How did Veritasium get SO MUCH wrong in their katana video?! a reply

A reply to @veritasium and their video "How Japanese Masters Turn Sand Into Swords" with some needed corrections and added context
• How Japanese Masters T...
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[@samipersun9995]

Fantastic vid, shad! Thanks for sharing your passion with us, it’s highly contagious! As a metallurgy major I must especially praise your approach to providing info on steel structural elements with great visual material to back it. unlike most other vids on yt that touch the subjects yours only made me nod in agreement and not smash my face in disbelief.

[@isaachester8475]

Metallurgy sounds like a badass major

[@Slavic_Goblin]

Sure, it's a wonderful video of Shad whaling on strawmen.

[@vyvianalcott1681]

This is unbelievably cringe, it's just Shad making assumptions about what is being said but fundamentally misunderstanding that you can't just put words in people's mouths.

[@artnull13]

Shad mainlining the copium defending Veratasium here

[@andoletube]

@@vyvianalcott1681 did you not pick up the grandiose propaganda of the Veritasium video?

[@heyspookyboogie644]

As soon as I started watching veritasium’s video my first thought was “ooooh Shad’s gonna have something to say about this.”

[@nathansuss]

Same 😅

[@Schwuuuuup]

that's what I thought

[@Arrowed_Sparrow]

1000% lol

[@Noble-scout]

Same

[@feekygucker2678]

to be fair, i was about 23 secs in before that thought occurred

[@xato3796]

As far as cutting a bullet in half, Ballistics Highspeed just cut a bullet in half with a hatchet so that’s definitely not a defining feature of the katana. Essentially any wedge with a greater hardness than lead should be able to do that as long as it’s not so flimsy as to break from the forces exerted in it

[@jhu7399]

I believe mythbusters or some other show cut a bullet in half with a butter knife 😅 it doesn’t even have to be much of a wedge

[@cgstever91]

Not to forget forged in fire that did that more than once with different swords

[@gopnik9967]

its simple physics. object A moving high rate at object B, object B is harder, and much thinner, object A splits.

[@vanillaicecream2385]

@@jhu7399 GLORIOUS AMERICAN SHEET STEEL, STAMPED ONCE, FOLDED ZERO TIMES!

[@Alpha___00]

@@vanillaicecream2385incredibre, incredibre I say!

[@HENTAICOMBO]

It like saying "this is the most expensive banana to ever taped to a wall"

[@jonafen5504]

Love it 😆 I’ll steal that one!

[@ivoryas1696]

@HENTAICOMBO Username _doesn't_ check out? 🤔

[@ashleyobrien4937]

did you know a banana has more genes than a human being ? it's embarrassingly true !...

[@MasterChiefJLPS]

as a gun nerd I would point out that bullets (even Fully jacketed ones) are very easy to split in half, BECAUSE UNLESS IT IS AN AP ROUND, IT IS MADE OUT OF LEAD!

[@satannstuff]

Modern military ammo for small arms tends to be steel, because steel is cheaper and some governments don't like the army shooting incredibly toxic metal into the ground for no reason.

[@Bennet2391]

​@@satannstuff Modern bullets have usually a lead core core jacketed in copper. Steel core ammunition is reserved for military use only. It's not done primarily because of toxicity, but for it's penetrative capabilities and no country (except maybe USA) wants civilians with guns that can defeat body armor. These bullet vs sword tests are done by civilians with sports grade ammo => no steel core.

[@vicnighthorse]

​@@satannstuff There are a lot of steel cased cartridges out there but military bullets that are made with steel being more that just the core and or tip are extremely rare (maybe some sub caliber sabot-ed projectiles). An all steel bullet would likely result in way too high of "shot start"pressures to engage the lands and grooves of the barrel. It would also wear the barrels much too fast even if the round didn't burst the barrel at the start. I imagine that the bullet would have to have the land and groove profile already machined into them before firing or be fired from a smooth bore.

[@mikehrt]

​@@satannstuff"tends to" implies the majority. The majority of military ammo is lead core with a full metal copper jacket with a brass casing. No steel in the majortiy of military ammo. The military has some specialty ammow some steel in it, but that is probably your least common ammo used other than incendiary. Tracer would be a more common specialty round than steel core.

[@ctrlaltdebug]

@@satannstuff Steel bullets would ruin the rifling real quick. They are still lead, but with a steel penetrator rod./

[@malcanth3481]

I find it misleading when he says the most expensive sword is a $105 M katana. It makes it seem like that is reflective of the quality of the sword. That isn't the price of it as a sword. That is its price as a historical artifact. Even a crappy clay pot that is worse than a middle schooler's art project would be worth a few million if it is old enough.

[@gauvaindf]

Above all, this tachi is worth 105 million, because the sword belonged to Fukushima Masanori.

[@FIRE0KING]

What's William Wallace's great sword worth?? It was the biggest heaviest sword wielded on the battlefield wasn't it? Like 13 lbs or something?

[@gauvaindf]

@@FIRE0KING The problem is that many of these swords are in museums so not for sale, to collectors or family who definitely don't want to sell them, so no way of knowing. In general in art and history it is difficult to give a price before the end of the auction, because it is possible that no one is interested, or the opposite and then the prices soar. And there are even sales that are not known to the public. As you say, the fact that it is a sword which was not symbolic, but which was used for battle gives a different value, the position of the person at the time of its use, too.

[@brianng9765]

afaik, the problem with katana being so expensive in Japan is the fact that they can't be made in factories and such, they had to be handmade in a legal tradition way, so it somehow doesn't count as a weapon in Japanese law, naturally it makes each sword expensive. Like, I think you're supposed to see Japanese katana as luxury goods and not particularly high quality, like buying art pieces back home No idea about this part but I assume some part of the cost is taxes, as the katanas are already so deep into law territory to begin with.

[@jamesmaybrick2001]

@@FIRE0KING You know wikipedia exists? The facts and figures are there. Worth? Depends in the buyer. Heaviest? No. 13ib? No. Also, Mel Gibson wasnt acually Wallace, in case you didnt know.

[@TheBl00D1u5t]

When I realized I was 26 minutes into listenning to Shad react and the veritasium video was only a minute and a half in, I knew this was going to be a long ride

[@d0c_5u11y]

From the moment he said "they are still considered to be among the best in the world" I knew we were in for a wild ride. I'm no historian but from what I have surmised over the years is that this is a modern sentiment arising from some kind of reverence for the Samurai as a whole/exoticism of Japanese culture to some Westerners.

[@mugnuz]

the best top 90%! :D

[@Simon-ho6ly]

Pretty much spot on, there are so many legends that became romanticised and embellished and added to but the actual blades themselves, at least the top fraction of them are quite amazing works of craftsmanship and were originally a good solution to the problem of having poor feedstocks but they are far from amazing when taken on their own without the rest of the romanticism

[@donaldhysa4836]

But they are considered among the best in the world

[@mugnuz]

@@donaldhysa4836 yes. from people romanticizing samurai

[@donaldhysa4836]

@@mugnuz No. From everyone.

[@MacTX]

The Veritasium video felt like watching a fan interviewing and talking about their idol. It came across almost like an advertisement for the Japanese sword industry.

[@bastisonnenkind]

It was.They were invited to take part...

[@heyspookyboogie644]

Ya, seemed like they were invited to see that operation and then came up with a video around it rather than the other way around.

[@shelbybayer200]

To me it sounded like a Fanboy hyping up a Popular subject

[@Benw8888]

I don't blame Veritasium too much because he likely is just conveying information the japanese smiths gave him. The point of the video was to learn from the japanese smiths after all. So, if they embed propaganda, it's not like Veritasium has the swordsmith knowledge to recognize it.

[@shelbybayer200]

@@Benw8888 That is true

[@heyspookyboogie644]

This sort of video is one of my favorite things about KZbin. You can have a big mainstream channel like varitasium talk about something, and then get other perspectives and insights from enthusiasts in the field to get a much more overall balanced perspective on a topic.

[@eattoast6378]

it feels like every few videos people are correcting him. I guess that's a good thing

[@memoriesofthefuture870]

Exactly. Why have all that money and make educated content? its better to be a dumb shill and promote stupid takes and missinformation to your audience of millions. Yeah, thats the the standard the needs to be upheld.

[@inthefade]

That is why they got rid of video replies and dislikes. They don't want big channels being questioned. Topics like this don't matter, but it effects them nonetheless.

[@heyspookyboogie644]

@@memoriesofthefuture870 or, with a more realistic view, it’s not possible to make a mainstream video for an average audience that’s barely, if at all, ever been exposed to the topic without generalizing. You can’t go into every bit of nuance and context in a video like veritasiums. Shad took over an hour just to add that nuance and context after the fact. Most people would have tuned out if veritasium did it that way. That’s just the reality of presenting things to a mainstream audience. You guys are so damn cynical about it.

[@memoriesofthefuture870]

@@heyspookyboogie644you are just making up excuses for people pushing low quality content to straight up lying. Veritasium also did a very deceiving clip for an electric vehicle/ai driven or something like that and he pushed all the lies and missinformation he could. Hes just another paid bot on the internets and people should call him out on his behavior.

[@jwatson9732]

While we were out partying, this guy studied the blade.

[@svetoslavkrastev228]

I love how respectful and educationa your critiques are. Kudos for you maturity, levelheadedness and for the very interesting contet. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👌👌👌👌🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@tekkblade82]

The last time Shad did an analysis/review/correction video covering a science channel's attempt to highlight a specific sword, that science channel took down the video b/c of how many things they had wrong in it.

[@benm5913]

Which video was that?

[@Tesserex]

@@benm5913It was a SciShow video, I saw it and can't remember the exact wrong claims they made, but I remember feeling it was very wrong while watching it. The Veritasium video didn't feel as wrong, it was more neutral and just explaining the process than making any crazy overhyped claims about the swords.

[@thomasphillips885]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppXTXoulbL6bpKc

[@OtherTheDave]

@@Tesserex Yep! It was their video about Damascus steel.

[@shadiversity]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppXTXoulbL6bpKc&t 😉

[@jort93z]

Not only is the amount of tamahagane restricted, japanese swordsmiths also simply are limited in the amount of swords they are allowed to make by law. You can't mass produce swords in japan, it is just illegal.

[@KonigGustavAdolph]

Well, there are only so many dread spirits who can inhabit the blade of a katana at a time!

[@TheSteam02]

Saying that swords made in Japan are works of art isn't just a snobbish comment, it's just straight-up a fact. They are LEGALLY classified as works of art when they're made with (mostly) traditional technique.

[@nullifye7816]

Haha, literally legislating the Chinese katana industry into existence. GG Japan

[@FoxtrotFleet]

@@nullifye7816 $20 chineseium katanas were going to exist no matter what. The market is there for people who can't tell the different between mall ninja shit and functional swords.

[@Candlemancer]

@@nullifye7816 They'd rather let china have that market than let their own art form be degraded within their own borders into a cheap novelty, and I can respect that. You also cannot own swords in Japan that aren't authentic Japanese katana, so the existence of cheap mass produced chinese shit has no effect on them anyway.

[@RilaAudio]

I distinctly remember snickering at that original thumbnail but never watching it. This video was bound to happen.

[@SyntheticFuture]

My "oh god another katana worship" radar went off when I saw that. I like Veritasium a lot but videos like that one are just cringe 😅

[@them0stanoying-500]

That’s kind of an arrogant way to take in information though. It’s always good to watch the video before you come up with a full opinion on it.

[@SyntheticFuture]

@@them0stanoying-500 that's just what happens when a channel chooses to make a thumbnail like that which is obviously bait though. And if you start your video with essentially "the best and rarest swords ever made in the entire existence of humanity"-vibes I'll click that little cross in the top right corner because that's just cringe =x especially on a science channel.

[@RilaAudio]

@@SyntheticFuture Yeah, you get it. But, it's also because I'm not all that interested in katanas - in part because of the cringe fanboy culture which surrounds them. I see a thumbnail like that, and immediately assume it's fanboy bait, so I don't give it any time.

[@edwardelric4975]

Never really thought about how when people think about a katana they picture a masterpiece, but when people think about a longsword they picture something mediocre. Japan is scarily good at making themselves look good.

[@raskolnikov6443]

Because the west hates itself. Why are there no great modern knight stories and epics?

[@gregorianeg5311]

yeah especially because they are still kinda nazi racist...

[@Jhhhf4479]

I think the typical long sword in Medieval Europe would not like these special oakshott swords that he mentions

[@Evarakeus]

To be fair, cultures tend to have a habit to view foreign works as 'exotic' or novel in some way. For us (I assume you're western) of the Occident, it's only natural to look upon the works of Japan with some wonderment; longswords are dime-a-dozen by our view, but katanas are quite unique. I think this is quite apparent in the inverse, as well, when looking at Japan's fascination with European fantasy in gaming and media

[@N8Dulcimer]

Historically, a LOT more people had longswords than katanas. Sure, there were some extremely fancy longswords, but when we think about the historical katanas that were more a status symbol than a weapon, the quality is undeniably really high.

[@spiritfingers98]

Mythbusters cut a bullet in half with a butter knife. Edit. From someone's suggestion in the comments and a little googling the show was in fact Penn and Teller's Bullshit which was later renamed Tell A Lie. Would recommend it to anyone that hasn't watched it.

[@Fuzzycat16]

Was about to comment that.

[@xxbeastmode-sh3iv]

I know Penn and teller did that I didn't know Mythbusters did that

[@realistic_delinquent]

The metallurgical and architectural features that give a bullet stopping power (soft metal, high velocity, hollow/shatterpoint) are exactly the same features that make it easy to cut with any edge. If a bullet can’t be cut with a butterknife, it probably can’t be cut by much else.

[@xxbeastmode-sh3iv]

@@realistic_delinquent no bullets are hallow. Hallow point only means that it has a divit in the tip. Same thing with shatterpoint, no bullet has a shatterpoint, they only shatter when hitting something stronger then copper and after hitting a target you can even catch the bullet in the dirt if you shoot the right target.

[@rucker69]

@@xxbeastmode-sh3iv there is so much wrong with your statement that it's really hard to know where to begin. Also, the word is "hollow."

[@lorddaro7771]

Penn and Teller did test the Bulled Slicing Myth in one of their TV Programs. Their Katana (though I don't know how that particular one was crafted) actually could split a 9mm bullet. And so could an ordinary butter knife. Turns out it doesn't take much craftsmanship to split a common lead bullet.

[@IrishBiteGirl]

Any modern steel with a wedge shape can split a bullet.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

For lead is not exactly known for its hardness ... 😎

[@ichisichify]

the katana's best feature is that it's a sword you can make with the technology and materials available in feudal japan. in all seriousness, that's a really important feature. once technologies have been figured out, the only real factor deciding what gets used and what not is cost.

[@electricpaisy6045]

exactly. This was Veritasium's whole point of the video while shadiversity totally missed that point and went on with the classical 'Katanas are not actually that good' narrative that we already heard from every other youtuber.

[@d_dave7200]

Speaking of appreciating great artistry/skill, I really appreciate videos like this, because I enjoy listening to you talk about a topic on which you're so incredibly knowledgeable. THAT is inspiring in a similar way to the craftsmanship at work in sword making.

[@user-ju7dx8mu6d]

You are so polite. I too like Veritasium but they have a few episodes that are just non-critical regurgitation of accepted wisdom. I started to watch their Katana show and became too agitated to finish watching. Your response is greatly appreciated.

[@JasonJrake]

What are some other examples that are overly charitable to the topic?

[@davidmccormick1996]

​@@JasonJrake The katana video is one 😅

[@Takyodor2]

@@JasonJrake Their video on self-driving taxis has come under scrutiny if I remember correctly (for being a bit commercial-like, as opposed to more scientific content the channel usually puts out).

[@draketurtle4169]

@@Takyodor2fun fact, a bunch of people were paid to make videos on them as it was found out. (They quoted nearly the exact same claims because they were from a meeting/PowerPoint they were all given/shown)

[@livedandletdie]

@@JasonJrake About 80% of the content he has made after the first 2 years of the channel.

[@SgtSnippy]

I always love the "can cut a bullet in half" argument. As far as i remember, i think mythbusters busted that myth wide open years ago where they showed that even a butter knife can cut a bullet in half when the bullet is fired at its cutting edge. The bullet is just traveling so fast that any edge will just cause it to just split lengthwise.

[@yunusemreselcuk2128]

I watch "Forged in Fire" and see that many knives and swords are tested by shooting a bullet to its blade. They never fail at splitting the bullets and usually the damage on the blade is minimal.

[@mrkiky]

@@yunusemreselcuk2128 Yea, and many knives on forged in fire end up being pieces of crap because they're made out of some shady mystery steel welded to downright garbage steel from a shopping cart, made in 3 hours.

[@regulus3413]

Its called hyperbole.

[@badgerpa9]

I believe Penn and Teller also did a video cutting a bullet in half with a butter knife.

[@WhoeverThisManIs20.14]

​@@regulus3413If it is in a documentary, people will think that it is true. It is best to avoid using any form of hyperbole in a documentary because people might believe it.

[@elwild7]

This is an amazing reaction video, I didn’t know I needed. Thank you for putting in the time to do this. The referral link is a nice touch too.

[@nowamajormotionpictureeven3797]

Fascinating! Glad I am getting your videos recommended in my feed again after a few months where you never showed up.

[@heyspookyboogie644]

Extremely expensive stuff rarely is expensive because of its quality or performance. At that level it’s almost always the lore / history attached to it that makes it valuable. Sorta like a signature on something affecting its value.

[@waylander9265]

The entire diamond industry is a good example of this. We place more value on “natural” mined diamonds, because all of the media and stories used elevate their value and reduce the value of “synthetic” diamonds, even though there is no meaningful difference between the two

[@FoxtrotFleet]

@@waylander9265 Diamonds themselves weren't much valued over other gemstones until De Beers began their propaganda in the 1940s. Also, I'll never understand why mined diamonds are more valued when there's no way to determine if it's a blood diamond or not.

[@Candlemancer]

@@waylander9265 You pay a premium for the special ingredient: human suffering. It's not a *real* diamond unless it was dug up by malnourished child labourers in the 3rd world.

[@ShadeSlayer1911]

@@waylander9265 Not even talking synthetic vs natural, I find it strange that we put any value on diamonds at all, beyond their functional value for diamond drills and lab work and such. I get that it's shiny and people like shiny things (much like crows), and I too like shiny things, but to like it that much to spend tens of thousands to millions of dollars on a single shiny rock? I don't get it, and I'm not sure I ever really will.

[@MightyOProductions]

Such is the way of all forms of art. Rarely will a collector buy a Van Gogh simply because it is beautiful. No, it is because his story is tragic and well known, therefore his work is valuable. Similarly, swords today are not usually bought for their function (and thank goodness for that), but rather their distinction. The history around a katana is highly romanticized worldwide, therefore it is a good sword. Nay! The BEST sword.

[@winj3r]

I noticed several mistakes in Veritasium video, so I was hoping hat someone in the community would address them. Now here is Shad to the rescue.

[@kevinmorrice]

lets be real here, shad is always the first to complain about inaccuracies

[@Grandwigg]

I wonder how much of the info used for the script was provided by the team at the facility that have them access.

[@maxnaz47]

Lol... Shad has completely missed the point of Veritasium's video... It was to highlight the art of Japanese sword making using traditional methods and the cultural value that comes with it... Comparing traditional Japanese swords to the hunks of garbage Shad plays with are like comparing Leonardo Da Vinci's work to his kid's finger paintings... The entire response video is a big of a joke as what Shad is... 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@GhostRS3411]

@@maxnaz47 As someone who dabbles in the art of trolling, I hope that your comment is a troll/ragebait and not serious or you missed the point of Shad's video entirely. If you're wondering what the point of Shad's video is, it is simply providing further context into certain points made in the video that could become easily misconstrued (or are outright misinformation) to a general uninformed audience. He also states multiple times in the video his appreciation of Japanese swords for their artistry and cultural preservation.

[@RitzStarr]

The problem with veritasium is that this isn't the first time he just blatantly misrepresented or poorly explained something. This is just probably the only time it was a subject you were an expert of. Hes been called out by other experts numerous times.

[@tmac2744]

Speaking specifically to cutting the tatami, John Clements once did a video where he explained about the edge geometry being more important in that aspect. He took a blade that could not cut his hand as he ran the edge across it, and was still able to cut the tatami. It took slightly more effort, but not so much as to make it obvious that sharpness was the most important factor in the cut.

[@Dan-gs3kg]

Yeah that's the difference between primary and secondary sharpness. The friction from the primary bevel limits you in cutting most things, the secondary bevel is more important for tough or hard things.

[@AvenEngineer]

The Japanese cultural PR department is second to none.

[@gerbo8018]

To be fair if i had a weapon like that in my country i'd make fairy tales about it :) That being said, The belgains where the bravest people in whole gallia even Ceasar said it :D (yes i'm belgain :p)

[@carboneagle]

Nah, communist Pr department is way better. Japanese culture actually has merit. Communists have failure and nazi grade atrocities and are still revered.

[@Irys1997]

Korea is catching up very very fast

[@AvenEngineer]

@@gerbo8018 Your people were busy with the woodwinds. 🎷

[@gerbo8018]

@@AvenEngineer The area was and still is famous for enjoying a good beer. But we also used to be fierce on the defence. Many wars where fought on our fields. The battle fo the golden spurs coming to mind :)

[@robertjensen1438]

Some people think filling animals with helium is wrong... I don't judge. Whatever floats your goat.

[@dutchdykefinger]

i can't help but think about the gigantic inflatable pigs pink floyd had lol

[@roninkraut6873]

Thanks Gallagher

[@shelbybayer200]

🤦

[@beepboop4833]

😂😂

[@chicken_burgers]

……….

[@ForrestOutman]

Now that was a solid opener. You made it clear that you respected the channel and their content and subscribe to them and that you had something to offer about this particular topic but otherwise really appreciated their work. 👏👏👏👏 I love that you came with respect but also made sure to be clear that you had concerns and questions about the things they stated and then proceeded to lay them out with very clear reasoning. Well played👊

[@earthling_parth]

27:58 at this point the original veritasium video is 1 minute and 21 seconds I was worried this video is going to have a part 2. Excellent job on adding accurate context and correcting the mistakes.

[@username65585]

I got about 10 seconds into the Veritasium video before I got excited knowing Shad was going to respond.

[@MattWinkler1]

"it can cut a bullet in half." Bullets are made of LEAD, Veritasium. SOFT, MALLEABLE LEAD.

[@fostena]

same

[@fostena]

@@MattWinkler1 exactly! And also they travel FAST. If you could throw a bullet in the air and cut it with a sword like Fruit Ninja, now THAT would be awesome!

[@cookowa3256]

There was this video of guys shooting an axe with a bullet, and the bullets split very easily with virtually no damage done to the axe, so I kinda figured

[@BasedR0nin]

Cool you’re a dork

[@888SpinR]

I will bet anything the part about the bullet was written in the first 10 seconds specifically to hook the viewer into watching a 25-minute video.

[@VeloFX]

I really liked the supplementary clips to the explainations and the attention to detail. Small corrections in video over one hour long are not the norm, very nice!

[@joshmaxwellreinerallen3521]

Just want to say that I love the peer review style of this type of content of yours! Would be awesome (for me, selfishly) if the details section perhaps included a sort of resources section, not only to other videos and experts on youtube as you do in the content itself, but also published papers/essays/books from other experts (historians, historical metallurgists, conservators, curators, etc)

[@Koushakur]

I knew right away when I started watching Veritasium's video that you'd have things to say about it

[@maxnaz47]

Lol... Shad has completely missed the point of Veritasium's video... It was to highlight the art of Japanese sword making using traditional methods and the cultural value that comes with it... Comparing traditional Japanese swords to the hunks of garbage Shad plays with are like comparing Leonardo Da Vinci's work to his kid's finger paintings... The entire response video is as big of a joke as what Shad is... 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Koushakur]

@@maxnaz47 And how is _any_ of that relevant to my comment?

[@waylander9265]

One thing I learned from my engineering classes is that importance of toughness in materials. Veritassium’s video never discusses the drawbacks that come with the hardness, save the fact that most swords shatter during quenching and even then that’s treated like it just makes Katanas more special. The edges are much more vulnerable to chips and damage, so much so that combat has evolved to fully avoid edge on edge contact with these swords. Don’t get me wrong it’s great to see these craft skills be preserved and treated with respect but the video doesn’t challenge ideas, it just promotes them. It’s like an interview where the interviewer only asks softball questions

[@JathraDH]

To be fair though, katana's have both hardness and softness. The edge is hard and the rest of the blade is soft. I have seen katanas take on horrendous bends in use and not actually break. But they do, however permanently bend. They don't deform and spring back like a rapier or long sword does. You can bend them back into "mostly straight" and keep fighting though so its still better than a actually full hardened blade which would just snap.

[@tomasxfranco]

It still lets the edge chip and the whole blade bend, and stay bent.

[@adifferentangle7064]

The actual greatest katanas had quite intricate laminations (not to be confused with the folding) which were designed primarily to deal with the problem of chipping and bending. It's also why historical wartime katanas typically had an edge bevel over 40°.

[@andymouse]

He did say that a percentage shatter, watch it again.

[@kingcosworth2643]

@@JathraDH Bending is called 'Plastic Deformation', springing back is called 'Elastic Deformation'. Chain of events on a Stress-Strain graph is Elastic, Plastic, Yield (when it breaks). Yielding can either be axial (been pulled apart), or shear (sideways to the axis, like been cut by scissors or something), shear strength is half of the axial (tensile)strength. Yield is always measured as axial.

[@voyomaypl1608]

Love the video. A lot of in depth info about metallurgy and how it affects the sword. That's my type of thing.

[@EliasMheart]

Great video :) Yeah, a lot of the corrections were calling out deliberate implications, but that is not meant as a detraction of the video. Also really enjoyed a bit of a brush-up on my knowledge about steel :) (My class about it was long enough ago that I confused the 2.08% point of the steel diagram with the optimum of 0.83% Carbon xD)

[@QuartzChrysalis]

Hearing someone brag that "This sword can cut a bullet in half!" tells me the person knows little about both swords and guns. (or is banking on the viewers knowing little about swords and guns.)

[@pazsion]

well cheap swords break? so yea...

[@sophiacristina]

Especially coming from Veritasium, that knows pretty well about physics.

[@yikaiye9241]

Even in the Forged in Fire TV show, amateur bladesmiths in the US can make swords that can cut bullets. Their blades are not judged by whether they can cut a bullet, that's just a given, but are judged on the amount of damage that bullet did to the edge.

[@ivoryas1696]

@@yikaiye9241 Honestly, yeah. _That_ makes sense.

[@MeepChangeling]

@@ivoryas1696 Also they only did that once. On the episode where the challenge was to make a katana. it was expressly done as a nod to the myth.

[@jakubpluhar4914]

This is great to see. I "saw" the Veritasium video an hour after it came out. In reality it got my blood boiling and I typed out a tiny essay to try my best to explain the reality of katanas and European swords while just having the video in the background. They even said that "even something as high quality as iron sand has some impurities" which for an iron source as bad as iron sand is ridiculous. There's even tons of comments with absolutely insane opinions on katanas and European swords such as European swords being generally heavier, thicker and blunt weapons that are used for chopping through armour and focues on blunt damage. I thought we were past the crazy katana fantasy by 2024.

[@fmsyntheses]

Somewhere in a corner of a dojo between a salon and a Little Ceasar's, Ashida Kim is ferociously pleasuring himself

[@inthefade]

Chopping through armor 😂😂😂

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

I'd say 99% of people have absolutely no idea how much a medieval sword actually weights.

[@jacobesterson]

I think I know the comment you're talking about. Orange profile picture, sol in the name? I was in that exact threat correcting him.

[@jacobesterson]

@@DonVigaDeFierro Especially seeing as "medieval sword" can mean one of many different things. I roughly know the weight of an arming sword but I can all but guarantee I don't know the rough weights of every obscure sword type from the entire medieval period.

[@uncertainscientist]

This is so great!!!!!! What a wealth of knowledge I watched the Veritasium video and then was SO EXCITED when this video came out!!

[@Kombivar]

Awesome content! I was a bit sceptical while watching the original video, so I'm very glad that your content was suggested to me. You remind me a bit of Phil Mason from Thunderf00t, great explainer as well. Thanks a lot for this great lesson, I've learned a ton and will be a regular visitor for the future.

[@william_hartman]

This is a good time to remind people of the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect. Which is that if an article/video comes out on a subject you are an expert in you notice all sorts of errors, but then the same source will have another article/video on a subject you know nothing about and you don't stop to think that this one might be just as inaccurate as the last. So this makes me wonder, how accurate are the rest of Veritasium's video if they got this one so wrong?

[@afelias]

I can confirm, Veritasium is not to be trusted on Electrical Engineering either xD And as far as I know from Thunderfoot years ago, neither should he be trusted on Physical Chemistry.

[@absolutechaos13]

Well, the "How electricity really works" sparked a lot of controversy. His "rods from God" one was a train wreck by his own admission. Those are two recent oppsies I remember. Neither one was wrong on a high level. They just had a lot of practical issues and rhetorical problems. Derek seems to be in his element discussing theory, not practice, and easily falls into overhype.

[@afelias]

@@absolutechaos13 The electricity one was wrong on every level. Forgetting that magnetic fields have to be induced is getting half of all of electromagnetism wrong.

[@Ylyrra]

He's pretty bad. He's very good at giving superficially plausible explanations but some of his content is on a par with documentaries about aliens in ancient egypt, with glaring flaws in logic and methodology on the experimental side and a compete lack of context in his presentation of facts in isolation from anything to compare them to, and a tendency to overhype everything. He's also very murky in the amount of his content that is clearly promotional for a commercial interest, with no indication of whether it was paid promotion or quid pro quo or "access for promotion" type deals, some of that stuff is shockingly biased. He also leans into the whole "THE TRUTH THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW" style of trying to present everything he says as going against the conventional wisdom, even when he's just contorting himself and convoluting the subject to just express the exact same thing as the conventional wisdom.

[@absolutechaos13]

@@afelias I think I missed that part, or it went over my head. My favorite was him saying that the power they got in their practical test was enough to light up an LED while ignoring the fact that an LED would have just popped because it would then be exposed to 10x rated voltage milliseconds later.

[@evanbasnaw]

I was waiting for this video as soon as I heard the intro to Veritasium's. 15 minutes later, you deliver an hour long response. Now that's customer service!

[@CrankyCrabChaos]

You got a subscriber out of me. My dad and his best friend have a forge that they've forged knives at for decades (and entered competitions), so it was nice to hear someone talking about the realities of forging and not just glorifying the cream of the crop of a sword type.

[@wyattbussard9558]

Thank you for doing these videos to correct misconceptions

[@the_cringe_nerd]

We all knew Shad was going to make a reply video to Veritasium

[@boychowskibrothers]

Normies: "Katana great, best metal and craftsmanship, pure perfection!" Shad: *Stares knowingly in cross guards and spring steel

[@EpicRandomness555]

@@Dobermann89-dr2rc Except no, and people do say that European swords were poorly made. Unwieldy, lumps of iron, barely sharp. The list goes on. And he loves katanas. It’s just that traditionally made ones are kinda garbage in real use. And people overinflated them way too much.

[@jacobesterson]

@@EpicRandomness555 I love it when people try to claim that Shad just hates katanas. It was actually brought up in the comments of the Veritasium video by one guy in particular. In reality, it has nothing to do with hatred, or even dislike. I think katanas are pretty sweet myself. The only reason why the HEMA crowd bashes on katanas so much is because they're so notoriously overhyped due to action movies and anime. There's also the general mystique that surrounds Japan, coming from the fact that they actually care about and have actively worked to retain their culture. Japan has so much more respect for their past than most western nations, and the result is incredibly marketable. Look at England and none of our institutions give a crap. You don't see Japan turning all their old temples into flats like we do…

[@gamermanzeake]

The lack of respect for the Founding Fathers and the God they built America for, is why I'm beginning to hate modern Americans myself. No retention of culture and tradition. We're just supposed to be a "melting pot" of other cultures and peoples who don't care at all about America. It's evil. Nationalism is the reason why Japan has such a strong and respectable identity. I admire that, even if I can't see eye to eye with their religious beliefs. I can get over that, when I see folks standing for what he believes. Unlike the morons of the West who just continue to cater to the terrorists of the Middle East and the so-called disadvantaged groups of the modern liberal minded movements.

[@boreos3499]

I appreciate the intent of this video. Been a fan of Katanas for over a decade. I also tempered my interest as I learned more about the nuances of their construction and the limitations of the sword's capabilities. Despite the disclaimers of loving Katanas, I was surprised how much time was spent on griping and East-West "what about us" comparisons. I guess I just would have liked this to be a more concise take with less repetition and without the constant comparisons to Western bladesmithing. With more historical sources cited, this could have been a more informative and enjoyable video.

[@r.michaelburns112]

As someone who has studied and written about the samurai and their weapons, and who lived in Japan and loved it there, I appreciate this video's honesty. I think that to properly appreciate anything is to recognize its strengths and weaknesses and to see it for what it is, not what we'd like it to be. There is, I think, a unique elegance to the katana, and a fascinating beauty to the aesthetics of the samurai, but that doesn't mean we have to aggrandize them artificially.

[@oriontherealironman]

As Tom Scott said: 'Why you can't trust me.' We all make mistakes 😅

[@pXnTilde]

Maybe valid were it not for how overproduced the video is

[@marvindebot3264]

I miss Tom already

[@maxnaz47]

So far, 30 minutes in, there hasn't been a single thing said in Veritasium's video that was wrong... All i've seen is Shad making huge assumptions about implied information that was never said or implied... An absolute garbage response video that is absolutely not warranted or needed... Definitely unsubbing...

[@LurkerDaBerzerker]

@@maxnaz47 Goodbye, don't let the door hit you on the arse, oh, and thanks for continued support of the channel through comments.

[@HexisVonSpade]

someone must have pissed in your cereal, and your ears. clearly you didnt even watch the video lmao goodbye !@@maxnaz47

[@heyspookyboogie644]

lol you know someone actually understands a topic when their statements come with a string of caveats and aren’t just a sound bite.

[@MissionGrey]

Having watched a ton of sword making videos, I was glad you had some comments on the errors made in this one.

[@Nerb1]

This was great. I watched every minute and learned a lot. Its sad how much some big channels are relying on a quick sensationalised piece instead of actual education.

[@ZombieLicorice]

Me and my friend that was interested in metalurgy used to joke, "this sword is 10,000 folds of Nippon steel!" "So Basically it's made of really crap material that took forever to turn into something useful"

[@bradleyritger6765]

I see I’m not the only one in the comments that saw Veritasium’s video and immediately wanted Shad’s reaction

[@Terrinox]

You're not alone

[@sammiller8287]

Love this video and your channel - just a very brief note that at 28:09 it says 'only steel made in this way ENDS UP in the very best Japanese swords' but you misheard it as 'RESULTS in the very best Japanese swords'

[@brandonkey181]

good catch

[@thebayandurpoghosyanshow]

I think, one important think people forget is the context. No weapon, historical or modern, has existed in a vacuum. Every weapon was actually created for a certain battlefield with certain technology available at the time. Take the Sherman tank, I would argue - the best tank of WW2. Was it the best tank on the battlefield? Not really. But it was good enough where it mattered, and when the Allies lost a Sherman, there were enough of them that they could take another one and put the same crew into it and keep on keeping on: US crews had about 80% survival rate throughout the war. As for katana, if I remember it right, samurai were primarily horse archers and the katana was more of a sidearm for them, at least on the battlefield. If you got to use your katana often, that would probably mean you were a very bad archer. I love the katana, but I also fail to understand the amount of myths going around it. A well-made katana maxed out what you could achieve with imprecise methods of making steel available to the Japanese at the time; that means very good weaponsmiths, but also a weapon that performed on its battlefield, but not something you would want to directly compare to other stuff from other battlefields - be it wooden weapons and coconut armor from Polynesia or a European longsword. Different weapons, made for different battlefields. As for the fans of super-complicated wonder-weapons, remember that the German tanks lost WW2 against the humble Sherman.

[@Danny.._]

I saw the Veritasium thumbnail and said "I'm not going to watch that video, it will just make me mad" 😂

[@Axterix13]

I mean, it isn't a bad video at all. It covers the process. The historian they have clearly states that it is the best sword they could produce with the tech and metal and such they had, for the purposes they wanted. The point of the video is to cover the making of the sword from start (the iron sand) to finish (final product) and some of its properties. And it does that, about as well as it could in the time frame they had, while explaining how/why some of the stuff was done. And, yes, it doesn't cover other things, like how it doesn't spring back, because not spring steel, nor does it really touch on that whole "best sword they could produce" bit, and what that means. It would definitely be a better video overall if it placed the sword and its design into historical context. If there is a weakness to the video, it is in things like the bullet slicing (which a butter knife can do) and hyping up the expensive aspect (the 105m sword is a mix of historical value plus economic boon years, while these hand made katanas are expensive, because, well, they are made by labor intensive processes... that guy sharpening/polishing for a month isn't doing it for free). Statements that are factually true, but will lead to the common person watching the video to draw the wrong conclusion from the data provided. It could have used a bit more of the historian guy, overall. But still nice to see the process being done similar to how it was then, by people keeping the tradition mostly alive.

[@BGH1961]

23:54 - Smelter lit once a year. This has to do with legal restrictions on making swords in Japan. Few smiths are licensed, they are limited in how many swords they are allowed to make. (I learned this about 20 years ago, so...)

[@Springstep-hopeknight]

Joining with second account due to the recent video, keep enjoying what you're doing and that'll help you hang in there!

[@DarkHorseSki]

Thanks for the link. I just ordered a couple swords from there (4 actually, but I have 2 sons, so 2 are for them, and one is for my brother.)

[@randomdude4505]

Density of sand 1.52 g/cm3 Density of magnetite 4.89 g/cm3 80% magnetite by mass is less than 40% by volume. Assuming I did my math right.

[@Barwasser]

"I don't like sand. Its rough, coarse and has less density than magnetite" - Anakin Skywalker

[@siege9065]

Considering how much I have loved these swords over the years, it is wonderful to hear these nuances regarding the katana discussed. Good stuff mate.

[@beanieteamie7435]

This doesn't surprise me in the slightest considering Veritasium's track record

[@theevermind]

Austenitizing does not completely reset the grain structure. The atoms will rearrange when becoming austenite, but they do so within context of each grain, so the general grain size, shape, & orientation are retained. However, at higher temperatures, smaller grains disappear and the larger grains grow in size in a process known as "grain growth." Hot working (deformation of the material when hot, e.g., hot forging) causes new nucleation sites for grain formation, and so it will decrease grain size and 'reset' grain orientations and shape.

[@heyspookyboogie644]

My only comment on the veritasium video was “Shad has entered the chat”

[@demandred1957]

LMAO!

[@SuicV]

Wow, an hour+ long response from Shad just a few hours later, who could have seen that coming

[@bobfranks6571]

Can I just say I'm so happy you're still around doing what you do

[@AkinokazeHaruichiban]

Here's an idea for a reaction video for you, what about the Katana making sequence[s] in Highlander 3? I'm not sure if there were sequences for the other types of swords in any of the other films, but that sequence always stood out to me, and it would be interested to see you react both to the artistry of the sequence, as well as the purpose of the steps involved in it.

[@bigmitchy4026]

but shad you don't understand. They're upkeeping the oldest tradition known to any craftsman: ALWAYS declare your methods to be the best in the whole world and proven by time and experience

[@DH-xw6jp]

And it's great PR, but it isn't "the oldest tradition" by any stretch. Wood fired pottery would beat it by quite a bit.

[@bigmitchy4026]

@@DH-xw6jp i think you missed the joke

[@DH-xw6jp]

@@bigmitchy4026 yes, yes I did. And re reading I think I found it. Thanks and lol (it is a good one when it isn't miles above my head haha)

[@flamewingsonic]

I was expecting this video the moment I saw Veritasium's video. As I said in a comment there, even a dull butter knife can split a bullet in two if it is made of steel.

[@maxnaz47]

Lol... Shad has completely missed the point of Veritasium's video... It was to highlight the art of Japanese sword making using traditional methods and the cultural value that comes with it... Comparing traditional Japanese swords to the hunks of garbage Shad plays with are like comparing Leonardo Da Vinci's work to his kid's finger paintings... The entire response video is a big of a joke as what Shad is... 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@LurkerDaBerzerker]

@@maxnaz47 Just gonna spam the same reply everywhere, huh? That's a shame.

[@flamewingsonic]

@@LurkerDaBerzerker They clearly have put no thought behind their understanding of swords, so it follows they put no thought in their reply/spamming behavior.

[@LurkerDaBerzerker]

@@flamewingsonic They claimed in another comment before yours that they are unsubscribing, yet they continue to spam the same comment. It's crap on the wall, but I suppose it's still support for Shad.

[@GreakFTW]

I thought you were nitpicking a bit from time to time, but I guess that is what you do. Great video all together! Would love to see an response from the veritasium team debunking/confirming some of the detail and speculations in this video.

[@TheHubra]

Your tone in this video is much better than the title. Good video 👍

[@ThisCanBePronounced]

I've barely watched a Veritasium video for at least 2 years now. If it's not a straight-up pure explanation of a math concept or its history, it's probably not good - especially any field-trip / experiment type stuff. There's a lot of wasted time in the videos and other KZbinrs covers the topics in a much more comprehensive and educational way. Nice to see a Shad video pop up to confirm it's still happening, and I know I'll surely learn more here.

[@christiannorf1680]

Yup, more and more inaccuracies, questionable statements and things that are plainly wrong over the years. Sadly it shows that Derek is not a scientist, but a "science communicator"

[@ThisCanBePronounced]

@@christiannorf1680 And it seems you're right, according to his Wikipedia entry, so, thanks for the contribution. It seems I misremembered him having more technical experience and background, but apart from whatever his degrees taught him, even starting with his Ph.D. the focus has been on education.

[@erichammer5502]

Glad to see someone else make this point. I used to watch Veritasium's videos then noticed it was devolving to basically History channel levels of nonsense. Presumably his research staff has just degraded in quality, probably getting away from his areas of knowledge, and it is just a "I F'ing love science!" show, with no concern for whether the claims are true, contested, or anything. A shame really, but very common.

[@badgerpa9]

It is for entertainment not accuracy sadly. I think he counts on Wiki to much and should reach out to others like when Physics Girl did a video with him to correct a previous video, which he did not take down.

[@karonuva]

My trust for veritasium videos is definitely in the toilet, they always had an air of sensationalism to them but it's a pattern where people have to actively debunk these wildly inaccurate sponsored fluff-pieces that feel more like watching an ad on TV than a video educating you about a subject. I think he's definitely a good example of someone talking with confidence making people trust them even if they're just talking out of their rear end.

[@ASNS117Zero]

*Takes one look at the thumbnail.* Anyone that has A: enough money to pay 105 *MILLION* dollars for a sword, and B: is stupid enough to pay 105 *MILLION* dollars for a sword, deserves to be fleeced for that money.

[@Axterix13]

That sword wasn't purchased for that price because it was an uber sword. Most likely, it was for historical significance (and probably coupled with it happening during boon years). Like if Excalibur were real/around (and without any mystical powers, of course) and up for auction, just imagine how much it would go for...

[@Fuzzycat16]

to preserve the piece?

[@realistic_delinquent]

This is a culture that regularly pays $1million+ for a fish.

[@celluskh6009]

@@Axterix13 "That sword wasn't purchased for that price" You should have stopped there.

[@craftyravperhaps7933]

@@realistic_delinquent 🐟

[@eranraz]

great video, informative - thanks. where can I buy the 170$ spring steel katana shown in the video?

[@Chousakan]

Like many things in Japan, it's about the tradition and artistry of the process more than the quality of the end product, which may be better or worse than their contemporary counterparts from around the world. The problem comes from the mystification of the end product, which is both a result of foreign fascination and locally spread propaganda that served to maintain power and/or value. I don't mean to shit on Japan. It's a fascinating country and I've visited dozens of times because I love the place, but it can be a little infuriating how some people put anything Japanese on a pedestal.

[@drewhalcro6082]

I did some research into it some years back. Tamahagane is also ILLEGAL to export outside of Japan. The only way to get it it to be a master craftsman and basically go through a huge process to request some and even if the decide to let you have some, they will decide how much you can have (probably not even enough to make a decent sword).

[@isaiahoconnor8236]

The Veritasium Video was my understanding of Japanese swords before I found Shad.

[@ChristianATemple]

WoW! Shad! The Bookshelf looks AWEsome!, also points for Brigandine +Spaulder / Pauldron kit!

[@g1jetfireandrainbowdash798]

The bullet video is from Forged in Fire and if I recall was made from leaf springs in a shed with a makeshift forge... I might be mixing an episode or two, but def not traditional forge style for the katana.

[@matthewhilty4209]

Thank You for talking about impurities. The amazing part of the Katana was the fact that the Ancient Japanese had pretty poor grade materials but through very hard work folding the steel many many times they were able to get a very high performance from questionable materials. To say the purity was amazing was a slap in the face to these people. If the steel purity was incredible they would not have needed to work and fold the metal thousands of times. The metal workers ingenuity and commitment is the reason the traditional Katana was incredible. It is like the difference from buying a IKEA table and assembling it vs carving a table from a fallen tree with only hand tools.

[@jle2500]

Man, Shad ranting about the Katana again took me back to a happier time. Thanks Shad and Co. Keep up the good work.

[@matthewtalbot-paine7977]

Other people watching this: I like hearing about the history of the katana Me: Oh so that's how you can find iron ore I'm going to put that in my video game.

[@Justindedwards215]

Great vid shad I have always enjoyed seeing the episodes where it's just you doing your thing and nky so many other people and bells and whistles...stick with the og type vids and I'm here for it

[@konkydonk4809]

the term that I find most fitting is "romanticized". I find that a lot of Japanese craft is romanticized and I say that as someone who really likes japanese culture.

[@christiannorf1680]

Together with the notion that something being made (mostly) by hand in a very lengthy process somehow magically improves the quality by an order of magnitude. It's funny, the work ethics of japanese are also often held in very high regard. Some of my colleagues spent 6 months in japan in their phd period (chemistry) and found that the japanese students were in the lab from morning till night. Yet it's not like they got more done than we do in 8 hours...

[@andymouse]

Yep.

[@sqqqvalueinvestor372]

@@christiannorf1680why work hard when you can work smart

[@rafalszczepanski98]

Paintings that consist of several cross-hatched lines can also be sold for many millions of dollars. Does this mean that they are outstanding works?

[@SubvertTheState]

I knew nothing about spring steel, I simply believed your information...But nothing convinced me like that slow motion stabbing mail armour and the longsword bending 45° and straightening right back.... incredible. Like the bend test with magic cards lol. A nail biter.

[@cassiuslives4807]

I didn't know that springsteel swords made better cutting performance than folded steel. Learn something new every day!

[@Zagrakhen]

Which is ironic is *I'm actually living on an old roman iron smelting site* where we can find big chunks of slugs just one meter below the surface. Whenever we have to plant a tree, we have to dig until we pass a layer of iron slug everywhere. Just a few years ago, I dug out a piece of 40 cm / 30 cm / 30 cm of empty iron slug I exposed on a brick wall in the garden. It was more 50 cm / 40 cm / 30 cm but I break it in three pieces to remove it by hands. 😧 And we know the romans used a similar technique a few hundred years earlier than Japanese with Tamahagane. So yeah, we knew that in Europe long before them. *We just had much more abondant and purest iron to collect* which why this type of bad smelting was not well considered, left behind for better smelting techniques and never passed on the next generation. No cultural value was attached to this type of smelting. I literally live on the proof that Tamahagane is (to say the least) a snobbish dated technique kept alive in Japanese culture nowadays. 😅

[@EmilNicolaiePerhinschi]

"We just had much more abondant and purest iron" . Europe is mediocre as far as iron ore is concerned :) Japan is a chain of volcanic islands, they have all the resources they need in quantities large enough for them to even export if they chose to mine lower purity ores. Those ore sands have serious ore deposits upstream, and because the mountains are volcanic they have copper, gold, silver, lead etc. They are importing ore right now because very high purity ores can be sourced from other places and it is cheap to ship the ore by sea by sea. What they lack is enough resources to sustain world domination ;-).

[@Krytern]

​@EmilNicolaiePerhinschi Japanese iron supply is very low quality. They are able to export it because of modern techniques to make it more pure. I think you missed the point.

[@EmilNicolaiePerhinschi]

@@Krytern they have plenty of iron, and the quality of the ore counts only for cost. They are importing ore from Brazil or Australia like everybody else :) because compared to Australian ore every other ore is low quality. Even UK is importing coal and iron ore now, despite having a lot of it themselves, only somewhat more expensive. The point is they exaggerate everything, even in their eyes they are the best at everything, everybody else is a loser.

[@acrazydurian]

@@EmilNicolaiePerhinschi they dont have a lot of iron. which is why you rarely see metal nails in traditional japanese woodworking, and their woodworking tools contains little iron. Japanese is very good with their marketing and comes off as "masters" at traditional crafts even when a lot of their stuffs are just made in china.

[@MorgottofLeyendell]

As an amateur bladesmith, I can confirm that there is never one single way to make a sword, at least in the day to day work. Look up how to make a simple knife, there are a hundred ways to forge a blade. Some are better, some are preference, and others are tradition. Techniques change, and that goes for any type of knife or sword. To say that the techniques haven't changed for centuries is entirely inaccurate. In fact, the legend of how the katana was created is literally about the smith changing his techniques to make a better sword.

[@mrkiky]

Well, they did say "virtually unchanged" and then show a permanent graphite(I'm guessing) tatara with electric air blowers and the smith using a power hammer to forge the sword.

[@WwarpfirewW]

Very true, it always reflects the times, what was avaible and known or needed, good examples can be Yakut knives which were important for butchering and carpentery but iron was scarse as well as good blacksmiths or high demand for weapons in times of war resulting in lower quality versus piece periods where time was put into excellent crafts, that can include special items for wealthy people which would demand the best they could have. Looking closely into it we might found good examples of demand driven designs as well, like in WW2 when weapons shifted from highly produced machine milled parts into rivetted sheets etc.

[@MorgottofLeyendell]

@@WwarpfirewW Exactly.

[@symmetricat188]

@@WwarpfirewW Absolutely. Your mention of WW2 really drives the point home. E.g. the commonly known "Fliegerschwert", or, officially, "Offizierschwert", turns from nickel/silver or plated fittings in 1935 into aluminium fittings by 1940. Same goes for many personal blades & bayonets. It's actually very interesting that, while firearms are pushing the boundaries of technology in times of significant conflict, blades are rather reduced to pure function, becoming a historic reflection of momentary necessity. By that same token, a katana was merely a very useful tool in times of war & thereby object/subject to practical & economic consideration. In times of peace, it became an idea, a legend. A warning. Makes sense.

[@ONAROccasionallyNeedsARestart]

I always have a super hard time watching your videos (for some weird reason your videos trigger my disability, entirely a me thing, nothing on you), but it was good to sit down and watch this. It's always nice to see informed people acknowledging other informed people while also finding polite ways to address misinformation.

[@testname5042]

Your commentary in this video seems rambly. Definitely some good points in here, and good to get clarification on stuff. You clearly know what you're talking about. But it seems like you often take longer than needed to say what you're trying to say. It makes your video feel like it's off the cuff or cut from a livestream.

[@jacara1981]

There was the ceremonial way to do things, then there was the "just get the job done" way of doing things. I remember reading that in Europe it was common for Nobles and Knights to buy a sword from one sword maker that made really good swords, then take it to another to get the "flare" added from craftsman.

[@mugnuz]

there are so many european examples of highly specialized industries.

[@omnirath]

@@mugnuzduh

[@Kio_Kurashi]

Sells a pokemon card for billions of dollars: "This makes this card the most expensive pokemon card ever built!"

[@Aquilenne]

NFTs be like

[@bairnonessie]

Is it wrong though?

[@Kio_Kurashi]

@@bairnonessieOnly in pedantry.

[@dakota9821]

It is; Building it didn't cost the most. What some collector pays to own something isn't indicative of how much it cost to make. Cost to own and cost to build are not the same, and only a fool can't tell the difference.@@bairnonessie

[@damiangebarski2315]

Great video! As usual, honest and deep dive into the topic. I have a question/potential video topic: what about Inosuke chipped blade katanas from Demon Slayer? Obviously anime presents it as it would cut almost exactly as normal katana. (With the exception of ultra epic godly attacks, which we know for sure are possible, because katana is THE best sword in the world, right?) It's not hard to imagine that this blade (or the lack of the blade) is trash in regards of cutting targets in clean manner, but what about the damage overall? In the anime enemies are often not armored, and i assume that it could do some nasty damage to the flesh. Of course i'm not saying that you should trash some of your katanas, but if you already possess such a wasted blade, maybe it's good to reuse it? Sure, someone could say "just take the damn saw", but i'm not sure if it would be the same, maybe a comparison would be in order? Anyway, keep up the good work, it's always amazing to watch your content guys!

[@111smd]

the oldest Tatara (i am not sure if it is still running), in 2015 was still using clay and foot pumps, and created blocks of 1500kg at a time and it would run for 7 days at a time the one shown by Veritasium is fully modern and vary small also when traditional forging you have the master and at lest 4 apprentices with hammers