very interesting post and full review of some new Japanese swords that look set to compete head to head with the Hanwei line as low priced yet very functional Katana!

So keep watching! It's so exciting these days I can hardly sleep!!!!! :)

2005-10-31T05:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween!

Ok, well I know that to some of my friends and readers in the USA it's still not officially Halloween yet (or maybe it is, I get confused with these time zones sometimes!) - but it's the tail end of it here for me down under in Oz (sometimes I think everyday is a bit like Halloween around here, but that's another story! :0)

Anyway, (if you'll pardon the pun) I thought I'd also "disguise" something here a little bit with the innocous Header and skeleton sword guy pic - as I'm pretty excited about something - but at the same time I'd like to let you in on a little secret...

For all my loyal visitors to *** who also visit this blog (and to anyone else who has strayed past here for the first time - hi - you can take advantage of this too if you like) I've just been offered a 5% discount off the total price of any order placed by my readers to the entire fantastic range of swords on offer at Arms of Valor!

This isn't a shameless plug and I can genuinely recommend these guys with pride - mostly because I've bought probably 85% of my fully functional swords from them - and I know for a fact that they are one of the best and most effecient, painless sword sellers to deal with online. Plus with this special discount - it makes them perhaps the cheapest and most attractive place to buy swords online there is - (and if you don't believe me on this, have a good look around and see for yourself!!)

Anyway, getting back to this special deal they are offering my readers - I haven't yet decided exactly how or when I am going to promote this fantastic offer yet...

But for anyone who is reading this, I'm gonna give you the early bird advantage and let you have this discount RIGHT NOW!

All you gotta do to get the discount is enter the secret refferal password in brackets next to your name when you create your order...

And the secret password is (drumroll) (SBG) which stands for (2 guesses) "Sword Buyers Guide". In other words, if your name is "Paul Southren" - where you enter your name to buy their swords in the checkout cart you'd type - "Paul Southren (SBG)" and the 5% discount is yours!

In effect, this means that for the first time anywhere on the web you can get the vast majority of my favorite generation 2 swords FOR UNDER US$200!!

It's pretty exciting stuff - but for now, this discount is just betwen you and me - ok!?

So Have fun - and Happy Halloween! :)

2005-10-29T21:33:00.000-07:00

Now taking Newsletter Subscriptions!

It's been a while between posts I know, but all for good reason - Sword-Buyers-Guide.com has just officially launched the aptly named ezine/newsletter Sword Buyers Digest

The first bumper edition is due out 1st of December and boy, it's gonna be exciting! It's much more than a way for visitors to keep track of all the new developments and pages added to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com but it contains information not accessible anywhere else on the site - plus most exciting of all a growing collection of top quality "plain English" ebooks on sword collecting, buying, training techniques and much, much more (that you can't get anywhere else) all 100% FREE!

So sign up now! There are some (unadvertised) bonuses for early bird subscribers too, so it's well worth your while.

P.S. If you got anything that you wanna see in the upcoming edition, don't hesitate to Drop me a line and let me know!

2005-10-15T02:26:00.000-07:00

It's Official: Review Submission is Open!

Yup - if you own any of the swords made by my favorite affordable yet totally functional swords (Windlass Steelcrafts, Generation 2 or Hanwei) that has not been reviewed on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com, have a few pics of you and your sword and want to review it - the latest addition to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com
gives you the option.

And the best part?

Just for submitting your honest evaluation with some pics, you automatically get a US$10 Gift Voucher to spend at Reliks Swords and Collectibles.

These vouchers are cumulative - in other words, if you have more than 1 sword made by Windlass, Gen 2 or Hanwei that you want to review - you can put as many $10 vouchers together for one purchase! And with the range of Excellent Windlass swords available from Reliks.com plus the lowest price guarantee and FREE delivery on all orders over US$100 - I hope that you'll find it well worth your time! :-)

Anyway - its up and running - so if you wanna get on the site and get something for your review, check it out here

I look forward to recieving your reviews!

2005-10-10T01:04:00.000-07:00

Asian Swords

The section on Asian swords in Sword-Buyers-Guide.com was just starting to get a little too broad on the old side navigation bar/panel/thingo - so I decided to lump it all together under a new category called (surprisingly) Asian Swords

The main reason I did this way to prepare the way for a few new reviews, etc on Korean swords, Ninja weapons and to find a place for the Zatoichi sword review.

Of course that meant sacrificing one of my most popular pages A Beginners Guide to Buying Authentic Japanese Swords to fit into this new meta-category, but don't panic - it's still there - just slightly deeper in the site.

I will be doing this a little more frequently over the coming weeks and months in an effort to use fewer side bars - as in my opinion, I get turned off by a site with too many choices!

I guess we will see how it goes - after all, nothing is set in concrete on the net now is it!?

2005-10-06T03:46:00.000-07:00

New Featured Review Added
The Halfling Sword By Generation 2

Just finished adding another review to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com by Daniel Rabenstein, a fellow sword ethusiast and "reader" of the site for his new Halfling sword by Generation 2.

Nice little sword too - check out the new review of these Lord of the Rings swords

Interestingly, on some sword sellers websites this sword is described as the "Elven leaf blade dagger" though at with a blade length of 15" - though by the definition of the respected sword scholar Colonel D.H. Gordon it would have more properly been defined as a dirk...

Anyway, regardless - it's a neat little sword and certainly much more attractive than the purely ornamental "official" versions by United Cutlery, simply due to the fact that like all Gen2 swords - this one is a mean cutter as well...

If you love Tolkein and Lord of the Rings swords - defiently worth a good look.

2005-10-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Excalibur - The Video??

Just been playing around with Windows Movie Maker for the first time and have chucked a few of my movie clips from the test cutting with the Excalibur.

I have been trying to find my old clips from previous sword tests but as yet to no avail... :,-( Really have no idea where they are now...

Anyway, though It somehow reminds me of a "Nike" ad - check it out for a laugh.

Check out my Excalibur Video Here

This is just a temporary place for it on the net at the moment (much thanks to Kana for her help) and I am not 100% sure if this particular version will be on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com yet as it was my first go, but it is a taste of things to come anyway...!

P.S. You need to press "PLAY" after it loads - it doesn't start automatically.

P.P.S. It was also interesting to note that when I was cutting the bottle with the Excalibur sword that I also cut off a nice chuck of tree too :-) Something I didn't actually notice at the time...!

2005-10-01T03:44:00.000-07:00

Excalibur and the Yellowpages...

I was about to throw out last years edition of the yellowpages when I decided I had a much better (and destructive) use for it...

Why not test my Excalibur sword on it!!?

I'd heard of something similar being done by the guys at Cold Steel - so I thought there was nothing to lose...

Since I was pretty sure that the impact on my sword would be jarring my blow wasn't at all full power. But I needn't have worried. As you can see, it was a pretty simple matter to cut so deeply into the phonebook I was actually quite shocked by how visciously it cut (see below)

What impressed me the most was how neatly the paper was cut. It was PERFECT - very much like that of a guillotine (and it certainly beats the heck out of those pics of guys cutting a single piece of paper with the edge of a sword! :-))

Of course, after all these tests (many of which I repeated several times) as well as cutting up cardboard boxes, more bits of wood and slamming the blade into the thick tree trunk (in otherwords, some pretty heavy duty sword abuse) the blade was starting to get a few marks here and there. Nothing serious, but it was starting to lose the old "pristine" condition look.

Pretty easy to bring it back to life again though - a once over with a 3M Scotch brite and some WD-40 with a WD-40 wipedown followed by a Hanwei Sword Oiling and the old Excalibur was back as good as new! (In fact, even a bit better than new! I had worn off alot of those pesky grindmarks that I dislike about the Excalibur).

Anyway, I've added the new test to my review on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com

Though there is still one more abusive test I wanna do...

More on that on another post!

2005-09-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

Excalibur Review Up and Online!

After what seems like an eternity, I've finally been able to do up my review of the Generation 2 Brass Excalibur sword on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com

To check it out in all it's "glory" click here

It's also my birthday today, so it was a nice "present" to get it done. I am not a big party kind of person, so will just be spending the evening at a Korean BBQ restaurant with my wife Kana (who is originally from Nara, Japan).

Maybe my best present this year was finally convincing her to do some test cutting! Hehe! :-)

(After all, it's my birthday! How can she say no!?!)

Ok, well her first two attempts with the Excalibur were cute - she knocked it down twice and managed to "injure" the plastic filled bottles "skin" - so I thought - ok, she is Japanese and the PPK can pretty much cut anything (after all, my friends who aren't experienced with swords who try it out say "I can't believe it, there was NO resistance).

So how she could bat away a water bottle with a PPK staggered both of us beyond belief! Haha!

But finally, she managed to kill it with a nice cut!

Well Done Kana! ;-)

2005-09-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

I'm BAAAAACK!

Thank the Gods for that! I am finally back online again...!

After what seems like an eternity, we have finally completed the move and re-established our ADSL connection so I'm glad to say it's back to business as usual!

I've still got quite a large backlog of questions to answer from my many visitors to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com while I have been away, which is great, but my apologies to anyone in advance if I don't get around to you straight away...

Unfortunately, the whole move thing has thrown out my plans a bit for having the first edition of the Sword-Buyers-Guide.com ezine up and running by the start of October, looks like a November issue now, but will keep you posted.

I've also been thrashing the heck out my new Excalibur sword so have plenty to report when I finally get around to reviewing it in the next 5 days or so.

I'll post a few "teasers" here and there in the meantime on this blog, because while it isn't perfect, it's one mean mother!

Well, I'm going to try and tackle that mountain of emails and take down the few "gone fishin" signs on the site.

I must say it's GOOD to be back! So much to do, so little time :-)

2005-09-01T02:26:00.000-07:00

Going AWOL

Well, it's official - we are moving home and at this stage it's looking like I won't be back online until the 16th or 17th of September at the EARLIEST... (Grrr!)

So to let of some steam and to leave you guys with an interesting pic until I get back online again - I decided to do my final test cut at our old house just for the sake of nostalgia - 5 bottles in a row with my PPK - and boy, was it fun - as you can plainly see :-)

Of course Sword-Buyers-Guide.com will still be available as usual during this time. And when I get back online, there will shortly be my full review with heaps of test cutting with my new Generation 2 excalibur (with some obviously slightly different background shots) and lots more that I will prepare in advance for Sword-Buyers-Guide.com during my "downtime".

Of course, the BEST part about moving is all those empty cardboard boxes that will have to be disposed of after we have finished with them - MWO HAHA HAH (Dr. Evil laugh with rather poor phonetics!)

Look out for those pics when I come back!

Catch up with you all in a couple of weeks or so. Until then - have fun, buy swords! :-)

2005-08-31T04:45:00.000-07:00

Excalibur Sword and Moving Home

My Generation 2 Brass Excalibur finally arrived and I must say, my first impressions of this sword are very positive.

Of course, I will be reveiwing it properly at a later date on Sword-Buyers-Guide.combut for now, I'll have to say that it is surprsingly well balanced for its weight (at a tad over 4lbs) and is nice to weild, though the wire mesh wrap on the handle isn't really designed to be used by a naked hand.

The handle actually is really quite long and makes this something of a bastard sword really, and the scabbard is top quality and comes with an adjustable frog.

Top sword - especially with regards to the quality of the fittings.

The blade itself is very sharp, I nearly cut myself just testing it with a tentative touch of my finger tips and it looks like it would make a great beater. The flex is good too, nicely heat treated - overall, a very nice deal.

Anyway, like I said I'll be reviewing it in a lot more detail at a later date. And lucky it came today too...

...Because it looks like we might be moving house over the weekend (Argh!)

I am not sure yet, but since our lease is up on the 6th of September we applied for a few other rental properties and it seems very possible that we have landed ourselves a new house to rent. So the next few days I might possibly be AWOL as my internet will be down in the interim, so sorry in advance if I go missing for a few days and there aren't any replies to emails sent to me...

Still not 100% sure if we've got this new place (if so, you'll notice a bit of a background change to the background scenery at Sword-Buyers-Guide.com :-)) but if I seem to have dropped of the face of the earth for a while, at least you'll know why!:-)

Not looking forward to it though, moving house is such a pain... (Argh!):-(

2005-08-30T02:43:00.000-07:00

Sword Abuse?

I thought I'd share with you an interesting little one page website that shows just how tough some of the swords that I recommend on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com really are...

While banging any sword repeatedly against a "tire pell" is (and probably rightfully so) sword abuse, it is at least interesting to see how they hold up.

And for the record, the sword that held up the best - the Windlass Steelcrafts Medieval Sword - over 2000 full power blows and still going strong!

Check it out:

Sword and the Tire Pell

2005-08-29T02:09:00.000-07:00

Alexander Sword

Well, as I mentioned in yesterdays post - I saw the DVD of "Alexander" starring Colin farrel, Angelina Jolie and a very aged looking Anthony Hopkins.

And as I also said yesterday, I wasn't particularily impressed by the movie - though I did like Alexanders sword, which is basically a Greek Falcata or Kopis, and the way it would hack off limbs and the like with ease...

In reality, these swords were particularily effective at cutting through flesh and bone - blade heavy, and not at all a graceful sword, but something more akin to an axe in form and function.

Of course, as with any movie with swords in it - a movie sword replica isn't far behind, and in this case it's the "Alexander Fighting Sword" by Marto of Spain.

At US$449 - this sword is vastly overpriced, and not in any way 'functional'. And as much as I love the general design of these swords, I'd pass on this one - there are much better versions available for much less than half the price by Windlass and Generation 2.

I will be reviewing these much better alternatives later on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

But for now, if you liked the sword you saw in the movie, check out the Generation 2 "Celtic Falcata" and the Windlass Falcata - much better weapons at around the US$150.

P.S. I got that problem/glitch from yesterday all fixed up now, so if anyone has been holding off asking some questions - let 'em rip! Ask a Question

2005-08-28T02:14:00.000-07:00

Minor Glitch...

Oops..

I have been busy editing a few things here and there on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com (in between watching a DVD of "Alexander", which I should add wasn't all that inspiring, though I liked his Falcata sword!) and there is a small problem at the moment with my contact us page which I was editing to be "Have a Question".

All will be well and good shortly - so I apologize to anyone that has been trying to ask a question recently and has been told (the page doesn't exist).

Sorry to anyone inconvenienced by this, it will be up and running by this time tomorrow I am sure.

Don't ya just love computers ;-)

Perhaps at some point in the future, I'll do some test cutting on one and post it on my site or on this blog... :-)

2005-08-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

Ninja Swords

I haven't really posted any reviews of Ninja swords on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com yet, so I thought that since I was recently asked a question by a reader about them, this might be the place to post for those who might be interested until I get around to it on the site.

While the debate as to if Ninja swords actually ever really existed is a contentious one (with many people claiming that Ninja would have more likely than not just used a typical Katana or Wakazashi - and others saying that the straight Ninja sword was a Ninja tradition) if you are looking for functional Ninja swords online - there are really only 2 choices...

The BWT Ninja sword by Generation 2 and the Practical Ninja sword by Paul Chens Hanwei forge.

While the BWT Ninja sword is considerably more expensive than the Practical Ninja by Hanwei (at $279 and $160 odd respectively) I personally feel that the Hanwei sword is the better choice.

Sure, the Hanwei sword uses cheaper fittings - Hanwei are the experts of affordable differencially tempered blades.

Anyway, like I said I will be reviewing these swords on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com at a later date, but for now - if you are looking for a mean Ninja sword - go the Hanwei.

Just my $0.02.

2005-08-26T04:41:00.000-07:00

Sword Fighting Games

I love swords. And I love computer games...

So it isn't too much of a leap of logic that I love - SWORD GAMES best of all.

I've played quite a few of them in my time, both in my youth in the arcades and on the PC. (In fact, when I was around 16 years old, my favorite game was "Barbarian" on the commodore 64, you know the one where it's just endless 1 on 1 fights against the same old opponent, at the time I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread! Showing my age I think...!;-))

While it's kind of hard to choose my ALL TIME favorite sword fighting game - if I had to, I think it would have to be "Samurai Showdown" (the arcade version). Or maybe even "Usagi Yojimbo" from 1986...

Oh well, I love them all! At a later date I will be putting some cool links to free sword fighting games on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

But here's one that I found recently that's heaps of fun (and extremely addictive!).

It takes a couple of goes before you start to get the hang of it - but even though the cutesy graphics aren't the best - it's simple and pretty cool none-the-less.

If you haven't got anything better to do, check it out.

Barbarian Bob

Well, I'm off to try and kill that nasty king of those evil pink people...

2005-08-25T03:26:00.000-07:00

Making a Wooden Sword

I was just asked by a young sword ethusiast how to make a wooden sword.

Now at this stage Sword-Buyers-Guide.com isn't really about making your own swords, wooden or otherwise. But since I always make a point to answer EVERY question by my readers as best as possible (and if I don't know the answer, refer the inquiring sword ethusiast to someone who does) I didn't think that this was too difficult a request...

Unfortunately, finding quick answers to this question has proved quite difficult!

Sure, I was able to refer this young sword ethusiast to a few good posts and sites (namely this post at the Sword Forum International and an article on Anvil-Fire.com) but I wasn't entirely happy with my answer.

Online, it would seem that there are actually few resources for the beginning sword smith... You'd think that there would be some sites with heaps of info on making wooden wasters, but the reality is - there isn't...

Perhaps in the future, in conjunction with some local smiths, I'll add a sister site to Sword-Buyers-Guide.com called "sword-makers-guide.com" or maybe just add a section to the guide as it stands...

Something to consider anyway.

2005-08-24T04:59:00.000-07:00

New Category - Chinese swords

Just recieved an excellent review of the Dadao two handed one heck of a cleaver Chinese sword from G. Scott Hoagland and put up the featured review on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

To check out the full review, click here.

At around US$85 to $125 this is a VERY reasonably priced and inexpensive sword, especially when you condider that it is fully functional.

Most Chinese swords in this price range are just fancy wall hangers, but this one not only looks mean - but is quite sharp straight out of the box, and in Scotts own words with "a few swipes at the butcher’s steel, and this Chinese swords blade became frighteningly sharp..."

Historically, the Dadao wasn't the kind of sword that was used by trained soldiers, and was more of a peasant army weapon - much like the European Falchion. While with the traditional double edged, straight Jian a skilled swordsman was required for it to be effective, someone attacking with a Dadao would probably miss 19 times out of 20.

But on that 20th time...

2005-08-23T02:48:00.000-07:00

Took a day off work today to give Sword-Buyers-Guide.com a bit of a 'face lift'.

Mostly cosmetic modifications here and there that make it a bit easier to read. Plus I listed all the sub-directories to many other articles on my site that people seem to miss - so I am hoping that this will make the site even more helpful to my visitors. :-)

You know, I'm still not 100% sure about the header... Maybe I am a bit of a perfectionist, or maybe it is just crap - but I feel that it still needs some more work... After all, it's up there at the top of every page and kind of pulls the whole site together.

Well, whatever is the case it will be finalized mid September... So in the meantime, if you see a few crazy looking headers and themes going on - don't be alarmed, you'll know what is going on! :-)

2005-08-22T03:24:00.000-07:00

Over the next couple of months there are plenty of exciting new developments planned for Sword-Buyers-Guide.com.

Of course, since this is only a part-time endevour for me, it certainly takes up a lot of time reviewing swords, answering readers questions (which I really enjoy) and developing the site. So in the next few months, I will be asking any one who stumbles on my site who happens to own a Windlass, Generation 2 or Hanwei "beater" sword to post their review of it with some pics in exchange for a gift voucher which they can spend at an online sword seller.

I am also planning to develop an ezine with some of the best sword forum posts, news in the sword world, interviews, readers questions, sword fighting techniques and much, much more which should come out once a month. At the moment, time permitting, this is scheduled for October 2005, so keep an eye out for it.

I am to make my site as interactive, informative and FUN as possible - so if you have any suggestions on anything you'd like to see - just post a comment on this blog or Contact me directly by filling out this form.

After all, this site isn't for ME, it's for YOU! And while I love getting positive feedback, some constructive criticism would make my site a better experience for everyone.

2005-08-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Disturbing pics and images...

I should warn anyone of a sensitive nature that the picture at the bottom of this post is really quite disturbing.

You see, it's a fairly common practice for sword lovers to test the cutting abilities of their swords on plastic bottles, bamboo, flying pizza boxes, cardboard, rolled up wet newspapers, pool noodles, rolled up straw mats (tatami mats) and wooden dowels to name a few of the more popular mediums.

But groups such as the ARMA and several other organizations (Such as Cold Steel) often test the sharpness and cutting power of their blades on MEAT. In fact, one of the most disturbing videos I have seen was by a Chinese sword manufacturing company demonstrating just how sharp their swords were - you can see them cutting effortlessly through huge chucks of meat about midway through a very interesting clip here

Now I should clarify that testing swords on meat (sometimes reffered to as "goating") does not include slaughtering live animals with a sword. And it should go without saying that doing this kind of thing is truly deranged, sick, cruel and has NO place in the world of modern sword testing.

And personally, I would NEVER harm a living creature with any of my swords (unless of course, in self defence - but this is NOT the reason I have swords!). But testing swords on "meat" can be an excellent and somewhat gory reminder of the kinds of wounds that a sword can inflict that you just can't properly grasp from testing it on a water bottle, just as this rather deep and horrifying cut as performed by a member of the ARMA (Association from Renaissance Martial Arts).

For more test cutting results conducted by the ARMA click here

In my own case, my first real experience of goating took place around 2 weeks ago when I bought a pigs head from the local butcher for our dog, Kimba, and decided that before I gave it to her I'd serve the dual purpose of making it easier for her to eat as well as test the kind of damage that my Generation 2 Roman Gladius was capable of.

To say that the kind of damage this sword did was "shocking" was quite an understatement. And since I didn't want to put it on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com directly, as it is really quite a confronting image - I thought i'd put it here.

Such devestating damage inflicted to both flesh and bone not only gave me a newfound respect for this sword, and made me wary of weilding it around willy nilly in case I hit myself with it. And in this respect, I recommend that every owner of a REAL sword is aware of just how much damage a sword can do - which is something that you can forget if all you ever cut is plastic bottles and makes knowledge of the effects of a sword on flesh and bone a very important safety issue when it comes to handling real swords.

2005-08-19T22:50:00.000-07:00

Just for a bit of fun today, I decided to try cutting a few water filled bottles in one stroke with my Practical Plus Katana, just to see what would happen.

Now, I've probably cut hundreds of water filled bottles, jugs, etc with this sword on many a seperate occasion, but it never occured to me to see just how many I could cut in one swipe and leave the bases standing where they were.

Sounds like the perfect test for a REAL Japanese sword now doesn't it!:-)

Now since I go through plastic milk jugs quite a bit, it's not easy for me to accumulate many at any given time - however I had 4 and when I lined them up on the balcony I was thinking "no way I can cut all these without knocking them off everywhere" so I reduced it to 3...

But as you can see from the results, I needn't have worried...

What surprised me the most was not that the cut was easy, I fully expected that, but how the lids didn't fly away - instead, the first one just fell back down onto the remainder of the bottle, the second one jumped slightly and landed on top of the remainder of the third bottle and the last one just fell to the ground.

A less sharp sword wouldn't have been able to do this - it would have probably just knocked the bottles everywhere..

This whole scenario gave me an idea - I'll collect as many plastic milk containers as I can in the next couple of weeks and see just how many I can cut through without knocking any off the ledge. Once I've set my personal best record, I'll have a little competition on Sword Buyers Guide.com for fellow Practical Plus Katana owners to see how many THEY can do, and after a set period of time, the person who does the best and can back it up with photos/mpegs will get a US$100 gift voucher to spend at an online sword store! (Plus second and third place runners up)

Sounds like fun!:-)

In the meantime though, I better get back to finishing those 6 glasses of milk I just poured...

2005-08-19T03:03:00.000-07:00

Some Simple Sword Cleaning Tips

The only real disadvantage to owning a real sword over a stainless steel "wall hanger" sword is that you have to keep it well oiled.

I was just recently asked a question by one of my visitors to Sword Buyers Guide.com about how often you need to oil a sword, as this gentleman had just recently bought his first real sword after reading my site and was getting concerned about it rusting before he could buy some proper sword oil.

Not at all a silly question, as I too had become quite paranoid about this happening when I first bought my first REAL sword - and I think that it is probably a fairly common fear for first time sword buyers in general.

Now, I won't repeat here my basic tips on how to keep a sword clean and well oiled as I've covered it in a lot more detail in my article How to Make Your Own Sword Cleaning Kit

However, my advise to a first time sword buyer is - DON'T PANIC!

Unless your sword gets wet, or you live in the humid jungles of the Amazon, your sword should be fine for quite some time. Many swords already come with a fine layer of oil protecting them when you buy them. And in a pinch, if you get worried or get your sword wet, a quick spray of WD-40 is ok as a short term solution (though its no good to protect your sword for an extended period - it dries too quickly).

And remember, when it comes to keeping your sword well oiled - LESS IS MORE! You don't need a lot of oil to keep it in good shape, just a very fine sheen is more than enough.

2005-08-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

Well, just ordered another baby to add to my sword collection :-)

Since I loved the Generation 2 Roman Wasp Waisted Gladius so much, I decided to give one of their medieval European swords a go and placed an order with Arms of Valor for the Excalibur Brass...

Looks like a really nice sword - solid brass handguard and pommel, wire wrapped handle and a 34" long fullered blade. If it's performance is even 1/2 as good as the Roman sword I bought from Gen2 it would be a fantastic buy, especially considering the price is only US$219..

When you buy this sword, you also get the choice of a simple leather scabbard or wooden one with frog. Since I rent and it's impractical for me to display my swords on the wall, I decided on the wooden one - only US$20 more. After all, storing a sword in a leather scabbard creates mositure and causes the high carbon steel to rust... (And putting too much oil on the blade and storing it in a leather scabbard rots the leather!).

Which is why its simply not a good idea to store REAL carbon steel swords in a leather scabbard for any length of time.

Since I live in Australia and Arms of Valor is in the US, it cost a fair bit for them to UPS it to me, but shouln't have to wait too long... Last time I ordered from Arms of Valor it only took 7 working days to get my swords - very fast and well worth the extra expense of UPS.

Anyway, I'll be reviewing the sword soon after I get it on Sword-Buyers-Guide.com so stay tuned - looks like it's a winner! :-)

2005-08-17T03:21:00.000-07:00

If you've visited Sword Buyers Guide.com you'll know that one simple method I use to test a swords cutting ability and performance is by cutting plastic bottles of various sizes filled with water.

Such a test has been done by knife enthusiasts for many a year. Why?

Well the reasons are pretty much the same as they are for doing it with swords, and that's to both measure both the sharpness of the blade and to check the angle of the cut.

Personally, while I also test my swords against considerably more demanding targets, cutting a water filled plastic bottle is a great starting point to get an idea of how well a sword cuts.

Extremely sharp swords, such as my Practical Plus Katana, cut through the bottle with virtually no resistance. In fact, most people who have done the "bottle cut" with a PPK all say the same thing - it felt like they had missed, until the gush of water proved otherwise.

In fact, when a friend of mine did some test cutting with a PPK for the first time last week, he was so surprised at the lack of resistance that the blade just kept on going and cut a second bottle unintentionally (he thought he would feel something but when you use a PPK against a bottle, you just don't feel it!).

Less sharp swords tend to impact the bottle first before they cut - and you simply don't get that "zero resistance" feeling. A blunt sword simply smacks the bottle away!

The size of the bottle used also increases the difficulty of the cut - but not in the way you might at first think.

Large bottles actually cut easier than smaller ones - due to the increased pressure and general integrety of the surface being cut.

Case in point - as you can see from the picture below, the Generation 2 Roman Wasp Waisted Gladius cuts through large bottles easily enough. But last friday night I tried it on a very small pepsi bottle 3 times, and each time I just hit it away and it banged noisily into the fence...

However, one very relaxed cut from the PPK and it was history...

Don't get me wrong though, the Generation 2 sword is an extremely sharp and durable cutter. It's just that different swords have different uses - a Katana was specifically designed to cut human flesh and bone and doesn't do very well against harder targets. While the Gladius can take steel to steel hits, cut through large wooden blocks, trees etc - but wouldn't sever a human hand like a katana would.

2005-08-16T04:42:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked by a vistor to my website Sword Buyers Guide.com about where to buy some good quality yet reasonably cheap bare blades for a "do-it-yourself" Katana project.

Now since REAL Katana "Samurai swords" are one of the most expensive types of swords you can buy it's no surprise that the bare blades themselves aren't usually cheap.

In fact, it's rare to be able to find them for under US$800 (and that's just the so called "low end" of the market! They can and often do sell for several times that price).

However, as I advised the visitor to my site, you can buy some cheap bare blades that are still quite authentically made at Kris Cutlery.com

Kris makes a very nicely differentially tempered blade for US$135 which is perfect for a customization job (though in all honesty I find Kris' completed/fully furnished Katana to be too simple looking and contemporary, though everyone in the know recommends his actual BLADES).

Of course, you then have to make and/or buy all the fittings too - and for authentic fittings, you are looking at another US$200+ as an absolute minimum. Plus of course the amount of sweat equity you need to put in...

Personally, I'd only recommend going down this route if you actually enjoy the process.

If on the other hand you are just looking for a reasonably priced, yet fully functional authentic Japanese sword - I'd STRONGLY recommend you check out the Practical Plus Katana by Paul Chens Hanwei Forge.

These swords are authentically styled, TOTALLY functional and typically sells for less than US$300 online (considerably cheaper still on ebay - I bought mine there for US$215!).

The differentially tempered blade of a Practical Plus Katana (PPK for short) is very sharp, very strong and it's also fully dismountable in the traditional manner (a couple of menuki pegs pinned through holes in the handle and tang), allowing you to customize it until your heart is content.

In fact, many PPK owners choose to go down the customization route and in my opinion, it's probably the better opion for a "do-it-yourself" custom job.

And boy, is it FUN for doing test cutting...!

But for now I'll leave that as a topic for another post... ;-)

2005-08-15T02:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone and welcome to sword-buying-guy, the companion blog to my website Sword-Buyers-Guide.com

Over the last few days I've been tinkering with the site a bit as some of you regular visitors may have noticed. For one, the basic look and feel of the site has been pretty dramatically altered (I hope) for the best!

I've opted for a more "dramatic" header - with a lighting strike background and a slightly bronzed picture of my Windlass Steelcrafts European sword superimposed over the top. What do you reckon?

Looks a lot better than the old "cartoon" style sword over the chrome background I think! :-)

I'd been meaning to get around to that for ages, but have been pretty busy of late with posting a couple of new sword reviews, answering readers questions, hanging out at the Sword Forum International and of course the obligatory cutting plastic bottles full of water to pieces with my hanwei Practical Plus Katana ;-)

There will be alot of very exciting developments to the site in the next few months, so I thought that it needed a bit of a facelift. (Though I'm still not 100% sure that this header will be the final one, chatting with a friend of mine who is much more skilled in this kind of thing than me to come up with the FINAL logo).

So if you haven't been there before, and you are seriously into affordable yet totally functional swords, check it out!