Katanas are overrated.

this is the best sword ever

I take it you're meaning they're overrated in an applicable sense?

The workmanship, skill,and pride that goes into the creation of the Samurai sword I find to be very admirable. They are beautiful creations compared to other swords, IMO, and showed an intense dedication and reverance by those who made them and also by those whom wielded them. I've read that in the old days, the Katana was considered a Samurai's very identity in a sense.

Who knows if they are better or worse in combat than the others? I would prefer the katana due to it's light weight, blade integrity and curvature meant for slashing.

Tom Cruise could teach me. :lol:

[QUOTE="zero9167"][QUOTE="tzar3"]

I agree with the topic creator, katanas also look flimsy, I would rather use this baby over a katana.

tzar3

This my friend is a landsknecht sword from germany, towering at 7 feet and 2 inches, used by swiss and german front linesman during the middle ages.

Zweihandlers! Yes mein Kaiser!!!

Sorry, been playing too much Medieval 2.

[QUOTE="zero9167"][QUOTE="blooddemon666"]The sword second from the left here looks like it would hurt like a son of a... if you got slashed by itblooddemon666

well i have actually seen swords that are like that. I know there is a specific name for them. Its like a khopesh or something.

that was modeled off of this:

Aren't they Kukri's?

Either way, I'd prefer double Scimitars.... Drizzt Do'Urden's sword-fighting can be quite good, if you're fast enough.

katanas have the right balance between flexibility and lethality..they re designed for piercing ,not for slicing like most swords.

heavy swords require power..katanas require technique and clear mind

in the right hands they are the best sword ever made

I like rapiers ^_^Kratos_Aurion56

Glad I'm not alone. What scares me most in this topic isn't that people in OT have such an interest in swords, but if I didn't know better I'd think some people in this topic actually think they could effectively wield any sword in a fight. That thought scares me.

Katanas are fine weapons....But you need a lot of training of you wanted to be able to use one.....Katanas are made to kill on their first blowjointed

All swords are made to kill on first blow. If you sword doesn't kill your opponent on first impact you should consider yourself ****ed.

I take it you're meaning they're overrated in an applicable sense?

The workmanship, skill,and pride that goes into the creation of the Samurai sword I find to be very admirable. They are beautiful creations compared to other swords, IMO, and showed an intense dedication and reverance by those who made them and also by those whom wielded them. I've read that in the old days, the Katana was considered a Samurai's very identity in a sense.

Who knows if they are better or worse in combat than the others? I would prefer the katana due to it's light weight, blade integrity and curvature meant for slashing.

Tom Cruise could teach me. :lol:

Rekunta

The huge hours of worksmanship put into Katanas was not really from the supposed divine essence of the weapon. It was done primarily to see how much metal they could continuously recycle from the sword until it had just enough to maintain its shape when you were holding it.

I'm trying to make it clear here but no one seems to get it. Japan has zero natural resources.

[QUOTE="blooddemon666"]

[QUOTE="zero9167"][QUOTE="blooddemon666"]The sword second from the left here looks like it would hurt like a son of a... if you got slashed by itAnubisCraig

well i have actually seen swords that are like that. I know there is a specific name for them. Its like a khopesh or something.

that was modeled off of this:

Aren't they Kukri's?

Either way, I'd prefer double Scimitars.... Drizzt Do'Urden's sword-fighting can be quite good, if you're fast enough.

Kukris don't go up and then curve. They are just a constant curve. It's more like an odd shaped sickle = Kind of short for a sickle too.

katanas have the right balance between flexibility and lethality..they re designed for piercing ,not for slicing like most swords. myownsaga

Other way around. If you try to stab someone with a katana you will damage the sword.

heavy swords require power..katanas require technique and clear mind

in the right hands they are the best sword ever made

The right hands won't mean **** against solid plate armor.

I like Katana's and they are very nice looking. I like the Imperial Japanese(WWII) Military issued katana's if they were cheap enough I would have one in collection.AgileNate

Hawkeye is correct, a katana would likely shatter on its first blow against European plate armor. Not only are they much lighter than longswords, but they are meant for different purposes. To get through plate armor, you need to have a sword that tears, while a katana cuts. Most of you won't know what I'm talking about, but sword veterans will understand.

The Chinese enthusiast that I am, my favorite sword is the dao. However, I prefer polearms over swords. My favorite medieval weapon overall would have to be the Chinese halberd.

Katanas are not made for thrusting, as Hawkeye said, that will damage the blade.

Katana's use differential heat treatment, which is what creates the hamon. The spine of the sword is very soft, and the edge is very hard. This creates a system where the edge can be chipped fairly easily, as hard steels tend to be brittle. It also creates a blade that can be bent easily.

The Japanese swordsmiths would spend a great deal of time on a Katana, they folded the steel not because the steel was very good, instead because the steel was very bad. Tameshagne basically comes from iron rich sand, they needed to spend time folding the steel to achieve a uniform carbon content, as well as to remove slag. Also, Japanese swords were made using laminated steel, a costly and time intensive process. This was also due to the low quality of the natural resources available, and also why the japanese never used large amounts of metal armor. The idea of laminate construction in a sword was also used in the dark ages in Europe. Viking swords tended to have a core of soft steel, with a higher quality, hardened edge forge welded onto the blade, the japanese did roughly the same thing. This was simply a way of conserving your supply of high quality steel.

I know in shadowrun everyone runs around with a katana it gets annoying .....til i pull out a shotgun and kill them but im not sure which sword is my favorite i shall ponder

Well, that comes down to your definition of great balance. A sword that feels light in your hand will generally not have much mass near the tip, and will move around very quickly, but a slash or hack from such a blade will be ineffective against anything other than bare skin and clothing. A sword that feels blade heavy (assuming it's a high quality item, and not just some cheaply made piece of junk) will not be something you can swing around like the first example, but when it makes contact it should create a horrific wound to anyone wearing anything less than well made mail armor, and even that might not be enough.The advent of plate armor was the main reason why european blades eventually took on the look of overgrown ice-picks.http://www.myarmoury.com/feature_spotxviii.html

I attempted to quote from the link, but the horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible bugs on this message board thwarted all attempts.

Katanas are not made for thrusting, as Hawkeye said, that will damage the blade.

Katana's use differential heat treatment, which is what creates the hamon. The spine of the sword is very soft, and the edge is very hard. This creates a system where the edge can be chipped fairly easily, as hard steels tend to be brittle. It also creates a blade that can be bent easily.

The Japanese swordsmiths would spend a great deal of time on a Katana, they folded the steel not because the steel was very good, instead because the steel was very bad. Tameshagne basically comes from iron rich sand, they needed to spend time folding the steel to achieve a uniform carbon content, as well as to remove slag. Also, Japanese swords were made using laminated steel, a costly and time intensive process. This was also due to the low quality of the natural resources available, and also why the japanese never used large amounts of metal armor. The idea of laminate construction in a sword was also used in the dark ages in Europe. Viking swords tended to have a core of soft steel, with a higher quality, hardened edge forge welded onto the blade, the japanese did roughly the same thing. This was simply a way of conserving your supply of high quality steel.

Also, generally speaking, Katanas were heavier than European blades. As I said earlier, European swords were designed to be used 1-handed, katanas were designed almost exclusively for 2-handed use. Also, European swords tended to have what is known as a distal taper, which means that when you look at the sword, edge on, you will see that the blade is thicker at the hilt than it is at the point. This moves the center of balance back towards the wielder's hand, making the sword more manueverable. Japanese swords tended to not taper much at all in either profile or distal.bobwill1

Wrong. Katana's have alternating folds of soft and hard metal because it was a clever way of defeating a compromise. Soft metal is flexible and in turn less likely to shatter. This however means that an edge cannot be maintained. This is where hard steel comes in, which can keep an edge very well and provides the Katana's legendary sharpness. By using alternating folds of steel, a balance between flexibility and edge was maintained.

You know, you basically just supported what he said.

please. light sabers own all.... everyone know that :P

No the katana is not overated it was developed by the Japanese almost over 500 years,, at a physical level the shape of the katana is perfect; a sword made to slice through anything that resembles the strength of the steel that made it. As far as I know no other is sword takes a month to make, or has such stages in the forging of the sword. I have come to believe that the katana is beyond a weapon and it's more a piece of art, that's my opinion and since you people take it like fact you can go ahead and segregate me.

I'd like to add, that not only is the sword beautiful but all of the myth and legend that surrounds it gives the katana a reverential aura to it.

Wrong. Katana's have alternating folds of soft and hard metal because it was a clever way of defeating a compromise. Soft metal is flexible and in turn less likely to shatter. This however means that an edge cannot be maintained. This is where hard steel comes in, which can keep an edge very well and provides the Katana's legendary sharpness. By using alternating folds of steel, a balance between flexibility and edge was maintained. CaptHawkeye

You know, you basically just supported what he said.

I think Katanas are cool but yeah they seem overrated.

Katana wank from the general obsession lots of teens have with Japanese culture for some reason. It comes from Japan, so it must be god like right?

Katana's are not preferable weapons for anyone who understands true Medieval warfare anyway. Katanas came about, and only worked, historically, as a result of Japan's lack of natural resources. Samurai didn't wear plate armor because they couldn't produce it. And Katanas are very thin, lightweight designs with substantially less metal than english longswords because the Japanese islands lack the natural metals to make long swords.

If a samurai tried to cut down an English Crusader, his katana would shatter like glass against theKnight's plate armor.

CaptHawkeye

[QUOTE="myownsaga"]

katanas have the right balance between flexibility and lethality..they re designed for piercing ,not for slicing like most swords. CaptHawkeye

Other way around. If you try to stab someone with a katana you will damage the sword.

heavy swords require power..katanas require technique and clear mind

in the right hands they are the best sword ever made

The right hands won't mean **** against solid plate armor.

[QUOTE="CaptHawkeye"]

Katana wank from the general obsession lots of teens have with Japanese culture for some reason. It comes from Japan, so it must be god like right?

Katana's are not preferable weapons for anyone who understands true Medieval warfare anyway. Katanas came about, and only worked, historically, as a result of Japan's lack of natural resources. Samurai didn't wear plate armor because they couldn't produce it. And Katanas are very thin, lightweight designs with substantially less metal than english longswords because the Japanese islands lack the natural metals to make long swords.

If a samurai tried to cut down an English Crusader, his katana would shatter like glass against theKnight's plate armor.

blazinpuertoroc

They are still much thinner than typical European swords. Besides, a sword's thickness doesn't matter as much as the matieral it's made out of.

So you have a few? That's nice. Now you should try to get your hands on a longsword as well. Go to a testing ground, and tell me which one survives an impact with sheet metal.

Katana edges are fairly thick in crosssection.

Katana edges are fairly thick in crosssection.

bobwill1

Concede on blade thickness.

[QUOTE="CaptHawkeye"]

Katana wank from the general obsession lots of teens have with Japanese culture for some reason. It comes from Japan, so it must be god like right?

Katana's are not preferable weapons for anyone who understands true Medieval warfare anyway. Katanas came about, and only worked, historically, as a result of Japan's lack of natural resources. Samurai didn't wear plate armor because they couldn't produce it. And Katanas are very thin, lightweight designs with substantially less metal than english longswords because the Japanese islands lack the natural metals to make long swords.

If a samurai tried to cut down an English Crusader, his katana would shatter like glass against theKnight's plate armor.

blazinpuertoroc