SWORDDUELING.COM

Japanese katana can have exquistite handguards or tsubas. Auction catalogues of the most beautiful specimens shows the amazing craftsmanship of their creation, when one uses chisels to “paint metal”. These videos which show a modern recreation of a missing tsuba to pair the existant wakazaki tsuba are fascinating.

Chanel makes armor

Bottle armor!
Dogs get armor!

I think this is an interesting product, used to modify katana-modeled shinai into something more like a longsword.
They are made by Ardenwood Forge.

That being said, at Mu Ryu, we’ve made basket hilts for shinai out of the hard plastic used for “pickle barrels”. The barrels are cut with a dremel tool or shears. They offer excellent hand protection, with low weight, while the plastic can be trimmed to adjust balance. And they costs virtually nothing to make.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-Lightsaber/