Ryan Swords - AISI 1060 Carbon Steel Katana Review

 Having purchased two wooden bokkens this winter to expand my knowledge of sword play for nothing other than interest in the genre and another way to pass the long Canadian winter I treated myself to my first functional sword.

  Since I had also acquired a traditional Chinese hunting bow and bamboo arrows I stayed with the Asian theme and opted to buy a Japanese style katana. There are many sellers upon Ebay so it really came down to checking feedback scores and, frankly, finding the blade that offered the aesthetic details I prefered with an affordable cost of purchase.

  I decided to stay with 1060 steel as it seemed to be a decent first choice; a good combination of strength, durablity and price point for a first time back yard cutter.Impressed with my previous Chinese purchases I opted to make the buy from Ryans-Swords based out of Longquan China.

http://stores.ebay.ca/ryan-swords?_trksid=p4340.l2563

  My choice was a blade without a hamon(either authentic or etched) but with real samegawa wrapped in black cotton sageo.Brass habiki and seppa with an iron tsuba in a warrior design.Saya made out of hualee hard wood. It came complete with a maintenance kit including powder, oil and tool all within a bamboo box.All for $78 USD with free shipping.

  A katana for $78. My expectations were for a sub $100 blade with some decent features but a sub $100 sword nonetheless.

The Reveal

  Let me premise the reveal by saying communication from Ryans Swords was excellent. I placed my order during the Chinese New Year so expected delays. Not only did RS let me know that there was holiday delays but followed up by confirming exactly when my purchase would ship and, later, that the item had cleared customs in Toronto. Shortly thereafter Canada Post left a door knocker in my mailbox that my package was at the local post office kiosk.

   So I picked up the package and was immediately struck but the quality packaging.As a former warehouseman I recognize good packaging and I could tell this was prime.

Enclosed in a styrofoam box and basically waterproofed with packing tape the blade was well secured and protected.

The katana was wrapped in a plastic bag and silk sword bag, had the blade(oiled) in plastic(within the saya) and the tsuka was also encased in plastic. Excellent attention to packaging detail.

As a result the sword and scabbard were in pristine condition upon opening. I swapped out the red saya for a gloss black version and it was pristine.No scratches or blemishes.Beautiful workmanship.

More importantly there was no rattle of blade within the saya and the sword was extremely snug when scabbarded. In fact I held it upside down and shook the saya and the blade remained secure. No issues other than it might have been too tight as thumbing the tsuba to release the blade took some effort.

For a sub $100 katana the detailing was excellent. The tsuka was well wrapped and the fittings all snug and secure. The Tsuba was very nice in a simplistic but elegant blackened iron design.

The blade was your basic utilitarian 1060 carbon steel without hamon but with bo-hi. Nothing fancy but functional.

The sword possessed a point of balance at about 14.5 centemetres from the base of the tsuba.The tsuka felt comfortable within the hands.

First impressions of my katana purchase are nothing but positive. The seller's communications were excellent, the packaging was perfect, shipping was fast and the product seems well made with a good attention to detail. Cutting test to follow but for a $78 investment this seems like a no brainer for a beginning back yard cutter.

Thanks Ryan!

Cold Water Dousing Part Two - Snow Rub

 Awoke today to a lovely winter's morning with temperatures hovering around the 0C mark with a light snow falling. Seemed like an ideal day to continue with my cold water dousing/hormesis experiment.

"Some follow cold water dousing with air-drying outside or in wintertime taking a "snow bath" by rubbing handfuls of snow on the body or lying/moving in it....."
                                                         
 Todays dousing would be one bucket of cold tap water but I will add a snow rub afterwards to my limbs, torso and head taking advantage of the new snowfall.

Done while in a fasted state it was very refreshing and the cup of coffee afterwards never tasted better.Snow rub felt really good while the tingling sensation upon my skin lasted for quite some time after going inside.

Cold Water Dousing Part 1

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2012/01/cold-water-dousing-experiment.html

The Evolution Of Diet; Primal Eating and Blood Type.

 A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon the family value packs of pork steak on sale at the market and unwilling to pass up on a good deal picked up a package that I placed in the freezer. Needless to say I pulled it out this past Saturday and once thawed I found myself eating pork for four consecutive days.

 As with my previous white potato experiment I quickly crosssed over my pork tipping point and began to feel quite lousy, developed an odd burning rash on my bicep while noticing assorted aches and pains, specifically in my joints. I like pork but acknowledge that it doesn`t always suit my digestion .

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2011/09/nightshade-vegetables-harvest.html

 Remembering the claim (Eat Right For Your Type diet by Dr. D'adamo) that chicken was verboten for type B blood types (and coincidently a food I have no appetite for) and suspecting the same for pork I decided to revisit the theories of blood type based diets.

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2010/11/b-positive-diet-and-paleo-nutrition.html


My personal way of eating (WOE) has been a work in progress as I experiment with food in an attempt to figure out MY optimal diet. I am a firm believer in determining the foods that work for YOU and, conversely, the foods that don`t. Over time I have removed, tested and added foodstuffs to my diet in an attempt to fine tune my overall health and fitness. I have also determined that I possess personal "tipping points" for certain problematic foods I best not cross over. I will now add pork to that list.

Having confirmed pork is an "avoid" food for B types out of sheer curiousity I found a Eat Right For Your Type detailed food list online and began to look at it more closely. In essence the diet's concept involves the impact of food lectins(antinutrients) upon specific blood types.......

"...a chemical reaction occurs between your blood and the foods you eat......This reaction is caused by a factor called Lectins. Lectins, abundant and diverse proteins found in foods, have agglutinating properties that affect your blood. So when you eat a food containing protein lectins that are incompatible with your blood type antigen, the lectins target an organ or bodily system and begin to agglutinate blood cells in that area...."

                                                                          Dr. Lam      



 Needless to say I noticed that my current Primal based way of eating(based largely upon experimentation and bio feedback) was surprisingly similar to the recomendations of the B blood type diet. Intrigued by the similarities I compared my current diet to both the Alkaline and Eat Right for Your Type lists based upon my current food choices that I consume on a regular basis.

http://www.azurvital.com/b.pdf


Foods -  (Beneficial/Neutral/Avoid)   - (Acid/Alkaline)
                  
Broccoli - B  - AK                                                  
Cabbage - B  - AK                                                 
Carrots - B - AK                                                    
Celery  -N  - AK                                                           
Mushrooms - N - AK                                                      
Onions - N -AK
Sweet Potato  - B  - AK                                   
White Potato  - N -AK
Spinach - N - AK
Turnip - N -AK
Blueberry - N -AK
Banana - N -?
Beef - N - AC
Pork - A - AC
Mackeral - B - AC
Tuna - N - AC
Butter - N -N
Cheddar - N - AC
Mozzarella - B - AC
Eggs - N - AC
Yogourt -B - AC
Red Wine - ? - AC?
Cream(18-35%MF) - ? - AC?
Coffee - ? - AC?
Tea -   ? - AK/AC?
Peanut Butter - A - AC                                                                     

Juices - I do not drink juices in any quantity on a regular basis.
Grains - I do not eat grains in any quantity on a regular basis.
Legumes - I do not eat legumes in any quantity on a regular basis(other than an occasional spoonful of peanut butter... a guilty pleasure)
Oils - I use butter or coconut oil only.

(Note - I have issues with D'Adamo's status of coconut. I am yet to determine why it is flagged as my research indicates it is relatively lectin free. I'm guessing it is the high saturated fat content but considering the beneficial nature of coconut SFAs maybe this condemnation is unappropriate)

This is essentially my current diet. Since D'Adamo claims type B's are omnivores, are capable of thriving on dairy but require nutritional balance my current primal way of eating seems to mirror this theory. In terms of my acid/alkaline balance it seems to show a good mix of appropriate acid/alkaline forming staples.Let the record show that I have some issues with the science(or lack of) behind both the Eat Right and the Alkaline diet but, to be fair, I left the Paleo camp over dogma based upon nothing but speculation and pseudo science. More importantly I am healthy, happy and  fit.

Going Forward

Always open to another chance to experiment with my way of eating I will start avoiding pork and peanut butter(my two frequent sins) but add in some of the beneficial foods for type B's as long as they fall within my (fermented dairy) Primal approach. Upon surveying the list I found that I already consume most of the beneficial foods for type B but just not with any frequency. As a result I will implement some changes over the short term and see if I notice any improvements.I suppose it is a win win scenaro with the worse case being simply the addition of more variety to my primal based diet.

Meats/Dairy - I have eaten and enjoyed lamb products and goat`s cheese in the past but neither have become true staples simply due to cost. By avoiding pork(steaks, chops, bacon and roast) and scaling back beef purchases I will have some additional monies available to purchase those products on a regular basis.

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2011/05/de-chevre-goats-milk-cheese.html

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2010/10/windy-view-farms.html


Fruits - Pineapples and grapes are supposedly beneficial to type Bs. I enjoy fresh pineapple but cost is usually a concern. Canned varieties are an option especially if they do not contain added sugars.That said I  still remain wary of too much fructose in my diet so will limit my use of both fruits.

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2011/03/paleo-staples-pineapple.html

Seafood - I will also begin eating more salmon.Same drill with salmon as with lamb in that cost is usually the issue as I prefer fresh or frozen fillets over canned varieties. My sardine consumption has decreased substantially since I discovered a local producer of smoked mackeral fillets and prefer it over any canned fish. That said Breisling sardines packed in olive oil are delicious.

http://rolfdevinci.blogspot.com/2010/03/cloverleaf-brisling-sardines.html

Take Away

I can help thinking about my current primal based way of eating and the similarities with the blood type diet. Coincidence or maybe the two do, in fact, compliment each other on some level. Interesting!