Even in Oblivion, after having been pressing "space" to jump for 20 years, you probably should level your Acrobatics from novice to master. Matthew is forever being modest.
I have this sword(first or second gen) and in my opinion for the price its an excellent sword. Its simple design makes it super low maintenance, its also very light compared to other katanas I own. I have found it to be very durable and would trust it in a zombie apocalypse/bug out survival situation. The 9260 spring steel gives the blade flexibility while at the same time being hard and retaining its edge. I am surprised he was able to actually break the blade because I have done some hard strikes on different objects both soft and hard objects and my Apoc katana seems almost indestructible. It has held up better than katanas I have owned that were 3X the price. As for the grip I would recommend taping the handle with some black hockey tape and using some Loctite on the allen bolt pins. This will prevent the grip from becoming loose from repeated use. You could also wrap the handle with some 550 paracord after taping the handle with the hockey tape which will prevent the paracord from slipping off the handle from use if tied tight enough. Over all this sword is my favorite in my collection and is the one I would take with me in a bug out situation. I am also going to buy a few of the other swords in the Apoc collection because of my experience with this one. I would recommend this sword for anyone who is looking for a good reliable end of days weapon that will last and is budget friendly.
The grain structure is in line with everything I have seen on the heat treatment of 9260 by Dragon King on their APOC line. Sufficient, but still has a lot of room for improvement, especially for the design purposes. I like Gus' simplicity in the designs for the APOC swords, they are easy to construct, yet dynamically still have superiority over any "tacticool" "doomsday" blades on the market. Definitely more suitable for capable swordsman to survive in the apocalypses or equivalent scenarios to fight off raiding human survivors than slaying hordes of zombies in Dynasty Warriors style. Thanks for the effort you put into the destruction of this piece!
I know it’s 9260 steel, of which I have several katana’s and they are *very* forgiving, but I saw a video of somebody who put their knee in the middle of it, pulled up, and the entire blade bent like a boomerang. I looked at some of Zombie Go Boom’s blades, but there were mixed reviews on it.
@@jeffreykoski2746 I figured maybe there was some bad heat treats going on. I just figured that if Angus Trim put his name on them that the quality control would be a little better.
@@JiyuKishiParn I have bought 3 of them so far. They are amazing project blades too. I’d rather get one of these to work with than a bare blade from another company ranging 120-200$. Made a Falcion/messer thing out of one of them. What do you do with yours? Iaido is kinda tough with no kurigata.
@@johnhaaff5930 I don't bother with Iaido. I've been using mine to get the hang of actual cutting, edge alignment, etc. Working with that has helped with my handling of European style swords, though this thing is closer to a katana. That said, my melee weapons formal training is mainly with Kung Fu dao, guan dao, and staff forms. However, I seem to have a natural flow into using a European sword, as my house mate who's renting a room from me took note of when I was doing some freestyle practice maneuvers in the back yard, and he has formal fencing training under his belt while I do not. Back to the Forged Warrior sword, yeah, I got that thing to get used to actual cutting without having to concern myself too much with dinging it up due to its low cost, and the spring steel blade can take a beating. Mine has a very minor nick close to the tip from when I accidentally hit a brick on my makeshift stand from a bad cut attempt. I think it's well past time I order a whetstone set, as I can use it to practice sharpening on. Better to practice on this thing than my DSA Vindaaris.
I bought an APOC cutlass on a whim several years ago despite a visceral dislike of so-called "tactical 'swords.' " It turned out to be an almost ideal utility blade. I was impressed enough that I eventually got a couple of other APOCs. The grip ergonomics weren't as good on the others, but otherwise they were still quite impressive for what they are.
I feel like the insides shown at 15:44 means something about the steel or process. I just dont know enough to know what. Ie, If we could cut a cross section like this on some tamahagane or bainite (W. Sorrels), or etc. would they look the same? I'm guessing no but why. Thanks for the post.
My choice, so far, for a Primary Zombie Apocalypse weapon is an eight foot hewing spear. For secondary weapon(s) a tactical cutter/chopper such as this or perhaps a Kopis ... whatever works, really. Thanks for another great review. Cheers!
Love the APOC weapons. I have the katana and the longsword. Put both of them through hell and have held up great. I have my eye on a few others. I have a good amount of swords no expert though. But, the way the Apoc katana feels in the hand is sooooo good. Weighted soooo nice. I swing it around all the time just because of how good it feels in hand. Just buy one, not the best cutter. But, for a fun cheap tough sword I really don't think you can beat Apoc.
Mine came with almost a chisel grind, took alot of effort to correct. The handle is too heavy and mine has almost no blade presence, i want to remove the handles and drill some holes to see if i can achieve a better balance. I still "like" it for what it is, but they could do a much better job.
I have a yataghan and feel the same way. But oh boy; if you figure out what it takes to drill a hole in the tang of these hunks of steel, please let me know! 😅 I gave up after 10 minutes with a titanium drillbit. Didn't even get halfway through one hole. Seriously; if you have a method, please report back as I would love to make that modification.
@JordanClymer-fh3pf i work at a power company, and I want to see if one of the garage mechanics can help me out with their drill press. DK does a spring steel heat treatment, i believe. If i have to do it home, i would heat the handle up to soften the steel a bit for drilling.
Great video. Pretty informative. In my own experience, I've found that "any" blade over 8 to10 inches and beyond, might end up with some kind of wiggle, although not always. It happens...
@@Matthew_Jensen roger. How confident are you that the line won’t take a bend easy during cuts? Had a 1060 katana take a twist slightly during cutting practice and basically I would like something that is a lot more forgiving.
hey matt! Hope all is well man! Since your'e on this "tactical Route" or had a couple to try, look at the Dragon King"Modern Katana" JS Bladecraft got his hands on one and it looks really promising!!
Well, it’s not about looks none of that is strictly functionality, which should be fine if it was sharp holding edge then probably did watch one really use one
I think after 20 years as a novice you can claim journeyman status. Neat little sword.
Even in Oblivion, after having been pressing "space" to jump for 20 years, you probably should level your Acrobatics from novice to master. Matthew is forever being modest.
I've kinda had my eye on this for a while now, and this sealed the deal. I'm very impressed for the price. Looks like a fun beater.
Did you ever pick one up? And if so...thoughts???
I have this sword(first or second gen) and in my opinion for the price its an excellent sword. Its simple design makes it super low maintenance, its also very light compared to other katanas I own. I have found it to be very durable and would trust it in a zombie apocalypse/bug out survival situation. The 9260 spring steel gives the blade flexibility while at the same time being hard and retaining its edge. I am surprised he was able to actually break the blade because I have done some hard strikes on different objects both soft and hard objects and my Apoc katana seems almost indestructible. It has held up better than katanas I have owned that were 3X the price. As for the grip I would recommend taping the handle with some black hockey tape and using some Loctite on the allen bolt pins. This will prevent the grip from becoming loose from repeated use. You could also wrap the handle with some 550 paracord after taping the handle with the hockey tape which will prevent the paracord from slipping off the handle from use if tied tight enough. Over all this sword is my favorite in my collection and is the one I would take with me in a bug out situation. I am also going to buy a few of the other swords in the Apoc collection because of my experience with this one. I would recommend this sword for anyone who is looking for a good reliable end of days weapon that will last and is budget friendly.
The grain structure is in line with everything I have seen on the heat treatment of 9260 by Dragon King on their APOC line. Sufficient, but still has a lot of room for improvement, especially for the design purposes. I like Gus' simplicity in the designs for the APOC swords, they are easy to construct, yet dynamically still have superiority over any "tacticool" "doomsday" blades on the market. Definitely more suitable for capable swordsman to survive in the apocalypses or equivalent scenarios to fight off raiding human survivors than slaying hordes of zombies in Dynasty Warriors style. Thanks for the effort you put into the destruction of this piece!
I bought an apoc yataghan. It has a significant secondary bevel. It was only $115 though through Chicago Knife Works.
I have one as well; solid little short sword, great for bushcraft. Split logs with it; it doesn't mind 😁
I know it’s 9260 steel, of which I have several katana’s and they are *very* forgiving, but I saw a video of somebody who put their knee in the middle of it, pulled up, and the entire blade bent like a boomerang. I looked at some of Zombie Go Boom’s blades, but there were mixed reviews on it.
The video you speak of was done by The MYRMIDON and it was an APOC long sword. Most likely a bad batch that got out without heat treatment.
@@jeffreykoski2746 I figured maybe there was some bad heat treats going on. I just figured that if Angus Trim put his name on them that the quality control would be a little better.
Love to see you review the Forged Warrior Battle katana. Cheapest functional sword I have ever had. Durability is impressive as well.
Love the vids!
Oh, I've got that one. I consider it an ideal practice blade.
@@JiyuKishiParn I have bought 3 of them so far. They are amazing project blades too. I’d rather get one of these to work with than a bare blade from another company ranging 120-200$. Made a Falcion/messer thing out of one of them.
What do you do with yours? Iaido is kinda tough with no kurigata.
@@johnhaaff5930 I don't bother with Iaido. I've been using mine to get the hang of actual cutting, edge alignment, etc. Working with that has helped with my handling of European style swords, though this thing is closer to a katana. That said, my melee weapons formal training is mainly with Kung Fu dao, guan dao, and staff forms. However, I seem to have a natural flow into using a European sword, as my house mate who's renting a room from me took note of when I was doing some freestyle practice maneuvers in the back yard, and he has formal fencing training under his belt while I do not.
Back to the Forged Warrior sword, yeah, I got that thing to get used to actual cutting without having to concern myself too much with dinging it up due to its low cost, and the spring steel blade can take a beating. Mine has a very minor nick close to the tip from when I accidentally hit a brick on my makeshift stand from a bad cut attempt. I think it's well past time I order a whetstone set, as I can use it to practice sharpening on. Better to practice on this thing than my DSA Vindaaris.
The grain looked pretty coarse, but i dont have any other samples to compare.
I agree. Conceivably, wouldn't it be more shock resistant (break later) with finer grain?
I have many samples and can confirm it is "coarse"
I bought an APOC cutlass on a whim several years ago despite a visceral dislike of so-called "tactical 'swords.' " It turned out to be an almost ideal utility blade. I was impressed enough that I eventually got a couple of other APOCs. The grip ergonomics weren't as good on the others, but otherwise they were still quite impressive for what they are.
I feel like the insides shown at 15:44 means something about the steel or process. I just dont know enough to know what. Ie, If we could cut a cross section like this on some tamahagane or bainite (W. Sorrels), or etc. would they look the same? I'm guessing no but why. Thanks for the post.
My choice, so far, for a Primary Zombie Apocalypse weapon is an eight foot hewing spear. For secondary weapon(s) a tactical cutter/chopper such as this or perhaps a Kopis ... whatever works, really. Thanks for another great review. Cheers!
Love the APOC weapons. I have the katana and the longsword. Put both of them through hell and have held up great. I have my eye on a few others. I have a good amount of swords no expert though. But, the way the Apoc katana feels in the hand is sooooo good. Weighted soooo nice. I swing it around all the time just because of how good it feels in hand. Just buy one, not the best cutter. But, for a fun cheap tough sword I really don't think you can beat Apoc.
Mine came with almost a chisel grind, took alot of effort to correct. The handle is too heavy and mine has almost no blade presence, i want to remove the handles and drill some holes to see if i can achieve a better balance. I still "like" it for what it is, but they could do a much better job.
I have a yataghan and feel the same way. But oh boy; if you figure out what it takes to drill a hole in the tang of these hunks of steel, please let me know! 😅 I gave up after 10 minutes with a titanium drillbit. Didn't even get halfway through one hole. Seriously; if you have a method, please report back as I would love to make that modification.
@JordanClymer-fh3pf i work at a power company, and I want to see if one of the garage mechanics can help me out with their drill press. DK does a spring steel heat treatment, i believe. If i have to do it home, i would heat the handle up to soften the steel a bit for drilling.
Great video. Pretty informative. In my own experience, I've found that "any" blade over 8 to10 inches and beyond, might end up with some kind of wiggle, although not always. It happens...
Subscribed!
A great and fair review. Yes, swords will last longer if you don't use the spine 🤣😂
Whoa 2 reviews in 1 day. Woohoo 🎉
Would you ever review the longsword by APOC? Would love to see the durability of it and see if the thing refuses to take a bend in bad slices etc
Probably not. This should give you some idea of what to expect from the line. I don’t think I will revisit apoc destruction for quite a while
@@Matthew_Jensen roger. How confident are you that the line won’t take a bend easy during cuts? Had a 1060 katana take a twist slightly during cutting practice and basically I would like something that is a lot more forgiving.
Very good review thank you.
can you review their cutlass?
hey matt! Hope all is well man! Since your'e on this "tactical Route" or had a couple to try, look at the Dragon King"Modern Katana" JS Bladecraft got his hands on one and it looks really promising!!
This would look nice if you replaced the scales with ones made of walnut
Haha, for a second I was confused the branch was white pine but the trunk wasn’t. Then I realized I was dumb and they were just stuck in the trunk.
What is the blade length?
in the description my friend
"...whacked on a log in some weirdo's backyard" earned my sub 🤣😂
That blade shape looks like it's straight out of the anime Seirei no Moribito.
Tacticool comes at a price I suppose.
@5:24 you expect the sword to be not broken any time soon? 😂
0:32 "i'm a novice" then what does that make me? bro got all kinds of swords behind him
I'd put that in the trunk of a car. That sword looks like the theory of a truck gun. Cool!
Well, it’s not about looks none of that is strictly functionality, which should be fine if it was sharp holding edge then probably did watch one really use one
Need to be a little thicker...flexes a little to much, similar to a cheap machete.
I were you, I'd take an angle grinder to that broken katana and carve a wakizashi out of it. Also that tip would make a great letter opener.
I've got the wakazashi version of this. It's awesome.
Is cult of athena a junk place ?
BE CAREFUL throwing other swords at trees... Anathar might get jealous! 😂
999 thank you 999
This is a Messer not a Katana due to hilt construction ;)
Hahaaaaaaaaaaaaaa wtf is this ,............pfuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii yaaaaakkkkk