"BIO" Shinai

[alex a]

I am thinking of getting a couple of the Bio treated Shinai from E-bogu I was wondering if anybody has had any experience with them and what they thought?

[enkorat]

Hi Alex,

I think there is a thread somewhere about it.

I've used both the "Kamakura" Chukoto and the "Mino" dobari model for about two years or so. What kinds of info do you want to know about them?

[alex a]

Mainly stuff about durability and any genral thoughts.

[bullet08]

two kai i got last year (exactly a year ago) are still going strong. one of them is rather beat up, but with shaving, sanding and retation, it's still going. i just started using other one not too long ago, and it's going well. i just ordered two kamkura the other day.

pete

[alex a]

Because they are all ready treated do you still need to oil them if so what do you use?

[bullet08]

Because they are all ready treated do you still need to oil them if so what do you use?

after shaving and sanding i oil them so it won't dry out.

pete

[enkorat]

I usually oil them once, but the oil doesn't soak in much so I think it might be just me following a habit. Some people say that they smell like smoked bacon. Its not a bad smell. Sometimes you can tell your opponent is using a Bio after they pass you by and the smoky smell comes wafting after. Suppose its better than unwashed keikogi smell.

They feel a little "stiffer" than regular shinai. About as heavy as a carbon fiber but not as "whippy". I like the big handle. Both the Mino and Kamakura have fairly thick handles. Fairly subtle differences though otherwise.

Getting a new or different tsukagawa on them requires a fairly unusual method of getting them on.

I think they stand up to regular use better, and are more resilient to changes due to weather (extreme dryness).

In my experience they don't splinter much off the edges of each take. However I've had two of the same age break on me within days of each other, and usually when they've broken they've pretty much shattered, either straight down the middle, or once the take completely shattered near the tsuka.

I like how they look, they've got a deeper color than normal shinai. The gold lettering will come off if you oil the shinai for long and rub on the paint.

[David]

Isn't the whole point of getting a BIO shinai that it doesn't need to be oiled? I mean, you oil a shinai to keep it from drying out, but BIO's are allready designed so that they won't dry out to begin with. What's the point of oiling it then?

[bullet08]

Isn't the whole point of getting a BIO shinai that it doesn't need to be oiled? I mean, you oil a shinai to keep it from drying out, but BIO's are allready designed so that they won't dry out to begin with. What's the point of oiling it then?

it's bamboo.. so it will dry out sooner or later. i rather oil my shinai than count on it not to break.

pete

[nebosuke]

it's bamboo.. so it will dry out sooner or later. i rather oil my shinai than count on it not to break.

pete

It's not completely bamboo anymore, not how nature made it anyway. All of water within the cells has been replaced with a resin. Because of this, it should not dry out, except maybe over a severly long time compared to natural bamboo.

[David]

That's what I was talking about. They're meant for areas where there's little humidity and not a whole lot of moisture in the air. I live in Miami, so that's not so much of a concern for me, but I do have a BIO anyways. It's a "KAI" dobari style madake shinai from ebogu. The thing seems to be a lot more durable than my other two practice shinai, and out of the three that I have, it's the one that I have to do the least amount of work on.

[enkorat]

Ya it doesn't seem to soak in at all when I do oil it, although it ends up looking a bit shinier and darker. I usually oil all of my shinai (loaners, spares, and frankens) all at once, and when I get a new shinai I shorten the tsukagawa anyway, so thats why I just end up putting the Bios along with everyone else.

The only way that I've been able to replace the tsukagawa on a Bio (and I ruined a tsukagawa or two trying to figure this out) is by seperating the take, removing the chigiri metal plate and putting three of the four staves into the tsukagawa and then sliding the fourth one in. The tsukagawa in my experience is so tight against the large handle of the Bio that so far its worked fine for several years across several shinai.

And of course, one could ask, couldn't you have just bought the shinai with a shorter tsukagawa? Why yes! I did! The guy at the E-bogu table handed me the shinai, rifled through a box of random parts and handed me a shorter tsukagawa in a plastic baggie and said "25 dollars please" with a smile. Little did I know that I should have asked him to put it on for me. But now, I know...

[bullet08]

out of two shiani i got, the first one i didn't have any issue with taking the tsukagawa off and on. but with the second one i did. then i noticed all this post about the slates being glued togather. what i have noticed is that e-bogu is using some sort of lub to put the tsukagawa on. and this thing is more than likely some sort of water soluble thing. when it dries up, it will leave what looks like glue on the slates.

rubbing alcohol should work well for this type of thing since it will evaporate quickly after the tsukagawa is on.

pete

[David]

The only way that I've been able to replace the tsukagawa on a Bio (and I ruined a tsukagawa or two trying to figure this out) is by seperating the take, removing the chigiri metal plate and putting three of the four staves into the tsukagawa and then sliding the fourth one in. The tsukagawa in my experience is so tight against the large handle of the Bio that so far its worked fine for several years across several shinai.


I think I read somewhere that using a shinai without a chigiri is illegal. Can't remember where though.


out of two shiani i got, the first one i didn't have any issue with taking the tsukagawa off and on. but with the second one i did. then i noticed all this post about the slates being glued togather. what i have noticed is that e-bogu is using some sort of lub to put the tsukagawa on. and this thing is more than likely some sort of water soluble thing. when it dries up, it will leave what looks like glue on the slates.

rubbing alcohol should work well for this type of thing since it will evaporate quickly after the tsukagawa is on.

pete I don't think that it's a type of lube, as I've gotten "Take Only" orders that came the same way. I think it's just some kind of glue to keep the bamboo from losing it's shape during shipping.