kris Cutlery Da Dao
Feb 16, 2009 4:14:54 GMT
Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2009 4:14:54 GMT
Review by Thana Sathirachinda
I discovered this new sword from Kris Cuterly website about 4 months ago .My first impression of this sword is that it is just too tiny to be a Da Dao. Afterall the American name for this type of sword are Chinese great sword, Chinese war sword ,and Chinese battle sword etc., this little dao is so tiny one could mistake it for gardening tool or kitchen knife. The list blade lenght is 17 inches about the lenght of WWI era bayonets, in fact, my Argentine bayonet is almost as long as this dao. However, this dao is made by Kris cutlery and they usually make the best sword for the money so I decide to take a plunge and get it .
I came across an article in Classical Fighting Art magazine ( Vol.2 No. 14 , issue #37 ,page 55 by Brian L. Kenedy ,JD and Elizabeth Guo , BA ) titled " Bridge and Big Knives" .The article gave a glimpse of combat record of this Da dao but one important tidbit is the military specification of this type of weapn ; 3.5 pounds and 35.5 inches in lenght . From this article I also learned and confirmed to my beleive that there were no such thing as custom made Da Dao because majority of them were forged out of scrap metal or whatever iron and steel soldiers and smith could got thier hand on. I supposed this could make a good excuse for modern day manufacturers to claim that their dull or poor quality Da Dao are indeed authentic ,truth to thier World War II ancester but I sure hope they are not try too hard to "authentic" this type of sword because if I want to hit bottle across the garage I would buy a baseball bat and save me about $60
The sword come with in a few days after I made final payment
The packaging it typical and no surprise here lot of bubble wrap and box in side a box ;secured safe and sound .
The blade
The blade is 18 inches long and very narrow compared to other Da Dao that I own
This Da dao is dwarted by SOM Chinese great sword .It is indeed look a bit more like machete or coconut cracking knife that grand ma used.
The wide of this blade is about a tad shy of 2½ inches not sound like a great cutter but is it ? (we will find out soon enough )
The grip ,pommel and guard
The grip is typical ring pommel with black cord wrap but this time it is not ito style wrap so it is look a bit more authentic . The grip material is very secure .The grip is about 14 inches long . The only complain is that the square guard has some play to it but I can easily shrim this to keep it secure . The guard is just thick square block of steel not much to protect hand from opponent incoming blade but the less material mean less weight .
Scabbard
This one is easy -it doesn't come with scabbard but KC sent pouch along with the sword. The material of this pouch is nylon and the tip of the blade already work its way out of the pouch so it is a good size cut on the bottom .I used duct tape of repair the cut and plan to find suitable material to reinforce this bottom part so the blade will not work its way out of the pouch again.
Specification
Weight : 2.2 Pounds
Blade lenght : 17 inches long
Handle with Pommel : 14 inches long
OAL : 32½ inches
POB: 2 inches from the guard
POP : 14 inches from the guard
Cutting test and Handling
The short blade and long handle make this doa feel more like Burmese and Thai Dha than Chinese Da Dao. In fact, there is one of the dha blade profile called Hau Tad ( slant head ) that look and feel very similar to this Da Dao . It is not surprise because Chinese came into contact with South East Asia for thousand of years so they pretty much influence each other weapon designed . KC da dao can be wield with one hand but because the full tang wooden cover handle make it tiresome after several swing. Using both hand this Da Dao is quick but lacking the front heavy flow of its peers so it is pretty much feel like hybrid dha and Da dao that requier seperate practice to get familization with.
I am happy to report that this da dao come out fully sharp from factory and it slice through my usual cutting target with no problem .I cut ½ gallon milk jug and pet bottle Diet coke and water bottle without any problem -There is no baseball practice here with this Da Dao
Scoring
Historical accuracy : 4/5 ( it would have score perfect if it come with in mil spec of 3.5 LBS / 35.5 inches )
Fit and finish : 4/5
Handling : 4/5 (feel more like dha yet still fast and effective )
structural stability : 5/5
value for money : 5/5
Overal value : 4.2/5
Pro - This is affordable sword at $115
- It come fully sharp ,it is one of a few production Da Dao on the market that come with razor sharp edge ready to cut
- Light and quick blade almost feel like Burmese Dha
- excellent craftmanship , I can feel the love and care that the Phillipnos blade smith putting into this sword
Con - It look so small and cute unlike any Da Dao on market making it feel more like kitchen knife or gardening tool
- The short and narrow blade did not fall into Da Dao spec of WWII making it more like civilian blade
- It did not come with scabbard and the carrying case look like pool stick case so the sword has to be display naked unless you want to keep explain to the house guest why you keep pool stick on the wall with other swords.
- The guard rattle a bit and it is too small to give good hand protection .
Da Dao next to its peer .The top blade is Paul Chen Banshee and bottom one is KC old style Wak. The Da Dao would make good confine space cutter (in fact, that what cutting space I have most of the time -half of the garage ) .It is two hand sword with short blade allow me to give a good swing with out the fear of hitting roomate's SUV or garage ceiling and wall.
This Da Dao is almost perfect if not for its shorter than usual blade . It is good cutter and is a welcome addition to small family of Da Dao .
Bottom line : I would recommend this sword to anyone .It is light , quick and sharp so it is really enjoyable backyard cutter sword .It also has personality of Burmese dha and Chinese one hand dao so it can be use as single hand sword with two hand hold for extra power.
I discovered this new sword from Kris Cuterly website about 4 months ago .My first impression of this sword is that it is just too tiny to be a Da Dao. Afterall the American name for this type of sword are Chinese great sword, Chinese war sword ,and Chinese battle sword etc., this little dao is so tiny one could mistake it for gardening tool or kitchen knife. The list blade lenght is 17 inches about the lenght of WWI era bayonets, in fact, my Argentine bayonet is almost as long as this dao. However, this dao is made by Kris cutlery and they usually make the best sword for the money so I decide to take a plunge and get it .
I came across an article in Classical Fighting Art magazine ( Vol.2 No. 14 , issue #37 ,page 55 by Brian L. Kenedy ,JD and Elizabeth Guo , BA ) titled " Bridge and Big Knives" .The article gave a glimpse of combat record of this Da dao but one important tidbit is the military specification of this type of weapn ; 3.5 pounds and 35.5 inches in lenght . From this article I also learned and confirmed to my beleive that there were no such thing as custom made Da Dao because majority of them were forged out of scrap metal or whatever iron and steel soldiers and smith could got thier hand on. I supposed this could make a good excuse for modern day manufacturers to claim that their dull or poor quality Da Dao are indeed authentic ,truth to thier World War II ancester but I sure hope they are not try too hard to "authentic" this type of sword because if I want to hit bottle across the garage I would buy a baseball bat and save me about $60
The sword come with in a few days after I made final payment
The packaging it typical and no surprise here lot of bubble wrap and box in side a box ;secured safe and sound .
The blade
The blade is 18 inches long and very narrow compared to other Da Dao that I own
This Da dao is dwarted by SOM Chinese great sword .It is indeed look a bit more like machete or coconut cracking knife that grand ma used.
The wide of this blade is about a tad shy of 2½ inches not sound like a great cutter but is it ? (we will find out soon enough )
The grip ,pommel and guard
The grip is typical ring pommel with black cord wrap but this time it is not ito style wrap so it is look a bit more authentic . The grip material is very secure .The grip is about 14 inches long . The only complain is that the square guard has some play to it but I can easily shrim this to keep it secure . The guard is just thick square block of steel not much to protect hand from opponent incoming blade but the less material mean less weight .
Scabbard
This one is easy -it doesn't come with scabbard but KC sent pouch along with the sword. The material of this pouch is nylon and the tip of the blade already work its way out of the pouch so it is a good size cut on the bottom .I used duct tape of repair the cut and plan to find suitable material to reinforce this bottom part so the blade will not work its way out of the pouch again.
Specification
Weight : 2.2 Pounds
Blade lenght : 17 inches long
Handle with Pommel : 14 inches long
OAL : 32½ inches
POB: 2 inches from the guard
POP : 14 inches from the guard
Cutting test and Handling
The short blade and long handle make this doa feel more like Burmese and Thai Dha than Chinese Da Dao. In fact, there is one of the dha blade profile called Hau Tad ( slant head ) that look and feel very similar to this Da Dao . It is not surprise because Chinese came into contact with South East Asia for thousand of years so they pretty much influence each other weapon designed . KC da dao can be wield with one hand but because the full tang wooden cover handle make it tiresome after several swing. Using both hand this Da Dao is quick but lacking the front heavy flow of its peers so it is pretty much feel like hybrid dha and Da dao that requier seperate practice to get familization with.
I am happy to report that this da dao come out fully sharp from factory and it slice through my usual cutting target with no problem .I cut ½ gallon milk jug and pet bottle Diet coke and water bottle without any problem -There is no baseball practice here with this Da Dao
Scoring
Historical accuracy : 4/5 ( it would have score perfect if it come with in mil spec of 3.5 LBS / 35.5 inches )
Fit and finish : 4/5
Handling : 4/5 (feel more like dha yet still fast and effective )
structural stability : 5/5
value for money : 5/5
Overal value : 4.2/5
Pro - This is affordable sword at $115
- It come fully sharp ,it is one of a few production Da Dao on the market that come with razor sharp edge ready to cut
- Light and quick blade almost feel like Burmese Dha
- excellent craftmanship , I can feel the love and care that the Phillipnos blade smith putting into this sword
Con - It look so small and cute unlike any Da Dao on market making it feel more like kitchen knife or gardening tool
- The short and narrow blade did not fall into Da Dao spec of WWII making it more like civilian blade
- It did not come with scabbard and the carrying case look like pool stick case so the sword has to be display naked unless you want to keep explain to the house guest why you keep pool stick on the wall with other swords.
- The guard rattle a bit and it is too small to give good hand protection .
Da Dao next to its peer .The top blade is Paul Chen Banshee and bottom one is KC old style Wak. The Da Dao would make good confine space cutter (in fact, that what cutting space I have most of the time -half of the garage ) .It is two hand sword with short blade allow me to give a good swing with out the fear of hitting roomate's SUV or garage ceiling and wall.
This Da Dao is almost perfect if not for its shorter than usual blade . It is good cutter and is a welcome addition to small family of Da Dao .
Bottom line : I would recommend this sword to anyone .It is light , quick and sharp so it is really enjoyable backyard cutter sword .It also has personality of Burmese dha and Chinese one hand dao so it can be use as single hand sword with two hand hold for extra power.