Economic depression? I haven't noticed....

[Martijn Meerts]

I just ordered a new toy...

 

Or well.. "toy" .. A life sized, custom fit set of samurai armour. Handmade in Japan, using iron and the same techniques as hundreds of years ago to shape it (with slightly more modern equipment of course.)

 

Expensive? Definitely. But then again, what's it worth to fulfill a dream you've had for at least 25 years? ;)

 

This is the one: http://www.samurai-store.com/armor/L010.html

[CaptOblivious]

How cool is that? Very nice.

 

And…That's not too bad, price-wise…if put into a little perspective ;)

 

A good quality hand-made, custom-fitted set of Kendo armor, which is based on Samurai armor, but made of cloth and bamboo, can cost as much as $3500:

http://www.tezashi.com/tezashi/faces/set1.jsp

 

A top quality hand-made set can cost ten times what your armor cost  :o

http://www.chibabogu.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=369

 

(Of course, a quality machine-made set can be had for as little as $150 on sale…so the prices are just all over the place)

[Martijn Meerts]

Obviously this set of armour isn't as high quality as the "real" ones.. This one isn't made to protect from arrows, bullets and swords ;)

 

What I think is the coolest thing though, the company making the armour also made pretty much all the armour for Akira Kurosawa's "Ran". And considering Kurosawa was very knowledgable about samurai, I'm pretty certain this set is very authentic.

[CaptOblivious]

Obviously this set of armour isn't as high quality as the "real" ones.. This one isn't made to protect from arrows, bullets and swords ;)

 

That's a shame, because they look to be of very high quality. Well, I guess the two (protective ability, high quality) aren't the same thing. Still, looks a nice set, and I imagine that shipping charges will be half again the cost of the armor? Being made of iron?

[Sushi Train]

The last samurai?  8)

[Martijn Meerts]

Cap, well, it is high quality obviously, but it's not made to withstand firearms and the like =) And this specific one is what a footsoldier / low ranking samurai would wear, so I can actually practice kyudo in it ;)

 

Sushi, dear god no.. While Ken Watanabe and Hiroyuki Sanada certainly made the movie interesting, historically it's a disaster =)

[Sushi Train]

Yeah, that and tom cruise  ::) it was filmed in new zealand and not a hobbit in sight  :D

[Martijn Meerts]

I'm sure Tom would make a nice hobbit actually.. He's short and whiny enough =)

[Sushi Train]

I'm sure Tom would make a nice hobbit actually.. He's short and whiny enough =)

 

HAHAHA!! Post of the week right there folks!!  :D

[alpineaustralia]

when I was in Kyoto last year I had a chance to buy a 200 year old suit for $25,000

Needless to say the misses wasnt approving and I had to let it go

[Martijn Meerts]

200 years is too modern anyway ;)

 

There's a shop in Japan called Tozando (I believe), they sell suits of armour and sword blades that are over 500 years old. You can even have a custom handle fit to the swordblade so you can actually use it ;)

 

You can also order a complete custom, folded steel katana and/or wakizashi. One of the few places you can do so, there are strict rules for making sharp swords.

 

Of course, they don't list any prices for the swords =)

[alpineaustralia]

if you have to ask how much it costs - you cannot afford it !

[SubwayHypes]

THAT IS COOOL.

 

 

That price aint too bad for a samurai armor i guess.  The only samurai thing i have is a small helmet from my granmas house, il post pics later i gotta run.

[traindork]

Nice! I didn't know you could buy something like that.

Hey, you only live once...  :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Well, after a long wait I received my armour, and it is amazing ;)

 

The quality and craftsmanship exceeded my expectations by quite a bit, the iron (of the chest and back plate especially) is thicker than I expected, and the details are incredible. The lacquer is a bit uneven here and there, but that just shows the entire thing is handmade.

 

The helmet is quite amazing, but it's rather heavy and not very comfortable. Not something you'd want to wear for long periods of time without some sort of padding =)

 

I'll post some pictures after I get back from holidays.

[cteno4]

I am seriously jealous and looked long and hard at your suit! my wife would just say thats it though and sign the commitment papers if that showed up on the door step though! would be so cool to wear the armour at one of our train shows! would totally beat out the goji suit. but then again if we had both we could have goji vs super samurai!

 

you have to post some pictures of you in the suit soon!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Here are some detail shots of various bits and pieces of the armour :)

 

First image is the helmet and face mask.

Second image is a detail shot of the neck and shoulder guards.

Third image is a detail shot of the sleeve showing off the chain mail.

Fourth image is a detail of the cloth use on the upper leg guards.

 

All in all, lots of nice detail bits and pieces ;)

[Mudkip Orange]

That is some seriously swass fetish wear.

[cteno4]

martijn,

 

when do we get to see you modeling it!!!

 

tres cool!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Not sure, due to my chronic RSI problem, I can't really have that much weight resting on my shoulders ;)

 

Also, I still haven't received all the parts, I'll need to email the place I bought it from soon to ask what's going on there. Have to contact them anyway, since I need to order a pair of swords (daisho) as well ;)

[Bernard]

Marti - I keep forgetting to ask, are you still able to do your archery with your shoulder problem?

[Martijn Meerts]

Marti - I keep forgetting to ask, are you still able to do your archery with your shoulder problem?

 

Unfortunately I need to put that on hold as well until I've done some therapy. Although, the archery really helps with strength in your upper back and shoulders (basically, you're pulling the last, heaviest bit with your shoulders, not with your arms), so I should be able to get back to practicing fairly quickly again.

[cteno4]

Martijn,

 

Ouch, sorry to hear about that. Hope the recovery is going well. I screwed up mainly my thumb years back with a new fangled trackball that had you clicking the mouse button with your thumb sideways. after a couple of months ended up with a very sore thumb knuckle joint that still has a tendon that pops now and then. have been so careful ever since with the workstation set up!

 

Will be great to see you in it when you can wear it! wonderful suit, im very jealous! i guess i could get one if i sold my trains off, probably the only thing i might balance with the wife, but expect the armor would give her nightmares, she does not like some of the masks i have collected over the years. luckly the pacific north west masks dont creep her out, but im afraid the whole samurai suit would unfortunately...

 

have fun and get better.

 

jeff