Hanwei practical plus - an honest video review
Apr 17, 2009 23:16:19 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2009 23:16:19 GMT
Hello all. This is going to be a video review mostly, I thought I'd try something different. Watch the whole video, there is text as well as video clips in there.
I was looking for a DH hardened katana that's on the near $200 USD mark. Lucky for me, wiwingtiswordsupply.com had a special of the week for the practical plus for $200 dollars. That's half of msrp, and 30 dollars cheaper than the cheapest price I found online...and I did a lot of searching. I've never heard anything bad about hanwei, so I decided this would be the best way to spend my 200. Prior to this I had a practical plus XL, but I sold that as I felt it was too heavy for me. The practical plus was pretty much the same thing, but with leather ito and a lighter blade w/o that crazy wide and thin geometry.
Specs from hanwei:
Differential tempering
This katana is hand made and each is unique - size and weight will vary
Blade length: 27 1/4"
Handle length: 12 1/4"
Overall length: 40 1/2"
Weight: 2lb 5oz
Point of Balance: 5 1/2"
Width at Guard: 1.21"
Width at Tip: .90"
Thickness at Guard: .28"
Thickness at Tip: .21"
Sori: 3/4"
The simple and to the point review in video below
The videos shows you the main highlights of this sword. However, there are two negative things about this sword.
[UPDATE: NO negative things anymore, sword has been replaced by wiwingti free of charge and is now flawless]
The first one, the tip of the kissaki was SLIGHTLY bent, shouldn't be an issue though. See pictures below.
The second issue I had was this stain near the tip that I could not get off, tried WD40 and oil it did nothing. I'm sure with some metal glo it is removable. Again, not a big issue. See picture below.
[UPDATE: again these pics are from the first katana i received which was REPLACED and doesn't have the two issues mentioned above]
Asides from that, everything was perfect. I'll leave you with some more pictures.
NAKAGO
TSUKA
KASHIRA
OTHER PICTURES
Conclusion: For $200 I would definitely buy this again, and if it didn't have the stain and the slightly bend kissaki this sword would be PERFECT for 200. As usual shipping with wiwingtiswordsupply was super fast, 2 days and I was given a tracking number too which is handy. I would highly suggest wiwingti and his specials are amazing bargains.
Pros:
-paper cutting sharp
-nice balance
-great service from wiwingti
-leather ito feels nice
-only $200 for ppk, a bargain!
-speckled finish on saya
-Fittings were simple and well finished
-no rattling, put together very well
Cons:
-ito feels very nice, although I feel as it may loosen up with prolonged use. Not as tight as high quality cotton or silk
The bottom line: I would recommend this sword at it's normal selling price of around 240ish. For 200 dollar I would HIGHLY recommend this katana, although I'm sure this special is not gonna last. In fact TODAY might be the last day. If you're looking for a sub 300 dollar differentially hardened katana with a real hamon that you can use for cutting traditional targets, bottles, or just for decoration, I would recommend this to you!
I was looking for a DH hardened katana that's on the near $200 USD mark. Lucky for me, wiwingtiswordsupply.com had a special of the week for the practical plus for $200 dollars. That's half of msrp, and 30 dollars cheaper than the cheapest price I found online...and I did a lot of searching. I've never heard anything bad about hanwei, so I decided this would be the best way to spend my 200. Prior to this I had a practical plus XL, but I sold that as I felt it was too heavy for me. The practical plus was pretty much the same thing, but with leather ito and a lighter blade w/o that crazy wide and thin geometry.
Specs from hanwei:
Differential tempering
This katana is hand made and each is unique - size and weight will vary
Blade length: 27 1/4"
Handle length: 12 1/4"
Overall length: 40 1/2"
Weight: 2lb 5oz
Point of Balance: 5 1/2"
Width at Guard: 1.21"
Width at Tip: .90"
Thickness at Guard: .28"
Thickness at Tip: .21"
Sori: 3/4"
The simple and to the point review in video below
The videos shows you the main highlights of this sword. However, there are two negative things about this sword.
[UPDATE: NO negative things anymore, sword has been replaced by wiwingti free of charge and is now flawless]
The first one, the tip of the kissaki was SLIGHTLY bent, shouldn't be an issue though. See pictures below.
The second issue I had was this stain near the tip that I could not get off, tried WD40 and oil it did nothing. I'm sure with some metal glo it is removable. Again, not a big issue. See picture below.
[UPDATE: again these pics are from the first katana i received which was REPLACED and doesn't have the two issues mentioned above]
Asides from that, everything was perfect. I'll leave you with some more pictures.
NAKAGO
TSUKA
KASHIRA
OTHER PICTURES
Conclusion: For $200 I would definitely buy this again, and if it didn't have the stain and the slightly bend kissaki this sword would be PERFECT for 200. As usual shipping with wiwingtiswordsupply was super fast, 2 days and I was given a tracking number too which is handy. I would highly suggest wiwingti and his specials are amazing bargains.
Pros:
-paper cutting sharp
-nice balance
-great service from wiwingti
-leather ito feels nice
-only $200 for ppk, a bargain!
-speckled finish on saya
-Fittings were simple and well finished
-no rattling, put together very well
Cons:
-ito feels very nice, although I feel as it may loosen up with prolonged use. Not as tight as high quality cotton or silk
The bottom line: I would recommend this sword at it's normal selling price of around 240ish. For 200 dollar I would HIGHLY recommend this katana, although I'm sure this special is not gonna last. In fact TODAY might be the last day. If you're looking for a sub 300 dollar differentially hardened katana with a real hamon that you can use for cutting traditional targets, bottles, or just for decoration, I would recommend this to you!