Shinwa ScarletFang Handmade Shirasaya / Samurai Sword

This is my second purchase from Budk . I am pleased with everything. I wasn’t really guarded about this purchase as it was less than a 100 dollars . That said I am shocked at the quality of the gum jeep ( scabbard ) and the Gum jaru ( handle ) fit together seamlessly. I Do a Korean sword style heavily influenced by the Chinese , this was the perfect carbon blade to practice with and I won’t feel bad if it gets used and abused and carried everywhere .

I've generally had negative experiences with Shinwa swords, they tend to have grips which are less nicely executed than same priced or cheaper Musashi or Musha blades - but this one gets it right, as there's no wrap, just a well lacquered wooden grip continuing seamlessly into the saya - so there's no grip wrap to execute poorly. Yes, the blade has a big, essentially impossible to properly remove, Shinwa logo that really hurts the aesthetics, BUT, it doesn't show up so brightly on the red/black blade finish as it does on most of their other decided. Lastly, this is a well executed and unique design. While using a habaki at the base of blade and finishing the sword in Japanese "Shirasaya" fashion, the blade itself is essentially a blade that would be equally at home on a Chinese jian, a late period European arming sword, or even a later period sidesword. One could easily refit the blade to serve as any of these. The dark black and red finish on the layered steel of the blade isn't unattractive, but it will gradually break down under the wear of cutting, so if you're going to use it, that aesthetic should be less of a consideration, given it will fade.

Pros: Comes in an attractive, fabric-wrapped sword box with a silk lined (I think) sword bag inside. Blade weight/thickness is just the right balance between power and speed. Has two very decent edges out of the box, as well as a wicked point. The black Damascus blade is absolutely beautiful, and complements the red lacquer saya and tsuka perfectly. Saya and tsuka are shiny, smooth and in the same line, making this sword look sleek and generally awesome no matter how you use or display it. I haven't done too much with it because it's so pretty, but it cuts through tin cans and bottles of all types like they're not even there and could definitely take care of business if you needed it. Cons: Has a "Handcrafted in China" stamped near the base of the blade, which is a little annoying. At least on mine, the sword can only be sheathed with the blade facing one way, or the edge of the saya will be slightly off-true with the handle. I guess the mouth of the saya is a little unevenly carved. The inside of the sheath has a tendency to get wood shavings on the blade when you draw it, but that got better with time. Overall, the Scarlet Fang is a gorgeous weapon that will do equally well cutting or hanging on your wall, and getting it for $70 is straight up robbery.

Recevied mine today 2 days earlier than expected this is a very nice sword very sharp right out of the box everything is nice and tight very hapoy with it

Shinwa Black Damascus Red Samurai Shirasaya Sword. I was skeptical at first but when I pulled the sword out of the box, I fell in love with it. It's just what I was expecting for the price. The blade was really dirty when I pulled it out of the box, I will clean the blade and oil it tomorrow. I was some what disappointed with the sharpness of the blade but that can be taken care of also......For the price you can't go wrong!

Bought this for my grandson he loved it" it was a beautiful piece to add to his collection. Thanks BUDK

For starters for the money you absolutely cant go wrong... It is a very very nice sword, it has a solid feeling and well finished... Theres no rattles or bad gaps, And the Handle and saya finish is deep and glossy and is flawless I'm very surprised and impressed with the craftmanship of this piece. I really was not expecting it to be of this level of quality for the price i expected it to be just decent not great. There is one big problem and that is it is so beautiful i dont want to use it! So its going on the sword rack on display next to my Hanwei and Ronin and others, its defiantly worthy of hanging next to swords of much higher prices. Did i mention its drop dead beautiful!

I read the comments before purchase and I was very unsure...I thought it was a good buy, Whats the worst that could happen, Right? Got my package today and was very happy. The Blade was very sharp at the tip and the edges felt like they could do damage. Im not sure if it was full tang or not , and the scabbard had glue and woodchips inside. It didn't bother me. This is my first Purchase from BUDK and a Shinwa product. I will be returning for the holidays :)

This is definitely an eye-catching piece, but I don't think this would be ideal for self defense. The first thing I noticed, other than looks, was the way the weight was distributed. It feels VERY forward heavy, too much so for a katana which is supposed to be usable one handed. I felt very little weight in the handle, which would have helped to offset the balance more towards the hand and make it much more wieldable. I think a good modification might be a thicker or more substantial tang in the wood grip for just that added bit of weight to make it feel less heavy than it feels when you try and swing it. DEFINITELY use this with two hands!

Sword arrived in a crushed sword box, NOT FROM SHIPPING as the shipping box was fine. The red sword box was crushed BEFORE it was shipped. Result was a fingernail size chunk of the handle missing and several marks throughout the entire sword. Other than that it was sharp enough and fit scabbard OK. Sad how someone would ship a very visibly damaged container with ZERO consideration for the costumer. Not worth the effort and cost of returning. I have bought ALOT from BudK but this was the worst experience.