Igneous Katana (51CRV4 Steel)

I hadn’t written a review of this katana yet, and I suppose I was initially unsure of it as it was nice and quick in the hand but slender and a little forward feeling in the hand. It was early in my renewed Katana obsession. Now that I have a thoroughly embarrassing amount of katana’s and other swords; many from this site 🙏. I have a special appreciation for this particular katana. It thoroughly excels at cutting pool noodles. The fat ones especially. I can even take a six inch piece of cut of noodle. Put it on the flat stand for water bottles and fruits & vegetables, and slice through it clean. No other sword in my collection does this as well. The handle allows for a quick snap at the point of attack and has a small flat feel that apparently really helps with getting the edge alignment perfectly on point. Much better than expected and possibly overlooked yet excellent katana. 🙏

Bad good okay fine horrible amazing

I love it. perfect weight, length and everything. Great fit for me

Words couldn’t describe how awesome, thank you Mini Katana !!!

Overall not bad for $200 but I do have some nitpicks but let’s go over the positives first.

The fittings are all nice and tight, down to the Ito wrap and kashira. Poor quality katanas will typically have a pretty loose ito wrap but mine was fairly sturdy, only slightly loose in a couple places but not terribly so. From what I can tell the rayskin wrap under the ito is genuine and not made of plastic. You can tell from the inconsistency of the size of the raised dimples and the clear separation between them. It also seems to have been treated with lacquer so it doesn’t deteriorate from moisture which is a big plus. The blade was perfectly straight and nicely polished. The tsuba design is aesthetically pleasing and the saya design looks quite nice as well. Igneous is a fine name for this sword as the saya looks like cracked lava.

Now for the nitpicks. The first thing I noticed is that the seal between the habaki and saya is extremely tight, to the point that I’m concerned about fully sheathing as I don’t want the saya to split. This is a relatively easy fix but it’s annoying that I have to file the entrance to the saya. More on the saya itself, it feels somewhat fragile in places and it’s extremely light. I am pretty sure I could crack it with enough pressure from a single hand in some places. I also really wish it had protective metal caps on the entrance and end but I knew it didn’t have them when I bought it so I can’t count that against it. The sageo is extremely thick which would normally be a good thing but it’s a little too thick for my taste. It makes holding the saya to draw and sheathe a little awkward. It also feels like polyester cord but for $200 I’m not expecting silk; although cotton would have been nice. As for the Katana itself, the balance is quite poor and is very tip heavy. The balance point is about four inches from the tsuba. I attribute this to the quite skinny handle. Skinny handles are fine if the handle is longer but this handle is a pretty standard size so there isn’t much weight to counterbalance the blade. Again, for $200 I’m not expecting a performance cutter but it’s just something I have to point out. As for the cutting edge it’s sharp but not very refined, it doesn’t cut paper very smoothly but it does cut relatively easy. I did notice the edge on the tip feels a bit rough but that’s another easy fix. As for my habaki, the finish is quite rough, there are uneven file markings in the edges that I can’t help but stare at. The final nitpick I have is the rayskin wrap. Mine is cut into sections and you can see the cuts very visibly. This would be fine if the cuts were obscured by the ito but they run right through the diamonds and they just look unsightly.

In conclusion, this is a decent Katana for $200 if you just want to show off to your friends and cut up some pool noodles but I wouldn’t use it for much else. I would imagine with such forward weight it could cut a tatami mat with ease but its poor balance would tire you out quite quickly. I certainly don’t regret my purchase but if this sword were anymore expensive I might. If you just want a cool sword to mess around with and show off this is a solid option but don’t purchase this if you’re expecting perfection or you might be disappointed. For $200 I give this a 4/5. If I can update this review with photos I will once I’m home from work.

The award is very nice fills good in my hand nicely balanced love the craftsmanship that went in to makeing the blade it is well belt together it is a nice pice to add to my collection but one thing how come it did not come with the box to keep it clean and to protect the blade I should not have to buy it separated that’s the only thing I can’t figure out it would nice to have one for each of my awards all of my other awards came with it