Witty !

I had been looking for a while for Tsubadome, the rubbery ring that prevents a Tsuba from sliding off the Bokken. 

2 tsuba dome

You can easily purchase a set of Tsuba and Tsubadome, at a price of about $4.50, but I had no intention to buy all these tsuba when what I really needed is a bunch of Tsubadome.

Tsubadome holding the tsuba on a bokken.

DIY department stores – where I spend several hours every week -  carry a wide assortment of vinyl and rubber hoses and I thought I probably could find a hose that would slide over a Bokken blade and do the work at a fraction of the cost.

Braided vinyl hose

So one evening of May, on my way home from the dojo I decided to stop by Lowes. I took the tsuba off my bokken so it would look more like a stick than a sword. You never know...

Amazing Hickory Bokken from Hickory Arms

I got in the plumbing department and having found a salesman asked him if he could cut a piece of 1” ID hose to see if it would slide on my stick.

The guy looks at me and says :

“Oh, a wooden katana !”
So much for being incognito...

As the hose was too small I asked him to cut  a piece of the 1 1/4” ID hose. 

1 1/4" OD clear vinyl hose

That one was slightly too big.

• So I ask : “ Would you by any chance carry 1 1/8” ID ? ”
• “No Man, I’m sorry, but... Huh... I know what your problem is !”
• “Really, and what is it ?”
• “You’ve got a metric katana !”

Et oui....