OK, "the story".
First though, I checked out the Kris website, haven't seen it in a while. They now have a $750 high-end Japanese-pattern sword that WILL balance more like a Japanese original. My comments above on "funky balance issues" applies to their lower-end pieces, not that high-end jobbie.
Right.
About...<scratches head and counts on fingers>...seven years ago, I decided I wanted a battle-ready sword of Japanese type. So I headed for the nearest gun show, and found a nice-condition Japanese *blade only* for $300, purported to be early 20th Century when the Japanese ramped up sword production both for new military officers and as part of a "revival of the Bushido spirit", sort of the "psychological prep for WW2". The edge was straight, it was slightly discoloured but no rust, and I figured I'd be able to homebrew up a grip and leather sheath myself. Blades of that era and type don't have a whole lot of collector value.
So about a year later, I was just getting around to building the mounting hardware, and showed it to a friend who'd spent some time in Japan and knew some Japanese. By luck, he'd spent time in Kyoto, and new the character for the city plus some of the history of the area.
In examining the tang marks, he found the mark for Kyoto, but then got all excited...because the character was in reverse from modern practice.
The town's name was reversed after the Shogun's defeat at Kyoto in 1864 I think it was? Rather a memorable time in Japanese history - basically, the Portugese figured the Shogun was a psycho, armed the Emperor in Tokyo with 10,000 muskets and watched as he eventually piled about 10,000 Samurai heads in a big pile in Kyoto, where the Shogun had been. Note past tense, his head was somewhere in the pile. To mark the occasion, they changed the town's name (you'da thunk the big pile of heads at the Shogun's old castle would have been enough
).
Point is, that marked my blade as being genuine Edo (late Bushido era) period - a real "Samurai sword". It also had a feature not found on various imitations, a "battle bulge" where the spine just behind the tip flares out and makes for a tougher, armor-piercing tip. That and the fact that the tang hole for the grip pin was punched versus drilled further verified it's originality.
Great. Just great. I didn't *WANT* an antique. Proper mounting hardware and scabbard would have run $2,000 minimum, at which point I'd have something worth at least $3,000 or more. But still a wall-hanger.
Sigh.
Well I sat on it for a while, and then a roommate stole it
. I finally found out where it went years later, and demanded it back - I got it alright, but the damnfool had stored it tip-down in a closet and the last 1/4" of the tip rusted <grrr!!!>. So now I had to add a $900 polish job to what it needed, at which point I'd barely break even if that.
Meanwhile got ahold of one of Bill Martino's Khukuris, a nice 21" overall "combat type", longer and skinnier than the Ang Khola "utility pattern", and was very impressed with their craftsmanship.
I talked to Bill Martino more, and found out more of his story. He had gone to Nepal as a younger dude in the Peace Corps and had gone "very native", converting to Bhuddism, marrying into a Ghurka family, etc
. He later came back to the US (Reno, NV) with his wife. He acts as an importer for his father-in-law back in Khathmandu, who had the best blacksmith shop in Nepal. They hand-picked the best smiths, put in power tools, and paid VERY high commission prices for some of the best Nepalese-style to come out since the 1800s.
So I heard that Bill's Nepalese father-in-law, the shop owner/foreman was coming over to Reno to visit his family. I talked to Bill and got myself invited over, and told 'em I'd be bringing a "special surprise".
Yup. You guessed it. It's my old blade hanging in the shop wall in Nepal that is the pattern for the Everest Katana. I sat down with Bill and his pop-in-law in Reno where we drew out the design for the grip, tsuba and sheath, and it was in the pop's checked baggage back to Nepal.
What I got out of it was the very first Everest Katana. In the "weird but cool" department, they kinda screwed up and did TWO Tsubas (round handguards), one at EACH END of the grip! That matches typical Nepalese sword practice, but it's quite peculiar on a Japanese sword. When Bill got that first one into Reno he explained the blooper but, you know, it's kinda cool that way and nobody else has anything quite like it
.
Anyways. After that, Bill got it into their heads that there's only supposed to be one guard, just behind the blade
.
They rock, either way
. Bill has a 40" overall length limit for shipping so a 26" blade and 12" grip plus a bit extra for the sheath tip works out just fine. You don't need longer, even if you're my height (6'4").
