Maglite ML100 2C Flashlight

This light shows quite well that lumens are not everything.

This is one of Maglites newer models. 2 C-Cell LED with an advertised output of 137 lumens. They also advertise a distance of about 1000 feet.

Years ago when Mag came out with the 2C incan light I thought it was the ugliest light I had ever seen. A skinny little body with a great big head on it, just looked strange. Fortunately they have changed the look a little with this new LED version and its proportions actually look right. Below is a photo of it next to a Mini Mag Pro just to give an idea of its size.

Ok, on to the light. The first thing that struck me about it was the switch. Anybody familiar with Mag push buttons knows that they are clicky switches that require a good push to turn it on and the switch travels quite a bit before clicking. On this one the switch is in the same place and the rubber boot looks just the same, but push it and you will feel a completely different design. The switch is firm but feels more like pushing a key on my Blackberry…very short travel. I really dont know how to describe it, very different and in my opinion much much better.

The head of the light is also a very new design. On older Mags you can focus the beam by unscrewing the head, keep going and it comes off. This new design, you see the bezel with the lettering, then a grooved ring below it and then the main part of the head which Mag refers to as the “skirt”. They are 3 seperate pieces. This next part is easy to do but very difficult to explain. If you just turn the skirt the bezel never moves, you will see the beam adjust from flood to spot, it has infinite turning either way, it does not screw or unscrew. Now, if you push the “skirt” forward a bit, twist the grooved ring between the skirt and the bezel it will allow you to pull the skirt off down the body of the light. Under that is an adjustment ring that you can adjust the beam alignment in case the light ever takes a hard enough impact to throw the alignment off, you can adjust it back by yourself…clever design. Again, much easier to do than to explain.

The light also has different functions, full power, 25% power, strobe, constant on and momentary on. You can choose (to some extent) which functions you want by choosing one of four “function sets”. Looks at the chart that comes in the instruction manual, decide which set you want, unscrew the tailcap part way, then while holding the power button screw the tailcap back in then the light will begin to blink, 1 blink, pause…then 2 blinks, pause, 3 blinks, pause, 4 blinks….you release the swicth after the number of blinks that matches the “function set” you want and that is how the light works until you change it. Again much easier done than said and another neat little design.

This light is actually small enough to carry (just barely) although you probably will find it a touch annoying after a while, but you can carry it if you really want to.

It runs on 2 C-Cell batteries which are not very popular, not as cheap as AA batteries and all around NOT my favorite battery. I did order a half-dozen spare cells with the light. I then popped over to batteryjunction.com and order adaptors allowing AA batteries to be used in this light. The adaptors are C size containers that you slide a AA cell in, pop two of those in the light and you are ready to go…also reduces weight. The batteries put out the same amount of power but you will lose some runtime as AA obviously dont have the storage capacity of the larger C cells. Now I can use alkaline or NiMH AA batteries in it with no problem.

The light is regulated although many people do not like the way Mag regulates their lights. It will run full power for a few minutes then start gradually reducing output. During actual use it is doubtful your eyes will detect the drop in power. The regulation extends battery life while also keeping heat to a minimum. If you want another full power burst then simply turn it off and back on and it resets to full power. My wife enjoys her Fenix LD20 which will maintain full power as long as the batteries can power it, runtime is reduced and it does become uncomfortably hot…you can however reduce its output manually….just a matter of personal taste I guess.

Pictured below is the LED:

Beamshots are up next. My wifes Fenix is rated at 180 lumens, my Mini Mag Pro is rated at 226. The ML100 is rated a lowly 137 Lumens…amazingly enough it seems to be vastly brighter. Taking the Fenix next to the Mini Mag, it is very hard to tell the difference, both have decent through, enough side spill to be useful and really practical for most purposes. The ML100 with a lower lumen rating on the other hand takes those lumens and concentrates them into a much tighter spot…it far out throws the other 2 lights, appears much brighter and still has plenty of useful spill. Both make great lights but unfortunately too many people have fallen into the newbie trap of “more lumens = a better light”. I think this comes from some of the cheap chinese lights that advertise rediculous outputs that most likely dont live up to the claim or they do create the output with oddball cells that combined with their chargers are a real fire hazard…read the forums if you think Im making that up. There are cases of of exploding cells, melted chargers, fires…you have to seriously know your stuff to use them safely. In my opinion you are much better off using standard batteries or rechargeable batteries and chargers from well known battery companies. Its not all about the lumens, its about how the lumens are used.

First is a beamshot from the Mini Mag Pro. 226 lumens, freshly charged NiMH AA cells at about 65 feet. The spill is greater than what shows in the photo, obviously the camera focused on the brightest area. f3.2 at 0.5″ exposure.

Next is the ML100 137 lumens with new Duracell C cells also at 65 feet. Again the spill is greater than what shows in the photo. f3.2 at 0.5″ exposure.

The target is just a little footstool I had outside to reach a couple of limbs I was trimming.

Quality light with typical Mag build so its going to be plenty durable. Got mine from Brightguy.com who is always ultra reliable and quick to answer all questions. C to AA adaptors were ordered from batteryjunction.com which is also a great place to order from.

 

It’s ok to like a Maglite

Again with reading the flashlight forums…guess I never learn. The latest thing I read was from a guy asking whether he should choose the new Mini Mag Pro or another of the Chinese brand lights.

The responses were about what you would expect, get brand-x, Mag is aimed at the know-nothing-masses, a real “flashaholic” would not buy another Mag. Mags are not “tactical” and their power regulation sucks, their marketing is garbage and blah blah blah…

First off the Chinese can make a pretty good light. Look at Fenix, I love their stuff and I am sure many of the other Chinese brands are just as good. I do know what a distributer pays for them and I do know the mark-up is huge…so dont base your opinion of the better light being the one that costs the most.

When I first got heavily into lights, like most of these younger folks who are just getting started, I too was taken in by the cool looking lights…grooves and vents and knurling and pokey things on the ends.

I do try to consider the source of those who frequently “advise” new people on the forums. They are the same ones who tell stories about seeing cops “investigating a crime” at night with their crappy lights, the forum story teller then describes how he runs to the scene and starts blasting the scene and the next county with enough light to be seen from the moon…all the cops are very impressed and the next day half the department runs out and spends a months salary on flashlights, strangely numbered batteries and a charging station that looks right at home on the Starship Enterprise. First of all I always want to call bull**** on those stories but I dont. Of course there is always the story of some guy and his helpless wife who “hates my lights but has 300 pairs of shoes” going for a walk around the block. Suddenly there is a nasty growling sound from the tree line 400 yards away…of course out comes the trusty lumen-blaster that practically burns the leaves of the trees, the big dog gets scared and all is right with the world (and the helpless wife).

I did read one post from a guy who claims he was just “examining” a 3d cell Mag and it just “fell apart in my hands”…yes, Im sure it did…just flew apart. I am sitting here holding one of my Maglites but its not doing anything, all the pieces are in place and have been for several minutes…maybe if I “examine” it harder…nope, still in one piece, damn!

The fact is I have been through the light deal, Surefire since they were the most expensive for a while so they must have been the best, right? Then Fenix because they look so cool, have a rear clicky-switch and strobes.

What did Mag offer? Nothing, they are the same round bodied lights thay have always had. Sure they worked well, tough as nails, reliable and available just about anywhere. But wait, no grooves or vents or matte finishes, crazy I tell ya.

So, what do most folks use these pocket spotlights for if they dont really run up to cops they dont know and say “look at me, look at me”…and they dont really save the life of their helpless wife on a daily basis solely with a flashlight. They use them mainly for things that a 3 dollar plastic light would do, find the john at night, look at the plug behind the entertainment center to see which plug the dog pulled out when he ran behind it. The extra lumens come in real handy though for beamshots and making neat looking little runtime graphs of the latest oddly numbered battery of dubious manufacture and even less reliable voltage claims. How many times have you read where some of these batteries either dont power the light, or so much power all the user hears is a sizzle and then darkness.

Some complain that Mag says no NiMH batteries. Yeah well, maybe or maybe not. As least as far as the Mini Mag LED goes, plenty of people do use NiMH…I use them in my Pro with no problems. Some of the Chinese lights that are supposedly ok to use with lithium or NiMH have been known to exibit strange behaviors but that seems to be overlooked by the Mag haters.

The Mini Mag Pro claims 226 lumen output. Sure with Mags regulation the brightness drops off fairly quick as a way to keep the light cool…not a bad idea since some of the Chinese lights will run full brightness longer and some of them also get REALLY hot…yeah I know from personal experience. First off, go out in the dark and leave the Pro turned on and look around for an hour, you know the brightness has dropped only because you have been told it will, chances are you would not notice the drop at all unless we are talking about lighting up long ranges for an extended period. Of course the solution for maintaining max brightness with the Mag is just to shut it off and turn it back on and max brightness is back…leave it off for a minute to cool it off a bit or if you really need it fast then just turn it right back on, the trade off is just warmer hands. Doubtful though that most of us need 200-plus lumens for an hour straight.

Yes the Mini is a twist-head switch and not a rear clicky but if you have even an ounce of coordination then no worries, its just as fast.

Mag may not “look” as modern as some and may not have dozens of modes but they work very well, more reliable than most, made in USA, parts easily available and durability is second to none.

Mag is improving the output of their lights, their regulation is a little different but it works. I think many people misunderstand brightness though, if a light says 226 lumes and it does not light up the house across the street as well as their 180 lumen Chinese light they call the 226 lumen light crap with crap advertising. Its simple really, the Pro is 226 lumens, it lights up a fair distance and has plenty of spill to see whats around you. My Mag 3d LED is something like 137 lumens and will out “throw” the Mini Pro by a good bit…wow, it muct be brighter, right? Wrong. It is simply designed to have a tighter spot and all the lumens it is putting out are far more concentrated in a smaller area so it gives the illusion of being brighter at the middle…of course the spill is much less and not near as useful for lighting up a large area. Lumens are not everything.

Read, use and learn about lights before tossing out second rate advice. Nobody really cares if you can quote amp and voltage figures and how many different types of cheaply made no name, oddly numbered rechargeable batteries you have that practically require smoke detectors to feel safe using them and their junky chargers. Use the lights for practical purposes and give sound advice based on the real world, not just repeating what you have read. Of course the blasters with thousand yard throws are fun and I myself love to go light up the back yard (and possible annoy those who live next to us) but that does not reflect real world experience. And get away from the fantasy stories of impressing cops at a crime scene with you bright new toy…nobody believes you anyway.

Now I am going to take my Energizer NiMH batteries out of my Energizer charger and put them in my Maglite Mini Mag Pro…what a poor excuse for a “flashaholic” I am.

 

Internet discussion forums

For those who do not know what a discussion forum is, simply put it is a place where people who enjoy a common interest can talk about it. I tend to hang around forums centered on knives, flashlights and the occasional gun forum. I first started on a knife discussion forum in early 1998 so it has been a while.

Forums started out ok, they were mostly friendly places with only the occasional jerk who was usually booted quickly. These days forums still have plenty of friendly types but also have far more idiots and they are generally welcomed with open arms. That is what this entire rant is about.

I am sure any forum is like this, but lets focus on one rather large flashlight forum as that is where I have noticed several types of childish behavior.

First off lets start by saying that some forum owners seem to live in some alternate universe where a forum is more like a kingdom and they see themselves as some all powerful god. Then you have some of the moderators who see themselves as “helper gods” and since they probably have very little or no real life, they bully members of the forums, they edit and delete threads, ban members and otherwise toss their imaginary power around and feel very very manly while doing it.

Next are some (not all, just some) of the members who really want to be accepted by the powers-that-be so they in turn become rude and post comments that are far from original, they just want you to think they are. Lets say somebody comes along and asks opinions on the new Mini Mag Pro…wait a few minutes and some kid will come along and instead of ignoring a thread of no interest to him will instead post “Do a search, its been discussed plenty already”. Well excuse me. First, have you done a search on a forum lately? Unless you know specific wording you are likely to get close to a thousand results with many of those having a similar word to yours but otherwise nothing to do with what you are searching for. You also must realize that looking even for mini mag pro, even then the way some people spell it will throw your search off…minimag, mini-mag, mini mag, mini-maglite and so on…..Aside from that the mini mag has had several variations over the years and the info you find is quite likely to be way out of date. Now lets say you do find what you are looking for and it had been discussed 6 months ago. If you add to it you are likely to have the same idiot who told you to search pop back up and derail the thread by cracking  jokes about bringing up ancient threads. Of course my favorite thing is to look at the history of this idiots posting history and 99% of the time you will find where he himself has posted topics previously discussed. Guess what? Its a discussion forum. If you are not interested or do not want to help, stay out of it and go bug your mommy for a while.

There are also the types who seem to have a requirement as to how much a light must cost before you can be considered a true flashlight guru. They toss around worn out old sayings like “sure this light costs 500 dollars, isnt your family worth it?” as though spending less than them is somehow saying you just dont care about your family. They tend to make poor suggestions to new guys looking for honest advice. Just for reference, I had a pocket sized flashlight that costs about 160 dollars…guess what? It failed. Now granted the company took care of the problem very quickly and it is a quality light, just a bad part. Just goes to show that what you pay is not automatically mean you get perfection. I have some 10 dollar lighs sitting around here that I have had for years that work every single time. I think some of these people insist that you must spend a ton because they did and they probably have that nagging feeling that they have been taken for a ride. I know a distributer for a popular brand of lights that cost quite a bit for what you get. They are great lights, but I also know how much the distributer and then dealers pay for them…trust me, the profit margin is NOT thin. You are paying a good bit for the name. No problems there, the market supports it and you are still getting a fantastic light, but thiking you care more about your family because you paid that much is an illusion.

You want to be the forum bully? Fine. There are plenty of people who see what you are. Probably the reason more people do not come down on you is because some of the mods and forum owners are just like you and they will ban any member who argues with you are them.

knife and light

At one time I was really into photo editing and never really lost interest but for some reason just stopped doing it. I recently found an app for my Kindle Fire that is a nice little photo editor. This photo of the Cold Steel Spartan and the Inova X5 was modified using PicSay Pro.

Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.

MAGLITE Mini Mag Pro – MAG Steps It Up

MAG has always made a decent flashlight as far as quality. On the other hand they have been among the slowest at keeping up with current trends and overall light output. It has not been all that long ago that the 6xD cell incandescent MAG could be put to shame by new LED lights that would easily fit in your pocket. They have released several LED models in the past few years although the Mini Mag versions have been lacking the output that many people these days want. Here we will discuss the latest LED Mini Mag called the “Mini Mag Pro”

As you can see the Pro looks just like all previous versions of the Mini Mag. No updated styling here which is both good and bad. Good as far as looks. So many newer lights have anti-roll surfaces, multiple textures and enough grooves and flares to drive a lathe operator nuts. I dont think Luke Skywalkers Lightsaber looked as complex as some flashlights these days. Some look really nice and some are just way overdone. The Pro has a classic look without looking outdated. It does have a bit of a checkered surface which in theory should help secure your grip with wet hands. The checker is very nicely done but is so mild that it is just a step above useless for helping your grip…looks nice though. One drawback to this design is since it is round with no anti-roll then chances are it is going to fall off of your dresser or table when you set it down unless you are sure to place it next to something that will stop it. You can stand it on its head of course but as soon as something (your large dog for instance) bumps into the table it will probably fall over and roll off anyway…go ahead, ask me how I know. I just leave it in the belt sheath on my dresser.

Speaking of the belt sheath…it comes with the standard one that Mini Mags have always had. Nothing fancy but put together well and it serves its purpose. I dont use it though, I have one that I found at a gunshow that looks far better.

This light is ANSI rated at 226 lumens. No multi mode here although they do have on called the Pro+ that has a low mode. I personally am starting to lean back towards single mode lights. To me it is easier to have have something like the Pro on my belt and a Fenix EO1 in my pocket and just take out which ever one I need…and it is ready to go without having to make sure the mode is what I want when I am in a hurry. That also serves to give you a spare light if one is lost or simply quits on you.

The operation is the same as older Mini Mags, twist the head and it comes on, go the other way and it shuts off. Like the older versions, the beam can be focused…sort of. If you recall the old incan versions would come on with a huge and slightly dim spill with a great big hole in the middle of the beam, you then had to twist the head to get a spot beam and as far a beams go it was ugly as hell. The newer LED versions are far different. Turn the Pro on and you get a decent spot beam with  a good amount of useful spill. Now if you point it at a wall and twist to focus you can see the spot get a little tighter but the difference is minimal and in actual use it is doubtful you would notice any difference at all. I would consider this a fixed focus light and not figure the advertised ability to focus in your decision to buy this light. Just get it as a fixed beam (and a good one at that) and be done with it.

I have read many reviews or comments against this light because it is considered one that needs “two hands to operate” since it is a twist head instead of a “clicky” switch. Trust me, unless you have incredibly small hands, it is fully and very easily operated one handed. For those who insist it is not, they have either not tried it or have zero coordination. Simply hold the light and use your thumb and forefinger and rotate the head. There is a small ring of grooves around the head of the light that will help you operate it reliably with wet hands. About 2 minutes of practice and you have yourself a one handed light.

Runtime is advertised at 2.5 hours. I have looked at various runtime graphs people have done on this light and noted the following. It will run 2.5 hours, however it looks to be about 45-50 minutes for the beam to drop to about 50% of its initial brightness. It also appears to have a step-down circuit to keep the light from over heating (LED lights can run very hot) so what this does is gradually decrease the brightness of your light as it begins to get warmed up. A couple of graphs showed it dropping to about 90% output in about 12-15 minutes in which case you could turn it off, wait a minute and turn it back on and have near your full output. I left mine on for 30 minutes and the light got slightly warm (not something I would have noticed in actual use) but nowhere near “hot”. Also, I did not notice any decrease in brightness, I think because in actual use your eyes adjust themselves so that such a gradual decrease is just not noticed. However I am sure the decrease was there because the runtime graphs that the big-time flashlight reviewers use show that it does…and these guys have all sorts of light meters and advanced set ups for measuring this stuff.

My wife and I put a fresh set of batteries in this light and also in her Fenix LD20 and went outside to compare one against the other. What I noted was that the Pro has a very nice beam with good throw (useful for distance) and a good amount of spill. When comparing them at the same time side by side I did notice the Pro had a slightly blue tint to the beam although I did not notice it when using it by itself. The Pro is rated at 226 lumens and the Fenix at 180. Side by side the Fenix actually appeared a tiny bit brighter though, in my opinion it is because of its whiter beam.

MAG says that you should only use alkaline batteries in the light. Some experienced flashlight collectors have disputed this and many of the reviews I have seen have stated the use of lithium AA’s as well as NiMh rechargeable cells with no problems at all. I will continue to use only alkalines though. If you choose to follow the advice of others and go ahead and use lithium or rechageable cells you will probably be fine, but you do so at your own risk. MAG does not specify why they recommend against it.

I have not found any local retailers that carry this light. I got mine at brightguy.com who has been in business for years and is an extremely reliable place to buy flashlights. Good prices, fast shipping and very easy to contact by email or phone.

Just a couple of more close up photos. Note the Oklahoma dust that seems impossible to fight off.

 

ICON Rogue 1 LED Flashlight

The following is a review of the ICON Rogue 1 LED flashlight. Having kind of followed its popularity (or lack of) since its release, I have come to the conclusion that it is very much an under-appreciated light.

This light was designed by Paul Kim who is the lead designer of Surefire Flashlights. It is important to note that this is an idependent project and is not made by Surefire.

The light measures 4.5″ x 1.1″. It runs on a single AA battery so as you can imagine this is quite a bit larger than most other 1xAA lights. You can buy 2xCR123 lithium battery lights that are roughly the same size. So why is this one so big? My opinion is that is was designed to be functional with a little artistic flare (as artistic as a light can be anyway) tossed in. Just something different. Unfortunately its size seems to be what turns a lot of people off. I however appreciate the design and think that it looks very nice.

As for its construction, it is very solidly built. The battery tube is nice and thick. The head screws off to replace the battery and the threads are quite heavy duty with very little chance if stripping them. As you can see in the photo there are (for lack of a better term) vented bars that surround the battery tube and appear to look kind of like a cage. This of course adds a lot of size to the light which again seems to be what many people find to be a bad thing. Two advantages of this design though is that it adds an extra level of protection to an already thick and durable battery tube. The second advantage is that it makes quite possibly the most secure and comfortable grip you are likely to find on a single AA light. The light is nicely sealed to resist water…it is not a dive light, but you can use it in the rain without worry and if you drop it in a big puddle you dont need to worry. Just dry it off and you are fine. I dropped mine in a sink full of water and left it for 10 minutes…no water inside the light.

The switch is a nice “clicky” design. It is quite prominent on the back of the light making for easy operation but is stiff enough that you are not likely to accidentally turn the light on. You can partially press it for momentary on, or all the way until it clicks to have a constant on. 2 quick pushes (on-off-on) will put it in low mode…the initial push is of course high mode. The head of the light has printed on it “Caution Hot Surface” which would lead one to believe that leaving it on too long with get it hot…I have left it on for an hour at a time and it will get slightly warm but nowhere near hot.

Runtime: This is where things get interesting so I will try and make this as clear as possible. The light is “Regulated” like many modern upper end LED lights, this means it is designed to give maximum power to the light as long as the battery is capable of supplying it…different from how older lights that were “direct drive” worked. Older designs simply start out very bright and begin to dim almost immediately as the batteries begin to drain. Regulated gives you a steady brightness.

Ok, the ICON regulation is another interesting point of the light. Turn on high mode and it begins at full brightness for roughly 10 minutes and then begins to dim at regular intervals…as I recall something along the lines of 1% every 45-50 seconds until it loses 65% of its brightness. Now if you are using it in the dark then you probably will not notice this gradual drop since your eyes will be adjusting slowly with the light. Once the drop time is over you will have a constant 35-40% brightness which is still usable. Now if you still want its maximum brightness simply turn the light off and back on and presto, the cycle starts over again with full brightness. It is basically a way to conserve battery your battery to get maximum runtime. I used a fresh battery and turned the light on and went to bed. I got up about 6 hours later for work and it was still on and fairly dim but still usable light for going through the dark house…I turned it off and back on and once again had a nice bright light.

The factory specs say high is 50 lumens for 3 hours…though to keep the steady 50 lumens you would need to turn it off and back on every 10 minutes…you will get a longer runtime by simply leaving it on since you will probably not notice the gradual regulated dimming over an hour or so.

The low mode is 6 lumes and an advertised runtime of 70 hours…great for a reading light or long term power outage. It is a cheap light to operate. I have used Dynex batteries which is Best-Buy’s house brand of alkaline and have found them to be excellent alkalines with no leakage problems and several years of shelf life. You can get a 48-pack for about 14 bucks.

One more interesing thing I should mention about the lights output-regulation. With many lights you can use alkaline and get a decent runtime with bright output. Use AA lithiums and you can get brighter and longer runtimes and rechargeables will give you a different output and runtime. This particular design does not seem to care…alkaline, lithium, rechargeable seems to give equal brightness and regulation and drop of output remain the same…so rechargeable or alkaline is the way to go. Lithiums are more expensive and in most lights they can be worth it but in this light it just seems a waste of money.

Carrying this light everyday would not be possible for everybody…it is not a pocket size light. I do carry mine quite a bit in a low profile belt case. I got the case at a gunshow from one of those folks that sell “tactical gear”…it does not have a tag on it so I have no idea of the brand but it is extra heavy duty and fits the light very well and does make it possible to always have this light on me.

Conclusion. I love the light. It is well built and there is no skimping on quality. It is comfortable and is quite efficient with batteries. Its size is very large for a single AA light but the design is a little more imagination oriented as opposed to minimalist but is still fully functional and practical.

Brightguy.com currently has them on sale for 20 bucks which is a steal for a light of this quality…even if you dont carry it much it would make a interesting and high quality light for a collection.

 

 

Cold Steel Chisa Katana

My dad has always had an authentic Samurai Sword or two…or three in his collection. I remember as a kid looking at them and once in a blue moon he would take one out and under his supervision would let me hold it. Of course being a kid the first thing you want to do it swing it which was not allowed with these true pieces of history, all I could do was hold the handle. I always thought, when I get old enough I am going to get one of my own and then I can do what I want with it. Well I am more than old enough now

I know now that true historical examples are out of my price range and if I could afford one it would never be anything more than a piece to look at and nothing more.

I decided I would be happy with something I could just use for decoration and the search started. What I found was a whole lot of junk with lots of flashy looking plastic or pot-metal fittings that looked like something right from the flea-market. It finally dawned on me that I remembered seeing Cold Steel Swords in one of their catalogs. I started checking out various reviews and youtube videos on them and came to the conclusion that Cold Steel was the answer.

This is not a traditional Katana. No folded steel here and no fake temper line like you see in the flea-market junk. What you get is a “Japanese style” sword that not only looks good but in typical Cold Steel fashion is made to be used and probably a lot more durable than the authentic Samurai swords of long ago.

The blade is 1055 steel with a spring temper. It is 5/16″ thick and 24-1/2″ long. I believe the blade is a little shorter than a standard Katana but for me at least it seems to handle a little better that way. Even with its shorter length it still comes in at a hefty 37.1oz. As best I can tell with my eyes, the blade is perfectly straight with a kind of satin finish that seems very evenly done. The spine is flat with the edges of it very slightly smoothed. The edge of the blade was fairly sharp but not what I thought it should be. Also from the handle to about 8 or so inches forward was a very prominent wire edge. I was not confident enough in my sharpening skills to use a stone to deal with it…just not as easy as a knife, trying to keep the sword balanced how you need to on a stone would seem to take some practice. I actually ended up using one of those drag through sharpeners with fine ceramic rods. Several light passes thorugh that took care of the wire edge but left is only “kinda” sharp. Several passes VERY carefully with a fine sharpening steel seems to have straightened the edge up very nicely…paper slicing and shaving a patch of hair off of my arm is quite easy.

You can see from the close up, no layers of steel, no phony temper lines, just a nice piece of steel.

The handle is 11-1/2″ long, covered in ray-skin. The cord wrap is very tight, no slack anywhere and should last a good long time. I suspect of for some reason it ever had to be removed then it would be replaced with a standard paracord wrap unless I could find somebody local who knew how to do the traditional wrap properly. I believe the standard mount for handles is a single peg, Cold Steel uses a two-peg set-up which I suspect adds stability and prevents anything from coming loose over time…this is very solid with absolutley no play in the handle at all.

The scabbard is black lacquered wood and seems very well done. I am no expert on swords at all so I really have no basis for comparison but it does look nice and feels solid.

So how does it handle? As I said, I am no swordsman and make no claims otherwise. Still I have practiced the draw stroke…coming right out of the scabbard and following through as though cutting a target in front of me. I started doing this very slowly and built the speed up slowly. As easy as it looks in the movies, swords are actually kind of heavy and maintaining control towards the end of a stroke takes practice, lots of momentum built up towards the end of the stroke. I have one of Cold Steels synthetic practice swords but the weight difference make going from one to the other something worth considering.

I have not done any cutting of targets or water bottles with it yet. First I need to become more comfortable in my ability to control it during full power strikes and second, I guess I would feel a little strange if the people who live around us were to see…these days some of them would no doubt be talking about “that strange guy who swings swords around”

As much as I enjoy this style of sword, I am not familiar with all of the proper terminology so I apologize for the laymans terms used in this little write-up. I will try to keep this review updated as I learn more and find a time to do some actual cutting tests with it.

Until then Cold Steel has a nice little demo video.

http://www.coldsteel.com/japanwarrior.html