basket hilt size -- myArmoury.com

Gabriele Becattini · Posted: Fri 23 Jan, 2009 1:06 am Post subject: basket hilt size

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

Henrik Bjoern Boegh · Posted: Fri 23 Jan, 2009 2:54 am Post subject:

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