Samurai sword is the loose English term for the Japanese blades a warrior carried: the katana at around 40 inches overall, the shorter wakizashi at about 28, and the tanto below that. Purists will tell you the word covers a class rather than a shape, and they are right, but it is what people type. This archive is the katana and wakizashi end of the catalogue.
Blades, fittings and finishes
The katana run 36 to 41.5 inches overall with blades from 27 to 29 inches. Steel is plain 1095 high carbon at 54 to 58 HRC or forge welded 1095 and 15N20 Damascus at 58 to 60 HRC, and one carries a genuine clay quenched hamon with a runic compass tsuba. Another has a bo hi fuller cut down the blade, which lightens it and gives the cut its sound. Fittings cover iron, steel and brass tsuba, a brass habaki, and tsuka wrapped in black or green silk ito, cord over rayskin, or plain cord. Almost every one ships in a lacquered wooden saya with a cord sageo, in black or matching green. Two wakizashi sit at 28 inches overall, one in plain steel with a ribbed grip and a brown leather saya, one in Damascus with a black lacquer saya and a cord wrapped tsuka. A couple carry Norse etching, including a knotwork band under a blackened tsuba, which is where this range crosses the rest of the catalogue. Prices run from 385 dollars to 659 dollars.
Which one and why
The long blade needs space and a stand; the short one is easier to keep and easier to hand to a guest. Our background on the katana and the piece on the wakizashi cover what each was carried for and what the terminology actually means. The full Japanese range is in katana and Japanese swords, and the smallest blade in the set has its own shelf in tanto knives.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in Chicago, Illinois. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Chicago. Engraving is done in the US after arrival: text 19 dollars, symbol 39 dollars, family crest 49 dollars.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
