Stats:
Weight: 3 lbs 7 ounces
Overall Length: 47 inches
Grip: 9 and ¼ inches
Blade Length: 35 and 1/8inches from guard
Point of Balance: approx. 5 and 1/2 inches from guard
Center or Percussion: approx. 21 and 1/2 inches from guard
Distal Taper
Sorry fellas can’t find my calipers… but it does have a definite distal taper
Initial Impressions:
Well, it’s a big honkin sword, looks ‘Ford Tough’
Appearance:
I have always felt drawn to type XIIIa blades and felt they have a certain grace and beauty about their design/utility. The Hanwei Tinker Great Sword of War is big, its brutal, its not a pretty two-hander designed for deft fencing maneuvers. It’s a battlefield sword, and one look at it tells you its intended purpose; namely to take the same qualities of the era’s single hand cruciform swords and make them bigger, for more power and more reach. You simply need to look at this sword, and you can feel that it wants to shear through targets.
A closer inspection reveals a surprisingly thin blade profile, spread out over a wide surface area, perfectly designed to reduce surface area and improve cutting power. Yet the fuller is well defined and surprisingly deep. The cross guard is not overly big, and has a subtle almost octagonal design. The Pommel is a wheel shape, pretty much a Type K. One thing I do miss in this design is the lack of a rivet block over the tang, as that is a quality I like in other Type XIIIa offerings. The blade does have a fairly noticeable secondary bevel near the cross, and it does become less noticeable as it travels towards the tip. The finish of the blade is the typical Hanwei finish. I am not a huge fan of it many times, but its grown on me over the years. The grip is brown leather without any noticeable cord overwrap, but with a nice 3 tiered riser smack in the middle. It works, even if its not fancy. The scabbard is the same color leather, and is again the typical Hanwei offering. Its functional and holds the blade well, but it is pretty bland.
Overall, I am a big fan of the appearance, which is why I bought it. In person, its held up well to inspection for quality and I find it an extreme value as an excellent recreation of a type XIIIa.
Handling:
I can honestly say I have never handled a sword that is this heavy before. It’s a very big sword and it takes a good deal of strength to even hold it static. If I ever skip my lunch visit to the gym, all I will need to do is come home and get this sword out to make up the time away from weights. Its not that its poorly balanced or cumbersome, but its going to tire you out quickly. That being said, it’s a lot of fun to get working at speed. Its recovers well for its size and type, and it has a good presence when in motion. Any complaints you would have about its handling need be directed at its type and purpose, not at its manufacturing and design.
I have done some limited cutting with it, and I am pleased to say that it cuts better then the Tinker Viking blade I owned a while ago; Hanwei seems to have gotten a better idea of how to give it a proper factory edge for cutting light targets. One other note is that I was quite surprised with how much flex this sword has in its blade, I would have guessed it would be stiffer, but in fact there is a considerable amount of movement along either side of the COP when you smack the pommel. Its borderline whippy, but again, I don’t think this is a problem for its type.
What you should expect:
Because of a sale at kultofathena, I bought this sword for about $130 shipped in brand new condition. It’s a complete bargain, hell, an outright steal at that price. Its all going to come down to deciding if you want to have a sword of this type in your collection. Its not going to be an offering that attracts everyone. But it delivers what you expect, and is manufactured/designed well by Tinker/Hanwei. I could not be more pleased with my first sword purchase in just about 2 years.
Photos:
