Knife Deep Dive: Citadel Keshi Wakizashi Review
Knife Deep Dive: Citadel Keshi Wakizashi Review
Where do Citadel Swords come from?
The Keshi series is a beautiful line of Japanese swords from Citadel. These swords are hand forged and assembled by the master craftsmen as citadel_knives in Cambodia.
Today we show you the wakizashi (or medium sword) in the Keshi range.
What does Keshi stand for?
This series is called Keshi, referring to the poppy, which is clearly the theme in these swords. Small poppies can be seen all over the handle. Even the blackened iron tsuba (handguard) is handcrafted to represent the leaves of the poppy plant.
What is the Citadel Keshi made of?
Beautiful brown leather is wrapped tightly around the rayskin handle. Even the saya (sheath) is masterfully finished and a feast for the eyes. The saya is made of lacquered wood, but is finished with buffalo horn ends. Furthermore, it is provided with inlays on the inside so that it only fits on this specific sword. As with many handmade swords, the saya are not interchangeable. When sheathing the sword, it slides in and closes smoothly and does not rattle in the saya.
How is the knife forged?
The blade itself is hand-forged from 1075 carbon steel. It is differentially heat treated in a traditional clay method. Therefore, the cutting edge has a harness of about 60 HRC, giving it very good edge retention, but the spine is left around 40 HRC to handle the impact and constraint of the cutting. As a result, the difference in armor shows up as this beautiful smoky hamon line over the edge.
In addition, the blade has an impressive Bo-Hi, or fuller/groove along the back of the blade. This is the swordsmith's way of reducing weight and maintaining balance without compromising strength.
In Japan, the poppy plant represents good luck. That's fitting, because anyone holding a Keshi sword seems to be smiling a lot.
What is the difference between a Wakizashi and a Katana?
Wakizashi is commonly known as a shorter version of Katana. As seen in popular movies and TV shows, the samurai of feudal Japan often carried both a large katana and a wakizashi together. This combination is often referred to as Daishõ, which translates to "big-little".
Click here to view the Keshi Wakizashi Citadel
