Iaito- Munetoshi Midori and Hanwei Nami
Dec 30, 2010 22:29:41 GMT
Post by whitefeathers on Dec 30, 2010 22:29:41 GMT
Munetoshi Midori vs Hanwei Nami = comparing two iaito.
The Munetoshi was my first iaito. I've had it for a couple months now. I thought it was the best thing when I first got it. I also was then still learning. I still like her but now I have a new iaito- the Hanwei Nami. This one is a world difference in feel and balance. I wished I had this one to start with but you live and learn.
First up the Munetoshi Midori. Obviously the one on the bottom of that picture
When I first opened the box on this one I almost didn't like it at first. The tsuba was loose and already I could tell the balance was "off" it felt very tip heavy. The more I handled it the more I liked it though. Specs borrowed from SNA
• Overall Length:37.5 "
• Blade:Unsharpened
• Nagasa Length:25.75 "
• Blade Material:Stainless Steel
• Blade Length (including habaki):26.75 "
• Ito & Sageo Material:Chemical Fiber
• Tsuka Length:10.75 "
• Sori:0.587 "
• Blade Thickness @ Habaki:0.31 "
• Kissaki Length:1.657 "
• Blade Thickness @ Kissaki:0.203 "
• Fuchi Kashira Material:Alloy
• Blade Width @ Habaki:1.238 "
• Hamon:Aesthetic
• Blade Width @ Kissaki:0.903 "
• Balance Point:4.5 "
• Weight W/O Saya:2.2 lbs
• Tsuba Material:Steel
The Blade- Of course, its dull. A nice rounded dull can't get hurt on it. I like the gentle shape of the kissaki but at the same time I don't . Its kinda fat. The tip is to a pretty sharp point. It got dulled quickly as I had smacked the ceiling with it already. :shock: And the balance - I knew it was 'off' compared to my live ones. When doing a cut it feels like there's a weight attached to the end of it and takes fair amount of effort to stop the blade. I thought I could just deal with it so I let it go. The hamon is a wirebrushing. you can see the lines and where the pattern overlaps in the middle. It does look neat from far away. The mune isn't rounded. After a long practice it hurts when drawing it across your hand to resheathe. Keeping it oiled helps but it would have been nice if it was smoother.
Fittings- I like them. The tsuba is simple but yet has a little personality to it. The fuchi/kashira also neat design. The kashira had a sharp edge on it that bit hard into my hand while doing cutting exercises. I had to file on it to smooth out the edge. The seppa are copper and were a little loose. Habaki is brass and fits well to the blade. I have no idea what the heck the menuki are. It might be an animal-hard to tell.
tsuka- This is my favorite part of the sword. It has a waisted shape and its nice and small. For me it is great. Pretty green ito that was good and tight new but now a little loose in the areas where you hold it.
Saya- Its very lightweight. The stuff its painted with isn't very durable. It chips off easily. It is a nice pebbly textury feel though. The fit to the habaki was wonderful from the start. I haven't had to shim it. Now its about due for a shimming. Its gotten loose with time. The blade rattles like crazy in it. I like how the koiguchi area is tapered so its easier to hold. Sageo is a mixture of two different materials cotton along with the chem. fiber. It started unraveling within the first few days I had it.
Pros
great tsuka shape , nice blade shape, besides the loose tsuba everything is structurally sound and tight, price was $89.
Cons
Balance isn't right making it feel heavier than what it really is, kashira tried to cut my hand, saya rattle, saya paint chipping off, for me personally it felt a little too short but not a huge deal.
And now for the Hanwei Nami
This sword came to me yesterday. I found it online at an auction place. I had been on the lookout for a new iaito after I discovered that Munetoshi was starting to throw off my form. I've had Tozando and Aoi budogu in mind and have heard lots of good things about this sword so when I found it I jumped on it. for $200. When I first opened it, I could tell it had been sitting for a long time. The bag had a permanent tsuba imprint on it. After opening it I pulled it out the saya and there was a ton of gooey stuff all over the blade. It was easy to get off though. And the first thing I thought was "wow this is light, and balanced!' and the blade looks thin too.
• Overall length: 38 3/4“
• Blade length: 27“
• Handle length: 10 3/4”
• Weight: 1lb 14oz
• Point of Balance: 4 1/2"
• Width at Guard: 1.27"
• Width at Tip: .80"
• Thickness at Guard: .23"
• Thickness at Tip: .21"
• Sori: 3/4"
That stuff was also borrowed from SNA on the Hanwei Gorin Iaitos. The measurements are very similar.
The blade- It is stainless steel and is alot thinner than the Munetoshi's. The balance is a wonderful improvement. It is really only a couple ounces lighter but it feels so light. It handles like a dream. I could probably practice for hours with this sword. The blade while thin is sturdy , it doesn't wobble at the end of a cut like the Musashi bamboo does. Whatever they used to put on the hamon has a funky texture to it. Its not a problem just likes to make a loud dry dragging noise when in the saya. The hamon is a neat random design, It reminds me of a wave. Maybe thats what they intended to do being its named Nami. It has more of an edge on it than Munetoshi did. It is still blunted but not rounded. its shaped like this |_| . Like the edge has edges, if that makes sense. The kissaki is an alright shape and its pretty sharp. Not cutting sharp but sharp enough to bite you good if you aren't paying attention. The mune is rounded so it makes resheathing much more pleasurable.
fittings- Everything is solid and tight on this sword. I haven't disassembled it because it is so tight. They all have a goldish colored wave pattern on them. Nami The kashira on this one is glued on. The seppa and menuki are copper. I wasn't sure what the menuki were on this one either but I was told they were dragons. After much staring I can see now. The tsuba is a smaller one but its fine though. Brass habaki fits nice and tight to the blade. I don't know what the fuchi and kashira are made out of since they aren't magnetic.
Tsuka-here we go again with the Hanwei axe handle. It does have some waisting to it but still pretty thick. Not as bad as the Raptor axe handle but a little on the thick side for short fingered people like me. I haven't decided if I'm going to reshape it or not. Being that the sword is so light it might not be a problem. The ito is maybe cotton?. nice and tight and is doing a really good job of collecting fuzz from my white robe.
Saya- Whatever they used to coat it with is nice and smooth. It did run a little and leave a couple bubbles but I don't really care about that. The koiguchi is shimmed and the fit is a little on the tight side. If snugged in tight it takes a good shake to get the sword to fall out. It is also tapered and a comfortable size for me to hold. The sageo is also cotton I believe. The blade does rattle around quite a bit in the saya.
Pros- light and elegant, awesome balance, pretty,
Cons- the tsuka could be smaller and saya rattle.
Would I recommend these swords to anyone? The Nami= Yes! the Munetoshi= yes if you just want to have a sword to practice with, but not really for serious practice as there are better options out there and the off balance will mess with you.
Comparison of them side by side
The Munetoshi was my first iaito. I've had it for a couple months now. I thought it was the best thing when I first got it. I also was then still learning. I still like her but now I have a new iaito- the Hanwei Nami. This one is a world difference in feel and balance. I wished I had this one to start with but you live and learn.
First up the Munetoshi Midori. Obviously the one on the bottom of that picture
When I first opened the box on this one I almost didn't like it at first. The tsuba was loose and already I could tell the balance was "off" it felt very tip heavy. The more I handled it the more I liked it though. Specs borrowed from SNA
• Overall Length:37.5 "
• Blade:Unsharpened
• Nagasa Length:25.75 "
• Blade Material:Stainless Steel
• Blade Length (including habaki):26.75 "
• Ito & Sageo Material:Chemical Fiber
• Tsuka Length:10.75 "
• Sori:0.587 "
• Blade Thickness @ Habaki:0.31 "
• Kissaki Length:1.657 "
• Blade Thickness @ Kissaki:0.203 "
• Fuchi Kashira Material:Alloy
• Blade Width @ Habaki:1.238 "
• Hamon:Aesthetic
• Blade Width @ Kissaki:0.903 "
• Balance Point:4.5 "
• Weight W/O Saya:2.2 lbs
• Tsuba Material:Steel
The Blade- Of course, its dull. A nice rounded dull can't get hurt on it. I like the gentle shape of the kissaki but at the same time I don't . Its kinda fat. The tip is to a pretty sharp point. It got dulled quickly as I had smacked the ceiling with it already. :shock: And the balance - I knew it was 'off' compared to my live ones. When doing a cut it feels like there's a weight attached to the end of it and takes fair amount of effort to stop the blade. I thought I could just deal with it so I let it go. The hamon is a wirebrushing. you can see the lines and where the pattern overlaps in the middle. It does look neat from far away. The mune isn't rounded. After a long practice it hurts when drawing it across your hand to resheathe. Keeping it oiled helps but it would have been nice if it was smoother.
Fittings- I like them. The tsuba is simple but yet has a little personality to it. The fuchi/kashira also neat design. The kashira had a sharp edge on it that bit hard into my hand while doing cutting exercises. I had to file on it to smooth out the edge. The seppa are copper and were a little loose. Habaki is brass and fits well to the blade. I have no idea what the heck the menuki are. It might be an animal-hard to tell.
tsuka- This is my favorite part of the sword. It has a waisted shape and its nice and small. For me it is great. Pretty green ito that was good and tight new but now a little loose in the areas where you hold it.
Saya- Its very lightweight. The stuff its painted with isn't very durable. It chips off easily. It is a nice pebbly textury feel though. The fit to the habaki was wonderful from the start. I haven't had to shim it. Now its about due for a shimming. Its gotten loose with time. The blade rattles like crazy in it. I like how the koiguchi area is tapered so its easier to hold. Sageo is a mixture of two different materials cotton along with the chem. fiber. It started unraveling within the first few days I had it.
Pros
great tsuka shape , nice blade shape, besides the loose tsuba everything is structurally sound and tight, price was $89.
Cons
Balance isn't right making it feel heavier than what it really is, kashira tried to cut my hand, saya rattle, saya paint chipping off, for me personally it felt a little too short but not a huge deal.
And now for the Hanwei Nami
This sword came to me yesterday. I found it online at an auction place. I had been on the lookout for a new iaito after I discovered that Munetoshi was starting to throw off my form. I've had Tozando and Aoi budogu in mind and have heard lots of good things about this sword so when I found it I jumped on it. for $200. When I first opened it, I could tell it had been sitting for a long time. The bag had a permanent tsuba imprint on it. After opening it I pulled it out the saya and there was a ton of gooey stuff all over the blade. It was easy to get off though. And the first thing I thought was "wow this is light, and balanced!' and the blade looks thin too.
• Overall length: 38 3/4“
• Blade length: 27“
• Handle length: 10 3/4”
• Weight: 1lb 14oz
• Point of Balance: 4 1/2"
• Width at Guard: 1.27"
• Width at Tip: .80"
• Thickness at Guard: .23"
• Thickness at Tip: .21"
• Sori: 3/4"
That stuff was also borrowed from SNA on the Hanwei Gorin Iaitos. The measurements are very similar.
The blade- It is stainless steel and is alot thinner than the Munetoshi's. The balance is a wonderful improvement. It is really only a couple ounces lighter but it feels so light. It handles like a dream. I could probably practice for hours with this sword. The blade while thin is sturdy , it doesn't wobble at the end of a cut like the Musashi bamboo does. Whatever they used to put on the hamon has a funky texture to it. Its not a problem just likes to make a loud dry dragging noise when in the saya. The hamon is a neat random design, It reminds me of a wave. Maybe thats what they intended to do being its named Nami. It has more of an edge on it than Munetoshi did. It is still blunted but not rounded. its shaped like this |_| . Like the edge has edges, if that makes sense. The kissaki is an alright shape and its pretty sharp. Not cutting sharp but sharp enough to bite you good if you aren't paying attention. The mune is rounded so it makes resheathing much more pleasurable.
fittings- Everything is solid and tight on this sword. I haven't disassembled it because it is so tight. They all have a goldish colored wave pattern on them. Nami The kashira on this one is glued on. The seppa and menuki are copper. I wasn't sure what the menuki were on this one either but I was told they were dragons. After much staring I can see now. The tsuba is a smaller one but its fine though. Brass habaki fits nice and tight to the blade. I don't know what the fuchi and kashira are made out of since they aren't magnetic.
Tsuka-here we go again with the Hanwei axe handle. It does have some waisting to it but still pretty thick. Not as bad as the Raptor axe handle but a little on the thick side for short fingered people like me. I haven't decided if I'm going to reshape it or not. Being that the sword is so light it might not be a problem. The ito is maybe cotton?. nice and tight and is doing a really good job of collecting fuzz from my white robe.
Saya- Whatever they used to coat it with is nice and smooth. It did run a little and leave a couple bubbles but I don't really care about that. The koiguchi is shimmed and the fit is a little on the tight side. If snugged in tight it takes a good shake to get the sword to fall out. It is also tapered and a comfortable size for me to hold. The sageo is also cotton I believe. The blade does rattle around quite a bit in the saya.
Pros- light and elegant, awesome balance, pretty,
Cons- the tsuka could be smaller and saya rattle.
Would I recommend these swords to anyone? The Nami= Yes! the Munetoshi= yes if you just want to have a sword to practice with, but not really for serious practice as there are better options out there and the off balance will mess with you.
Comparison of them side by side