Hanwei Practical Special Katana
Oct 1, 2010 15:16:50 GMT
Post by Katana Hunter on Oct 1, 2010 15:16:50 GMT
Hanwei Practical Special Katana Review (July 2009)
by Aldwin P. of Metro Manila, Philippines
Introduction
I was looking for a katana from Hanwei that is within my budget and would suit my preference: no bohi, blade length of not over 27 inches and an excellent cutter. After reading Kenpachi's review and saw Jonis' cutting vid, I said to myself, this is the one I'm looking for.
Where else could you find the best deal for Hanwei? Of course, it would be from Marc of Wiwingti Sword Supply with an exceptional customer service.
I emailed Marc for a shipping quote to the Philippines, got a quote, but it was to expensive. I told Marc if he can ship it via USPS Priority Mail International (my preferred shipping service when ordering from the US) for $50 which is the same shipping cost from other sellers I've purchased from. After several email exchanges, I sent my payment to Marc via PayPal and the deal is done! I got the sword for $177 at that time, which was April 2009. But now, WSS offers the Practical Special for only $140 (Oct 2010).
After several days, Marc informed me that my sword has been shipped. Shipping from the US to the Philippines takes about 3 weeks. And it arrived in time.
Initial Impressions
The sword came in a brown box, sandwiched inside a molded styrofoam. It was very well protected. Upon opening the packaging, the sword was inside its black cotton sword bag. Along with it: Hanwei tag, maintenance and disassembling instructions which I didn't bother to read.
The first thing I said when I removed the blade from the saya was: WOW!. I'll describe that later on.
Statistics
I wasn't able to measure the Practical Special, but here's the specification from Wiwingti Sword Supply's site.
Blade length: 27"
Handle length: 11"
Overall length: 39"
Weight: 2lb 2oz
Though I was able to get the point of balance, but can't remember it. Probably it was about 5 - 5.5 inches from the tsuba.
The Practical Special is very lightweight, it's the lightest katana I've ever owned.
Now onto the components (and pictures!)
The Blade
When I first saw the blade, it has a very different polish from the other katanas I've owned (Cheness, Musashi, Masahiro) and I would say that I like it very much. The shinogi-ji is mirror polished while the ji has a rough polished. Excellent combination. I got tired of seeing mirror polish blades and this one totally stands out among the rest. It has a real hamon, but acid enhanced. Doesn't bother me at all. Has a cosmetic kissaki and in my opinion, nicely done. Also, Kenpachi mentioned in his review that the blade used for the Practical Special is from the "Practical Plus" line. I'm not sure about this, but doing some comparison, it does look a lot like the blade from the Practical Plus line.
I'll let the pictures speak for itself.
Such a beauty, isn't it?
The Tsuka
Axe handle tsuka (very wide)
Suede ito
Fake ray skin
I expected these and it's not really a problem with me as I've planned on customizing this from the beginning (customization pics to come).
More pictures later on...
The Tsuba, Fuchi, Kashira, Menuki
Nothing much to say about the tsuba... very sturdy and solidly made, and with its design, it helped in lightening the blade. I would have to agree with Kenpachi, that the style of the tsuba is similar to that of a Higo design.
The design of the kashira is "Dan Higo" with a plain fuchi. The menuki has a sakura design and in my opinion, the cast is very terrible!
More pictures later on...
The Saya
The saya has the generic black glossy finish with buffalo horn on the koiguchi (scabbard mouth).
Although the habaki doesn't have a perfect fit in the koiguchi, it still does the job. The blade has a very nice fit in the saya. Not to tight, not to loose. And the blade doesn't rattle inside.
The Habaki
Checking out the habaki, I wasn't expecting that it will have an almost perfect fit, that is not expected for swords in this price range. As you can see in the pictures below, you would see very little gaps.
The Nakago
The nakago measures 10.25 inches which is almost the length of the tsuka.
The Mekugi
The mekugi is tapered and kinda soft that I managed to damage one upon removal.
Since the mekugi ana are tapered, this have been a problem during tsukamaki (customization pictures will be posted soon).
Test Cutting
I haven't done any cutting with this sword yet, as the moment it arrived, I immediately dismantled it. But I was able to cut paper with it, and it is extremely sharp. ;D
But seeing Kenpachi and Jonis' cutting vids, I can say that this sword performs very well.
Conclusion
As promised, more pictures... of the ugly part of this sword. ;D
While I was dismantling the tsuka, I had a hard time taking out the kashira. I usually just pull it out, but for this one, I had to use something pry it out of the tsuka.
No wonder I had a hard time, it's epoxied to the tsuka!
As for the suede ito, some people likes it. But personally, I don't. It feels weird... Maybe I just got used to silk. Eventhough its ugly (IMHO), the tsukamaki is tight.
This is how the suede ito looks like:
Up next is the fake ray skin... when I removed the suede ito, I laughed so hard when I saw the fake ray skin!
I think its made of plastic, can't remember it as I've already thrown it away.
I hope that Hanwei would step up to improving the lower lines with a real ray skin.
The axe handle tsuka ;D
Well, it's solidly built with no cracks.
And here you are with the tsuka dismantled.
Pros
Beautiful blade
Lightweight
Excellent price
Nice fittings
Cons
Axe handle tsuka
Fake ray skin
Epoxied kashira
The Bottom Line
If you're looking for a lightweight, no bohi katana and don't mind the fake ray skin and suede ito, buy this sword.
I hope you've enjoyed my review of the Hanwei Practical Special.
Check out the customization of this katana here:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=186
Regards,
Aldwin
by Aldwin P. of Metro Manila, Philippines
Introduction
I was looking for a katana from Hanwei that is within my budget and would suit my preference: no bohi, blade length of not over 27 inches and an excellent cutter. After reading Kenpachi's review and saw Jonis' cutting vid, I said to myself, this is the one I'm looking for.
Where else could you find the best deal for Hanwei? Of course, it would be from Marc of Wiwingti Sword Supply with an exceptional customer service.
I emailed Marc for a shipping quote to the Philippines, got a quote, but it was to expensive. I told Marc if he can ship it via USPS Priority Mail International (my preferred shipping service when ordering from the US) for $50 which is the same shipping cost from other sellers I've purchased from. After several email exchanges, I sent my payment to Marc via PayPal and the deal is done! I got the sword for $177 at that time, which was April 2009. But now, WSS offers the Practical Special for only $140 (Oct 2010).
After several days, Marc informed me that my sword has been shipped. Shipping from the US to the Philippines takes about 3 weeks. And it arrived in time.
Initial Impressions
The sword came in a brown box, sandwiched inside a molded styrofoam. It was very well protected. Upon opening the packaging, the sword was inside its black cotton sword bag. Along with it: Hanwei tag, maintenance and disassembling instructions which I didn't bother to read.
The first thing I said when I removed the blade from the saya was: WOW!. I'll describe that later on.
Statistics
I wasn't able to measure the Practical Special, but here's the specification from Wiwingti Sword Supply's site.
Blade length: 27"
Handle length: 11"
Overall length: 39"
Weight: 2lb 2oz
Though I was able to get the point of balance, but can't remember it.
Probably it was about 5 - 5.5 inches from the tsuba.The Practical Special is very lightweight, it's the lightest katana I've ever owned.
Now onto the components (and pictures!)
The Blade
When I first saw the blade, it has a very different polish from the other katanas I've owned (Cheness, Musashi, Masahiro) and I would say that I like it very much. The shinogi-ji is mirror polished while the ji has a rough polished. Excellent combination. I got tired of seeing mirror polish blades and this one totally stands out among the rest. It has a real hamon, but acid enhanced. Doesn't bother me at all. Has a cosmetic kissaki and in my opinion, nicely done. Also, Kenpachi mentioned in his review that the blade used for the Practical Special is from the "Practical Plus" line. I'm not sure about this, but doing some comparison, it does look a lot like the blade from the Practical Plus line.
I'll let the pictures speak for itself.
Such a beauty, isn't it?
The Tsuka
Axe handle tsuka (very wide)
Suede ito
Fake ray skin
I expected these and it's not really a problem with me as I've planned on customizing this from the beginning (customization pics to come).
More pictures later on...
The Tsuba, Fuchi, Kashira, Menuki
Nothing much to say about the tsuba... very sturdy and solidly made, and with its design, it helped in lightening the blade. I would have to agree with Kenpachi, that the style of the tsuba is similar to that of a Higo design.
The design of the kashira is "Dan Higo" with a plain fuchi. The menuki has a sakura design and in my opinion, the cast is very terrible!
More pictures later on...
The Saya
The saya has the generic black glossy finish with buffalo horn on the koiguchi (scabbard mouth).
Although the habaki doesn't have a perfect fit in the koiguchi, it still does the job. The blade has a very nice fit in the saya. Not to tight, not to loose. And the blade doesn't rattle inside.
The Habaki
Checking out the habaki, I wasn't expecting that it will have an almost perfect fit, that is not expected for swords in this price range. As you can see in the pictures below, you would see very little gaps.
The Nakago
The nakago measures 10.25 inches which is almost the length of the tsuka.
The Mekugi
The mekugi is tapered and kinda soft that I managed to damage one upon removal.
Since the mekugi ana are tapered, this have been a problem during tsukamaki (customization pictures will be posted soon).
Test Cutting
I haven't done any cutting with this sword yet, as the moment it arrived, I immediately dismantled it. But I was able to cut paper with it, and it is extremely sharp. ;D
But seeing Kenpachi and Jonis' cutting vids, I can say that this sword performs very well.
Conclusion
As promised, more pictures... of the ugly part of this sword. ;D
While I was dismantling the tsuka, I had a hard time taking out the kashira. I usually just pull it out, but for this one, I had to use something pry it out of the tsuka.
No wonder I had a hard time, it's epoxied to the tsuka!
As for the suede ito, some people likes it. But personally, I don't. It feels weird... Maybe I just got used to silk. Eventhough its ugly (IMHO), the tsukamaki is tight.
This is how the suede ito looks like:
Up next is the fake ray skin... when I removed the suede ito, I laughed so hard when I saw the fake ray skin!
I think its made of plastic, can't remember it as I've already thrown it away.
I hope that Hanwei would step up to improving the lower lines with a real ray skin.
The axe handle tsuka ;D
Well, it's solidly built with no cracks.
And here you are with the tsuka dismantled.
Pros
Beautiful blade
Lightweight
Excellent price
Nice fittings
Cons
Axe handle tsuka
Fake ray skin
Epoxied kashira
The Bottom Line
If you're looking for a lightweight, no bohi katana and don't mind the fake ray skin and suede ito, buy this sword.
I hope you've enjoyed my review of the Hanwei Practical Special.
Check out the customization of this katana here:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=186
Regards,
Aldwin
