Hello,

someone could tell me the difference in size between the hanwei and cold steel basket hilt ?

wich one is the best sized in compare with historical examples in terms of dimension and weight?

and what about manifacture?

may be this topic has already been discussed, but i haven'y found anything.

Thanks

Gabriele

The Cold Steel's hilt is based on the 1828 pattern, so it is wrong for anything that is supposed to be before that date...

There are two designs from Hanwei; the backsword - which is based on an English basket hilt from the 1670s. The basket on this one is a bit large compared to most hilts from this period.
The Broadsword is based on a conventional hilt with design from the 1720s-1750s and is more correctly sized. It's quite decent for a medium sized hand, but will probably also work well for a larger hand as well.

I've only got the practical ones, but there may be some difference on the sharp ones.
If you're buying one, I suggest you do a search on ebay, as the prices there are generally favourable compared to most other online shops.

Cheers,
Henrik