Cas Hanwei quality gear?

Steel130

Steel130

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I have been looking at some of Cas Hanweis' stuff and it seems like the flea market fantasy stuff I used to buy as a kid but in a serious usable construction. So I was just curious if anyone has some experience with their heat treat. I looking at the Practical Wakazashi and the Viking hatchet. Thanks.
 
I picked up the tactical wakizashi, not too bad. Kraton handles, 5160 steel, fit and finish is a little rough and it came at average machete sharpness. For just over a hundred bucks though, I am plenty happy with it. It is a good beater sword, and the sheath is nice. Only hanwei product I own.

I'm not into swords, so I picked one up for curiosity, it suits my needs perfectly.. as in it looks cool, seems sturdy, and I didn't drop a ton of cash on it. If that is what you are looking for, then go for it, if you are into higher end swords, this is not it. In knife terms, it is a like a gerber.. good enough for most people, but knife nuts will want more
 
Well, I am not a sword nut. And I cant justify $500 bucks yet on something I will have to send away to sharpen haha so I think they will suit my needs as well. Thanks man!
 
500?? is that how much the practical version is going for? I sure hope it is sharp for 500 bucks

Get the tactical version for like 110 then.
 
I have several swords and knives from Cas/Hanwei. I agree with Res1cue about the Wakishashi. This is an inexpensive beater. The shorter blade cannot achieve the momentum and speed of the katanas. I find the katanas to be fine cutters against a variety of soft targets such as different sized plastic bottles, (and the occasional stray Ninja.) I have had similarly good results with a few of his knives.

These are definitely not "wall hangers" or fantasy blades. Hanwei (Paul Chen) is now making his own steel in order to attain a greater purity than is otherwise available. His son, having studied for some years in Japan under gifted makers is now a superb maker of Japanese swords

So the Chen's take their products seriously, rightly so in my view.
 
I got a Hsu Jian, it's well enough constructed for the money, i think. Decent looking guard and such, sturdy blade, hasn't exploded from me hitting my bed to test it.
Unfortunately, my supplier, gavelins swords, lied to me and said it would be delivered sharp. I've managed to get a rough egde on the tip but not much else, it's very much harder to sharpen a double edge sword with my small handheld sharpeners than, for example my katana.
 
res1cue said:
500?? is that how much the practical version is going for? I sure hope it is sharp for 500 bucks

Get the tactical version for like 110 then.
Click to expand...

Nope, it's more like 90 bucks. I've got a couple of the tac waks, the practical Chinese broadsword, the tai chi sword, zatoichi sword, and a raptor, and maybe a few other Hanwei products here and there. Also the viking axe. They're generally very good value for what you pay.

Like anything, with Hanwei, you get what you pay for. Their more expensive models are fantastic blades, and very competitive with some of the best production models out there. The cheaper ones are among the best swords you can get at that price point, with a few exceptions. The prac wak and the viking axe are both good buys. However, the axes and hatchets do have one issue--the wood has been known to break more easily than it ought to. You may want to rehandle it. Other than that, it's a good buy, although for something hatchety, I would probably go with a Cold Steel hawk, personally. I'd go Hanwei for an axe. I'm trying to talk my supplier into joining BF, because they have better prices than most places.

Depending on what you're going for, you're not likely to get something razor sharp. The prac wak and tac wak both come sharp enough to do some cutting, but not really good enough for tameshigiri. You might pick something up and have it shipped to richard j for a paper wheels touchup.
 
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