Bushcrafting with a katana

[Deleted member 7976]

True - the only legal restrictions concerning Katana's cover the purchase / importation / manufacture NOT use or carry- They are subject to the same laws as fixed blade knives.

As of 6th April 2008 the The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)(Amendment) Order 2008 came into force and Katanas are now classed as offensive weapons. So no they are not subject to the same laws as fixed blades, but to the same laws as flick knives, push daggers, knuckle dusters etc.

The only exemptions are for permitted activities such as historical re-enactment or sporting activities and 3rd party insurance must be in cover for the event. Bushcraft unfortunately isn't a permitted activity. Historical or traditional blades from Japan are exempt, but bearing in mind the costs of these exquisite blades even I wouldn't have one as "a user".

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/conten...469672&ActiveTextDocId=3469672&filesize=17370

 

[Ph34r]

I knwo it would obviously not be honourable, but I should imagine it has been done in an extreme situation. That is what I am trying to research.

As of the change to the lethal weapons act in 2004, a katana that is used for martial arts in the UK, along with any other tools (such as Nunchucku) must be registered IF IT IS NOT USED FOR DECORATIONAL PURPOSES must be registered as a lethal weapon with your local police station.

 

[Ph34r]

As of 6th April 2008
filesize=17370

They changed it again, rawr!

 

[nitrambur]

I knwo it would obviously not be honourable, but I should imagine it has been done in an extreme situation. That is what I am trying to research.

As of the change to the lethal weapons act in 2004, a katana that is used for martial arts in the UK, along with any other tools (such as Nunchucku) must be registered IF IT IS NOT USED FOR DECORATIONAL PURPOSES must be registered as a lethal weapon with your local police station.

Can you show any documentary evidence for this?

 

[Retired Member southey]

Hello to you all who are lost in the annuals of laaaaaaaaaw!!!! just before I stop checking this thread for info, are we now just in a discussion with reguards the lagalitys of ownership.

 

[Siberianfury]

Tbh, I don't have space in my pack for a katana, but I should imagine the ancient samurai used to 'bushcraft' with it.
,
Ph34r

id imagine they would have had a smaller sheath knife not dissimilar to what most shrafters use for utility and bushy tasks

 

[Martyn]

Most will see the title and laugh.

You'd be right.

 

[Tengu]

I think the Shugendo would have had an axe.

(they had swords too, of course, but not for bushcrafting)

You try getting the sword off of one of my To Ken friends

 

[Retired Member southey]

Wouldn't any one with a sword of that design generally be in a position to have anything that would require the use of other tools done for them?

 

[Martyn]

I have a katana and also a daishō (matching katana and wakizashi pair) and I can tell you with certainty, they would be rubbish. You could hack through stuff, because it's a bit of sharp steel, but the design is totally wrong and you would damage the sword very quickly. The task is much better suited to any number of much cheaper/better tools.

To answer the question posed by our friend with the 1337 h4x0R handle, sword makers in Japan often only made a few dozen swords in a lifetime, usually at a rate of about 4 or 5 a year. Imagine how much they cost? There are documented records of at least one occasion of a Samurai selling his family home in order to purchase a sword from a master maker. They were designed for one purpose, to cut flesh, that is it. If you had spent £150,000 on a kitchen knife, would you start chopping logs with it? A Samurai would have chewed through a log with his teeth before he would have used his sword. I hope that helps with your "research".

 

[Graham_S]

I'm with Martyn on this one.
I too own a Daisho, and I can say with some certainty that it would fail utterly as a "bushcrafting" tool
Look at all the chopping tools used by indigenous people around the world.
How many of them resemble a Katana?
None.
There is a good reason for this.
Function defines form.

They are designed for drawing cuts against soft targets (flesh)

That is what they're good at.

 

[Bigfoot]

Is that due to the straight fibers in the bamboo as opposed the the curvy wood grain, or the the bamboo is hollow in the center?

Bamboo is essentially hollow in the middle.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Yes i know, sorry it was my poor typing, is it because the wood is solid or because the grain isn't as straight as bamboo,

 

[Bigfoot]

Well I suppose it's because the wood is more solid. As others have posted above, the katana is not designed for slicing through timber and I don't know anyone who has tried it (they would be mad if they did ). However, I have seen bamboo being used in cutting demonstrations, although even that kind of cutting can easily damage the blade, especially in the hands of a novice. These days I believe the folks that do Iaido practice their cuts on compressed/rolled straw, which is kinder to the blade and probably more resembles the consistency of a human body.

 

[Graham_S]

Test cutting (or tameshigiri) is done with green bamboo, and wet tatami mats.
Green bamboo is (cutting wise) a completely different substance compared to the stuff you'll find in the garden center.

 

[Matt.S]

...the [L]ethal [W]eapons [A]ct...

Never heard of it, and neither has Google.

...a katana that is used for martial arts in the UK, along with any other tools (such as Nunchucku) must be registered IF IT IS NOT USED FOR DECORATIONAL PURPOSES must be registered as a lethal weapon with your local police station.

Says whom?

 

[Retired Member southey]

Thank you Bigfoot and Gaham_s, cheers guys.

 

[3bears]

Wasn't planning on it, just wated some more info. In england you have to register Katanas as leathal weaopns with the local police station as of 2004. You then have to sign more paper than is in the bible to promise never to use it for harmful purposes or to remove it from you dwelling without good reason (breath).

no you dont!

after 10th April last year it was illegal to sell curved baldes over 50cm in length- yes katanas were targeted, but it was mainly aimed at the BS stainelss wall handgers doing the rounds on market stalls.

I can keep mine fine along with my MA insurance cert, but when they go to an iaido class they have to be kept in 2 sword bags, one over the other.

you can still buy swords pre-ww2 and post ww2 with certification ( mega bucks for a real tamahagane steel blade)

 

[wattsy]

i don't think any samurai would have done anything like bushcraft to be honest they won't have cooked for themselves if they could help it never mind chop wood and make spoons. they were warriors and that was it they didn't do anything else they trained for combat

 

[wanderingblade]

As of 6th April 2008 the The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons)(Amendment) Order 2008 came into force and Katanas are now classed as offensive weapons. So no they are not subject to the same laws as fixed blades, but to the same laws as flick knives, push daggers, knuckle dusters etc.

The only exemptions are for permitted activities such as historical re-enactment or sporting activities and 3rd party insurance must be in cover for the event. Bushcraft unfortunately isn't a permitted activity. Historical or traditional blades from Japan are exempt, but bearing in mind the costs of these exquisite blades even I wouldn't have one as "a user".

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Legislation&title=The+Criminal+Justice+Act+1988+(Offensive+Weapons)(Amendment)+Order&Year=2008&searchEnacted=0&extentMatchOnly=0&confersPower=0&blanketAmendment=0&sortAlpha=0&TYPE=QS&PageNumber=1&NavFrom=0&parentActiveTextDocId=3469672&ActiveTextDocId=3469672&filesize=17370

You've got it mixed up there - both the 1st and 2nd amendments of the 1988 act covered the purchase, import and manufacture of curved bladed swords but it did NOT add them to the Offensive Weapons Order which is a list of prohibited items which includes flick knives, balisongs, push daggers, disguised knives etc.

You can legally purchase, own and use a curved blade sword without the need for any kind of registration of ownership so long as the sword is pre-1954 or hand made. You can still buy a cheaper sword so long as it is for use in re-enactment / religious purposes / theatre or film use etc.