Cold Steel 88BKW Katana, Ray Skin Handle, Wood Scabbard, One Size

When I orderes the sword, I already had a sharp pebble brand wetstone 1000/6000. I know some of you have seen youtube reviews by wannabe martial artists and decided NO on this sword. Think again. It doesnt come hand sharpened, duh. put the small effort in and sharpen it. I even watched a guy with his review on YT wearing a gimmick mask and using sloppy technique to try to cut water bottles! Man! sharpen this sword properly, its slick. its front heavy? well, it iss off by 4 inches on my 2 thousand dollar sword from japan circa 1979! this thing is built to last and is battle ready with a stone and stropped. at under 300 i'll take it over all the rest. I dont know lynn thompson but we need to thank this man for his service to the blade industry. cold steel always delivers and has a great warranty, and I wont need warranties with this sword! sliced tatami, sliced rope ( I used 2 inch marine rope) and was a pleasure to practice drawing and sheathing with. so many reviews way off the mark here. all because your hanwei swings well on tatami doesnt mean it will do well in a shtf situation or cut modern day kevlar through a car door.

This review is on 02-03-15. People have given unfavorable reviews on this Katana, perhaps Cold Steel Quality has improved. Either way, here we go. The only Con I have was that the sword was delivered in a box (which was bent) and it was wrapped in a bubble bag. A thicker cloth black bag was folded inside. There was no warranty or any paperwork. Perhaps this is why it cost only 289.48 instead of 500.00. Out of the box, I was impressed. The blade is quality steel and flawless, no bumps or scratches and the blade is straight. Finish on the blade is satin not a high gloss mirror finish. No Hamon (since these are usually fake on most swords anyway). All fittings and handle are tight, no rattle. The Ito is wrapped perfect as if by hand and the braids are centered perfect. The Menuki (decorative pieces beneath the Ito) is bright with a gold finish and centered perfectly. So far so good. The blade is sharp and well balanced Some say its heavy but for me the weight is fine. Actually its kind of light (I am 5'11" and 53) Cuts halfway through the shipping box without scratching the blade. Laugh if you will but one of my test is the "swoosh". If the blade makes a fairly audible swoosh or whip sound it tells me the blade is straight and the cutting edge is consistent. Paper test. Cutting through a sheet of paper was little rough. A few passes over the cutting edge with a AccuSharp tool and "Holy ____" cut like a hot knife through butter. (if you try one of these sharpeners, start on a cheap sword first to get the hang of it. you will notice the difference) When passing the sharpener over the edge there was almost no steel shreds removed (another test of a quality steel as opposed to a blade made of pig iron that would leave large shards of metal flakes behind. To sum it up. Someone said this is a utilitarian blade. That's a great definition. She is not ugly but beautiful (in a bulldog kind of way)This Cold Steel Katana is a no BS no frills cutter and cutting is what is does! Use it for Iai kata practice, cutting Tami mats and Yes this can be used for self defense! Definitely a mans sword! Good Job Cold Steel!

I watched product reviews on YouTube and read the ones provided on Sword Buyers Guide (SBG). The reviews were all very consistent and I can affirm after removing from the box and holding for five minutes; It does feel like a "sharpened crowbar". After a quick exam and the feel for the blade, I let my wife (who is not a sword enthusiast, just married to one) hold it and her comments were less positive than mine. She said it didn't even feel like a katana. She has held most if not all the swords in my collection. She stated the Cold Steel Warrior Katana was not light, maneuverable or refined. The only positives were, the sword was sharp and it had decent fittings that were of above average quality and fit. If this is the entry-level katana sword from Cold Steel, I will have to pass on the rest of the line up. It's like BMW making a bad 3-series car. It's the bread and butter of the companies offerings and if the 3-Series which they sell the most is poor quality, reliability, and design, one would never imagine buying the 4, 5, 6 or 7 series cars. I'll stick to Hanwei, Musashi, Ryujin, Dragon King (Hanwei subsidiary), Ronin and Dragon Sword..., great quality and value and I have never had a bad product from them.

I'm going to echo a lot of what has already been said. if you are a "traditionalist", I would recommend that you look elsewhere. This blade is heavy, for what it is, and will definitely take some time getting use to. Due to it's balance and weight it can be slow on the follow through. I read one review that compared it to a cross between a katana and a viking sword...I can see that...This sword is definitely designed for hacking. It will take strong arms to wield it properly. The "sharpened crowbar" review had it right on this one. Now, having said all that, this is a well built sword. The one I received was tight in all the right places...no loose parts or shimming needed. It is sharp but not razor sharp...more tearing paper than slicing through it. It is a thing of beauty in it's own right...I will continue to use it for katas and iaido to build my arm and back muscles, but will probably move to a lighter, more balanced sword in the future. Kudos to The Blade Shop for a good price and good packing as sword arrived without a scratch...would purchase from again. As for purchasing this product, I would have to say, ask yourself, what is your purpose with the sword?

This is a very nice sword, great balance and feels very reliable. Have not done any serious cutting tests, but the blade is extremely sharp without looking flimsy. It will not be a good tool in practical cutting scenarios (unlike rougher machete katanas from cold steel), but as a weapon it is definitely worthy.

So also jetzt nach einigen Tagen meine Kundenbewertung! Ich muss sagen ich bin hell auf begeistert, sowohl von dem Artikel als auch vom Shop! Zum Artikel: Ich war erst sehr Skeptisch, wegen des Schwertes und hatte mich schon ausgiebig vorher mit dem Thema "Katana" befasst. Ich hatte bei mehrere Shops andere hochwertige Schwerter in der Auswahl und bin letztlich wirklich froh mich für dieses Cold Steel Katana entschieden zu haben! Es ist zwar nicht so schön verziert wie einige andere Modelle die ich in der Auswahl hatte, jedoch ist es sehr Praxis orientiert, was mir sehr gefällt! (nähere Infos dazu findet ihr wenn ihr "Cold Steel Warrior Katana" mal bei Youtube nachschlagt!) Das Schwert ist top verarbeitet und macht einen soliden Eindruck. Es liegt schwer in der Hand, so dass ich wohl noch etwas Übung benötigen werde um perfekt damit um zu gehen. Das Schwert wird scharf ausgeliefert (ohne Probleme ein Blattpapier damit zerteilt) und ist bereits eingeölt. Allerdings sollte man sich ein Pflegeset mit Nelkenöl zu legen, da Schwerter aus Kohlenstoffstahl alle 2-3 Monate eine Pflege brauchen um nicht zu rosten! Soviel zum Schwert! Der Laden.. Ja was soll ich sagen, ich habe sofort meine Daten hin versandt (Perso) und sofort eine Bestätigung erhalten! Der Versandt ging razfaz und ich wusste immer wo mein Paket gerade war (wegen dieses Verfolgungslinks). Also kp wie das bei anderen Artikeln dieses Ladens ist, aber in dem Fall war ich positiv überrascht, hoffe dass ist immer so! Weiter so! An alle die Interesse an einem Soliden Kampftüchtigen Schwert haben.. Kauft es!!

Genuine new Cold Steel 88BKW purchased for $310 CAD. From guard to tip the blade measures exactly 75cm long. Thickness is 7mm at the base, 6.5mm at the middle, and 6mm at its thinnest just before the blade flares back to 7mm thickness for a reinforced tip. Weight 1,218g (45g heavier than manufacturer spec). PoB is 19cm from the guard, very blade heavy. Handle construction is solid, no hint of wobble after moderate test cutting on stiff cardboard. The handle wrap looks very nice although on close inspection there are some gaps around the rayskin inserts exposing the wooden handle core. The sheath is VERY tight, that being the case blade retention in the sheath is excellent. The cutting profile of the blade is excellent, nearly perfect. The edge is both VERY sharp and a bit unpolished, let me explain. The edge angle is very acute and the cutting geometry is basically perfect, the blade will separate solid material with ease. The apex of the edge is however not polished, cutting soft targets using the factory edge this sword will behave more like a chainsaw than a razor, that being said a chainsaw will cut your fingers off like a lightsaber and this blade demands the same respect. Receiving a practice sword with a coarse edge is just fine by me because you will need to sharpen it yourself anyway. Hand polishing costs BIG $$$ and all that polish goes away on your first slice. A word of caution for practice cuts, the edge profile is SO acute that it did ripple a bit when cutting extra high density cardboard (not normal boxes, this was super tough e.g. mailing tubes), the edge did not "roll" and there is no visible edge damage, only mild waves can be felt while sharpening. By my consideration this is only a good thing because such a thin edge makes this a HIGHLY proficient cutter, but the edge WILL take damage easily if abused. Contact with wood is a no-no unless you want to spend a few hours re-grinding your Katana into an axe. BTW forget the messy water stones, use cheap medium grit diamond plates for setting a new edge and to polish the edge just use the largest fine ceramic stone you can find (lasts forever). If there is one thing for me to complain about it's the angle of the blade protruding from the handle is swept back slightly more than you'd expect, this does not affect the function of the blade at all but aesthetically it's just a slight bit off. And in agreement with all other reviews the far forward balance makes this blade feel very heavy, which is fine for a Katana but if you like the nimble feel of European swords this is a bit of a shock.

Verarbeitung wie ich es mir vorgestellt habe 1A. Verpackung bei B-M war sehr gut. Nun zur Schärfe: - Wenn man sich im Foren ein wenig erkundigt, dann weis man auch, dass diese Schwerter robust, aber nur selten richtig scharf sind - Teilweise leicht scharf - Muss selbst geschärft werden um es für Cuts verwenden zu können ( Was ca. 10€ für Korkblock und Nassschleifpapier kostet ) Gibt dafür aber ein gutes Video auf Youtube, von Thomas Ari Link: [...]

Do not buy these, they are either fake or second quality, the fittings and details are done so poorly and the blade didn’t even fit that sheath…