9 Hanwei European Swords Review and Measurements
Jan 8, 2023 9:21:03 GMT
Post by pommelmaster on Jan 8, 2023 9:21:03 GMT
I have 9 swords from Hanwei that I measured and some of them with some flaws. If any of you own the same swords it would be cool if you compared your measurements and experiences with mine.
These were all purchased from 2019 to 2020. Newer Hanweis may be different. I know they changed the Kingston Arms XIV grip wrap for instance. I bought them from a combination of stores - Kult of Athena, SBG store, random eBay sellers.
I don't use or abuse my swords so I can't tell you about their durability or ability to cut.
For the measurements, I'm not the best at measuring but they should be pretty close.
The "inch from tip" measurements in particular aren't very close and won't be all that useful if you need them for anything precise. Especially in width, because a lot of them are tapering significantly at the spot I measured.
Thickness before fuller ends is at it's thinnest point before the fuller ends, usually pretty close to it. I included this because a lot of swords will get thicker once the fuller ends.
I included measurements for some of the blades just a bit past the base because on those blades it gets thicker after the base which is a weird quirk that Hanwei sometimes does and is a flaw.
Hanwei Tinker Bastard Sword with fuller
Weight: 2 lbs 9.8 oz
Thickness at base: 5.41 mm
Thickness about 2.5 inches past base: 5.8 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 5.05 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 5.64 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.7 mm
Width at Base: 41.5 mm
Width at fuller termination: 34.78 mm
Width an inch before tip: 15.16 mm
Balance is pretty good it's like an actual bastard sword you can use it good in one hand or very fast in two.
Grip is comfortable and slim.
Guard and pommel I like the style of the shape of them but the finish being different from the blade is not a good look.
It gets thicker a little past the base but it gets away with it. See the picture to see what I mean.
Hanwei Cawood Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 4.4 oz
Thickness at base: 5.54 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.16 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 3.51 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 3.19 mm
Width at Base: 49.84 mm
Width at fuller termination: 32.63 mm
Width an inch before tip: 22.53 mm
Mine is a little lighter than most and it definitely feels light, it's a very light sword.
Grip is thick but works.
I don't think the blade is particularly accurate to the original. Which is a shame. The hilt is mostly there, aesthetically at least. Honestly I think the blade is kind of the worst part of this sword in some ways. It has a non tapering fuller with a different finish than the rest of the blade and it's very ugly to me, just sticks out too much.
It's not bad, just ugly.
Hanwei Tinker Early Medieval Single Handed Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 8.4 oz
Thickness at base: 5.77 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.7 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 3.85 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.08 mm
Width at Base: 54.25 mm
Width at fuller termination: 32.21 mm
Width an inch before tip: 19 mm
This was my favorite sword before I got an Albion Knight. I think it has a really nice blade for the price and has a powerful but balanced feel to it. Looks good aesthetically.
Blade is very slightly bent, not an issue.
The hilt by comparison is kinda eh aesthetically but it is comfortable and usable. That is the point of the Hanwei Tinker Line so I can't really criticize it. It has a thin, squared off grip.
Hanwei Tinker Great Sword of War
Weight: 4 lbs 4.6 oz
Thickness at base: 5.94 mm
Thickness about 2 inches past base: 6.45 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 4.78 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 4.9 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 3.9 mm
Width at Base: 57.25 mm
Width at fuller termination: 42.11 mm
Width an inch before tip: 32.06 mm
This sword is one of the main ones that made me wanna make a thread about this. It looks really presentable really nice (see the picture of the basically nonexistent gap between blade and guard.) but they bombed the thickness of it and it's pretty unfortunately balanced.
This was apparently a common issue with these. I saw a post where Kult of Athena basically found a bunch of these with similar measurements. It gets thicker past the base of the blade - I assume they did this so the base could actually fit in, since it's too thick for the crossguard and sword design... and the blade in general is about a millimeter too thick throughout it's entirety.
I like the crossguard shape it just needs a different finish.
Grip is boxy and overly long but neither are bad things.
With the correct thickness this would be a cool sword, especially with a custom grip.
Hanwei Lowlander
I have this one's blade all wrapped up so no measurements, sorry. I measured it years ago but idk where they are. It was maybe a half pound heavier than spec and the base was a little thinner. Otherwise same as listed online.
This is probably the only sword here where I'd say straight up don't buy it. There's other people online here and like Skallagrim's review and they say it's kinda unsafe and not good.
Mine came direct from Casiberia and had rust on the tang. Sorry I can't take pictures, if you don't want to believe me that's okay. I can't take pictures because the guard was also loose and I epoxied that so it wasn't and in the process got the grip stuck on it like a dumbass.
I don't remember if the grip came cracked. I think it did.
I did weigh the pommel and it weighs 5.4 ounces.
Hanwei Rhinelander
Weight: 3 lbs 2.9 oz
Thickness at base: 5.57 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 4.16 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 5.45 mm!!
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.94 mm
Width at Base: 46.87 mm
Width at fuller termination: 37 mm
Width an inch before tip: 18.2 mm
This one's guard came loose on it's own after awhile (common issue) and the blade is a little bit bent but not a big deal.
The blade is a little weird and idk what they were going for but it's still cool.
Grip is shaped decently. Can grab the pommel partly for two handing.
Balance is not the greatest but it works. The blade is basically reinforced past the fuller if you look at the measurements lol idk what happened there. It doesn't make for a good bastard sword.
I think people often have issues with the flexibility of this sword but I don't think this or any of the other swords here are too flexible.
Kingston Arms Sidesword
Weight: 2 lbs 10.4 oz
Thickness at base: 4.8 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.71 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 4.41 mm
Thickness inch before tip: 2.47 mm
Width Base: 35.47 mm
Width at fuller termination: 28.36 mm
Width inch before tip: 14.25 mm
Base is measured past ricasso.
Kingston Arms is made by Hanwei so I'm including this and another Kingston Arms sword.
It's comfortable to use with your finger on the ricasso. Wielding it makes you feel like a badass more than the others. It's light and controllable and I'm pretty happy with it.
The blade is thin and flexible. So it may not be so good at thrusting into heavy targets.
The blade has a nicer polish than the Hanwei stuff. Unfortunately they didn't do the same finish on the hilt.
Hanwei Tinker Viking Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 11.2 oz
Thickness at base: 5.82 mm
Thickness a couple inches past base: 6.05 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.86 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 3.8 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.42 mm
Width at Base: 53.76 mm
Width at fuller termination: 35.2 mm
Width an inch before tip: 24.19 mm
The blade is a little off center width wise. It's a nice looking sword otherwise.
Like the great sword of war, but to a lesser extent, this sword was made thicker than it should've been.
The pommel is not comfortable to your wrist.
Kingston Arms Type XIV Arming Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 2.8 oz
Thickness at after guard: 5.93 mm
Thickness b4 fuller ends: 3.86 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 4.58 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 3.19 mm
Width at base (not same place as measured thickness): 55.74 mm
Width at fuller termination: 33.90 mm
Width an inch before tip: 16.44 mm
If you don't have a lot of money and you want a sword I think this one is the best one of all these to get.
The blade has a nicer finish than the Hanwei's and the fuller terminates smoothly. It doesn't look weird and has an authentic looking shape.
It does come with a secondary bevel that's pretty sempriniesque as Skallagrim's review demonstrates.
The grip is comfortable and I like that they did a cord underneath. There is a cord underneath and I know this because the grip on mine is peeling off (my fault.) I also like that it's a nice reddish color instead of black.
Pommel and guard work but I don't think they look authentic enough, especially the guard. Finish doesn't match the blade.
Final Thoughts
Hanwei's stuff is alright but being cheap stuff it comes with inconsistencies and flaws and you have to be okay with that.
I hope this post gives you somewhat of an idea of what to expect when you buy one of these online.
Aesthetically they all have a similar level of quality, it's just the differences in balance, and some smaller issues (bent blade, loose guards) you sometimes get.
Personally I wouldn't buy any of these again and would rather have something nicer that I know will be made correctly.
But if you don't really have the money these (mostly) aren't bad and are better than some other budget stuff which will also have flaws and inconsistencies.
Thanks for reading and again feel free to share your experiences and measurements even of other brands swords.
These were all purchased from 2019 to 2020. Newer Hanweis may be different. I know they changed the Kingston Arms XIV grip wrap for instance. I bought them from a combination of stores - Kult of Athena, SBG store, random eBay sellers.
I don't use or abuse my swords so I can't tell you about their durability or ability to cut.
For the measurements, I'm not the best at measuring but they should be pretty close.
The "inch from tip" measurements in particular aren't very close and won't be all that useful if you need them for anything precise. Especially in width, because a lot of them are tapering significantly at the spot I measured.
Thickness before fuller ends is at it's thinnest point before the fuller ends, usually pretty close to it. I included this because a lot of swords will get thicker once the fuller ends.
I included measurements for some of the blades just a bit past the base because on those blades it gets thicker after the base which is a weird quirk that Hanwei sometimes does and is a flaw.
Hanwei Tinker Bastard Sword with fuller
Weight: 2 lbs 9.8 oz
Thickness at base: 5.41 mm
Thickness about 2.5 inches past base: 5.8 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 5.05 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 5.64 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.7 mm
Width at Base: 41.5 mm
Width at fuller termination: 34.78 mm
Width an inch before tip: 15.16 mm
Balance is pretty good it's like an actual bastard sword you can use it good in one hand or very fast in two.
Grip is comfortable and slim.
Guard and pommel I like the style of the shape of them but the finish being different from the blade is not a good look.
It gets thicker a little past the base but it gets away with it. See the picture to see what I mean.
Hanwei Cawood Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 4.4 oz
Thickness at base: 5.54 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.16 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 3.51 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 3.19 mm
Width at Base: 49.84 mm
Width at fuller termination: 32.63 mm
Width an inch before tip: 22.53 mm
Mine is a little lighter than most and it definitely feels light, it's a very light sword.
Grip is thick but works.
I don't think the blade is particularly accurate to the original. Which is a shame. The hilt is mostly there, aesthetically at least. Honestly I think the blade is kind of the worst part of this sword in some ways. It has a non tapering fuller with a different finish than the rest of the blade and it's very ugly to me, just sticks out too much.
It's not bad, just ugly.
Hanwei Tinker Early Medieval Single Handed Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 8.4 oz
Thickness at base: 5.77 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.7 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 3.85 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.08 mm
Width at Base: 54.25 mm
Width at fuller termination: 32.21 mm
Width an inch before tip: 19 mm
This was my favorite sword before I got an Albion Knight. I think it has a really nice blade for the price and has a powerful but balanced feel to it. Looks good aesthetically.
Blade is very slightly bent, not an issue.
The hilt by comparison is kinda eh aesthetically but it is comfortable and usable. That is the point of the Hanwei Tinker Line so I can't really criticize it. It has a thin, squared off grip.
Hanwei Tinker Great Sword of War
Weight: 4 lbs 4.6 oz
Thickness at base: 5.94 mm
Thickness about 2 inches past base: 6.45 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 4.78 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 4.9 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 3.9 mm
Width at Base: 57.25 mm
Width at fuller termination: 42.11 mm
Width an inch before tip: 32.06 mm
This sword is one of the main ones that made me wanna make a thread about this. It looks really presentable really nice (see the picture of the basically nonexistent gap between blade and guard.) but they bombed the thickness of it and it's pretty unfortunately balanced.
This was apparently a common issue with these. I saw a post where Kult of Athena basically found a bunch of these with similar measurements. It gets thicker past the base of the blade - I assume they did this so the base could actually fit in, since it's too thick for the crossguard and sword design... and the blade in general is about a millimeter too thick throughout it's entirety.
I like the crossguard shape it just needs a different finish.
Grip is boxy and overly long but neither are bad things.
With the correct thickness this would be a cool sword, especially with a custom grip.
Hanwei Lowlander
I have this one's blade all wrapped up so no measurements, sorry. I measured it years ago but idk where they are. It was maybe a half pound heavier than spec and the base was a little thinner. Otherwise same as listed online.
This is probably the only sword here where I'd say straight up don't buy it. There's other people online here and like Skallagrim's review and they say it's kinda unsafe and not good.
Mine came direct from Casiberia and had rust on the tang. Sorry I can't take pictures, if you don't want to believe me that's okay. I can't take pictures because the guard was also loose and I epoxied that so it wasn't and in the process got the grip stuck on it like a dumbass.
I don't remember if the grip came cracked. I think it did.
I did weigh the pommel and it weighs 5.4 ounces.
Hanwei Rhinelander
Weight: 3 lbs 2.9 oz
Thickness at base: 5.57 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 4.16 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 5.45 mm!!
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.94 mm
Width at Base: 46.87 mm
Width at fuller termination: 37 mm
Width an inch before tip: 18.2 mm
This one's guard came loose on it's own after awhile (common issue) and the blade is a little bit bent but not a big deal.
The blade is a little weird and idk what they were going for but it's still cool.
Grip is shaped decently. Can grab the pommel partly for two handing.
Balance is not the greatest but it works. The blade is basically reinforced past the fuller if you look at the measurements lol idk what happened there. It doesn't make for a good bastard sword.
I think people often have issues with the flexibility of this sword but I don't think this or any of the other swords here are too flexible.
Kingston Arms Sidesword
Weight: 2 lbs 10.4 oz
Thickness at base: 4.8 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.71 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 4.41 mm
Thickness inch before tip: 2.47 mm
Width Base: 35.47 mm
Width at fuller termination: 28.36 mm
Width inch before tip: 14.25 mm
Base is measured past ricasso.
Kingston Arms is made by Hanwei so I'm including this and another Kingston Arms sword.
It's comfortable to use with your finger on the ricasso. Wielding it makes you feel like a badass more than the others. It's light and controllable and I'm pretty happy with it.
The blade is thin and flexible. So it may not be so good at thrusting into heavy targets.
The blade has a nicer polish than the Hanwei stuff. Unfortunately they didn't do the same finish on the hilt.
Hanwei Tinker Viking Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 11.2 oz
Thickness at base: 5.82 mm
Thickness a couple inches past base: 6.05 mm
Thickness before fuller ends: 3.86 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 3.8 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 2.42 mm
Width at Base: 53.76 mm
Width at fuller termination: 35.2 mm
Width an inch before tip: 24.19 mm
The blade is a little off center width wise. It's a nice looking sword otherwise.
Like the great sword of war, but to a lesser extent, this sword was made thicker than it should've been.
The pommel is not comfortable to your wrist.
Kingston Arms Type XIV Arming Sword
Weight: 2 lbs 2.8 oz
Thickness at after guard: 5.93 mm
Thickness b4 fuller ends: 3.86 mm
Thickness at fuller termination: 4.58 mm
Thickness an inch before tip: 3.19 mm
Width at base (not same place as measured thickness): 55.74 mm
Width at fuller termination: 33.90 mm
Width an inch before tip: 16.44 mm
If you don't have a lot of money and you want a sword I think this one is the best one of all these to get.
The blade has a nicer finish than the Hanwei's and the fuller terminates smoothly. It doesn't look weird and has an authentic looking shape.
It does come with a secondary bevel that's pretty sempriniesque as Skallagrim's review demonstrates.
The grip is comfortable and I like that they did a cord underneath. There is a cord underneath and I know this because the grip on mine is peeling off (my fault.) I also like that it's a nice reddish color instead of black.
Pommel and guard work but I don't think they look authentic enough, especially the guard. Finish doesn't match the blade.
Final Thoughts
Hanwei's stuff is alright but being cheap stuff it comes with inconsistencies and flaws and you have to be okay with that.
I hope this post gives you somewhat of an idea of what to expect when you buy one of these online.
Aesthetically they all have a similar level of quality, it's just the differences in balance, and some smaller issues (bent blade, loose guards) you sometimes get.
Personally I wouldn't buy any of these again and would rather have something nicer that I know will be made correctly.
But if you don't really have the money these (mostly) aren't bad and are better than some other budget stuff which will also have flaws and inconsistencies.
Thanks for reading and again feel free to share your experiences and measurements even of other brands swords.
Things have changed!