How Much Does a Katana Weigh?

If you’re thinking about buying a Katana, you might be wondering to yourself, how much does a katana weigh? The answer is perhaps not as straightforward as it might first appear, with numerous factors influencing the final weight such as materials used, length, thickness and width. We can make a ballpark approximation based on the various weights we’ve come across, but any individual Katana may fall well outside this range.

Katana Weight

Most Katana are between 900 grams and 1400 grams (2lbs to 3.1lbs), with the average Katana weighing in at 1200 grams (1.2kg or 2.65 lbs). Historical Katana’s made using traditional methods tend to be slightly heavier than modern-day counterparts, but there are so many factors influencing the weight of a Katana that it’s difficult to make a sweeping statement as to how heavy a Katana should be.

Most of the Katana we sell are between 1000 grams and 1200 grams, these figures vary from sword to sword, as the sword forging process is as much an art as it is a science. The saya will add approximately 100 – 200 grams to the final weight of the sword, but this again differs from saya to saya. You can click here to see our range.

Materials

Not all steels weigh the same amount for the volume of space occupied. Some modern-day steel alloys incorporate other metals that can decrease the mass of the final product without affecting the structural integrity. For example, magnesium steel alloys are significantly lighter than many common steels and don’t sacrifice strength to achieve this lightness. Many of these newer steels are not commonly available for the production of swords, but we would expect this to change as the technology spreads, which could result in a significant decrease in the weight of katana.

As it stands just now, there’s not a significant difference between the weight of the metals used in production swords. The size, shape and amount of steel used is the biggest influencing factor at present.

from
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