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Hal Siegel
Industry Professional
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 Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 10:00 am Post subject: Practical longsword - 5th generation! |
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Without any fanfare or notice, Hanwei presented their fifth generation of the Practical series longsword in May of 2010. (Despite efforts to educate them, Hanwei still call this the "Practical hand-and-a-half sword", but at least that's an accurately descriptive term).
(And yeah, it was completely without notice - I handle *a lot* of practical longswords, but one day I opened a fresh shipment for inspection, pulled the first one out, and had a serious "whoa, cool!" moment when I realized the swords had changed - and for the better!)
The fifth generation longsword features a smaller pommel than the earlier generations, making the sword much more comfortable to handle and bringing the weight down.
length: 43 1/4"
blade: 34"
blade width: 1 3/4" at base
blade width: 5/8" at 2" from the tip
grip and pommel: 8 3/4"
guard: 7 1/4"
balance point: 3 3/4" from guard
weight (sword): 2 lb 12.5 oz
weight (sword & scabbard): 3 lb 5.5 oz
More pics and details and ordering - http://www.therionarms.com/reenact/therionarms_c389.html
Permission granted to spread the word 
Hal Siegel - TherionArms
http://www.therionarms.com
http://www.facebook.com/TherionArms
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Justin H. Núñez
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| Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 12:08 pm Post subject: |
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That looks very very nice! I think that that would be one heck of a buy. Their stuff has really improved. I wonder if they are going to do a 5th gen one-handed sword?
"Nothing in fencing is really difficult, it just takes work." - Aldo Nadi
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Scott S.
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| Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 12:29 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, nice price on that! Thank you Sir Therion!
I just bought Tobler's "Fighting with the German Longsword" a couple of weeks ago with a mind towards getting a safe, er "safer" sword than the one sharp longsword I own and beginning my "quest for competency." Order hopefully forthcoming after consulting with the Missus and her mystic oracle "Quicken." For some reason she's less impressed than I am with a good sword deal, but she might be swayed if I tell her I'd be much less likely to cut one of my ears off.
Question: Do you know if the grip is wood on these 5th Gens?
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Hal Siegel
Industry Professional
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Richard Schneider
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| Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Scott S. wrote: | Wow, nice price on that! Thank you Sir Therion!
I just bought Tobler's "Fighting with the German Longsword" a couple of weeks ago with a mind towards getting a safe, er "safer" sword than the one sharp longsword I own and beginning my "quest for competency." Order hopefully forthcoming after consulting with the Missus and her mystic oracle "Quicken." For some reason she's less impressed than I am with a good sword deal, but she might be swayed if I tell her I'd be much less likely to cut one of my ears off. |
My wife bought me a wall hanger for Christmas and now she tells everyone, "Look what I started!"
I studied longsword with The Chicago Swordplay Guild, an awesome group and a great class. If you can find someone to study with I highly recommend it.
I just recently purchased this hand and a half as I find my practice time better, and well to be honest, a whole lot cooler with something other than a waster. Not knowing much about swords I was apprehensive about the purchase. It is a relief to see others giving the sword good reviews.
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Andrew Maxwell
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| Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Richard Schneider wrote: | | I just recently purchased this hand and a half as I find my practice time better, and well to be honest, a whole lot cooler with something other than a waster. Not knowing much about swords I was apprehensive about the purchase. It is a relief to see others giving the sword good reviews. |
The consensus amongst a lot of groups is that this is a good entry-level blunt. You can't get anything better without spending quite a bit more cash. Obviously something like an Albion or A&A is better, but this is a pretty good workhorse
Definitely a good buy for the price.
Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man's power to live long. - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
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P. Cha
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| Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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How are the wood cores on these new ones? One of the biggest issues I have with hanwei euro swords is the quality of their wood cores. The wood cores I have seen on the fourth gen was pure crap...I mean borderline unsafe bad. The wood core on my hanwei tinker sword was also very poor...albeit not as bad as the practicals.
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Artis Aboltins
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| Posted: Thu 27 May, 2010 10:38 pm Post subject: |
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| P. Cha wrote: | | How are the wood cores on these new ones? One of the biggest issues I have with hanwei euro swords is the quality of their wood cores. The wood cores I have seen on the fourth gen was pure crap...I mean borderline unsafe bad. The wood core on my hanwei tinker sword was also very poor...albeit not as bad as the practicals. |
From the photos it seems they are not using wood at all - it is rather a fiberglass "faux wood" so if you intend to wear the sword on some sort of reenactment events or want something that looks the least bit historical, at least cover the scabbard core with leather. If it is only for storing purposes, this one is not too bad - on my "practical viking sword" it fitts the blade snugly and seems sturdy enough to protect it during the normal storage or travel.
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Richard Schneider
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| Posted: Sat 29 May, 2010 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Artis Aboltins wrote: | | P. Cha wrote: | | How are the wood cores on these new ones? One of the biggest issues I have with hanwei euro swords is the quality of their wood cores. The wood cores I have seen on the fourth gen was pure crap...I mean borderline unsafe bad. The wood core on my hanwei tinker sword was also very poor...albeit not as bad as the practicals. |
From the photos it seems they are not using wood at all - it is rather a fiberglass "faux wood" so if you intend to wear the sword on some sort of reenactment events or want something that looks the least bit historical, at least cover the scabbard core with leather. If it is only for storing purposes, this one is not too bad - on my "practical viking sword" it fitts the blade snugly and seems sturdy enough to protect it during the normal storage or travel. |
The core is, as you mention, suspect. It is fine for storage as it is a good fit but it looks to me actually that it is plastic covered with a faux wood grain.
I had thought it would be a good practice project to make a new wood core and cover with leather. That way when I get me a real sword I will know what I am doing to make a scabbard after the beautiful ones I have seen on this site. Awesome how-tos posted here.
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P. Cha
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| Posted: Sun 30 May, 2010 12:40 am Post subject: |
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| Artis Aboltins wrote: | | P. Cha wrote: | | How are the wood cores on these new ones? One of the biggest issues I have with hanwei euro swords is the quality of their wood cores. The wood cores I have seen on the fourth gen was pure crap...I mean borderline unsafe bad. The wood core on my hanwei tinker sword was also very poor...albeit not as bad as the practicals. |
From the photos it seems they are not using wood at all - it is rather a fiberglass "faux wood" so if you intend to wear the sword on some sort of reenactment events or want something that looks the least bit historical, at least cover the scabbard core with leather. If it is only for storing purposes, this one is not too bad - on my "practical viking sword" it fitts the blade snugly and seems sturdy enough to protect it during the normal storage or travel. |
I meant the handle core...not scabbard. I actually don't mind the fiberglass ones as they are pretty easy to just cover in leather. They are however not very good for storage use if you live near sources of salt water...just saying from personal expierence  .
Also, kinda curious if the steel got harder in this gen. One of the issues I have had with the earlier ones is that the steel was on the soft side so unless it was matched up against another hanwei practical, the edge would get chewed up pretty quickly...especially against the hanwei tinkerline blunts.
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This is a standard topic