PC Hanwei Green Bamboo Snake Katana
May 3, 2009 14:39:03 GMT
Post by Deleted on May 3, 2009 14:39:03 GMT
The PC Hanwei Green Bamboo Snake katana is a sweet piece of steel I came across when searching for serpent-themed tsubas.
It was love at first sight
The Bamboo snake series contains a katana and wakizashi that come in either green or black saya.
It´s a limited edition and only 300 katana (140 with green saya, 160 with black saya) and 50 wakizashi ( 20 green saya, 30 black saya) were made .
The blade is Swedish powdered steel that is forged and folded with a differentially hardened edge.
Now the problem I faced when scouting to buy one was the pricetag.
While the one with black saya was listed for around 550$ the one with green saya would cost 700$ min. This was a little too much for me to comfortably spend, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found one with green saya for 265£ from a private collector.
The blade was in unused condition, and after some persuation from a few guys here at the SBG forum I bought it.
About a week later it arrived at my local post office and the first thought that hit me when I unpacked it was "WOW" quickly followed by "Man I´m happy I picked the green saya!"
Because actually I had been a bit uncertain of whether or not I would like the green color.
Luckily I found it to be quite beautiful when I looked at it in person.
The blade sat with a tight, good fit in the saya and when pulling it out I was impressed by the beautiful folding lines as well as the irregular hamon.
The only negative thing I had to say about it initially was that the tsuka felt pretty thick. Eventually I got used to it though, and now I actually prefer this hourglass shaped tsuka before straight ones.
Now for the specs.
Nagasa Length from tsuba: 28,5"
Tsuka Length from tsuba: 11,5"
Overall Length: 40,5"
Tsuba Width across: 3,2"
Point of Balance from Tsuba: 5"
Weight: 1.15 kg = 2.5 lbs
Components
The Nagasa
The folding and real hamon gives this blade an awesome yet discrete look.
The edge is sharp enough to slice paper with minimum amounts of forward momentum, which is plenty sharp for me.
The overall appearance of the blade is quite slender.
Folded pattern and natural hamon
Shiny
Irregular hamon
Trying to catch the body of the sword
Here´s a pic borrowed from Mr. Jerry G. over at the SFI-forums.
It displays the difference between the Bamboo Snake (top) and the Bushido (bottom).
The Tsuka
Hourglass shaped with green, tightly pulled tsuka-ito.
White same with golden bird menuki. Two bamboo/wood mekugi.
Tsuka
Menuki
The Tsuba
Heavy darkened iron depicting a snake hanging in a bamboo groove, coiled up, ready to POUNCE!
Very detailed and textured.
The Fuchi-Kashira
These both depict slithering snakes. Also appear to be made out of darkened iron / cast iron.
The Saya
GREEN! In a good way.
Like always color is hard to get right in pictures, but with the deep lacquer it really looks good whether it´s viewed in sunlight or in darker environments.
Beware of photos taken with flash though, it really makes the saya look bad imo.
Saya
Photo taken with flash
Handling
I was expecting a light, fast cutter but was amazed when I weighted it and discovered that it actually weighted(?) more than my Cheness 30" nagasa.
Still, it handles great while having quite som blade presence.
Cutting
I wanted to post some vids of me trying to cut stuff, but I forgot I just returned my cam for repairs.
If there´s any interest in vids I´ll update the review with some as soon as I get my cam back.
Conclusion
Despite the thick handle and the slightly heavier than intended weight I really like this sword.
It´s a beautiful, slender, yet powerful, nicely-fitted killing stick.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking a blade of higher quality for a reasonable price (this might not apply to the one with green saya, but that (as always) depends on the size of your wallet).
Thanks
-Erik
It was love at first sight
The Bamboo snake series contains a katana and wakizashi that come in either green or black saya.
It´s a limited edition and only 300 katana (140 with green saya, 160 with black saya) and 50 wakizashi ( 20 green saya, 30 black saya) were made .
The blade is Swedish powdered steel that is forged and folded with a differentially hardened edge.
Now the problem I faced when scouting to buy one was the pricetag.
While the one with black saya was listed for around 550$ the one with green saya would cost 700$ min. This was a little too much for me to comfortably spend, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found one with green saya for 265£ from a private collector.
The blade was in unused condition, and after some persuation from a few guys here at the SBG forum I bought it.
About a week later it arrived at my local post office and the first thought that hit me when I unpacked it was "WOW" quickly followed by "Man I´m happy I picked the green saya!"
Because actually I had been a bit uncertain of whether or not I would like the green color.
Luckily I found it to be quite beautiful when I looked at it in person.
The blade sat with a tight, good fit in the saya and when pulling it out I was impressed by the beautiful folding lines as well as the irregular hamon.
The only negative thing I had to say about it initially was that the tsuka felt pretty thick. Eventually I got used to it though, and now I actually prefer this hourglass shaped tsuka before straight ones.
Now for the specs.
Nagasa Length from tsuba: 28,5"
Tsuka Length from tsuba: 11,5"
Overall Length: 40,5"
Tsuba Width across: 3,2"
Point of Balance from Tsuba: 5"
Weight: 1.15 kg = 2.5 lbs
Components
The Nagasa
The folding and real hamon gives this blade an awesome yet discrete look.
The edge is sharp enough to slice paper with minimum amounts of forward momentum, which is plenty sharp for me.
The overall appearance of the blade is quite slender.
Folded pattern and natural hamon
Shiny
Irregular hamon
Trying to catch the body of the sword
Here´s a pic borrowed from Mr. Jerry G. over at the SFI-forums.
It displays the difference between the Bamboo Snake (top) and the Bushido (bottom).
The Tsuka
Hourglass shaped with green, tightly pulled tsuka-ito.
White same with golden bird menuki. Two bamboo/wood mekugi.
Tsuka
Menuki
The Tsuba
Heavy darkened iron depicting a snake hanging in a bamboo groove, coiled up, ready to POUNCE!
Very detailed and textured.
The Fuchi-Kashira
These both depict slithering snakes. Also appear to be made out of darkened iron / cast iron.
The Saya
GREEN! In a good way.
Like always color is hard to get right in pictures, but with the deep lacquer it really looks good whether it´s viewed in sunlight or in darker environments.
Beware of photos taken with flash though, it really makes the saya look bad imo.
Saya
Photo taken with flash
Handling
I was expecting a light, fast cutter but was amazed when I weighted it and discovered that it actually weighted(?) more than my Cheness 30" nagasa.
Still, it handles great while having quite som blade presence.
Cutting
I wanted to post some vids of me trying to cut stuff, but I forgot I just returned my cam for repairs.
If there´s any interest in vids I´ll update the review with some as soon as I get my cam back.
Conclusion
Despite the thick handle and the slightly heavier than intended weight I really like this sword.
It´s a beautiful, slender, yet powerful, nicely-fitted killing stick.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone seeking a blade of higher quality for a reasonable price (this might not apply to the one with green saya, but that (as always) depends on the size of your wallet).
Thanks
-Erik