Hanwei Captain's Gunto: Full Review
Feb 24, 2013 5:36:24 GMT
Post by Bluntsword on Feb 24, 2013 5:36:24 GMT
Updated 03/01/13:
- corrected my mistake that the release button wasn't in the correct spot. I have found evidence that proves that the release button was either towards the edge or in the center.
- added cutting section to review.
Updated 14/06/13
- fixed photo sizes for new SBG forum
- added comparison pics of HW Gunto vs a original Gunto
Everything you need to know regarding the Hanwei Captain's Gunto
Another journey, but a welcomed journey: travels to find a 27” sword.
Wow I read everything I can find on SBG and SFI regarding a good production sword. The hard part was a lot of those swords don’t come in 27” (wasn’t in stock), ok so I changed my searching angle I found swords that were 27” (and in stock) and looked for reviews on them. Eventually I came to a sword that was 27” that was made by a very good forge and everything I found on it was positive (all 1 review on SBG). My new sword will be a Hanwei (HW) Captain’s Gunto.
While researching the captain’s gunto I stumbled across SBG special with the colonel’s model on sale for $499. OMG my heart just sank and my head flopped down and hit my keyboard, after 5 seconds of agony (and immense swearing and yelling) I lifted my head and continued reading the conditions on getting the sword from SBG store, DOES NOT SHIP TO AUSTRALIA after reading that I felt a 0.0000001% better that I missed out on the sale.
Now the reason I chose to buy a HW gunto was:
- 27” blade and 9.25” handle (I went to a store and tried almost every sword they had, the captain’s gunto I tried there was perfect for me).
- Beautiful, beautiful, did I mention beautiful fittings. It’s a love or hate affair.
- Can be used for minor cutting & display.
- With all the sword designs there are available throughout Japans history if it’s good enough for the Japanese gov to give to their soldiers during war time, it’s good enough for me.
Research
www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_002.htm (History good reading)
If you have no idea about guntos please have a look at below site:
www.jp-sword.com/files/gunto/ohmura.html (History good reading, with lots of great images)
www.carigold.com/portal/forums/s ... ?p=8099901 (Best summary of gunto using images: Great images)
Original Gunto Example
www.shibuiswords.com/gunto.htm (this site has good high quality photos to compare)
www.anzacblade.com.au/ww2-japane ... p-142.html (example of a mint condition gunto and price it sells for)
Other Gunto swords to choose from
Original Gunto (made in Japan)
Pro: Authentic made in Japan swords, some are even family heirlooms that have been refitted with Gunto furniture. An investment for the future.
Con: Good quality original gunto’s cost a lot. Traditional made ones are around $2000+, a lot of original gunto’s towards the end of the war were made out of stainless steel, are now in bad shape (needs refurbishment), a lot were machined made. Have to be patient to find a good one. Wouldn’t use it for cutting. Low chance of getting a decent cutting one for a low price.
Note: the reason I didn’t opt for an original gunto because the chances of getting a good quality, cutting worthy sword has very low chances. I wouldn’t want to cut with an antique anyway.
Other Gunto replicas, modern
Hanwei Colonel’s Gunto SH2445
Pro: very accurate replica of the Type 98, most beautiful hamon of all the replica blades available, beautiful accurate fittings, Hanwei's own high-alloy Silicone-Manganese HWS-2S.
Con: more expensive than other examples (e.g. Captains Gunto), only difference from the HW Captain’s Gunto is the blade/tassel color/gold coating on fittings and different colour tsuba.
Note: this model is more expensive and I didn’t want to get a more expensive sword that’s going to be used as my primary katana (will get scratched up).
Munetoshi Type 98 Gunto Katana Sword WWII
Pro: cheapest good replica available, has leather saya cover (only one who has it, I think), has 2 mekugi (not accurate, but safer none the less), made out of T10
Con: fittings not as detailed as Hanwei, 2 mekugi (not accurate, but safer), just not overall as pretty as the Hanwei examples.
Note: this is the more cheaper option if you want a ok gunto, but I didn’t want the cheapest or the most expensive option, so I took the middle choice. Even though good price it’s not as pretty as the Hanwei.
Disclosure
I needed a sword that has a 27” blade, so after heaps of research and looking at all the swords available online (over and over and over again). I found one that I liked enough to purchase, so searching all the online stores and compared prices SOTE had it cheapest so I paid AU $760 delivered to my door in Australia (Global Gear in Melbourne has it online price of $1439.00 + shipping).
I only own two swords besides this one and honestly I’m not a sword expert when it comes to swords, but I do know what I like and don’t like and I do know what I have read and learnt over these years from SBG forum/SFI and the books I’ve read. I study JSA so I know what I require from a sword handling wise.
Specifications
Sword is handmade each sword might be slightly different. These are measured from the sword I received. When searching up details for this sword practically zero data was available.
Measurements:
Overall: 980mm Nagasa: 849mm Saya: 730mm Tsuka: 190mm
Kasane: 7mm Sakikasane: 4mm Sori: 20mm
Motohaba: 30mm Sakihaba: 19mm Nakago: 189m
Weight:
Saya: 1.28lb
Blade: 1.54lb
Tsuka: 0.84lb
Assembled: 3.66lb
Features:
• Authentic Detailing of WWII Type 98 Gunto, Captain Tassel
• Hand Forged
• Clay Tempered (water quenched) DF, natural Hamon (Midare???)
• Steel: 1095
• Steel scabbard (heaviest saya I have ever handled)
• Silk ito/alternating ito/hishigame
• Real samegawa (panels)
• Hand woven silk sageo
• Chu kissaki/shinogi zukuri
• Maru construction
• Hanwei signed Mei
• Anti-release, locking mechanism
Review Hanwei Captain’s Gunto:
Shipping
Shipping it took 5 days to arrive, and man was that the longest 5 days of my life so far (until I buy another sword). The sword made it through customs and in Victoria (the nanny state) with no problems what so ever.
Un-boxing
SOTE did a great job wrapping the wooden box; it had 1 layer of small bubble wrap, with another layer of big bubble wrap on top. As I was unwrapping the bubble wrap I slowly peeled the sticky tape off and trying not to pop any of the bubbles so that I can use it again to wrap delicate stuff in the future. 8 minutes later and bits of sticky tape everywhere, I can finally see it a nice well-made wooden box, it’s built is solid and pretty tough it wasn’t flimsy at all but I guess it was made to protect an expensive (for me) sword.
Opening the tight lid which took a bit of effort there were 4 user pages that came with the sword 1 Page showing the manufacturing of HW swords in general, 1 Page with instructions on adjusting the fit in the scabbard, Care& Handling and last one was how to get a good fit between the habaki and koiguchi. After having those 4 pages HW should have one more page showing how and what to use to get the packing/shipping oil off, there was so much oil you would think that it was dipped into a barrel then placed straight into the saya. With my other 2 swords I received maintenance kits, not this time but the wooden box is a lot better.
First glimpse
The gunto was inside a black bag (cotton maybe) which was inside a plastic bag which had 3 or 4 moister absorption packs inside it. The black bag was tightly tied around the tsuka, after unravelling the cord I can finally slide it down over the sword I did that slowly staring and admiring what I could see of the sword. It was like when you scratch a scratchy, you slowly scratch a little bit off at a time savouring the scratch to see if you win or not making the whole thing more fun and exciting. I was next to the window so as the black cover uncovered the shiny menuki shimmered in the light, then the mirror gold like habaki was in view, I could see my reflection on its surface. I can clearly remember thinking wow that’s so so shinny.
Cover now nicely folded in half and on the ground, with the gunto in my left hand. I paused for a second thinking to myself that wow this sword is really nice and that it was well worth the price I paid, lifting it up to my face to get a closer look at the fittings and parts, I paused (something was wrong) then I dropped my hand down and lifted the sword up to my face again. It finally clicked in my head; this sword is heavy, heavier than my other 2 swords. I don’t recall it being this heavy when I tried it in the store but then again the store assistant handed the sword to me unsheathed. This time I was holding it with the saya and man does having a metal cover make the saya heavy (3.66lb).
Tsuka & Fittings
Fittings
Analysing the tsuka the fittings are well made and look almost perfect like the antique guntos I was looking at in online photos. The flower and leaves design are detailed and 3d, you can see the nectar stems in the flower petals, the menuki are nice and shiny good shape and proportion to the tsuka (some look to small or large), samegawa has good even texture throughout the whole panel on both sides I have to say I was a disappointed that there wasn’t any emperor nodes but what I got is still good nonetheless.
Ito
The ito is light brown silk and very tightly wrapped (pulled and pushed almost every lane with my fingers and they didn’t budge), nicely shaped diamonds that are well placed and proportioned I even lifted it (ito wrapping) to see the hishigami underneath and yes the four ito places I checked had it. This tsuka follows tradition and continues the curvature of the sword. There is only one menuki which is cone shaped, so it can only fit in one way also it’s covered a little bit by ito so there’s no way it can fall out. Good to see that someone/s have put effort in making/assembly the tsuka correctly/properly.
Seppa
I love the seppa edge patterns on this sword it’s different; all 3 seppas have different designs I believe there are so many seppas because that they are used to fill up the empty space instead of having a really thick tsuba. Reason is the designers had to make up for the length of the unlocking latch in the tsuka. You can see the quality of the fitting by the amount of minute details they have what also makes these fittings stand out above the regular ones is that they are the correct size not to big that they hangout over the edge.
Lock
Locking mechanism is simply basic but it works perfectly every time, locks in and releases at a press of the button. One thing though when noto is performed makes sure you hear & feel it click in place. Performing drawing with this sword takes a bit to get used to it as you have to press the button each time to release. The location of the release is correct, most is located closer to the edge side but I have also now found example where the release is in the center.
Tassel
Tassel is light brown and blue, hand woven out of silk the detail and quality of it is very well done. The silk is very stiff and hard not like shoe lacers which are soft and floppy.
Nagasa
Pressing the small button and releasing the sword from the saya, it slid out easily and cleanly. After placing the saya on the ground looking at the blade I thought to myself why is the blade so dirty. I realised it’s the packing/shipping oil they place on the sword to prevent it from rusting in transit/storage after manufacturing and there was heaps of wood fibres stuck on the blade in the oil. So straight away I went down to the sink to rinse the wood fibres off first before wiping it down with a clean cloth I was scared the big fibre parts would scratch the blade.
Mune
Analysing the mune its mirror polished and shiny all the way from the habaki to the end where it stops and the remaining 3” is rough; does anyone know why it’s left rough? But it does look cool. You can see the distal taper and it’s even the whole way along the blade. Everything looks like it’s perfectly proportioned and exactly 50/50 each side.
Hamon
Now that the blade is clean I continued with my sword analysing/admiring. Shinogi-ji is clean with a mirror polish. Wasn’t happy that there are a few minor scratches here and there (it’s a brand new sword) staring at the hamon more closely, when sighted straight on it looks greyed out (coated in something) when viewed on angles it has a mirror reflection, but now I know what other HW owners mean when they say that HW acid wash is extreme. I don’t like the acid wash they place on this blade so immediately I gave it a quick once over with Mothers Mag & Alu polish. It did the trick and took most of the acid wash off the hamon now looks more natural and prominent.
My guestimate it is a midare hamon () the application is perfect none of the waves dip to close to the ha or ridgeline. Everyone who has a DF sword has done this, holding the blade up using the light reflection playing with the light trying to get that perfect angle with the blade to see the hamon at its strongest point, slowly twisting the blade left and right and once you get that sweet spot where you see the hamon reflecting light like an old 3d hologram image, you think to yourself unconsciously OMG that’s so pretty.
Ha
The edge is razor sharp but from the habaki for about 10 cm it’s blunt. Holding the blade with the edge faced up I was concentrating, tilting the edge left to right and back again trying to see if I can get a reflection on the edge to see a bevel or flat spot but nope not a single thing after the initial blunt area.
Kissaki
For the kissaki it has a nice round shape to it and the proportion looks correct to me, I even looked up hi-res pictures of nihonto swords and compared it to them. The blade has a geometric yokote but it’s not crisp if you know what I mean, it’s there but not sharp but more rounded than what I wanted, actually I don’t want it rounded at all.
Width
Holding the sword next to my other sword, i realised that its sakihaba (spine to edge width) is a lot smaller. Now is it smaller because it’s 27” blade or because that’s how original guntos are I don’t know but I would like to find out. If original guntos are that thin to begin with that really aren’t designed for blade on blade contact, as my one is thin small and has little niku. It’s a light to medium cutter for sure and for safety will only be used against mats.
The battlefield has changed the Japanese soldiers of WWII are no longer fighting sword on sword as a main weapon, maybe not even as a secondary weapon. Rifle/pistol/sword/knife is what I think the weapon order would be.
Handling
Dry cutting it’s extremely light and agile; you can change direction halfway through a cut easily. After finishing a cut and continuing onto the next cut is lightning fast. With this sword you can make accurate cuts and its balance is just right, what makes it light is that the tip weight has a nice balance. Doesn’t feel tip heavy, but also doesn’t feel like a feather or thin stick either.
Practicing Goho Battoho I realised that pressing the button to release the saya takes quite a while to get used to, training to press and release in one go is pretty hard at first but I’m getting used to it (after 30 tries, unlimited more tries to go). Also battoho sanbonme & yonhonme (both initial one hand cut) you can see that it’s designed for one or two hand use, hence why it’s thin and small.
Unsheathing the sword - while still holding the sword with my right hand only (one hand)I did a diagonal rising cut (kiriage) catching the bottom half of the tsuka with my left hand in an overhead stance (jodan) – I immediately do a downward diagonal cut (kesa-giri) – back into forward centre stance (chudan) – blood flick (chiburi) – sheath (noto), this sword is great it’s nimble and agile, I feel so boss holding it and that if a M1 Abrams was to be in my way I can cleave it in half, that’s the vibe the aura I get from this sword.
Brought it in for show and tell plus inspection and permission from my sensei, after a brief 3minute looking over the sword he says it’s one of the best replica gunto’s he has seen. He owns an original navy officers gunto, the fittings are well crafted and the balance and weight handling is well done to boot, it’s a great purchase “well done” he said. Only problem I’m not allowed to use it full time in the dojo, Safety Rule: all iaito and shinken must have two mekugi. That’s fine for me as it’s mostly for display with some cutting and kata practice at home. Everyone in the dojo liked it there was a crowd around me looking at it playing hot potatoe passing it around. At one stage I didn’t even know where it was or who has it. In a dojo everyone knows not to touch the blade, I wish my friends and family was like that the first thing they do is ask if it’s sharp then they do the thumb test (face palm).
Note: If you would like to learn JSA but don’t have a Dojo near you, check out www.toyama-ryu.com//shoden_seitei_kata.htm. Great information and even explains some of the move we do in JSA. Please DO NOT use a shinken for training. I take no responsibility for what you do and note I have no affiliation with said site just stumbled across it by chance.
Planning to do some cutting soon, will upload to youtube and update this review when I do.
Conclusion: Too long didn’t read
Vender (SOTE) was great answered most of my questions, when I asked if they had it in stock and ready for delivery they did. The shipping had no problems what so ever it took 5 day to get to me here in Victoria Australia from CONUSA.
If you want a sword that has gunto fittings and plan to use it for light cutting and display. This is the replica for you, there are other gunto choices but this one seems the best quality/value for money and for cutting.
Tsuka/Fittings
Fittings are beautifully done and very detailed, nicely fitted and almost a perfect replica of the originals. Tsuka has tight silk ito with hishigami and real samegawa panels. The ito wrap is very tight and has no signs of coming loose now or in the future.
The tsuka as a whole is well done and seems a lot of effort was put into making it correct, it also follows the curvature of the blade.
Saya
It’s quite heavy as it’s made of steel with softwood inlay to protect the blade. Fittings on the saya are nicely done as well they are accurate and detailed. The coat on it seems long lasting and is a matt finish. All fits in well with no rattles or bumps. The locking mechanism works extremely well for such a basic design. If you had too you can use the saya as a weapon and believe me it’ll do damage if hit in the head.
Blade
The blade is smaller and thinner than the average blade, but the 1095 carbon steel was beautifully forged with a gorgeous un-even wavy hamon. The kissaki is round with a nice curve and the yokote is geometric, only flaw is that it’s not as crisp as it’s supposed to be. Edge is very sharp besides about 10cm from the habaki.
Handling
Extremely light and agile the way a one or two handed sword is supposed to be, for instance this sword was designed for soldiers to use in the filed during WWII where maybe they had the sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Those days wasn’t edge on edge anymore. Because of it’s agility it’s so easy to control and this helps accuracy when cutting.
Overall
This is one of the most beautifully made replica gunto you can buy. The beauty/handling/agility/materials and workmanship is outstanding. I honest believe this sword has better materials and workmanship than most of the original (machine made) guntos. Plus if you are going to use it for cutting this is more than perfect. All yeah forgot, you can display this sword as well. : )
Glamour shots: After cleaning
UPDATE: Test Cutting
Finally had some time to do some test cutting today. This sword is so easy to handle as it's light and sharp, when you stare at your target and gauge the amount of power you need in the cut to be able to cleanly cut you realize that with this sword minimum power is more than enough. When cutting bottles you feel that initial little bump on impact (one cut) then swoosh the blade slides through it like there's nothing there. On mats you here a slight sssshhhhhink as the blade slices through every single individual strands of straw in the mat, once again there's no resistance on the blade as it cuts through. It's a cool feeling when the blade cuts through the target, you don't realize how easy it is to cut through a target until you do that first one.
The aftermath from cutting is a lot of bottles and mat pieces to pick up. But the only part I hate about cutting is the amount of scratches left on the blade, wasn't going to cut bottles initially but i have 3 garbage bags full so I couldn't help myself. After 2 passes with metal polish on both sides of the blade most of the minor sctratches are gone but there still is a substantial amount of scratches left. Only way to get rid of those stubborn ba%$a%d is to sand out using high grit stuff. But this is my everyday cutter now so there's no point in a re-polishing.
Replica vs a original Gunto
- corrected my mistake that the release button wasn't in the correct spot. I have found evidence that proves that the release button was either towards the edge or in the center.
- added cutting section to review.
Updated 14/06/13
- fixed photo sizes for new SBG forum
- added comparison pics of HW Gunto vs a original Gunto
Everything you need to know regarding the Hanwei Captain's Gunto
Another journey, but a welcomed journey: travels to find a 27” sword.
Wow I read everything I can find on SBG and SFI regarding a good production sword. The hard part was a lot of those swords don’t come in 27” (wasn’t in stock), ok so I changed my searching angle I found swords that were 27” (and in stock) and looked for reviews on them. Eventually I came to a sword that was 27” that was made by a very good forge and everything I found on it was positive (all 1 review on SBG). My new sword will be a Hanwei (HW) Captain’s Gunto.
While researching the captain’s gunto I stumbled across SBG special with the colonel’s model on sale for $499. OMG my heart just sank and my head flopped down and hit my keyboard, after 5 seconds of agony (and immense swearing and yelling) I lifted my head and continued reading the conditions on getting the sword from SBG store, DOES NOT SHIP TO AUSTRALIA after reading that I felt a 0.0000001% better that I missed out on the sale.
Now the reason I chose to buy a HW gunto was:
- 27” blade and 9.25” handle (I went to a store and tried almost every sword they had, the captain’s gunto I tried there was perfect for me).
- Beautiful, beautiful, did I mention beautiful fittings. It’s a love or hate affair.
- Can be used for minor cutting & display.
- With all the sword designs there are available throughout Japans history if it’s good enough for the Japanese gov to give to their soldiers during war time, it’s good enough for me.
Research
www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/gunto_002.htm (History good reading)
If you have no idea about guntos please have a look at below site:
www.jp-sword.com/files/gunto/ohmura.html (History good reading, with lots of great images)
www.carigold.com/portal/forums/s ... ?p=8099901 (Best summary of gunto using images: Great images)
Original Gunto Example
www.shibuiswords.com/gunto.htm (this site has good high quality photos to compare)
www.anzacblade.com.au/ww2-japane ... p-142.html (example of a mint condition gunto and price it sells for)
Other Gunto swords to choose from
Original Gunto (made in Japan)
Pro: Authentic made in Japan swords, some are even family heirlooms that have been refitted with Gunto furniture. An investment for the future.
Con: Good quality original gunto’s cost a lot. Traditional made ones are around $2000+, a lot of original gunto’s towards the end of the war were made out of stainless steel, are now in bad shape (needs refurbishment), a lot were machined made. Have to be patient to find a good one. Wouldn’t use it for cutting. Low chance of getting a decent cutting one for a low price.
Note: the reason I didn’t opt for an original gunto because the chances of getting a good quality, cutting worthy sword has very low chances. I wouldn’t want to cut with an antique anyway.
Other Gunto replicas, modern
Hanwei Colonel’s Gunto SH2445
Pro: very accurate replica of the Type 98, most beautiful hamon of all the replica blades available, beautiful accurate fittings, Hanwei's own high-alloy Silicone-Manganese HWS-2S.
Con: more expensive than other examples (e.g. Captains Gunto), only difference from the HW Captain’s Gunto is the blade/tassel color/gold coating on fittings and different colour tsuba.
Note: this model is more expensive and I didn’t want to get a more expensive sword that’s going to be used as my primary katana (will get scratched up).
Munetoshi Type 98 Gunto Katana Sword WWII
Pro: cheapest good replica available, has leather saya cover (only one who has it, I think), has 2 mekugi (not accurate, but safer none the less), made out of T10
Con: fittings not as detailed as Hanwei, 2 mekugi (not accurate, but safer), just not overall as pretty as the Hanwei examples.
Note: this is the more cheaper option if you want a ok gunto, but I didn’t want the cheapest or the most expensive option, so I took the middle choice. Even though good price it’s not as pretty as the Hanwei.
Disclosure
I needed a sword that has a 27” blade, so after heaps of research and looking at all the swords available online (over and over and over again). I found one that I liked enough to purchase, so searching all the online stores and compared prices SOTE had it cheapest so I paid AU $760 delivered to my door in Australia (Global Gear in Melbourne has it online price of $1439.00 + shipping).
I only own two swords besides this one and honestly I’m not a sword expert when it comes to swords, but I do know what I like and don’t like and I do know what I have read and learnt over these years from SBG forum/SFI and the books I’ve read. I study JSA so I know what I require from a sword handling wise.
Specifications
Sword is handmade each sword might be slightly different. These are measured from the sword I received. When searching up details for this sword practically zero data was available.
Measurements:
Overall: 980mm Nagasa: 849mm Saya: 730mm Tsuka: 190mm
Kasane: 7mm Sakikasane: 4mm Sori: 20mm
Motohaba: 30mm Sakihaba: 19mm Nakago: 189m
Weight:
Saya: 1.28lb
Blade: 1.54lb
Tsuka: 0.84lb
Assembled: 3.66lb
Features:
• Authentic Detailing of WWII Type 98 Gunto, Captain Tassel
• Hand Forged
• Clay Tempered (water quenched) DF, natural Hamon (Midare???)
• Steel: 1095
• Steel scabbard (heaviest saya I have ever handled)
• Silk ito/alternating ito/hishigame
• Real samegawa (panels)
• Hand woven silk sageo
• Chu kissaki/shinogi zukuri
• Maru construction
• Hanwei signed Mei
• Anti-release, locking mechanism
Review Hanwei Captain’s Gunto:
Shipping
Shipping it took 5 days to arrive, and man was that the longest 5 days of my life so far (until I buy another sword). The sword made it through customs and in Victoria (the nanny state) with no problems what so ever.
Un-boxing
SOTE did a great job wrapping the wooden box; it had 1 layer of small bubble wrap, with another layer of big bubble wrap on top. As I was unwrapping the bubble wrap I slowly peeled the sticky tape off and trying not to pop any of the bubbles so that I can use it again to wrap delicate stuff in the future. 8 minutes later and bits of sticky tape everywhere, I can finally see it a nice well-made wooden box, it’s built is solid and pretty tough it wasn’t flimsy at all but I guess it was made to protect an expensive (for me) sword.
Opening the tight lid which took a bit of effort there were 4 user pages that came with the sword 1 Page showing the manufacturing of HW swords in general, 1 Page with instructions on adjusting the fit in the scabbard, Care& Handling and last one was how to get a good fit between the habaki and koiguchi. After having those 4 pages HW should have one more page showing how and what to use to get the packing/shipping oil off, there was so much oil you would think that it was dipped into a barrel then placed straight into the saya. With my other 2 swords I received maintenance kits, not this time but the wooden box is a lot better.
First glimpse
The gunto was inside a black bag (cotton maybe) which was inside a plastic bag which had 3 or 4 moister absorption packs inside it. The black bag was tightly tied around the tsuka, after unravelling the cord I can finally slide it down over the sword I did that slowly staring and admiring what I could see of the sword. It was like when you scratch a scratchy, you slowly scratch a little bit off at a time savouring the scratch to see if you win or not making the whole thing more fun and exciting. I was next to the window so as the black cover uncovered the shiny menuki shimmered in the light, then the mirror gold like habaki was in view, I could see my reflection on its surface. I can clearly remember thinking wow that’s so so shinny.
Cover now nicely folded in half and on the ground, with the gunto in my left hand. I paused for a second thinking to myself that wow this sword is really nice and that it was well worth the price I paid, lifting it up to my face to get a closer look at the fittings and parts, I paused (something was wrong) then I dropped my hand down and lifted the sword up to my face again. It finally clicked in my head; this sword is heavy, heavier than my other 2 swords. I don’t recall it being this heavy when I tried it in the store but then again the store assistant handed the sword to me unsheathed. This time I was holding it with the saya and man does having a metal cover make the saya heavy (3.66lb).
Tsuka & Fittings
Fittings
Analysing the tsuka the fittings are well made and look almost perfect like the antique guntos I was looking at in online photos. The flower and leaves design are detailed and 3d, you can see the nectar stems in the flower petals, the menuki are nice and shiny good shape and proportion to the tsuka (some look to small or large), samegawa has good even texture throughout the whole panel on both sides I have to say I was a disappointed that there wasn’t any emperor nodes but what I got is still good nonetheless.
Ito
The ito is light brown silk and very tightly wrapped (pulled and pushed almost every lane with my fingers and they didn’t budge), nicely shaped diamonds that are well placed and proportioned I even lifted it (ito wrapping) to see the hishigami underneath and yes the four ito places I checked had it. This tsuka follows tradition and continues the curvature of the sword. There is only one menuki which is cone shaped, so it can only fit in one way also it’s covered a little bit by ito so there’s no way it can fall out. Good to see that someone/s have put effort in making/assembly the tsuka correctly/properly.
Seppa
I love the seppa edge patterns on this sword it’s different; all 3 seppas have different designs I believe there are so many seppas because that they are used to fill up the empty space instead of having a really thick tsuba. Reason is the designers had to make up for the length of the unlocking latch in the tsuka. You can see the quality of the fitting by the amount of minute details they have what also makes these fittings stand out above the regular ones is that they are the correct size not to big that they hangout over the edge.
Lock
Locking mechanism is simply basic but it works perfectly every time, locks in and releases at a press of the button. One thing though when noto is performed makes sure you hear & feel it click in place. Performing drawing with this sword takes a bit to get used to it as you have to press the button each time to release. The location of the release is correct, most is located closer to the edge side but I have also now found example where the release is in the center.
Tassel
Tassel is light brown and blue, hand woven out of silk the detail and quality of it is very well done. The silk is very stiff and hard not like shoe lacers which are soft and floppy.
Nagasa
Pressing the small button and releasing the sword from the saya, it slid out easily and cleanly. After placing the saya on the ground looking at the blade I thought to myself why is the blade so dirty. I realised it’s the packing/shipping oil they place on the sword to prevent it from rusting in transit/storage after manufacturing and there was heaps of wood fibres stuck on the blade in the oil. So straight away I went down to the sink to rinse the wood fibres off first before wiping it down with a clean cloth I was scared the big fibre parts would scratch the blade.
Mune
Analysing the mune its mirror polished and shiny all the way from the habaki to the end where it stops and the remaining 3” is rough; does anyone know why it’s left rough? But it does look cool. You can see the distal taper and it’s even the whole way along the blade. Everything looks like it’s perfectly proportioned and exactly 50/50 each side.
Hamon
Now that the blade is clean I continued with my sword analysing/admiring. Shinogi-ji is clean with a mirror polish. Wasn’t happy that there are a few minor scratches here and there (it’s a brand new sword) staring at the hamon more closely, when sighted straight on it looks greyed out (coated in something) when viewed on angles it has a mirror reflection, but now I know what other HW owners mean when they say that HW acid wash is extreme. I don’t like the acid wash they place on this blade so immediately I gave it a quick once over with Mothers Mag & Alu polish. It did the trick and took most of the acid wash off the hamon now looks more natural and prominent.
My guestimate it is a midare hamon () the application is perfect none of the waves dip to close to the ha or ridgeline. Everyone who has a DF sword has done this, holding the blade up using the light reflection playing with the light trying to get that perfect angle with the blade to see the hamon at its strongest point, slowly twisting the blade left and right and once you get that sweet spot where you see the hamon reflecting light like an old 3d hologram image, you think to yourself unconsciously OMG that’s so pretty.
Ha
The edge is razor sharp but from the habaki for about 10 cm it’s blunt. Holding the blade with the edge faced up I was concentrating, tilting the edge left to right and back again trying to see if I can get a reflection on the edge to see a bevel or flat spot but nope not a single thing after the initial blunt area.
Kissaki
For the kissaki it has a nice round shape to it and the proportion looks correct to me, I even looked up hi-res pictures of nihonto swords and compared it to them. The blade has a geometric yokote but it’s not crisp if you know what I mean, it’s there but not sharp but more rounded than what I wanted, actually I don’t want it rounded at all.
Width
Holding the sword next to my other sword, i realised that its sakihaba (spine to edge width) is a lot smaller. Now is it smaller because it’s 27” blade or because that’s how original guntos are I don’t know but I would like to find out. If original guntos are that thin to begin with that really aren’t designed for blade on blade contact, as my one is thin small and has little niku. It’s a light to medium cutter for sure and for safety will only be used against mats.
The battlefield has changed the Japanese soldiers of WWII are no longer fighting sword on sword as a main weapon, maybe not even as a secondary weapon. Rifle/pistol/sword/knife is what I think the weapon order would be.
Handling
Dry cutting it’s extremely light and agile; you can change direction halfway through a cut easily. After finishing a cut and continuing onto the next cut is lightning fast. With this sword you can make accurate cuts and its balance is just right, what makes it light is that the tip weight has a nice balance. Doesn’t feel tip heavy, but also doesn’t feel like a feather or thin stick either.
Practicing Goho Battoho I realised that pressing the button to release the saya takes quite a while to get used to, training to press and release in one go is pretty hard at first but I’m getting used to it (after 30 tries, unlimited more tries to go). Also battoho sanbonme & yonhonme (both initial one hand cut) you can see that it’s designed for one or two hand use, hence why it’s thin and small.
Unsheathing the sword - while still holding the sword with my right hand only (one hand)I did a diagonal rising cut (kiriage) catching the bottom half of the tsuka with my left hand in an overhead stance (jodan) – I immediately do a downward diagonal cut (kesa-giri) – back into forward centre stance (chudan) – blood flick (chiburi) – sheath (noto), this sword is great it’s nimble and agile, I feel so boss holding it and that if a M1 Abrams was to be in my way I can cleave it in half, that’s the vibe the aura I get from this sword.
Brought it in for show and tell plus inspection and permission from my sensei, after a brief 3minute looking over the sword he says it’s one of the best replica gunto’s he has seen. He owns an original navy officers gunto, the fittings are well crafted and the balance and weight handling is well done to boot, it’s a great purchase “well done” he said. Only problem I’m not allowed to use it full time in the dojo, Safety Rule: all iaito and shinken must have two mekugi. That’s fine for me as it’s mostly for display with some cutting and kata practice at home. Everyone in the dojo liked it there was a crowd around me looking at it playing hot potatoe passing it around. At one stage I didn’t even know where it was or who has it. In a dojo everyone knows not to touch the blade, I wish my friends and family was like that the first thing they do is ask if it’s sharp then they do the thumb test (face palm).
Note: If you would like to learn JSA but don’t have a Dojo near you, check out www.toyama-ryu.com//shoden_seitei_kata.htm. Great information and even explains some of the move we do in JSA. Please DO NOT use a shinken for training. I take no responsibility for what you do and note I have no affiliation with said site just stumbled across it by chance.
Planning to do some cutting soon, will upload to youtube and update this review when I do.
Conclusion: Too long didn’t read
Vender (SOTE) was great answered most of my questions, when I asked if they had it in stock and ready for delivery they did. The shipping had no problems what so ever it took 5 day to get to me here in Victoria Australia from CONUSA.
If you want a sword that has gunto fittings and plan to use it for light cutting and display. This is the replica for you, there are other gunto choices but this one seems the best quality/value for money and for cutting.
Tsuka/Fittings
Fittings are beautifully done and very detailed, nicely fitted and almost a perfect replica of the originals. Tsuka has tight silk ito with hishigami and real samegawa panels. The ito wrap is very tight and has no signs of coming loose now or in the future.
The tsuka as a whole is well done and seems a lot of effort was put into making it correct, it also follows the curvature of the blade.
Saya
It’s quite heavy as it’s made of steel with softwood inlay to protect the blade. Fittings on the saya are nicely done as well they are accurate and detailed. The coat on it seems long lasting and is a matt finish. All fits in well with no rattles or bumps. The locking mechanism works extremely well for such a basic design. If you had too you can use the saya as a weapon and believe me it’ll do damage if hit in the head.
Blade
The blade is smaller and thinner than the average blade, but the 1095 carbon steel was beautifully forged with a gorgeous un-even wavy hamon. The kissaki is round with a nice curve and the yokote is geometric, only flaw is that it’s not as crisp as it’s supposed to be. Edge is very sharp besides about 10cm from the habaki.
Handling
Extremely light and agile the way a one or two handed sword is supposed to be, for instance this sword was designed for soldiers to use in the filed during WWII where maybe they had the sword in one hand and a pistol in the other. Those days wasn’t edge on edge anymore. Because of it’s agility it’s so easy to control and this helps accuracy when cutting.
Overall
This is one of the most beautifully made replica gunto you can buy. The beauty/handling/agility/materials and workmanship is outstanding. I honest believe this sword has better materials and workmanship than most of the original (machine made) guntos. Plus if you are going to use it for cutting this is more than perfect. All yeah forgot, you can display this sword as well. : )
Glamour shots: After cleaning
UPDATE: Test Cutting
Finally had some time to do some test cutting today. This sword is so easy to handle as it's light and sharp, when you stare at your target and gauge the amount of power you need in the cut to be able to cleanly cut you realize that with this sword minimum power is more than enough. When cutting bottles you feel that initial little bump on impact (one cut) then swoosh the blade slides through it like there's nothing there. On mats you here a slight sssshhhhhink as the blade slices through every single individual strands of straw in the mat, once again there's no resistance on the blade as it cuts through. It's a cool feeling when the blade cuts through the target, you don't realize how easy it is to cut through a target until you do that first one.
The aftermath from cutting is a lot of bottles and mat pieces to pick up. But the only part I hate about cutting is the amount of scratches left on the blade, wasn't going to cut bottles initially but i have 3 garbage bags full so I couldn't help myself. After 2 passes with metal polish on both sides of the blade most of the minor sctratches are gone but there still is a substantial amount of scratches left. Only way to get rid of those stubborn ba%$a%d is to sand out using high grit stuff. But this is my everyday cutter now so there's no point in a re-polishing.
Replica vs a original Gunto