Battle of the Titans, Part 1 - Hanwei Odachi
Aug 21, 2009 2:58:34 GMT
Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2009 2:58:34 GMT
Hanwei Odachi
Reviewed by Marki - 21/08/09
Sydney, Australia
Once upon a time there was this guy asking about all the bigger swords there is, Cold Steel, Hanwei, Del Tin, which one's better looking, stronger, bigger...definately bigger. In the end it came down to the Hanwei Odachi -
kultofathena.com/product~item~SH2392.htm
and the Del Tin German Two Hander
kultofathena.com/product~item~DT5168.htm
Unable to make a choice, the guy thought, "why have one when you can have both?"
And so he decided to try give kultofathena a go. Then came the long process of calculating politics and calculating the shipping...just kidding! Not only did the kult live up to its price matching as promised, Ryan from kult was pleasant to deal with and fast response times especially considering theres a good 14 hours time difference between us.
The only thing that could have been more helpful was info about the 10% tax and additional insurance required for items over $1000 AUD into Aus which lead to around an additional $280 from my side ('the guy' is me ), which is mostly my bad for not doing the research haha.
The swords arrived in some massive cardboard boxes wrapped with enough plastic to make a mummy jealous
Specifications
Copied from the hanwei site
* Blade length: 49"
* Handle length: 17 1/4"
* Overall length: 67"
* Weight: 6lb 1oz
* Point of Balance: 11"
* Width at Guard: 1 1/2"
* Width at Tip: 1 1/8"
* Thickness at Guard: 3/8"
* Thickness at Tip: 1/4"
* Sori: 2 1/4"
Heres the Odachi, next to a customs L6 MAS katana to put things into perspective
heres one without the saya
close up
The harmon is strong and very visible, however I did find a few areas where it seems to be 'rubbing off' from the tight saya fit, which also resulted in a few minor scratches on the blade
some on the tip too
The saya is very nice, shiny black and cladded in iron fittings, feels very sturdy in hand
I had mixed feelings with the tsuka, first it looks like a good combination on this beast of a sword
but if you look closer...see the holes in four corners of the tsuba kinda resembles love hearts... so yeah, is this the bringer of death or love?
Handling
In terms of handling this baby's got a high learning curve or strength requirement. With most of the weight distributed on the massive blade and the relatively short and light tsuka, this sword feels more like 10Ibs than its stated 6Ibs, when I first got my hands on it I was shocked by the weight it had over the 'Masamure' from Globalgear and was barely able to draw it out of the saya by myself!
Cutting
How could I resist swinging this monster of a sword around? With no trees to test it, I went for the next best thing - 2L coke bottles!
I gotta tell ya, its alot harder than you'd think, the first few swings I managed to "bat" the bottle away, result - major fail!
Instead of cutting as the blade is extremely spine heavy and without a strong grip the blade will literally turn during a horizontal swing to 80 degrees vertical, ending up more as a slap to the bottle than a cut.
It does take some time to get used to, but its more than worth it once you do as bottles simply explode and fall under your might That'll teach em to store delicious beverages for us!
Durability
Due to stuff as my neighbourhood and not wanting to ruin a excellent sword I have not done any destructive testing, yet. But in terms of structural intregity the odachi does not dissapoint, theres absolutely no rattling, apart from the metal hook ornament at the butt of the tsuka and would no doubt give any other greatswords a run for their money. 4.5/5
Conclusion
The Hanwei Odachi is a beast, if you want a heavy, massive odachi with little regard to functionality, you will like it, you will be satisfied.
That being said, the design of the odachi does have a relatively high strength requirement, especially during initial contact, I would recommend getting someone to help in drawing the blade until you get used to the weight on the joints and motion, putting it on the floor also works.
Value for money is in my opinion a very perspective thing. I'd definately be happier if it was cheaper, but people's gotta eat right? I've seen many other nodachi/odachi on the market now and theres just something special about this one that stands out, must be the love heart tsuba.
Thanks for reading and hope you all liked my first review!
Reviewed by Marki - 21/08/09
Sydney, Australia
Once upon a time there was this guy asking about all the bigger swords there is, Cold Steel, Hanwei, Del Tin, which one's better looking, stronger, bigger...definately bigger. In the end it came down to the Hanwei Odachi -
kultofathena.com/product~item~SH2392.htm
and the Del Tin German Two Hander
kultofathena.com/product~item~DT5168.htm
Unable to make a choice, the guy thought, "why have one when you can have both?"
And so he decided to try give kultofathena a go. Then came the long process of calculating politics and calculating the shipping...just kidding! Not only did the kult live up to its price matching as promised, Ryan from kult was pleasant to deal with and fast response times especially considering theres a good 14 hours time difference between us.
The only thing that could have been more helpful was info about the 10% tax and additional insurance required for items over $1000 AUD into Aus which lead to around an additional $280 from my side ('the guy' is me ), which is mostly my bad for not doing the research haha.
The swords arrived in some massive cardboard boxes wrapped with enough plastic to make a mummy jealous
Specifications
Copied from the hanwei site
* Blade length: 49"
* Handle length: 17 1/4"
* Overall length: 67"
* Weight: 6lb 1oz
* Point of Balance: 11"
* Width at Guard: 1 1/2"
* Width at Tip: 1 1/8"
* Thickness at Guard: 3/8"
* Thickness at Tip: 1/4"
* Sori: 2 1/4"
Heres the Odachi, next to a customs L6 MAS katana to put things into perspective
heres one without the saya
close up
The harmon is strong and very visible, however I did find a few areas where it seems to be 'rubbing off' from the tight saya fit, which also resulted in a few minor scratches on the blade
some on the tip too
The saya is very nice, shiny black and cladded in iron fittings, feels very sturdy in hand
I had mixed feelings with the tsuka, first it looks like a good combination on this beast of a sword
but if you look closer...see the holes in four corners of the tsuba kinda resembles love hearts... so yeah, is this the bringer of death or love?
Handling
In terms of handling this baby's got a high learning curve or strength requirement. With most of the weight distributed on the massive blade and the relatively short and light tsuka, this sword feels more like 10Ibs than its stated 6Ibs, when I first got my hands on it I was shocked by the weight it had over the 'Masamure' from Globalgear and was barely able to draw it out of the saya by myself!
Cutting
How could I resist swinging this monster of a sword around? With no trees to test it, I went for the next best thing - 2L coke bottles!
I gotta tell ya, its alot harder than you'd think, the first few swings I managed to "bat" the bottle away, result - major fail!
Instead of cutting as the blade is extremely spine heavy and without a strong grip the blade will literally turn during a horizontal swing to 80 degrees vertical, ending up more as a slap to the bottle than a cut.
It does take some time to get used to, but its more than worth it once you do as bottles simply explode and fall under your might That'll teach em to store delicious beverages for us!
Durability
Due to stuff as my neighbourhood and not wanting to ruin a excellent sword I have not done any destructive testing, yet. But in terms of structural intregity the odachi does not dissapoint, theres absolutely no rattling, apart from the metal hook ornament at the butt of the tsuka and would no doubt give any other greatswords a run for their money. 4.5/5
Conclusion
The Hanwei Odachi is a beast, if you want a heavy, massive odachi with little regard to functionality, you will like it, you will be satisfied.
That being said, the design of the odachi does have a relatively high strength requirement, especially during initial contact, I would recommend getting someone to help in drawing the blade until you get used to the weight on the joints and motion, putting it on the floor also works.
Value for money is in my opinion a very perspective thing. I'd definately be happier if it was cheaper, but people's gotta eat right? I've seen many other nodachi/odachi on the market now and theres just something special about this one that stands out, must be the love heart tsuba.
Thanks for reading and hope you all liked my first review!