CasHanwei Practical Qongfu Sword (its a nuiwedao)
Nov 30, 2012 1:26:18 GMT
Post by Rafael on Nov 30, 2012 1:26:18 GMT
Introduction
This sword is listed as discontinued eslewhere on SBG and until recently on the Kult of Athena site. they have removed it now. However, on hanwei's direct sale site CASHanwei.com, they have the same sword for sale for 234$ I decided to get one. Hanwei also has a blinged up version of this sword they call simply “Oxtail Dao” that has brass fittings and costs a bit more. the big difference between the two is as far as stats is that this one is longer bladed and a few ounces lighter. i went with this one because i liked that it is a bit lighter.
Paul Southren gives a good review for this sword. If you have already read Paul's review, and dont feel like wading through mine for any differences, ill say that the main thing i have to add is that after a few hours of heavy use the pommel or base of the handle is becoming loose. Since the nut on the handle is still very tight, i dont think theres much that can be done about tightening the handle without adding tape or shims or epoxy. It still works fine for cutting, but it is getting looser. I think the rest of the handle assembly is glued or bonded together, so the pommel looseness doesnt really matter much. It is however probably symptomatic of what is not the most sturdy or traditional handle assembly, and at least part of the reason why i was warned by Scott Rodell not to use this sword for cutting.
I got it here : www.cashanwei.com/product/practi ... ord/sh2063
Initial Impressions
Looking at the sword It does seem really thin towards the tip where the blade widens, close to the thickness of a floppy wushu/practice sword. It is however about twice the weight of a wushu while still feeling quick. It also doesn't want to bend or flex at all despite the ultra thin edge near tip. Instead it seems almost supernaturally rigid, certainly way more solid than what you would expect from looking at it.
pics here comparing the thickness with a halfway decently made 30$ wushu oxtail.
it
the first two pic compares the two swords when balancing them upright point down into cardboard. this is to compare the flexibility using only the weight of the sword.
when applying very little force, The wushu sword bends easily
the hanwei dao barely bends at all when i hold it at an angle to the ground and try to bend the sword up using the ground as leverage .The sturdiness and combination of lightness with rigidity is nice. i pressed about as hard as i could. with near full force, the thin/wide edge area of the blade is starting to flex upward out of its straight position. still no bend of spine.
I stop because the point of blade has worked its way through the cardboard and has made a little pit in the concrete. no bend of sword tip.
Statistics
Overall: 33 1/4“
Blade Length: 28“
Handle Length: 5 1/2”
Weight: 1lb 10oz
Point of Balance: 8"
Width at Guard: 1.37"
Width at Tip: 2.4"
Thickness at Guard: .18"
Components/ Scabbard
Plain black fittings. Feel solid but pommel became loose later.
the scabbard does kinda suck, they should have just made the neck wider.
However, unlike a wushu oxtail dao with a complete scabbard, this Hanwei oxtail scabbard actually holds the sword securely enough so that i can hold the sword completely upside-down and it doesnt fall out of the scabbard or even move. If i then, while still holding it upsidedown, shake the scabbard with medium force the sword does come loose. at this point, yeah it sucks. i think placing a small length of bungee between the two belt rings that live on either side of the slotted area will help limit the amount of lateral movement of the blade when this happens. Its nice when a sword will stay in its scabbard/saya very securely even when held upside down.
Handling Characteristics
The lightness of the sword makes it very fast, but it is surprisingly solid in feel. The blade has no wobble at all when swung vigorously or used in a lunging thrust.
Test Cutting (if applicable)
Cutting is very easy with it. Usual pruning of half to one inch branches is easy and makes super clean edged cuts. I got more brave and used it to lumberjack my way through a 3 inch diameter soursop (hardwood) branch. All I needed was two slash across one way which each stopped the blade, then on second dislodge I hit it again backhanded. That took the whole branch off, with a satisfying bell chime clang lol. The blade was looking sticky sap and had black marks all over the blade. when I wiped these off with alcohol, I revealed no change in the edge at all. No dings marks or deformation, just a bit shinier in places where the polished steel of the blade edge is now bright shiny steel. The abuse made the sword more beautiful. I did not get pictures of this first round of testing.
Although the handguard is still firmly attached, the pommel had become a bit loose after about 20min of cutting branches. Based on the Paul review, it looks like I can remove the nut, but since it is already firmly tightened while the pommel is somewhat lose, I'm not sure how much good that will really do.
(day two) since I did not get pics of my first round of chopping hardwood I donned some impact resistant glasses and performed another round today. For science. I also got permission from Mr. Rodell to represent his opinion about using this sword for cutting. So here it is, officially sanctioned Scott Rodell advice: "dont do cutting with this sword". Also in general about all swords: "its important to use something that is well made, because you cant regrow a lost eye".
the branch i will test cut is on the left, with sword for comparison of size. the already cut branch on left required two cuts across and one reverse. trying for two here on this slightly smaller diameter branch.
one cut across goes most of the way throught he branch and stops blade.
a backhanded cut makes another satisfying bell chime-clang and neatly severs the branch..
that pic will follow.
apparently I have now attached too many pictures, doesnt seem to want to let me add more. I will place more in a reply.
Conclusions
As was mentioned above, the slotted scabbard is actually not that bad and does make it easy to get the super wide tip portion of the blade seated in the sheath. My main complaint about it is that it would seem like it would be effectively useless for protecting the blade from oxidation. On the other hand, we are oiling our swords daily anyway right? right?
Pros:
Nice looking
Good feel
Very solid blade/hilt construction
Extremely durable blade that does not chip or dent even with abuse
Comes with free CAS baseball cap lol
Cons:
Weird handle attachment
Loosening of pommel if used to cut
Flimsy scabbard
Should not be used for
The Bottom Line
Based on the weird handle construction, and the fact that somebody with way more experience than me does not reccomend using it for cutting, AND that even the manufacturer basically says “don’t use this for serious cutting”, this is probably not the best choice for a practical cutting dao, despite being called a practical qongfu sword.
Usefulness during zombie attack
I would give this sword a 3 out of 6 rating for use versus zombies. It requires a lot of force to do heavy cutting because of the lightness of the blade, but it is so light that you could swing more often and for longer before getting tired. Eventually the sword handle would probably fall apart, but the blade seems particularly well tempered. You could probably use the blade to build a neato post-apocalypse polearm, assuming you survive the encounter during which your handle breaks.
(edited for typo and to fix picture attachment)
This sword is listed as discontinued eslewhere on SBG and until recently on the Kult of Athena site. they have removed it now. However, on hanwei's direct sale site CASHanwei.com, they have the same sword for sale for 234$ I decided to get one. Hanwei also has a blinged up version of this sword they call simply “Oxtail Dao” that has brass fittings and costs a bit more. the big difference between the two is as far as stats is that this one is longer bladed and a few ounces lighter. i went with this one because i liked that it is a bit lighter.
Paul Southren gives a good review for this sword. If you have already read Paul's review, and dont feel like wading through mine for any differences, ill say that the main thing i have to add is that after a few hours of heavy use the pommel or base of the handle is becoming loose. Since the nut on the handle is still very tight, i dont think theres much that can be done about tightening the handle without adding tape or shims or epoxy. It still works fine for cutting, but it is getting looser. I think the rest of the handle assembly is glued or bonded together, so the pommel looseness doesnt really matter much. It is however probably symptomatic of what is not the most sturdy or traditional handle assembly, and at least part of the reason why i was warned by Scott Rodell not to use this sword for cutting.
I got it here : www.cashanwei.com/product/practi ... ord/sh2063
Initial Impressions
Looking at the sword It does seem really thin towards the tip where the blade widens, close to the thickness of a floppy wushu/practice sword. It is however about twice the weight of a wushu while still feeling quick. It also doesn't want to bend or flex at all despite the ultra thin edge near tip. Instead it seems almost supernaturally rigid, certainly way more solid than what you would expect from looking at it.
pics here comparing the thickness with a halfway decently made 30$ wushu oxtail.
it
the first two pic compares the two swords when balancing them upright point down into cardboard. this is to compare the flexibility using only the weight of the sword.
when applying very little force, The wushu sword bends easily
the hanwei dao barely bends at all when i hold it at an angle to the ground and try to bend the sword up using the ground as leverage .The sturdiness and combination of lightness with rigidity is nice. i pressed about as hard as i could. with near full force, the thin/wide edge area of the blade is starting to flex upward out of its straight position. still no bend of spine.
I stop because the point of blade has worked its way through the cardboard and has made a little pit in the concrete. no bend of sword tip.
Statistics
Overall: 33 1/4“
Blade Length: 28“
Handle Length: 5 1/2”
Weight: 1lb 10oz
Point of Balance: 8"
Width at Guard: 1.37"
Width at Tip: 2.4"
Thickness at Guard: .18"
Components/ Scabbard
Plain black fittings. Feel solid but pommel became loose later.
the scabbard does kinda suck, they should have just made the neck wider.
However, unlike a wushu oxtail dao with a complete scabbard, this Hanwei oxtail scabbard actually holds the sword securely enough so that i can hold the sword completely upside-down and it doesnt fall out of the scabbard or even move. If i then, while still holding it upsidedown, shake the scabbard with medium force the sword does come loose. at this point, yeah it sucks. i think placing a small length of bungee between the two belt rings that live on either side of the slotted area will help limit the amount of lateral movement of the blade when this happens. Its nice when a sword will stay in its scabbard/saya very securely even when held upside down.
Handling Characteristics
The lightness of the sword makes it very fast, but it is surprisingly solid in feel. The blade has no wobble at all when swung vigorously or used in a lunging thrust.
Test Cutting (if applicable)
Cutting is very easy with it. Usual pruning of half to one inch branches is easy and makes super clean edged cuts. I got more brave and used it to lumberjack my way through a 3 inch diameter soursop (hardwood) branch. All I needed was two slash across one way which each stopped the blade, then on second dislodge I hit it again backhanded. That took the whole branch off, with a satisfying bell chime clang lol. The blade was looking sticky sap and had black marks all over the blade. when I wiped these off with alcohol, I revealed no change in the edge at all. No dings marks or deformation, just a bit shinier in places where the polished steel of the blade edge is now bright shiny steel. The abuse made the sword more beautiful. I did not get pictures of this first round of testing.
Although the handguard is still firmly attached, the pommel had become a bit loose after about 20min of cutting branches. Based on the Paul review, it looks like I can remove the nut, but since it is already firmly tightened while the pommel is somewhat lose, I'm not sure how much good that will really do.
(day two) since I did not get pics of my first round of chopping hardwood I donned some impact resistant glasses and performed another round today. For science. I also got permission from Mr. Rodell to represent his opinion about using this sword for cutting. So here it is, officially sanctioned Scott Rodell advice: "dont do cutting with this sword". Also in general about all swords: "its important to use something that is well made, because you cant regrow a lost eye".
the branch i will test cut is on the left, with sword for comparison of size. the already cut branch on left required two cuts across and one reverse. trying for two here on this slightly smaller diameter branch.
one cut across goes most of the way throught he branch and stops blade.
a backhanded cut makes another satisfying bell chime-clang and neatly severs the branch..
that pic will follow.
apparently I have now attached too many pictures, doesnt seem to want to let me add more. I will place more in a reply.
Conclusions
As was mentioned above, the slotted scabbard is actually not that bad and does make it easy to get the super wide tip portion of the blade seated in the sheath. My main complaint about it is that it would seem like it would be effectively useless for protecting the blade from oxidation. On the other hand, we are oiling our swords daily anyway right? right?
Pros:
Nice looking
Good feel
Very solid blade/hilt construction
Extremely durable blade that does not chip or dent even with abuse
Comes with free CAS baseball cap lol
Cons:
Weird handle attachment
Loosening of pommel if used to cut
Flimsy scabbard
Should not be used for
The Bottom Line
Based on the weird handle construction, and the fact that somebody with way more experience than me does not reccomend using it for cutting, AND that even the manufacturer basically says “don’t use this for serious cutting”, this is probably not the best choice for a practical cutting dao, despite being called a practical qongfu sword.
Usefulness during zombie attack
I would give this sword a 3 out of 6 rating for use versus zombies. It requires a lot of force to do heavy cutting because of the lightness of the blade, but it is so light that you could swing more often and for longer before getting tired. Eventually the sword handle would probably fall apart, but the blade seems particularly well tempered. You could probably use the blade to build a neato post-apocalypse polearm, assuming you survive the encounter during which your handle breaks.
(edited for typo and to fix picture attachment)