Hanwei Nanbochuko
Dec 2, 2011 20:17:20 GMT
Post by Artelmis on Dec 2, 2011 20:17:20 GMT
Introduction
I'm shallow when it comes to swords. Some enthusiasts and practitioners like to claim that they all have their own spirit or that there's some metaphysical connection between swordsman and sword... but I'd just have to say that's a load of bull. Swords are tools. They're tools designed for killing, maiming, and destruction. Or, on the more romantic edge, they're symbols of honor, protection, and justice. I'm more in the second camp. I swear I haven't been on an anime binge recently.
Swords have recently become something more for me. After I graduated from college, I realized that I had some spare money lying around from freelance computer tech work and decided that I was going to spend it on something that wasn't computer related. I'd always wanted a sword and my interest in Japanese history (again, no anime binge... I swear) brought me to the SBG community. Shortly after discovering SBG, I got my first sword. The Cheness Tenchi. I was pretty awestruck at the weapon. Shortly after that I picked up a Musashi Bamboo Warrior blade (thanks to bleachsword's multiple cutting videos and recommendations) in order to see what the "bottom level" of blades was. Again, I was quite pleased. (I'll be putting up reviews of those two swords eventually)
Now that I own a raptor, I'm seriously wondering why I didn't get one sooner. The fact that this particular model of blade is no longer in production only added to the necessity of getting another to add to my collection.
Historical overview
I'm really not in the mood to do my own research here, so I'm going to copy paste a few things from Wikipedia and the KoA page where the sword came from.
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period
it's too long to copy/paste, but if you're interested, there it is! the
Full Disclosure
I give my tenchi a lot of hell in this review... Let it be known that I really like that sword. It's a very good blade and it's my go-to blade for all new targets. It's durable, cuts well, and it's wonderful.
I'm not related to KoA, CAS Iberia, Hanwei, or any other sword vendor or manufacturer of production line blades. I'm doing this purely for my own entertainment and physical discipline. Also, I really enjoy free-writing.
Initial Impressions
Ok. It's a sword.
OH MY F**KING GOD IT'S ANOTHER SWORD THAT I GET TO USE!
Ok, So I've been waiting for this little package from KoA for about a week now. Thanksgiving being a holiday didn't help, and UPS forgetting the box at their hub last night did nothing to help my mood. It finally arrived at 8:30pm without so much as a knock on the door. I got the box, and the other computer cable I ordered for my work (I do IT help around my neighborhood to get enough money to eat) and took them down to my basement workshop. It's warmer down here so I can actually think.
After finishing up with the computer cable (the job comes first unfortunately) I looked at that long brown box from KoA. My heart started to race. This is my first blade by Hanwei and I'd heard nothing but good things.
After fighting against KoA's fetish with brown paper padding, I managed to get to the box... my floor looked too much like hell, so I broke out the old Ironing board and slid the Styrofoam "thing" the sword was in out of the cube-tube that it was in and then spent a minute fighting with Hanwei's tape obsession...
So, I got the sword out and wow... It's one piece of work. I'll get more into detail in the appropriate sections of this review, but let's just say that it looks damn good and it's undamaged despite that the Styrofoam box looks like someone tested a sledge hammer on it.
Statistics
Overall Length: 44 1/4''
Blade: 30''
Weight: 2 lb 13.6 oz
P.O.B.: 5 3/8''
Grip Length: 13 1/4''
This held true to everything advertized on KoA... although It weighed a bit more. Dunno why. I blame pixies...
Components
The Handle/Tsuka
Well... It's a generic battle wrap tsuka. I wasn't really impressed, but I wasn't put off by it either. The wrap is nice and tight, the menuki are quite nice looking although the gold color makes them stand out a bit much... I'm considering repainting them silver. The ray skin panels look decent enough although one piece is kinda perforated... must've been from a thinner part of skin. The only thing that really makes me happy about it is the tsunami wrap. It's so much nicer than the standard low-grade cotton you see on the majority of production blades.
The Guard/Tsuba & The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
Well, they hold true to the theme of a bird of prey... I found out they're not iron courtesy of Mrs. Fridge Magnet...
but honestly, what was I expecting? They look better than the fittings on my Tenchi and beyond that I really don't have much to say. I'll ask my sister what she thinks if I see her tomorrow and I'll adjust the review where appropriate.
Friday afternoon edit: 10 year old sister's opinion.
Picked her up from school today and showed her the raptor. Her opinion on the fittings was "they're ok, but can we go cut things with it please?". I've created a monster.
The Scabbard/Saya
This is what I love about this blade... well.. mostly. The saya has some nice stuff about it. The real horn augments the black matte-grainy-look/feel very well. It's by far the nicest saya in my collection. the blade rattles a bit, but at 240US I'm not going to complain... now if the custom sword I'm going to have made next year even THINKS about rattling... there will be hell to pay.
The Blade/Nagasa
THIS is what this review is about. This blade is S-E-X-Y. Compared to my tenchi, the blade is an inch longer and feels a pound lighter. This is probably because the point of balance on a tenchi is a bit of the way down the blade and the blade is slightly thicker. Compared to my musashi bamboo? The blade looks like a titan staring down at a feeble hobbit about to stomp it into a little red smear on the road.
Metaphors aside, this blade is gorgeous... and really effing sharp. The o-kissaki just kind of sprouts out of the blade resulting in a very smooth look.
There's no hamon as this blade is TH steel and I honestly really like this. They're acknowledging that the blade isn't DH and they're spending their money on stuff that MATTERS *glares at cheness*.
The blade has a very nice curvature, quite like my ex girlfriend. Nothing too extreme, but it gets the point across... god I'm lonely
Handling Characteristics
Wow. This blade feels like it weighs a pound. It's comparable to my Musashi in terms of one-hand weight... and it's 2 inches longer W/O bohi. I'm going to be testing out some dual wield cuts with this blade and my musashi tomorrow.
Edit: Well, the dual wield cuts were fun... I ended up looking like a muppet, but that's kinda what I was expecting for a first try. Also, I'm used to bamboo now and for some reason plastic bottles were kinda tricky to cut... might've been cause it was so cold out and my hands were numb.
Test Cutting (if applicable)
There'll be a video here if youtube stops being emotional.
Conclusions
*happydance*
I'm pleased with this blade. everything about it is nice and fresh. It's a little bit corner-cutty in places, but it's all excusable in a blade this durable
Pros
long handle results in very nice PoB for agility
great fittings considering the price (not iron, but who gives a rip seeing as how nice they look)
tsunami wrap and grain/matte saya are a plus.
blade is frickin beautiful. despite my crap tastic cutting, it feels like this sword will destroy anything you swing it at.
Cons
the menuki look kinda cheap, and their being on the outside of the wrap instead of inside leads them to dig into your palm at times
habaki has gotten pretty scuffed up in the short period i've had the sword. purely cosmetic, it just bugs me a bit
blade no longer in production
The Bottom Line
If they kept making this sword, I'd get another one.
If you have 250 bucks and don't have one, go to KoA and get one. seriously... this sword is a blast to use and I'm very pleased with this purchase.
I'm shallow when it comes to swords. Some enthusiasts and practitioners like to claim that they all have their own spirit or that there's some metaphysical connection between swordsman and sword... but I'd just have to say that's a load of bull. Swords are tools. They're tools designed for killing, maiming, and destruction. Or, on the more romantic edge, they're symbols of honor, protection, and justice. I'm more in the second camp. I swear I haven't been on an anime binge recently.
Swords have recently become something more for me. After I graduated from college, I realized that I had some spare money lying around from freelance computer tech work and decided that I was going to spend it on something that wasn't computer related. I'd always wanted a sword and my interest in Japanese history (again, no anime binge... I swear) brought me to the SBG community. Shortly after discovering SBG, I got my first sword. The Cheness Tenchi. I was pretty awestruck at the weapon. Shortly after that I picked up a Musashi Bamboo Warrior blade (thanks to bleachsword's multiple cutting videos and recommendations) in order to see what the "bottom level" of blades was. Again, I was quite pleased. (I'll be putting up reviews of those two swords eventually)
Now that I own a raptor, I'm seriously wondering why I didn't get one sooner. The fact that this particular model of blade is no longer in production only added to the necessity of getting another to add to my collection.
Historical overview
I'm really not in the mood to do my own research here, so I'm going to copy paste a few things from Wikipedia and the KoA page where the sword came from.
KoA: The Nanbochuko period in Japanese history (the later part of the 14th. century) encompassed sixty years of internal conflict in Japan, which spawned a demand for more and bigger sword blades than ever produced previously. Blades became longer and wider, sometimes to extremes (the Odachi had its genesis in this period).
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanboku-ch%C5%8D_period
it's too long to copy/paste, but if you're interested, there it is! the
tl;dr version is "there was a lot of civil warring going on and they found that big swords hurt more"
Full Disclosure
I give my tenchi a lot of hell in this review... Let it be known that I really like that sword. It's a very good blade and it's my go-to blade for all new targets. It's durable, cuts well, and it's wonderful.
I'm not related to KoA, CAS Iberia, Hanwei, or any other sword vendor or manufacturer of production line blades. I'm doing this purely for my own entertainment and physical discipline. Also, I really enjoy free-writing.
Initial Impressions
Ok. It's a sword.
OH MY F**KING GOD IT'S ANOTHER SWORD THAT I GET TO USE!
Ok, So I've been waiting for this little package from KoA for about a week now. Thanksgiving being a holiday didn't help, and UPS forgetting the box at their hub last night did nothing to help my mood. It finally arrived at 8:30pm without so much as a knock on the door. I got the box, and the other computer cable I ordered for my work (I do IT help around my neighborhood to get enough money to eat) and took them down to my basement workshop. It's warmer down here so I can actually think.
After finishing up with the computer cable (the job comes first unfortunately) I looked at that long brown box from KoA. My heart started to race. This is my first blade by Hanwei and I'd heard nothing but good things.
After fighting against KoA's fetish with brown paper padding, I managed to get to the box... my floor looked too much like hell, so I broke out the old Ironing board and slid the Styrofoam "thing" the sword was in out of the cube-tube that it was in and then spent a minute fighting with Hanwei's tape obsession...
So, I got the sword out and wow... It's one piece of work. I'll get more into detail in the appropriate sections of this review, but let's just say that it looks damn good and it's undamaged despite that the Styrofoam box looks like someone tested a sledge hammer on it.
Statistics
Overall Length: 44 1/4''
Blade: 30''
Weight: 2 lb 13.6 oz
P.O.B.: 5 3/8''
Grip Length: 13 1/4''
This held true to everything advertized on KoA... although It weighed a bit more. Dunno why. I blame pixies...
Components
The Handle/Tsuka
Well... It's a generic battle wrap tsuka. I wasn't really impressed, but I wasn't put off by it either. The wrap is nice and tight, the menuki are quite nice looking although the gold color makes them stand out a bit much... I'm considering repainting them silver. The ray skin panels look decent enough although one piece is kinda perforated... must've been from a thinner part of skin. The only thing that really makes me happy about it is the tsunami wrap. It's so much nicer than the standard low-grade cotton you see on the majority of production blades.
The Guard/Tsuba & The Pommel/Fuchi-Kashira
Well, they hold true to the theme of a bird of prey... I found out they're not iron courtesy of Mrs. Fridge Magnet...
but honestly, what was I expecting? They look better than the fittings on my Tenchi and beyond that I really don't have much to say. I'll ask my sister what she thinks if I see her tomorrow and I'll adjust the review where appropriate.
Friday afternoon edit: 10 year old sister's opinion.
Picked her up from school today and showed her the raptor. Her opinion on the fittings was "they're ok, but can we go cut things with it please?". I've created a monster.
The Scabbard/Saya
This is what I love about this blade... well.. mostly. The saya has some nice stuff about it. The real horn augments the black matte-grainy-look/feel very well. It's by far the nicest saya in my collection. the blade rattles a bit, but at 240US I'm not going to complain... now if the custom sword I'm going to have made next year even THINKS about rattling... there will be hell to pay.
The Blade/Nagasa
THIS is what this review is about. This blade is S-E-X-Y. Compared to my tenchi, the blade is an inch longer and feels a pound lighter. This is probably because the point of balance on a tenchi is a bit of the way down the blade and the blade is slightly thicker. Compared to my musashi bamboo? The blade looks like a titan staring down at a feeble hobbit about to stomp it into a little red smear on the road.
Metaphors aside, this blade is gorgeous... and really effing sharp. The o-kissaki just kind of sprouts out of the blade resulting in a very smooth look.
There's no hamon as this blade is TH steel and I honestly really like this. They're acknowledging that the blade isn't DH and they're spending their money on stuff that MATTERS *glares at cheness*.
The blade has a very nice curvature, quite like my ex girlfriend. Nothing too extreme, but it gets the point across... god I'm lonely
Handling Characteristics
Wow. This blade feels like it weighs a pound. It's comparable to my Musashi in terms of one-hand weight... and it's 2 inches longer W/O bohi. I'm going to be testing out some dual wield cuts with this blade and my musashi tomorrow.
Edit: Well, the dual wield cuts were fun... I ended up looking like a muppet, but that's kinda what I was expecting for a first try. Also, I'm used to bamboo now and for some reason plastic bottles were kinda tricky to cut... might've been cause it was so cold out and my hands were numb.
Test Cutting (if applicable)
There'll be a video here if youtube stops being emotional.
Conclusions
*happydance*
I'm pleased with this blade. everything about it is nice and fresh. It's a little bit corner-cutty in places, but it's all excusable in a blade this durable
Pros
long handle results in very nice PoB for agility
great fittings considering the price (not iron, but who gives a rip seeing as how nice they look)
tsunami wrap and grain/matte saya are a plus.
blade is frickin beautiful. despite my crap tastic cutting, it feels like this sword will destroy anything you swing it at.
Cons
the menuki look kinda cheap, and their being on the outside of the wrap instead of inside leads them to dig into your palm at times
habaki has gotten pretty scuffed up in the short period i've had the sword. purely cosmetic, it just bugs me a bit
blade no longer in production
The Bottom Line
If they kept making this sword, I'd get another one.
If you have 250 bucks and don't have one, go to KoA and get one. seriously... this sword is a blast to use and I'm very pleased with this purchase.