Good Intentions: A CAS Practical Plus Waki Review
Feb 17, 2010 12:14:37 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2010 12:14:37 GMT
Introduction
Ohayo Gozaimasu, SBG!
Today, I am reviewing a blade that has been in my collection for quite some time. It is a Hanwei Practical Plus wakizashi that I picked up second-hand in early 2006. It was one of a large cache of swords, training equipment and other weaponry that my fiancé and I had the good fortune to stumble across via Craigslist and purchased the entire lot of them. At the time, I was completely convinced a Practical Plus katana was just what I needed and was over the moon to now have the daisho. My tastes have since changed, my focus shifted, and I traded the katana for the big, beautiful snake in my avatar. The waki, however, I kept. It has a bit of a story, though; it has been renamed ‘Good Intentions’.
Normally, I don’t name a sword unless it has drawn blood (always on accident!). Well, this one did, and boy was it a doozy of an accident. The gentleman we bought the equipment from was helping us carry them out to our vehicle and had a family member buzzing round, underfoot. The waki slipped out of its saya and headed toward the family member, and he reacted with instinct…and caught the blade between the webbing of his thumb and forefinger. The sword was (and still is) very sharp and cut about a 1” gash in his hand. It was deep enough we could see the joint in his hand. It took a lot of talking to convince him he needed to go and get stitches.
So, my fiancé and I were shaken up, worried about the guy, and of course the sword got overlooked for a cleaning. To this day, it still bears a small tarnish, a reminder that even the best intentions can go painfully awry.
The Hanwei Practical Plus wakizashi retails for $275.00 directly from Hanwei, though I’m more than certain that there are vendors that sell it for less than the MSRP. Since I bought mine from an individual and in a huge cache of other swords and weapons, I paid considerably less.
Historical overview
The wakizashi has its roots in the Heian era (782-1184), which falls in the very early years of the Koto sword making era (pre 1596). Koshigatana were their predcessors and were of tanto or kowakizashi length. The wakizashi as we know it today developed through the Momoyama (1573-1599) and Edo (1600-1867) eras. It became a nearly essential component to the daisho with which we have become familiar.
We have three Nihonto wakizashi in our collection of varying ages and in various conditions. I can’t really compare the Practical Plus wakizashi to any of them; they’re all of varying lengths and geometries and all feel quite a bit different in the hand. I really have no idea if Hanwei was going on a historical design for this sword, but I do know that it’s tired-from-the-box, like so many of their other blades tend to be.
Initial Impressions
The first thing I thought when we went to pick these swords up was ‘Goody! I’ll have a daisho!’. I was very excited; I had wanted a Practical Plus for several years and suddenly to have the whole DAISHO!? I was completely thrilled. I loved the kiku tsuba, the dogwood fushigashira, though I was never terribly fond of the shishi menuki.
When we arrived and were able to inspect the swords, I immediately noticed how loose the blade was in the saya and how sharp it was, as well as lack of sageo on the waki. I also noticed the Hanwei cookie-cutter hamon and ‘tameshigiri polish’, which I didn’t mind then but cannot stand now. Still, I was just pleased as punch with my daisho until the accident happened. Of course neither of us thought to check the blade after it had cut the poor guy’s hand and only did so once we got home, which was over an hour’s drive away. By then, the stain had set.
Kevin shimmed the saya for me, though it was not the only one that needed it. The Practical Plus katana needed a shim as well, as did some of the other blades we picked up.
Now, almost four years later, I look at the sword and reflect. It’s still a little wobbly in the saya, the leather ito is a bit weathered, as is the rayskin. The blade itself, however, is still in pretty much the condition we bought it in; wicked sharp edge, tameshigiri polish, and a stain in the cookie-cutter hamon that is a testament to what happened the night it came to live with me.
I have to say, I still like the sword, but the honeymoon phase is definitely over. I would never consider selling it as I feel it is an integral part of my collection and is my only ‘functional’ wakizashi, because I’d never dream of using my Nihonto. I’m not certain whether it will become a custom project or not either; the koshirae as is are rather sentimental. It may end up going through a restoration however; I noticed the saya bore a large, ugly scratch, which probably occurred sometime between the time we evacuated from the forest fires in October of last year and the time we finally got our blades moved out of storage and into our new home, which has been sporadic up until last week. Additionally, it is in sore need of new ito and same and is merely borrowing a sageo from one of my iaito.
Statistics
Nagasa Length: 20”
Tsuka Length: 6 ¾”
Overall Length: 27 ¼”
Tsuba Width: 3”
Point of Balance: 3 ½”
Weight: 1 Lb. 10 Oz.
Components
There are two things I have to take issue with in Hanwei’s description of this sword: the misclassification of the menuki and the tsuba (this probably includes the fushigashira as well, but I’m not entirely certain). The menuki are listed as dragons on CAS’s site, which they are not. They are shishi, or lion dogs. The tsuba is called a ‘sunburst’, which it is not. It’s a sukashi kiku, or chrysanthemum, and is what originally attracted me to these swords in the first place. Other than these, the blade is pretty much as advertised, though the MSRP is rather high.
The Toshin
The blade of the wakizashi is a nicely shaped shinogi zukuri, though it has the typical Hanwei tired-from-from-the-box profile. It actually reminds me of a blade that has been cut down and remounted for whatever reason; it has the same feel. I'm not sure what grade the steel is; only know it's carbon and is differentially hardened.
Like the other Hanwei Practicals, this waki features the rough ‘tameshigiri’ polish. I can see how this has its merits; don’t have to worry about ruining a polish if there’s really none to speak of, right? I liked this polish…four years ago. After seeing swords of various types polished ‘properly’ (to my standards), I find the tameshigiri polish rather ugly. I’ve considered letting my fiancé repolish it; he’s doing so with a Practical Plus tanto we have and it’s beginning to turn out really nice by comparison. However, I would like to keep the character of this particular blade intact, so I always change my mind before I actually ask him to start on it.
Then there’s the hamon. I’ve found I’ve come to love both very irregular hamon and clean, crisp suguha ones as well. The hamon on the Practical Plus waki falls somewhere into the middle of that in blasé mediocrity as most Hanwei swords tend to do. And, as I’ve seen from the polishing results of our Practical plus Tanto, there’s absolutely nothing exciting under there. It’s the same gently undulating hamon as before, but not so blaring and muddy. Still blasé. I’ve also seen destruction testing done with this particular line and it seems the hamon is too hard; perhaps a Rockwell as high as 60. I’ve seen the edges shatter from these silly tests and it makes me cringe. I would never do this to a sword (and I hope anyone with a scrap of sanity wouldn’t, either), so I don’t believe I’ll have to worry about the edge on this sword shattering. It’s only cut water bottles and tatami (and a poor guy’s hand, once), and that very infrequently.
The kissaki is counter-polished. Typical for blades in this price range, but I still expected a little better from Hanwei. At least it’s done right; the polish level on the kissaki matches the rest of the blade.
The blade fits securely into the habaki with no gaps that aren’t supposed to be there. The habaki appears to be fit to the sword, which is as it should be.
The Tsuka
The nakago fits securely into the tsuka, though is not so tight as to be difficult to disassemble. It is secured by one bamboo mekugi, and if a wakisahi would need more, I’d be concerned indeed. At this point, the samegawa’s discolored and the leather ito is beginning to show obvious signs of deterioration. Considering everything this tired old solder’s been through, she’s not looking terrible. There’s hishigami under the ito and it alternates correctly, and even after four years in my care and I have no clue how long in its’ previous owners’, the ito is still good and tight. There’s no wiggle to the kashira. And age has patinated it nicely. The shishi menuki are still as bright and yellow as they ever were.
The Tsuba
The tsuba is iron the sukashi kiku that comes standard on the Practical Plus wakis and katanas, and is the reason I fell in love with the set in the first place. Even now, I still really like it and am kind of sad to see it everywhere. Age has also patinated the tsuba well and I like the old, slightly worn look it has. The seppa are scooting around now, though, and they appear too large for the sword, so they look…odd…when they make a very brassy appearance.
The Fuchigashira
The fushigashira are iron and have what Hanwei calls ‘dogwoods’ on them. They do resemble dogwood I’ve seen up close, but they also resemble a number of other flowering trees I’ve seen in my time. So I’m not sure if it’s accurate or not, but they fit the tsuka and I like them. They are aging well and bear some signs of use. The menuki really stand out and are very much brass, but they haven’t moved any since we bought the sword, so I can’t complain.
The Saya
The saya has the scratch-resistant-stucco-goop finish that the other Practical Plus swords have. Even back in the day I didn’t care for this paintjob, though I couldn’t seem to put a scratch in it until our recent evacuation. May repaint it with a different finish later; I suppose this one has served its’ purpose, so I really can’t find fault with it, other than for aesthetic reasons.
I do like the shape of the kojiri. I prefer rounded to flat, and have considered putting a rounded metal kojiri on this sword, simply because I think they’re neat. The koiguchi has been reinforced with horn, though I’m not certain about the kurigata, though it still looks pretty decent. (Notice sageo borrowed from other sword.)
Handling Characteristics
Back when we first purchased this blade, I had no idea how a wakizashi was supposed to handle. Now, I do have a better idea, but still comparatively little experience. It feels quite a bit like a koto wakizashi we had in shirasaya; it’s ridiculously light, very quick, and sort of awkward for someone (like me) who is accustomed to heavier, two-handed swords. It is a joy to swing around and I would like to learn some wakizashi techniques at some point in the future so I can give it a fair and more educated handling comparison.
Test Cutting
I attempted to cut some tatami with this sword on Friday night. Cutting one handed proved itself difficult for me, but it wasn’t just me who was having difficulty with the wakizashi. My fiancé had the same problems and really had to haul off to cut all the way through the mat. I never made it all the way through myself. The blade is really just too light and, coupled with its length, does not make for the best cutting blade, based on my previous sword experience.
We had also tried it on water bottles several months ago, which yielded similar, though better, results.
Conclusions
While I honestly love this sword as is, I feel a revision could be in order. For the money, I think there are better performing wakizashi on the market. However, the fittings are decent to good for the price (though the samegawa could stand an upgrade) and all is as you would expect from Hanwei. I’m not sure that I would buy this specific sword again, but I’d buy another Hanwei from a vendor that sold them for a decent price (read: lower than MSRP).
Pros
-Sword seems to age well
-Polish of blade is scratch resistant
-Paint on saya is scuff resistant
-Kodogu fit as they should
-Hishigami, correctly alternating crossovers and ito knots tied on correct sides
-Fittings material of decent to good quality
Cons
-Does not perform to expectations
-Typical Hanwei ‘tired-from-the-box’ profile
-Rayskin leaves room for improvement
-Counter-polished yokote
-MSRP very high
-*Personal taste* I don’t care for polish on blade, hamon type or paint on scabbard
The Bottom Line
I would recommend this sword to someone looking for a light weight, differentially hardened wakizashi, as long as they could find a good deal. I’d also recommend it to someone looking to complete their Practical Plus daisho.
I would not recommend it to someone looking for a heavier blade or a longer tsuka, as this would fall short of their needs and expectations.
Ohayo Gozaimasu, SBG!
Today, I am reviewing a blade that has been in my collection for quite some time. It is a Hanwei Practical Plus wakizashi that I picked up second-hand in early 2006. It was one of a large cache of swords, training equipment and other weaponry that my fiancé and I had the good fortune to stumble across via Craigslist and purchased the entire lot of them. At the time, I was completely convinced a Practical Plus katana was just what I needed and was over the moon to now have the daisho. My tastes have since changed, my focus shifted, and I traded the katana for the big, beautiful snake in my avatar. The waki, however, I kept. It has a bit of a story, though; it has been renamed ‘Good Intentions’.
Normally, I don’t name a sword unless it has drawn blood (always on accident!). Well, this one did, and boy was it a doozy of an accident. The gentleman we bought the equipment from was helping us carry them out to our vehicle and had a family member buzzing round, underfoot. The waki slipped out of its saya and headed toward the family member, and he reacted with instinct…and caught the blade between the webbing of his thumb and forefinger. The sword was (and still is) very sharp and cut about a 1” gash in his hand. It was deep enough we could see the joint in his hand. It took a lot of talking to convince him he needed to go and get stitches.
So, my fiancé and I were shaken up, worried about the guy, and of course the sword got overlooked for a cleaning. To this day, it still bears a small tarnish, a reminder that even the best intentions can go painfully awry.
The Hanwei Practical Plus wakizashi retails for $275.00 directly from Hanwei, though I’m more than certain that there are vendors that sell it for less than the MSRP. Since I bought mine from an individual and in a huge cache of other swords and weapons, I paid considerably less.
Historical overview
The wakizashi has its roots in the Heian era (782-1184), which falls in the very early years of the Koto sword making era (pre 1596). Koshigatana were their predcessors and were of tanto or kowakizashi length. The wakizashi as we know it today developed through the Momoyama (1573-1599) and Edo (1600-1867) eras. It became a nearly essential component to the daisho with which we have become familiar.
We have three Nihonto wakizashi in our collection of varying ages and in various conditions. I can’t really compare the Practical Plus wakizashi to any of them; they’re all of varying lengths and geometries and all feel quite a bit different in the hand. I really have no idea if Hanwei was going on a historical design for this sword, but I do know that it’s tired-from-the-box, like so many of their other blades tend to be.
Initial Impressions
The first thing I thought when we went to pick these swords up was ‘Goody! I’ll have a daisho!’. I was very excited; I had wanted a Practical Plus for several years and suddenly to have the whole DAISHO!? I was completely thrilled. I loved the kiku tsuba, the dogwood fushigashira, though I was never terribly fond of the shishi menuki.
When we arrived and were able to inspect the swords, I immediately noticed how loose the blade was in the saya and how sharp it was, as well as lack of sageo on the waki. I also noticed the Hanwei cookie-cutter hamon and ‘tameshigiri polish’, which I didn’t mind then but cannot stand now. Still, I was just pleased as punch with my daisho until the accident happened. Of course neither of us thought to check the blade after it had cut the poor guy’s hand and only did so once we got home, which was over an hour’s drive away. By then, the stain had set.
Kevin shimmed the saya for me, though it was not the only one that needed it. The Practical Plus katana needed a shim as well, as did some of the other blades we picked up.
Now, almost four years later, I look at the sword and reflect. It’s still a little wobbly in the saya, the leather ito is a bit weathered, as is the rayskin. The blade itself, however, is still in pretty much the condition we bought it in; wicked sharp edge, tameshigiri polish, and a stain in the cookie-cutter hamon that is a testament to what happened the night it came to live with me.
I have to say, I still like the sword, but the honeymoon phase is definitely over. I would never consider selling it as I feel it is an integral part of my collection and is my only ‘functional’ wakizashi, because I’d never dream of using my Nihonto. I’m not certain whether it will become a custom project or not either; the koshirae as is are rather sentimental. It may end up going through a restoration however; I noticed the saya bore a large, ugly scratch, which probably occurred sometime between the time we evacuated from the forest fires in October of last year and the time we finally got our blades moved out of storage and into our new home, which has been sporadic up until last week. Additionally, it is in sore need of new ito and same and is merely borrowing a sageo from one of my iaito.
Statistics
Nagasa Length: 20”
Tsuka Length: 6 ¾”
Overall Length: 27 ¼”
Tsuba Width: 3”
Point of Balance: 3 ½”
Weight: 1 Lb. 10 Oz.
Components
There are two things I have to take issue with in Hanwei’s description of this sword: the misclassification of the menuki and the tsuba (this probably includes the fushigashira as well, but I’m not entirely certain). The menuki are listed as dragons on CAS’s site, which they are not. They are shishi, or lion dogs. The tsuba is called a ‘sunburst’, which it is not. It’s a sukashi kiku, or chrysanthemum, and is what originally attracted me to these swords in the first place. Other than these, the blade is pretty much as advertised, though the MSRP is rather high.
The Toshin
The blade of the wakizashi is a nicely shaped shinogi zukuri, though it has the typical Hanwei tired-from-from-the-box profile. It actually reminds me of a blade that has been cut down and remounted for whatever reason; it has the same feel. I'm not sure what grade the steel is; only know it's carbon and is differentially hardened.
Like the other Hanwei Practicals, this waki features the rough ‘tameshigiri’ polish. I can see how this has its merits; don’t have to worry about ruining a polish if there’s really none to speak of, right? I liked this polish…four years ago. After seeing swords of various types polished ‘properly’ (to my standards), I find the tameshigiri polish rather ugly. I’ve considered letting my fiancé repolish it; he’s doing so with a Practical Plus tanto we have and it’s beginning to turn out really nice by comparison. However, I would like to keep the character of this particular blade intact, so I always change my mind before I actually ask him to start on it.
Then there’s the hamon. I’ve found I’ve come to love both very irregular hamon and clean, crisp suguha ones as well. The hamon on the Practical Plus waki falls somewhere into the middle of that in blasé mediocrity as most Hanwei swords tend to do. And, as I’ve seen from the polishing results of our Practical plus Tanto, there’s absolutely nothing exciting under there. It’s the same gently undulating hamon as before, but not so blaring and muddy. Still blasé. I’ve also seen destruction testing done with this particular line and it seems the hamon is too hard; perhaps a Rockwell as high as 60. I’ve seen the edges shatter from these silly tests and it makes me cringe. I would never do this to a sword (and I hope anyone with a scrap of sanity wouldn’t, either), so I don’t believe I’ll have to worry about the edge on this sword shattering. It’s only cut water bottles and tatami (and a poor guy’s hand, once), and that very infrequently.
The kissaki is counter-polished. Typical for blades in this price range, but I still expected a little better from Hanwei. At least it’s done right; the polish level on the kissaki matches the rest of the blade.
The blade fits securely into the habaki with no gaps that aren’t supposed to be there. The habaki appears to be fit to the sword, which is as it should be.
The Tsuka
The nakago fits securely into the tsuka, though is not so tight as to be difficult to disassemble. It is secured by one bamboo mekugi, and if a wakisahi would need more, I’d be concerned indeed. At this point, the samegawa’s discolored and the leather ito is beginning to show obvious signs of deterioration. Considering everything this tired old solder’s been through, she’s not looking terrible. There’s hishigami under the ito and it alternates correctly, and even after four years in my care and I have no clue how long in its’ previous owners’, the ito is still good and tight. There’s no wiggle to the kashira. And age has patinated it nicely. The shishi menuki are still as bright and yellow as they ever were.
The Tsuba
The tsuba is iron the sukashi kiku that comes standard on the Practical Plus wakis and katanas, and is the reason I fell in love with the set in the first place. Even now, I still really like it and am kind of sad to see it everywhere. Age has also patinated the tsuba well and I like the old, slightly worn look it has. The seppa are scooting around now, though, and they appear too large for the sword, so they look…odd…when they make a very brassy appearance.
The Fuchigashira
The fushigashira are iron and have what Hanwei calls ‘dogwoods’ on them. They do resemble dogwood I’ve seen up close, but they also resemble a number of other flowering trees I’ve seen in my time. So I’m not sure if it’s accurate or not, but they fit the tsuka and I like them. They are aging well and bear some signs of use. The menuki really stand out and are very much brass, but they haven’t moved any since we bought the sword, so I can’t complain.
The Saya
The saya has the scratch-resistant-stucco-goop finish that the other Practical Plus swords have. Even back in the day I didn’t care for this paintjob, though I couldn’t seem to put a scratch in it until our recent evacuation. May repaint it with a different finish later; I suppose this one has served its’ purpose, so I really can’t find fault with it, other than for aesthetic reasons.
I do like the shape of the kojiri. I prefer rounded to flat, and have considered putting a rounded metal kojiri on this sword, simply because I think they’re neat. The koiguchi has been reinforced with horn, though I’m not certain about the kurigata, though it still looks pretty decent. (Notice sageo borrowed from other sword.)
Handling Characteristics
Back when we first purchased this blade, I had no idea how a wakizashi was supposed to handle. Now, I do have a better idea, but still comparatively little experience. It feels quite a bit like a koto wakizashi we had in shirasaya; it’s ridiculously light, very quick, and sort of awkward for someone (like me) who is accustomed to heavier, two-handed swords. It is a joy to swing around and I would like to learn some wakizashi techniques at some point in the future so I can give it a fair and more educated handling comparison.
Test Cutting
I attempted to cut some tatami with this sword on Friday night. Cutting one handed proved itself difficult for me, but it wasn’t just me who was having difficulty with the wakizashi. My fiancé had the same problems and really had to haul off to cut all the way through the mat. I never made it all the way through myself. The blade is really just too light and, coupled with its length, does not make for the best cutting blade, based on my previous sword experience.
We had also tried it on water bottles several months ago, which yielded similar, though better, results.
Conclusions
While I honestly love this sword as is, I feel a revision could be in order. For the money, I think there are better performing wakizashi on the market. However, the fittings are decent to good for the price (though the samegawa could stand an upgrade) and all is as you would expect from Hanwei. I’m not sure that I would buy this specific sword again, but I’d buy another Hanwei from a vendor that sold them for a decent price (read: lower than MSRP).
Pros
-Sword seems to age well
-Polish of blade is scratch resistant
-Paint on saya is scuff resistant
-Kodogu fit as they should
-Hishigami, correctly alternating crossovers and ito knots tied on correct sides
-Fittings material of decent to good quality
Cons
-Does not perform to expectations
-Typical Hanwei ‘tired-from-the-box’ profile
-Rayskin leaves room for improvement
-Counter-polished yokote
-MSRP very high
-*Personal taste* I don’t care for polish on blade, hamon type or paint on scabbard
The Bottom Line
I would recommend this sword to someone looking for a light weight, differentially hardened wakizashi, as long as they could find a good deal. I’d also recommend it to someone looking to complete their Practical Plus daisho.
I would not recommend it to someone looking for a heavier blade or a longer tsuka, as this would fall short of their needs and expectations.