Silk ito sageo1-22wrapping Cord for Japanese Samurai Sword Katana wakizashi

I purchased two different colors of this wrap (dark blue and dark brown) for a couple of refit projects. On the plus side, the cord is very affordable, so it's not a great cost if you mess up, and the colors are very nice. You also get enough cord to wrap a 10-12" Tsuka and still have about 5' left over for a matching Sageo. On the negative, the cord is a bit stretchy, which makes for potentially sloppy diamonds, and can't be pulled very tightly (it gets significantly narrower as you stretch it). Worse: it frays very easily. This is particularly frustrating when trying to place Hishigame or tying the end knots (or even the presentation knot in the Sageo) as grabbing the cord with anything sharper than your fingertips will snag it. The softness of it does provide a nice grip when done, but it will shift a bit under use, so there's really no keeping the diamonds straight. So it's just fine for "working" swords that take a lot of abuse and don't have to look perfect, but not for a clean "presentation" wrap.

It's so slippery, soft and too pliable with no thickness, that it makes it almost impossible to tie a Sageo and more so for an Ito. I've sprayed it with Heavy fabric starch, dried it in the oven set on warm, but it didn't work well, so I sprayed it with clear coat lacquer. That did work. It made it firm enough to attempt tying it. I'll let it cure overnight and try to tie it tomorrow. Because of everything I had to do to get it to this point, I can not recommend this product for Sageo or Ito use!

Fantastic look and feel, I'll definitely be buying from here again! I ended up getting this, while I wait for some genuine Japanese silk ito to finally make it through the USPS, and I'm extremely pleased! This is also 1/9th the price of that silk, sooo... 😅 While this isn't quite the purple I prefer, I feel like I can get it there by adding some blue dye, which I'll be trying out here very soon. The ito has a small amount of stretch to it, so make sure to pull it tight before making any measurements for things like hishigami. I keep hearing how the 'stretch' is a detriment, and maybe I don't know any better... but you just have to hammer the center of each diamond, as you make them, tightening after the hammer blows, and it'll stay put. But definitely, if you're a poor artist just making small projects, like me, this is a perfect product.

I am using this cord for several applications toward my SCA persona and it is proving to be exactly what I wanted! Durable and soft earth tone color that does not stick out but allows visual distinction between historical garb.

Why in the name of everything that is holy, would you put a string for a cheap tag BUT PUT TAPE TOO HOLD TOGETHER!!!!!!! WHY ??????? so basically fking sticky all over. Jesus

It may not be a best idea to hold the cord together with the tape. It left the sticky residue on both side as shown. It even force to fray some parts of the edge and loosen the braided cord. I have no idea how to get rid of the white stuff on the dark cord.

I was hoping for better quality, but unfortunately I'll be using this for practice itomaki only. When I removed the masking tape holding the roll together, it pulled up lumps and frayed the edges of the cord. They give a generous amount (5 meters) for the price, but the quality is just not there for a good handle wrap.

The threads are frayed and loose in spots making this a poor quality wrap for katana handles. Even if it doesn't split from the tension of wrapping it creates lumps which are noticeable and unsightly.