ok i do not buy bokkens any more i grow bamboo ones.my current one is 45 inches long,one inch thick and weighs about 4 pounds

45in long? You're only 10, so how tall are you? And if it is made of bamboo, it is more like a shinai.

do not buy them anymore? . . im not sure i understand that.

if you get a good bokken (a nice hardwood one, not a crappy one) it will last you a lifetime with proper use and care.

a stick of bamboo is not gonna do you any good unless you can make good shinai (bamboo kendo sword) and even then if you have/had/going to have an instructor he will more than likely insist on you buying a comercial one for insurance/common sense reasons.

again WAIT to buy an iaito and train with a bokken if you are feeling really serious about the said training.

45inches is definatly too big for someone of your age, you need to be training with something more of a junior size and work your way up as your arm reach/height gets bigger.

Folks

This "person" is just jacking with us.

Bamboo, 45 long and an inch thick, IS NOT GOING TO WEIGH "4 pounds" not even green.

Waste of good effort and time.

[This message has been edited by cxt (edited 02-20-2005).]

screw it if you aren't going to beleave me then whats the point?cxt i am tired of you giving me **** and not backing it up.i grow bamboo i know how much it weighs and how tall it can grow (the specieses that i have) it gets 1 1/2 inches wide and twenty feet tall.

Katana

Then you should know that a 45 inch length of bamboo, an inch around does not weigh "4 pounds."

I have an OAK staff, that is about 6 feet long and about an inch around--it does not weigh "4 lbs" why should a shorter piece of a much lighter, less dense plant??

My oak bokkn are a bit shorter than 45 inchs--say anywhere from 32-36 inchs. They are not that heavy either.
Again oak being a denser, heavier wood than bamboo or ratten.

Please, by all means explain.

[This message has been edited by cxt (edited 02-20-2005).]

no need to flame the kid, he is just trying to estimate as best he can for his age. but 4lb (thats just less than 2kg in aussie weight) would seem reasonable if a little excessive. but then again some of my lighter swords are only 800gm or so - and thats steel

put it on some scales KR and tell us the result. either way, get a bokken/train/wait for iaito/train.

it depends wht part of the bamboo plant you use and how long you wait to carve it

well if you are just doing that with the bamboo, then i would expreiment on what parts are best to use for strength VS weight. as strong as possible but also as light as possible is desired. and i would recomend (because of your age and/or possible height) using something a little shorter than what you have explained.

but overall the recomendations of the experienced here still stand, use bokken/wait/get iaito later/keep training.

Katana

You DON'T "carve" bamboo.

Its a thin walled plant that has a more or less hollow core-nothing really to "carve" in the same sense as you would oak or other wood.

And no, there is really no other part of the bamboo that would do for a bokken.