Hanwei Practical PRO ELITE
Jul 18, 2015 10:04:45 GMT
Post by Orochimaru6 on Jul 18, 2015 10:04:45 GMT
Welcome again fellow sword lovers!
I bring you another review - this time Hanwei Practical PRO Elite.
Please excuse the photos quality - I'm impaired when it comes to using cameras.
DISCLAIMER
I bought this sword with my own hard earned money, it was not given to me by anyone for the sake of beneficial opinion, and I plan to make this review as objective as I can.
OVERVIEW
Information and puicture taken from Hanwei's website:
"The Practical Pro Elite Katana from Hanwei has an extended tsuka and a thicker and longer (29”) Performance Series blade with a finer polish when compared to others in the Practical series. Designed for multiple cuts in normal targets, the blade of the Practical Pro Elite katana is forged in high-carbon steel. The rayskin-covered tsuka is wrapped with cotton ito and is double-pegged for safety. The saya is finished in a deep black lacquer with a black Japanese cotton sageo. The katana features a Kuruma tsuba, which represents the “Wheel of Dharma,” symbolizing the Buddhist concept of the Noble Eightfold Path."
INITIAL IMPRESSION
It is big. Seriously massive, but well balanced and feels quite light. It's rock solid with no movements anywhere. Ito is tight and a bit hard. The blade is impressive - long, wide and curves gently and uniformly the whole length with clearly visible hamon.
I have the previous classic version of Practical PRO so more or less I knew what to expect. Why did I decide to buy this particular katana? I mentioned it many times, but I'll do it again: I just love long handles. Anything less than 30 cm is a no-no for me. Well, at least when it comes to katanas. Extra long tsuka gives you extreme control. Upon closer look however, there were few blemishes that I will discuss later.
STATISTICS
Blade length 75,5 cm
Tsuka length: exactly 36 cm
Width at habaki: 35 mm
Width at kissaki/yokote: 26 mm
Thickness at habaki: 7 mm
Thickness at kissaki/yokote: 5 mm
Sori: about 19 mm
THE BLADE
75,5 cm long, gently curved with clearly visible, typical Hanwei hamon. It came heavily oiled to prevent rusting and did exactly that - the blade was in perfect condition. The length and width combined together create an imposing blade. It came very sharp - sliced hand held sheet of paper with ease. The downside of the blade is the polish. As mentioned above Elite blades are supposed to have much better level of polish compared to classical Practical line. On PRO Elite it is the same if not even worse than on its older brother - PRO... Maybe I was just unlucky with this one. The kissaki/yokote seems to be geometric but it is hard to tell just from looking. You have to feel it with your fingers to notice a slight change in blade's geometry. I tried to make some photos of the hamon, but it was actually difficult to catch it.
The inscription on the blade's tang
THE TSUKA
36 cm long, almost perfectly straight, quite thick, with real samegawa panels and wrapped tightly with black cotton ito. What is worth mentioning - I found out that hisigami were used on this piece but I don't know if you'll be able to see them in the pictures. Despite the tsuka being thick it feels comfortable in my hands. It holds the blade's tang with two bamboo mekugi - safety first! Menuki are made of brass but have strange plastic feeling when touched. What is most important for me - no cracks were found upon disassembly. Also, the tang goes right to the end.
The samegawa
Hopefully you can see the hishigami sticking out a little
Menuki
The knots and kashira
I don't know if you can see here, but there is some epoxy-like thing inside
Mekugi
The core
Tsuka and tang lengths
However there were few issues...
First of all I found two spots where ito starts to wear. It is not very visible but I can feel that ito is looser in one of those spots. However it will probably take a long time and hard use before it reaches the point of splitting/tearing.
You can see them here:
Second - mekugis location. One mekugi is located under ito - the same spot where it is worn a little (you might see it in the picture above). So each time I'll be disassembling the sword it will be increasing the damage. Mekugis condition is also not the best but still tolerable.
THE FITTINGS
Plain and simple but fitting the sword's overall character - it is meant to be used and not only looked at! Tsuba, fuchi and kashira are made of darkened iron and they are dark indeed. Much darker than on PRO classic. I do not know if you will see it but kashira is actually glued to the handle with epoxy or something similar. Well, this can be a problem if you plan to customize the sword but otherwise it does not bother me SO much. I just wonder if it's the same with other PROs. Habaki is a single piece of brass with nice bevel at the top - fits the blade very well. Two seppas come in different sizes - makes it easy to guess which one goes where.
Habaki
Everything is rock solid when put together
THE SCABBARD
Standard saya that you see on dozens other swords - made of wood, with horn koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri, all covered with nice shiny black lacquer. Sageo is quite thin and made of some kind of synthetic material. The fit between the mouth and habaki is awful - saya slides right off if only pointed downwards. Some wooden shims will be necessary to correct this. There is also some rattle inside the scabbard.
OVERALL
This is a really nice sword overall. Am I satisfied? Well, actually I'm slightly disappointed. Elite series are supposed to be Practical line step up. But is that so? Not so sure about that when I look at this piece. But hey, I might have just ended up with a slightly worse that average PRO. But if not, then I would say that this model is a little bit overrated. Do not understand me wrong - this is a great sword, but does not match the description in 100%.
I did some dry cutting and I must say it handles like a dream - swinging this massive sword comes with no effort at all.
To be honest with you guys I was planning to buy different sword, but I heard a rumor that soon this model might be discontinued. So I decided to get it before that happens. In the past I let too many great blades slip through my fingers and I didn't want that to happen with this one.
PROS:
- If you like massive swords this is the one
- Imposing blade
- Long but comfortable tsuka
- Real samegawa
- Good quality cotton ito
- Tight wrap
- Very sharp
- Real hamon
- Handles like a dream
- Hishigami were used
- Rock solid
CONS:
- Blade polish not as good as in Hanwei's description
- Two spots where ito starts to wear
- Unfortunate mekugi location
- Very poor habaki-saya fit
- Poor quality sageo
- Epoxy or something under kashira
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this review.
Here are some comparison photos between my two PROs:
And here is me :P I'm 183 cm tall and the sword is 111,5 cm long.
And the highlight of yesterday's training session :P
I bring you another review - this time Hanwei Practical PRO Elite.
Please excuse the photos quality - I'm impaired when it comes to using cameras.
DISCLAIMER
I bought this sword with my own hard earned money, it was not given to me by anyone for the sake of beneficial opinion, and I plan to make this review as objective as I can.
OVERVIEW
Information and puicture taken from Hanwei's website:
"The Practical Pro Elite Katana from Hanwei has an extended tsuka and a thicker and longer (29”) Performance Series blade with a finer polish when compared to others in the Practical series. Designed for multiple cuts in normal targets, the blade of the Practical Pro Elite katana is forged in high-carbon steel. The rayskin-covered tsuka is wrapped with cotton ito and is double-pegged for safety. The saya is finished in a deep black lacquer with a black Japanese cotton sageo. The katana features a Kuruma tsuba, which represents the “Wheel of Dharma,” symbolizing the Buddhist concept of the Noble Eightfold Path."
INITIAL IMPRESSION
It is big. Seriously massive, but well balanced and feels quite light. It's rock solid with no movements anywhere. Ito is tight and a bit hard. The blade is impressive - long, wide and curves gently and uniformly the whole length with clearly visible hamon.
I have the previous classic version of Practical PRO so more or less I knew what to expect. Why did I decide to buy this particular katana? I mentioned it many times, but I'll do it again: I just love long handles. Anything less than 30 cm is a no-no for me. Well, at least when it comes to katanas. Extra long tsuka gives you extreme control. Upon closer look however, there were few blemishes that I will discuss later.
STATISTICS
Steel: 1566 high carbon, differentially hardened
Point of balance: about 10 cm from the guardBlade length 75,5 cm
Tsuka length: exactly 36 cm
Width at habaki: 35 mm
Width at kissaki/yokote: 26 mm
Thickness at habaki: 7 mm
Thickness at kissaki/yokote: 5 mm
Sori: about 19 mm
THE BLADE
75,5 cm long, gently curved with clearly visible, typical Hanwei hamon. It came heavily oiled to prevent rusting and did exactly that - the blade was in perfect condition. The length and width combined together create an imposing blade. It came very sharp - sliced hand held sheet of paper with ease. The downside of the blade is the polish. As mentioned above Elite blades are supposed to have much better level of polish compared to classical Practical line. On PRO Elite it is the same if not even worse than on its older brother - PRO... Maybe I was just unlucky with this one. The kissaki/yokote seems to be geometric but it is hard to tell just from looking. You have to feel it with your fingers to notice a slight change in blade's geometry. I tried to make some photos of the hamon, but it was actually difficult to catch it.
The inscription on the blade's tang
THE TSUKA
36 cm long, almost perfectly straight, quite thick, with real samegawa panels and wrapped tightly with black cotton ito. What is worth mentioning - I found out that hisigami were used on this piece but I don't know if you'll be able to see them in the pictures. Despite the tsuka being thick it feels comfortable in my hands. It holds the blade's tang with two bamboo mekugi - safety first! Menuki are made of brass but have strange plastic feeling when touched. What is most important for me - no cracks were found upon disassembly. Also, the tang goes right to the end.
The samegawa
Hopefully you can see the hishigami sticking out a little
Menuki
The knots and kashira
I don't know if you can see here, but there is some epoxy-like thing inside
Mekugi
The core
Tsuka and tang lengths
However there were few issues...
First of all I found two spots where ito starts to wear. It is not very visible but I can feel that ito is looser in one of those spots. However it will probably take a long time and hard use before it reaches the point of splitting/tearing.
You can see them here:
Second - mekugis location. One mekugi is located under ito - the same spot where it is worn a little (you might see it in the picture above). So each time I'll be disassembling the sword it will be increasing the damage. Mekugis condition is also not the best but still tolerable.
THE FITTINGS
Plain and simple but fitting the sword's overall character - it is meant to be used and not only looked at! Tsuba, fuchi and kashira are made of darkened iron and they are dark indeed. Much darker than on PRO classic. I do not know if you will see it but kashira is actually glued to the handle with epoxy or something similar. Well, this can be a problem if you plan to customize the sword but otherwise it does not bother me SO much. I just wonder if it's the same with other PROs. Habaki is a single piece of brass with nice bevel at the top - fits the blade very well. Two seppas come in different sizes - makes it easy to guess which one goes where.
Habaki
Everything is rock solid when put together
THE SCABBARD
Standard saya that you see on dozens other swords - made of wood, with horn koiguchi, kurikata and kojiri, all covered with nice shiny black lacquer. Sageo is quite thin and made of some kind of synthetic material. The fit between the mouth and habaki is awful - saya slides right off if only pointed downwards. Some wooden shims will be necessary to correct this. There is also some rattle inside the scabbard.
OVERALL
This is a really nice sword overall. Am I satisfied? Well, actually I'm slightly disappointed. Elite series are supposed to be Practical line step up. But is that so? Not so sure about that when I look at this piece. But hey, I might have just ended up with a slightly worse that average PRO. But if not, then I would say that this model is a little bit overrated. Do not understand me wrong - this is a great sword, but does not match the description in 100%.
I did some dry cutting and I must say it handles like a dream - swinging this massive sword comes with no effort at all.
To be honest with you guys I was planning to buy different sword, but I heard a rumor that soon this model might be discontinued. So I decided to get it before that happens. In the past I let too many great blades slip through my fingers and I didn't want that to happen with this one.
PROS:
- If you like massive swords this is the one
- Imposing blade
- Long but comfortable tsuka
- Real samegawa
- Good quality cotton ito
- Tight wrap
- Very sharp
- Real hamon
- Handles like a dream
- Hishigami were used
- Rock solid
CONS:
- Blade polish not as good as in Hanwei's description
- Two spots where ito starts to wear
- Unfortunate mekugi location
- Very poor habaki-saya fit
- Poor quality sageo
- Epoxy or something under kashira
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this review.
Here are some comparison photos between my two PROs:
And here is me :P I'm 183 cm tall and the sword is 111,5 cm long.
And the highlight of yesterday's training session :P