Cloudhammer SKS5 Whirlwind Review and Test Cutting 

Thank you for the review! It's a fun, lightweight fast cutter isn't it?! That's how I designed it to be. I skimped on some visual elements in lieu of more of a daily cutter on this 1.0 version, but I think they knocked it out of the park.

👀🥷🏻 That cut where it stayed intact and you knocked it off 👌🏼

I love the way Sensei cuts mats.

That's a beautiful sword. Looks very well made.

Thanks for reviewing!

Nice. I'm currently in possession of one for sharpening and I was blown away by the feel of the blade. If I only looked at the blade i would have sworn it was an evolution/motohara LMC. Feels just like one in hand. Can't wait to cut with her. Great review.

Thx for sharing good Sir Absolutely beautiful craftsmanship and very sexy sword . Scott truly nice design!!!

Absolutely Beautiful sword!!!

That Sks steel is impressive, very nice polish and hamon, I wish they came with a yokote and kissaki polish, or go all the way and do a proper Shobu Zukuri style, but I'm guessing this is meant to be a budget Tamashigeri blade and going this route probably cut a few hundred bucks off the price tag. That being said, blade is nice and the wrap is attractive as well, but im probably gonna pass on. Hopefully they release a more premium version with all the bells and whistles im looking for cause i do like that steel lol.

RvA are top knotch guys. Great blade brother

The habaki and seppa 4:26 look like brass rather then copper. Overall nice katana.

Very nice sword be cost a lot money i bet cuts very nice thumbup

Sepa & Habaki are NOT Copper.... They look brass and they are brass, as confirmed by John, the other owner. The site description is wrong. It would have been awesome to have them made from Copper indeed, a far as they wouldn't use super thin and cheap copper habaki, all for $500, but so far I've only seen Feilong swords in this price-range, as production swords, that would feature copper, like Iwa Shobu. SKS3 is a Japanese-made T10 analogue. I think the main merit of this sword is the steelworks, and it's not a bad choice for a light katana for someone with cutting experience. Novices would be better served by through-hardened (no hamon, sorry) 1060, 5160, 9260 and other swords that are given spring temper, as such would have much lesser chances of chipping, "edge rolling," or bending from poor cuts, while still being sharp enough for your regular pool noodles, water bottles and tatami mats. Of course one can feel the difference between, say, 55 HRC-rated edge vs. 60+, but it's not super severe when it comes to Dojo-style cutting practices. P.S. I got my own Whirlwind and I could see thin samegawa panel's edge below the kashira, and could see the wood there, which is not acceptable for a $500 sword. Kashira also wiggled a bit. The cord that was going through the middle of it -- was way to the side, and revealed a large gaping hole, where I could see the wooden core. RV Katana refunded me for "minor issues" $25. . I think such issues with tsukamaki are not MINOR. They are major. And the sword itself is as good as its handle. As one wise person said, it's the interface the swordsman has, and poor interface significantly impedes the abilities of the sworsdman and the blade they wield. I didn't like that kind of philosophy on RV/Cloudhammer's end and cancelled the pre-order for one of their S5 swords. . And, supposedly, my sample was best out of the three left in stock in Virginia. I am quite disappointed with the quality. They advised that they sent out better tsuka to their previous customers with issues. But that's not a way to repair a katana-shinken. Each tsuka needs to be individually fitted, even on a production sword. LK Chen without being asked replace swords with issues, and don't send out parts or issue laughable refunds, or downplay their issues. Appears RV sent their best as samples, and the rest should be in the "dent & scratch" price territory at the very least. I am not buying another RV/Cloudhammer katana/shinken until I hear that they are doing better with tsukamaki and Customer Service. I fixed my sword by filling the last diamond, where the wood was showing, with black nail polish, that matched the black leather cord. I used viscous super glue to secure kashira. Then I sprayed thin layers of PU clear lacquer over tsuka over three days. I used a cardboard with a hole carved in the middle, to avoid sprays on fuchi ring and tsuba. Now it's drying and looking quite good. I wouldn't mind keeping this fixed sword, but no one should be putting this much time and resources after buying a $500 sword. A $300 Dojo Pro is a whole level better when it comes to tsukamaki. A $200 sword from Romance of Men had Much better tsukamaki. . . I would rather take a 'T10' sword with good tsukamaki than a sword with Japanese SKS3 (good analogue of T10) with poor tsukamaki. But then, again, I am not using swords for display...