2023 Ibara

The Ibara was commissioned as a bespoke Tier 3 Custom design in 2019 by Craig Douglas (SouthNarc) for his personal collection. After approaching us, Craig’s initial brief was kept quite simple and open. The knife was to be a double edge blade under 7″ in total length, with a neutral handle design that could be used easily in any orientation, and lastly a Tsukamaki handle wrap. The rest was up to the designer…

Working with Craig allowed us to explore new limits with both materials and skills. What resulted was our most exquisite knife to date, documented in a series of articles titled The Craig Douglas Ibara Project. With the original having been well received by its patron, and with his blessing, we opened up the Ibara to order by our customers.

This is however a limited edition special project and we have limited numbers to just 10 units per year. The Ibara is made to the same specifications as the original in terms of the overall length, handle type and blade configuration, but there are some pre-set handle options you can choose from.

The 2023 Version of the Ibara will feature a blade that is for the first time CNC cut from 80Crv2, while not as exotic as previous years, these blades are tough and reliable, but are also freehand ground and finished by hand. This year’s Ibara features a full Tsukamaki handle as in previous years, with the addition of the Mekugi – a homage to traditional Tsukamaki handles – and the first time we have featured this on a production piece.The Tsukamaki handle options all feature high end Tsukamaki materials and composite builds, done entirely by hand.

This year, we have opted to give 3 Pre-Set options which have been themed accordingly.

Shinobi:

In true ninja fashion, the Shinobi option pairs a Satin Black Cerakote finished blade with an all black handle. A black G10 base with mirror polished black buffalo horn fittings, black samegawa, and black silk Tsuka-ito. Also featuring an antique bamboo mekugi pin.

Ronin:

The Ronin blade is finished by hand with polishing stones and taken to a high mirror finish before being hot blued, giving it a dark, mirror-like sheen. Adding a splash of Crimson, the Ronin handle is built on a polished brass base, with mirror polished black buffalo horn fittings, Anshu (crimson) Samegawa and black leather Tsuka-ito.Also featuring an antique bamboo mekugi pin.

Seijin:

A new combo, the Seijin or Saint features a blade with a Satin Blued finish and is paired with a handle made from a brushed titanium base, with brushed titanium fittings. The Samegawa is kept its natural white colouring, with a brown leather Tsuka-ito wrapping and featuring the antique bamboo mekugi pin

All 2023 Ibara’s ship with a matching blunt trainer and your choice of either a full style sheath or fold over style sheath, with your preferred mount.

NOTE The Ibara is MADE TO ORDER. We generally list our Build Time as 6 weeks, but usually complete Builds in less time than that. However, we cannot take unforeseen circumstances into account such as power outages or vendor’s delays. We will endeavour to keep you as updated as we can during the build progress. This also does not take transit time into account, as that can vary depending on your shipping location.