Nightbraid Hand Forged Katana Sword Set with Valknut Engraved Tsuba | Two Swords and Two Scabbards | Black Cord Wrapped Tsuka and Bo Hi Blades | Martial Arts Display Gift | RK-1823

Nightbraid is a two sword katana set, both blades hand forged, both mounted the same way and each with its own scabbard. The tsuka are wrapped in black cord over black same, the tsuba are round and matte black with a Valknut cut into the face, and the blades are polished single edged with a long bo hi groove down the flat. Two black saya ship with the pair. It is priced and sold as a set of two swords, not as a single sword.

Matched pairs have a specific logic behind them. In Japanese practice a long and a short sword worn together made a daisho, and the point was never that you fought with both at once, which almost nobody did. It was that the long blade was for the field and the short blade was for indoors, where a full length sword could not be drawn without hitting a wall or a ceiling beam. A pair meant one weapon for every room in your life. What survives of that idea today is mostly the look of two swords standing together on a rack, which is a perfectly good reason to own them.

Forged, ground, mounted and finished in the Czech Republic. The set ships with both saya, a protective oil film on each blade and a care card. Free shipping inside the United States and one to two weeks of processing, because two swords take twice the mounting work.

Specifications

What the groove down the blade actually does

The long channel running down the flat of each blade is a bo hi. Like a fuller on a European sword it removes steel from the middle of the flat while leaving the spine and the edge at full thickness, which cuts weight without costing much stiffness. On a blade of this length that is worth several ounces out where it matters most.

It also does something no European fuller does, and it is the reason practitioners ask for it. A grooved blade whistles when it is swung correctly and goes quiet when the edge is out of line with the swing. That sound is called tachikaze and it is a free real time feedback signal on your edge alignment, which is the single hardest thing to learn and the hardest thing to check on your own. A student with a grooved blade can hear their own mistakes.

The steel

Both blades are 1095 high carbon steel, forged to profile, normalised, hardened and tempered back to 54 to 58 HRC. On a long single edged blade that band is the right compromise. The thick unsharpened spine keeps the blade rigid, which lets the edge be ground fine without the whole sword becoming whippy, and the hardness holds a cutting edge without moving toward the brittleness that snaps a long blade under leverage.

The fittings are matched between the two swords so the pair reads as one set rather than two swords that happen to be near each other. The tsuba are given a matte black finish so the cut Valknut reads clearly against it.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On this set your chosen mark takes the place of the Valknut on the tsuba, and you can have the same mark on both or a different one on each. Say which in the order notes and see the engraving page.

Handling and balance

With the bo hi taking weight out of the middle of each blade, both swords balance around four inches ahead of the tsuba and turn easily on the wrists. Held two handed with the left hand at the end of the tsuka and the right up near the guard, they point where you look. The two are near enough matched that switching between them does not ask you to relearn anything.

These are collector and display swords with a real heat treat. They are not sold as sparring weapons and should not be used in contact work against another person or another blade. Two live blades in one room is twice the reason to be careful about where you stand.

Care

1095 is not stainless and two blades means twice the routine. Wipe each blade after handling and keep a thin film of mineral or camellia oil on both. Do not leave either blade sitting in its saya for months in a humid room, because a wooden scabbard holds moisture against steel and a bo hi groove is exactly where the moisture sits. Details are on the steel care page.

The cord wraps can be brushed dry and should never be soaked. Wipe the saya with a dry cloth and keep them out of direct sunlight, which fades and eventually crazes a black finish.

Made in the Czech Republic

Every piece we sell is made by hand in the Czech Republic. The smiths there work the way the trade has been worked for a long time, heating and hammering the steel, taking the bevels down by eye, and fitting the handle and the leather one at a time. There is no automated line anywhere in it, so small differences from one piece to the next are normal and expected.

Ransack Viking is a United States company based in Memphis, Tennessee. We bring the pieces in ourselves, inspect them on arrival and ship them from our own warehouse. If you add engraving, that is carried out here in the United States before your order goes out.

A note on handmade variation

This set is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The two swords are matched by eye and by hand, which means they are near identical rather than machine identical, and small differences in blade length and curve between the pair are normal and expected. The Valknut on each tsuba is cut by hand. The cord wraps are laid on by hand and their diamond pitch varies. The dimensions, the steel and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

How many swords come in this set

Two swords and two scabbards. The price on this page is for the pair, not for a single sword.

Are the two blades the same length

They are near matched rather than identical. Expect a small difference between them, which is normal on a hand made pair and is visible in the photograph.

Do they come sharp

Yes, both blades ship with a cutting edge. Ask in the order notes if you want them delivered unsharpened for a display room and we will do that at no extra cost.

Will they whistle when I swing them

They will when your edge alignment is right, and they will go quiet when it is not. That is the bo hi doing its job.

Is a stand included

No. The set includes the two swords and their two scabbards. Stands and racks are listed separately under sword stands and displays.

How long does the set take to ship

One to two weeks of processing while both swords are built and mounted, then free shipping inside the United States.

What is in the box

• Two Nightbraid katana with Valknut cut tsuba
• Two plain black saya
• Protective oil film on both blades
• Care card for high carbon steel and cord wrapped handles
• Forged and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

See more in katana and Japanese swords, wakizashi and sword stands and displays, or read the guides on bo hi grooves and edge alignment.