traditional tamahagne diff. forged true hamon etc blade against Rittersteel

by jackfrost7
(california)

QUESTION: If a rittersteel katana were to stike or cross blades with a more expensive traditional katana with the differentially forged blade like the originals what would happen?

In my opinion while the rittersteel is heavy and not as balanced as a the extremely expensive traditional forged katanas. I feel the ritter blade being supported by the full tang etc and also being thicker and wider would chop the other differentially forged katana in half. Why because of shear physics. The edge of the tradtional katana may have a slightly harder edge but its a thin area and the rest of the blade is soft to keep it from breaking supposedly. The ritter is a monster high carbon very close in strength but more reiforced with its wider thicker non traditional blade style. The shear inertia if both were swung with similiar strength I believe the thin harder edge of the tradtional katana would be sliced clean through and the soft steel back would be like cutting through butter at that point. So you might be a traditionalist but if two equal swordsmen were to engage in combat armed with these swords i believe the stronger thicker blade of the Ritter would come out victoriously.

Now put aside all the snooty purists bullshit from those certain people who are by the way not Japanese, nor samurai and have been training for years with a wanna be hack censei with a wanna be half ass style comments. This sword is not traditional so what its a true weapon. Most of those thousand traditional differ. forged blah blah tamahagne steel hand done this hand done that would be either heavily damaged or shattered if actually taken into battle against a ritter and it would lose.

Well now all the snobs elitists can jump al over this but in the back of mind your thinking what i just said. Cutting matts is for goons playing soldier swords are and can be crafted beautifully where they are art and also somebody could learn to use them in ways they are not really intended for like forms etc which can also be appreciated and are also beautiful. However the sword from the beginning is and was a weapon of war for killing like it or not and i for one would not trust a sword in battle just because its traditionally forged over something that is obviously stronger. That is how wars are lost.

ANSWER: If they were to hit each other, you are right - the traditional Katana would come out of it pretty badly, while the Rittersteel may well be more or less undamaged.

Of course, the other factor to consider is speed, if two warriors faced off, the one with the real Nihonto would get in the first strike before the Rittersteel was properly in motion and it would all be over...

Even if they were of equal skill, the fact that it is less weildly would spell disaster - but if they clashed, game over.

Interesting though, and as much as some people might like to believe it, the Nihonto isn't going to cut the Rittersteel in half... ;-)

Cheers,

- Paul

Comments for traditional tamahagne diff. forged true hamon etc blade against Rittersteel

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tradition
by: Anonymous

Altho yes you are partialy right traditional steel is no were near that of any carbon steel or spring steel of today, but believe it or not traditional steel has been found to hold a much sharper edge because it is more brital, you also looking at combat from a wester point of view were when we think of a sword fight we think blades crashing together, rather when samurai whent head to head, it was verry short and would last a maximum of 3 or 4 strikes, alot of the time the blades my not oven make contact because alot of steels rather then deflecting an oponents blade why not evade and strike, so for the purpose of a sword the traditional steel worked wounderfuly, and ritter steel isnt a steel its just a brand and from what ive seen its realy cheap so more or less its quite poor and wouldnt last a second up against SBG T10 tool steel katana's or even 1060 blades, and yes there are even stronger steels then those,

western?
by: Anonymous

The way the samurai used swords was unique and pretty much uniform across japan. But...perhaps you don't know your history, when the mongols invaded coastal japan they did not fight the way the samurai did they fought with a different style and pretty much handed Japan its ass. So if your point was that the samurai way of fighting was so good it would be over in seconds is seriuosly in error. When the samurai came up against a more western hack and slash approach they lost so you are incorrect. I understand ritter steel is 1060 and made from surplus tank steel left over from the war. So that would make it pretty tough. Speed is important but also one can block with little movement. So the other guy that commented about the lighter sword being the winner of such an outcome between the two swords is not conclusive. Also the samurai have been romanced and exaggerated to a great extent about their prowess as warriors. There are very few times they did engage enemies from other lands that used different weapons and styles of combat other than their own and the few times they did they lost.

to comments:
by: Anonymous

I see your point about the type of steel. but i also think that the "Rittersteel" in this, is talking about the brand in general. not the low end or the high end.
about the style of combat: you are very right. a clash was rare and it was never edge to edge. so it would not matter. in movies and games they show a long fight with swords smashing together and sparks shooting into the air. but combat was short and to the point. (please do not test high end swords edge to edge, i think i would cry)
--A Novice

yup, umm but no
by: TomK

yup if you slammed a Rittersteel and traditional katana together edge to edge it is pretty likely they would both take some serious damage and pretty likely the Ritter would eventually destroy the Nihonto. however, neither sword would cut the other in half it doesn't work that way. also if you slammed a traditional Nihonto katana into an unhardened bar of steel it is pretty likely the nihonto would take serious damage. tamahagane is a pretty poor steel and the Japanese smiths of old knew it and designed their sword to compensate for it. they did work of great skill and beauty and made a very capable weapon out of that crap steel and their work turned into an art form and well we know where it ended up.

all that being said, people, please try to understand that the steel has very little to do with who is going to win the sword fight. a good swordsman knows better than to clash hard blade on blade with another sword and has learned that a hard block is less effective in getting yourself into a position to win the fight. being an at least somewhat skilled swordsman I can attest that this is a true statement. hard blocks like you see in movies just do not work well. so those who say the more agile sword has an advantage are correct. notice I didn't say "would win" that is because the winner of the fight is determined by who the better or luckier fighter is at that particular moment. in a sword fight seconds seem to last forever, a whole lot happens in just a few seconds and thus sword fights tend to be short. this has nothing to do with the samurai being wicked good swordsmen that could dispatch anyone instantly but rather that sword fights are, by nature, fast.

lastly the idea that the Japanese failed anytime they fought foreigners is just silly. in the 15th century they invaded and wooped butt all up and down Korea. it wasn't until they got close to pushing into China and the Chinese joined the fight and overwhelmed them that they were pushed back. as for the Mongols giving the Japanese a hard time, yup they gave EVERYONE a hard time. they were the most feared fighting force the world has ever seen and conquered more land than any military force in the history of the world. everyone from Ireland to Japan, from Russia to Africa knew of the Mongol hordes and told horror stories about their invasions. Japan got lucky when a hurricane (typhoon as it is called there) destroyed the Mongol invasion fleet. twice. thus the "Kamikaze" (wind of god) came to be the protector of Japan.

What's Your Beef?
by: Bookie

You ask a question, but then give petty much the answer, but then start ranting about elitist snobs while throwing in some swear words...what gives? This is a family site. Do you have an inferiority complex, someone upset you, or are you an internet troll? Chill out and get some manners, dude.

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