Double review, Hanwei Blades.
Jan 14, 2007 22:37:02 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2007 22:37:02 GMT
As I've posted before, I recently purchased a Hanwei Dark Sentinel as a gift to my wife who became interested in cutting after witnessing my own backyard decapitations of Tatami mats and inoffensive milk containers with my Practical Katana from Hanwei.
Yes, we seem to be a Hanwei family, at least for what we've purchased so far.
At the same time however I also decided to branch out from my Katana craze and ordered a William Marshall broadsword for myself that somehow, over the holidays, morphed into a second gift for her.
First impressions; Hanwei Dark sentinel.
When I pulled the sword out of the box my first impressions of the sword focused not upon the extremely long hilt, but the blade itself.
My only other real swords that I had to compare it to were an American Civil war calvary sword that I inherited from my father and grandfather, and my Practical Katana.
The Sentinel seemed at first to be far too slender to be used for anything at all, and I was at first afraid that it was going to end up being a conversation piece to hang on the wall.
After closer inspection when I got it home however, the blade lost it's sheet metal skinny impression, which was due in part I believe, to the width of the blade.
The blade is on the slender side, but the narrow edges give it an even further illusion of being flimsy. The middle of the blade is rather thicker, and while I could flex the blade, it took some considerable effort to do so.
The hilt of the sword is long. No, wait. That doesn't quite get the proper impression across. If traveling with this sword the hilt will arrive about an hour before the blade, and be sitting in a bar making friends before the hand guard has cleared the city limits.
At a measured 15 and a half inches, it is some four inches longer than the Katana's hilt, and while four inches may not sound like a lot
it really makes a huge difference in how the sword is held and swung.
Fit and finish:
As with everything that I've so far received from Hanwei, everything seems to be put together very well, the suede, or pseudo suede of the grip is very tight, and nice looking with the rivet like tacks or nails that secure it to the hilt, the pommel cap fits on the end of the hilt with nary a gap or mar in it's smooth appearance.
The small hand guard has two brass spacers on either side that were polished to a mirror finish that really provided a beautiful contrast to the steel look of the rest of the sword.
No complaints on the look of the sword at all really, with the possible exception of the blade itself, which lacked any real polish, and has striations that run the length of the steel, and reminded me
of how the first stages of polishing a Katana appear after working it with a polishing stone.
This is not to imply that the blade is not shiny, it is, but personally I think that a more smooth polish would be better, and give it a more finished look.
Cutting Ability:
As I've said, this blade was a gift to my wife, and I've this peculiar attitude toward sword ownership that forbade me from using her blade, so the honor of making the first cuts were hers.
The targets were gallon milk containers, and as this was her very first time cutting with a sword I could see she was a bit nervous about the swords ability to cut anything at all, as well as worried about her aim.
She lined up her stroke once, twice, three times....
Eventually she made the swing, griping the mile long hilt with almost an axe wielders hold and put some power behind it.
Wheet! Splash.
The sword sliced right through the container, leaving a surgical cut on the now two separate halves of the milk jug.
Mad giggling followed this victory over plastic.
She reported that the blade sliced through with minimal resistance, and the decapitation of our saved up stock of containers was off to a roaring start.
On her last cuts with the sentinel we set up two containers, and the blade not only sliced through both of them with out trouble, but as her stroke was slightly uncertain she made a tad too much of a down stroke and the blade struck the particle board platform I'd set up as a stand for our victims. No damage at all to the sword, it and took a nice slice out of the board as well.
I actually have some video of this particular cut, but I'm forbidden from hosting it anywhere as my wife was wearing some really baggy clothes that she thought made her "look really fat."
As I'm a firm believer in domestic tranquility, and given the fact that my wife is now armed, I'm afraid I was forced to accede to her request.
Conclusions:
The Dark Sentinel is a good cutter, and while it would likely cut tougher stuff than the milk containers, as evidenced by the wood slice, I'd recommend caution.
Over all, she and I are pleased with the sword and would recommend it to anyone who would like something unusual in their collection.
Hanwei William Marshal Broadsword:
This sword was supposed to be mine, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but at some point in the gift giving process I presented it to my wife with the Sentinel.
I don't quite regret this decision, as she just completely fell in love with it on first sight, and it is in our house...but still...
First Impressions:
Pulling the sword out of the box I was at first underwhelmed, it was encased in a plain black sheath with steel capping the ends of the sheath, black leather grip, steel pommel and hand guard.
It struck me with a very plain appearance, as I suppose a reproduction of a historical sword that was intended for use on the battlefield would have appeared.
Fit and Finish:
This impression of plainness vanished upon drawing the sword, as the blade was beautifully polished, with the groove in the middle of the sword shined to a mirror finish, and once held in the hand it simply felt good to hold.
The wrap of the hilt was extremely tight, even griping the sword and twisting my hand as hard as I could produced no movement of the wrap at all, and it possessed enough of a pattern that it was not likely to become slick to hold even with the sweatiest of palms.
The pommel cap, while unadorned, blends nicely into the grip.
The only complaint I'd have would be where the end was peened over to hold everything together, it is rough in feel and appearance, and seems almost like an afterthought compared to how well put together the rest of the sword looks.
Cutting ability:
I would have preferred a sharper edge on this sword, but my previous cutting experience is with a Katana, and I may be spoiled by having such a razor edge on my sword.
That said, my wife once again lined up with our milk jug targets, and after the obligatory practice swings, made a sweeping stroke that produced one of the most beautiful hums I'd ever heard from a sharp shiny object as it parted the ambient atmosphere, and easily produced two plastic objects from one.
She reported that she could feel more of an impact with the target than she did with the Sentinel, however given the greater thickness of the broadsword over the Sentinel I found this to be unsurprising.
The Marshall easily performed a couple of more cuts on the milk jugs, and I decided to up the ante just a tad with this sword.
We had a couple of very narrow juice containers made with a much thicker and harder plastic than our previous victims, and I set one up.
The blade made its glorious hum as it whipped through the air, impacted the bottle...and batted it across the lawn.
At this point I feel almost obligated to make excuses for this sword, the target was pretty small, very tough, and my lady love is inexperienced in swinging a sword.
On inspection of the bottle, the sword did cut into it, however the result was not what I'd hoped for from a blade that I'd honestly have no qualms about swinging at a tree stump.
Conclusions:
I like this sword, I really do, its failure to make that one cut aside, it is a beautifully constructed weapon, feels very tough and solid in the hand.
I would still like to find a way to put a better edge on it if I could find a way to do so without fear of ruining the blade, and I do plan on having my wife try it on other targets some time in the future to see how it performs on something more solid than a water filled plastic container.
For someone who is into European weaponry I would suggest this weapon, but for someone who is used to the unsurpassed cutting ability of some of the Katana out there I would caution them not to expect that same performance from this particular broadsword.
As an Aside:
I don't know how it's happened, but we are beginning to get quite a collection of sharp shiny things here in the Red John household, and I've already set my sights on another sword, the Hanwei (yes, Hanwei again.) Side Sword. Once I'm able to justify the purchase to myself over the many other things I have to spend my money on, I'll review that one as well.
Our current, and slowly growing collection;
Red John
Edited to include additional photo's of the Sentinel.
Yes, we seem to be a Hanwei family, at least for what we've purchased so far.
At the same time however I also decided to branch out from my Katana craze and ordered a William Marshall broadsword for myself that somehow, over the holidays, morphed into a second gift for her.
First impressions; Hanwei Dark sentinel.
When I pulled the sword out of the box my first impressions of the sword focused not upon the extremely long hilt, but the blade itself.
My only other real swords that I had to compare it to were an American Civil war calvary sword that I inherited from my father and grandfather, and my Practical Katana.
The Sentinel seemed at first to be far too slender to be used for anything at all, and I was at first afraid that it was going to end up being a conversation piece to hang on the wall.
After closer inspection when I got it home however, the blade lost it's sheet metal skinny impression, which was due in part I believe, to the width of the blade.
The blade is on the slender side, but the narrow edges give it an even further illusion of being flimsy. The middle of the blade is rather thicker, and while I could flex the blade, it took some considerable effort to do so.
The hilt of the sword is long. No, wait. That doesn't quite get the proper impression across. If traveling with this sword the hilt will arrive about an hour before the blade, and be sitting in a bar making friends before the hand guard has cleared the city limits.
At a measured 15 and a half inches, it is some four inches longer than the Katana's hilt, and while four inches may not sound like a lot
it really makes a huge difference in how the sword is held and swung.
Fit and finish:
As with everything that I've so far received from Hanwei, everything seems to be put together very well, the suede, or pseudo suede of the grip is very tight, and nice looking with the rivet like tacks or nails that secure it to the hilt, the pommel cap fits on the end of the hilt with nary a gap or mar in it's smooth appearance.
The small hand guard has two brass spacers on either side that were polished to a mirror finish that really provided a beautiful contrast to the steel look of the rest of the sword.
No complaints on the look of the sword at all really, with the possible exception of the blade itself, which lacked any real polish, and has striations that run the length of the steel, and reminded me
of how the first stages of polishing a Katana appear after working it with a polishing stone.
This is not to imply that the blade is not shiny, it is, but personally I think that a more smooth polish would be better, and give it a more finished look.
Cutting Ability:
As I've said, this blade was a gift to my wife, and I've this peculiar attitude toward sword ownership that forbade me from using her blade, so the honor of making the first cuts were hers.
The targets were gallon milk containers, and as this was her very first time cutting with a sword I could see she was a bit nervous about the swords ability to cut anything at all, as well as worried about her aim.
She lined up her stroke once, twice, three times....
Eventually she made the swing, griping the mile long hilt with almost an axe wielders hold and put some power behind it.
Wheet! Splash.
The sword sliced right through the container, leaving a surgical cut on the now two separate halves of the milk jug.
Mad giggling followed this victory over plastic.
She reported that the blade sliced through with minimal resistance, and the decapitation of our saved up stock of containers was off to a roaring start.
On her last cuts with the sentinel we set up two containers, and the blade not only sliced through both of them with out trouble, but as her stroke was slightly uncertain she made a tad too much of a down stroke and the blade struck the particle board platform I'd set up as a stand for our victims. No damage at all to the sword, it and took a nice slice out of the board as well.
I actually have some video of this particular cut, but I'm forbidden from hosting it anywhere as my wife was wearing some really baggy clothes that she thought made her "look really fat."
As I'm a firm believer in domestic tranquility, and given the fact that my wife is now armed, I'm afraid I was forced to accede to her request.
Conclusions:
The Dark Sentinel is a good cutter, and while it would likely cut tougher stuff than the milk containers, as evidenced by the wood slice, I'd recommend caution.
Over all, she and I are pleased with the sword and would recommend it to anyone who would like something unusual in their collection.
Hanwei William Marshal Broadsword:
This sword was supposed to be mine, I'm not sure exactly what happened, but at some point in the gift giving process I presented it to my wife with the Sentinel.
I don't quite regret this decision, as she just completely fell in love with it on first sight, and it is in our house...but still...
First Impressions:
Pulling the sword out of the box I was at first underwhelmed, it was encased in a plain black sheath with steel capping the ends of the sheath, black leather grip, steel pommel and hand guard.
It struck me with a very plain appearance, as I suppose a reproduction of a historical sword that was intended for use on the battlefield would have appeared.
Fit and Finish:
This impression of plainness vanished upon drawing the sword, as the blade was beautifully polished, with the groove in the middle of the sword shined to a mirror finish, and once held in the hand it simply felt good to hold.
The wrap of the hilt was extremely tight, even griping the sword and twisting my hand as hard as I could produced no movement of the wrap at all, and it possessed enough of a pattern that it was not likely to become slick to hold even with the sweatiest of palms.
The pommel cap, while unadorned, blends nicely into the grip.
The only complaint I'd have would be where the end was peened over to hold everything together, it is rough in feel and appearance, and seems almost like an afterthought compared to how well put together the rest of the sword looks.
Cutting ability:
I would have preferred a sharper edge on this sword, but my previous cutting experience is with a Katana, and I may be spoiled by having such a razor edge on my sword.
That said, my wife once again lined up with our milk jug targets, and after the obligatory practice swings, made a sweeping stroke that produced one of the most beautiful hums I'd ever heard from a sharp shiny object as it parted the ambient atmosphere, and easily produced two plastic objects from one.
She reported that she could feel more of an impact with the target than she did with the Sentinel, however given the greater thickness of the broadsword over the Sentinel I found this to be unsurprising.
The Marshall easily performed a couple of more cuts on the milk jugs, and I decided to up the ante just a tad with this sword.
We had a couple of very narrow juice containers made with a much thicker and harder plastic than our previous victims, and I set one up.
The blade made its glorious hum as it whipped through the air, impacted the bottle...and batted it across the lawn.
At this point I feel almost obligated to make excuses for this sword, the target was pretty small, very tough, and my lady love is inexperienced in swinging a sword.
On inspection of the bottle, the sword did cut into it, however the result was not what I'd hoped for from a blade that I'd honestly have no qualms about swinging at a tree stump.
Conclusions:
I like this sword, I really do, its failure to make that one cut aside, it is a beautifully constructed weapon, feels very tough and solid in the hand.
I would still like to find a way to put a better edge on it if I could find a way to do so without fear of ruining the blade, and I do plan on having my wife try it on other targets some time in the future to see how it performs on something more solid than a water filled plastic container.
For someone who is into European weaponry I would suggest this weapon, but for someone who is used to the unsurpassed cutting ability of some of the Katana out there I would caution them not to expect that same performance from this particular broadsword.
As an Aside:
I don't know how it's happened, but we are beginning to get quite a collection of sharp shiny things here in the Red John household, and I've already set my sights on another sword, the Hanwei (yes, Hanwei again.) Side Sword. Once I'm able to justify the purchase to myself over the many other things I have to spend my money on, I'll review that one as well.
Our current, and slowly growing collection;
Red John
Edited to include additional photo's of the Sentinel.