The point is that if you are looking for a REAL blade, you need to start your search looking for what on the internet blade suppliers refer handmade katanas to as a "battle ready" or "functional blade."

Unfortunately though, not all blade suppliers are scrupulously honest in their details of a fight prepared blade... And quite often, this details are applied to swords that are anything but "functional".

Essentially, there are three primary features that all REAL swords share. And those features are:

They are developed of excellent as well as steel, NOT stainless-steel.
The swords have been properly heat handled to make sure they are not too weak and not too smooth.
The blade has what is called a "full tang". In other samurai sword set , the steel place that goes into the swords manage is made as portion of the blade, and not welded on afterwards.
Of course, not all "functional" swords being marketed on the internet perfectly explain if they have these features. Fortunately though, there is a simple enough way to determine if a blade is REAL or not. And that is by only purchasing swords generated by a well known and respected blade manufacturer.
In my opinion, the best "bang for your buck" swords are all generated by 3 companies - Windlass Steelcrafts, Generation 2 and John Chens Hanwei Create. All of these manufacturers create top quality REAL swords at prices around the US$150 to $200 mark.

http://hanbon-swords.com/