Good useable chopping sword...

[misque]

Yeah, that 2 hog chop with the CS Chinese War Sword was cool looking.

However, I don't know what to think of their sword cutting demos in general.

For example, they were chopping through sides of beef ribs with a number of their swords. The best cow rib slab chopper turned out to be their "Katana Machete" which did the deed in three strokes. With LT doing the honors to boot.
The Chinese War Sword took four strokes, IIRC.
I think their Two Handed Great Sword needed four strokes too.

I don't know what to think of that.
I do know the demos are pretty entertaining, though.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

That is correct sir! my haft is not nearly as well crafted as yours I'm afraid. Just whittled a dowel to fit the socket.

Sharpened it up on the belt grinder and later gave it a ferric chloride etch. Fun!

I hand-sharpened mine. I recently got a 1x30 belt sander and would use that, but I've riveted the head the the shaft so it'd be a little awkward!

 

[clayton c]

Yeah, that 2 hog chop with the CS Chinese War Sword was cool looking.

However, I don't know what to think of their sword cutting demos in general.

For example, they were chopping through sides of beef ribs with a number of their swords. The best cow rib slab chopper turned out to be their "Katana Machete" which did the deed in three strokes. With LT doing the honors to boot.
The Chinese War Sword took four strokes, IIRC.
I think their Two Handed Great Sword needed four strokes too.

I don't know what to think of that.
I do know the demos are pretty entertaining, though.

I agree, I can tell LT isn't as smooth or natural in the follow through of his cuts, in fact he looks as if he might loose the sword. That big fellow, he seems like he has a lot of experience in tatami cutting. He has skill.

I think they should drop some of the dumb cuts like the "meat in the boot" chop or the "basket ball" one. They do appear to be hacking at those ribs too. I can't help but think it is in the technique rather than the blade.

 

[ElSitherino]

Elsitherino: It would be awesome, but paddling takes two hands or the kayak veers. Unless I build up a ton of speed, and stop paddling and hit a target while gliding. Hmmm.

I'm still thinking about taking mine in my canoe and getting my small-scale pirate on...

Also, if anyone is wondering about the new Hanwei Dadao, it's well improved as far as balance and I would say it's a better purchase than the cold steel. I would very much like to have two, to be honest.

 

[galen59]

For the $, a Hanwei banshee, stupid name, great blade..

 

[C.S. Graves]

I hand-sharpened mine. I recently got a 1x30 belt sander and would use that, but I've riveted the head the the shaft so it'd be a little awkward!

You're a more patient man than I! Even on a grinder with a coarse belt, it took me a relatively long time to get a decent edge on mine (read, almost hair-shaving sharp).

Someday I may want to get another and make an iklwa out of it!

SSSSSSSHAKA!

 

[Bimmer1]

I took my Cold Steel two-handed katana machete out along with my Kris Cutlery DaDao last week for some tree cutting experimentation. The Cold Steel two-handed katana is tough and definitely takes a beating. All-in-all.....the thicker Krist Cutlery DaDao wins hands down for slicing through thicker (yet smaller) trees. It went through more often on the first cut than the Cold Steel ever did. Both are awkward and smoewhat heavy with the DaDao being heavier. The DaDao will wear you out just using it but it's takes much less effort to cut with it when compared to the katana machete.
I was quite impressed with the durability of the katana machete and think it is well worth the small price you pay for one. I think it is very good for what it is. It is a good cutter of smaller brush and saplings.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

You're a more patient man than I! Even on a grinder with a coarse belt, it took me a relatively long time to get a decent edge on mine (read, almost hair-shaving sharp).

Someday I may want to get another and make an iklwa out of it!

SSSSSSSHAKA!

Yeah. This was years ago when they first came out--it took me a while with a file and stones, but what's the point of having a hewing spear that can't hew?

I took my Cold Steel two-handed katana machete out along with my Kris Cutlery DaDao last week for some tree cutting experimentation. The Cold Steel two-handed katana is tough and definitely takes a beating. All-in-all.....the thicker Krist Cutlery DaDao wins hands down for slicing through thicker (yet smaller) trees. It went through more often on the first cut than the Cold Steel ever did. Both are awkward and smoewhat heavy with the DaDao being heavier. The DaDao will wear you out just using it but it's takes much less effort to cut with it when compared to the katana machete.
I was quite impressed with the durability of the katana machete and think it is well worth the small price you pay for one. I think it is very good for what it is. It is a good cutter of smaller brush and saplings.

Personally I found the Katana Machete to be a tremendous waste of physical energy--the design just has the balance and center of percussion all out of whack. It handles quickly, but with little force compared to what it should, and when you hold it at the base of the handle to try to squeeze a little more force or it you end up with some pretty bad shock transference. Your mileage may vary though. Still tons of fun for just over $20 though.

 

[Bimmer1]

I think you are right.......you definitely have to work the Cold Steel two-handed katana machete to get it to perform on thicker targets/material. It's worth the money but it doesn't quite have what it takes to be considered the best thick brush cutter.

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

They needed to make it a couple inches shorter in the handle, a couple inches longer in the blade, and maybe increase the stock thickness. Also lengthening the tang would have been nice. I've seen a few photos already where folks (who were throwing it ) snapped the handle off right below the bolts because that's only how far the tang goes.

Again, I think it's worth the $20 for it, but I think it falls way short of what it could have been.

 

[Bimmer1]

They needed to make it a couple inches shorter in the handle, a couple inches longer in the blade, and maybe increase the stock thickness. Also lengthening the tang would have been nice. I've seen a few photos already where folks (who were throwing it ) snapped the handle off right below the bolts because that's only how far the tang goes.

Again, I think it's worth the $20 for it, but I think it falls way short of what it could have been.

I also wondered about the length of the tang. It seems like in this price range extending the tang to full length would not have really added to the cost.

 

[Carolina River Rat]

Smatchet!!!

 

[FortyTwoBlades]

I also wondered about the length of the tang. It seems like in this price range extending the tang to full length would not have really added to the cost.

Yeah, honestly. As long as they were able to keep the MSRP at $70 or below they would have been fine with increasing the cost a little to increase performance and overall quality. You'd still be getting a dirt-cheap street price on a functional beat-it-up sword machete. After all of the buildup with folks (myself included) waiting for the thing to become available it's kind of a let-down.

Smatchet!!!

Ok--conversation over. We have an indisputable winning answer right here.

 

[misque]

They needed to make it a couple inches shorter in the handle, a couple inches longer in the blade, and maybe increase the stock thickness. Also lengthening the tang would have been nice. I've seen a few photos already where folks (who were throwing it ) snapped the handle off right below the bolts because that's only how far the tang goes.

Again, I think it's worth the $20 for it, but I think it falls way short of what it could have been.

Note: Bold added by me.


I just pulled out a more powerful magnet, balanced the machete (at it's balance point, 1.5" in front of the guard) and slowly went down the length of the handle with the magnet.
There is a strong attraction down to just behind the back bolt, about 1/2-3/4" back. Strong enough to pull the machete off balance.

There is still attraction the rest of the handle's length, but, it is diminished by a good deal. I can feel the magnet's pull on the handle, and the handle unbalances a little, but, not by much.

I should have done this when I checked it originally a while back. I just noted the "attraction" and called it good. :foot:

I sincerely apologize if anyone was misled by my other post about the handle.

 

[JNieporte]

They needed to make it a couple inches shorter in the handle, a couple inches longer in the blade, and maybe increase the stock thickness...(

Simple mod, took all of 15 minutes.

I used a hacksaw to remove about 6" of the handle. A lanyard hole was drilled, and the rough end sanded.

In hand...

It still has enough to use a two-handed grip (the lanyard hole is visible in my two-handed grip, and my hands require a size XL glove).

 

[BryFry]

Looks pretty good! how does the balance feel?



P.S. ....clean your fingernails! ....JK

 

[JNieporte]

Looks pretty good! how does the balance feel?

P.S. ....clean your fingernails! ....JK

It feels very well, and even lends itself nicely to machete use.
Oh, my fingers (not just the nails) were dirty because I just finished grinding four blades LOL.

 

[Edwood7]

The Hanwei Banshee Dha is a great sword that is perfect for cutting. I have been using mine for about 6 months during some of my jungle operations in Oaxaca, Mexico. Everyone always ask me where I got it. Here’s a review
www.sword-buyers-guide.com/banshee.html.

It’s an excellent tree killer. Most of the guys I work whit would trade their machetes for one like mine in a second. The only bad thing i could say about it is the saya isn’t al that great. I covered mine up whit a army uniform pant leg.

 

[Bimmer1]

The Hanwei Banshee Dha is a great sword that is perfect for cutting. I have been using mine for about 6 months during some of my jungle operations in Oaxaca, Mexico. Everyone always ask me where I got it. Here’s a review
www.sword-buyers-guide.com/banshee.html.

It’s an excellent tree killer. Most of the guys I work whit would trade their machetes for one like mine in a second. The only bad thing i could say about it is the saya isn’t al that great. I covered mine up whit a army uniform pant leg.

The blade stock is somewhat thin on the Banshee........have you found it to be pretty durable?

 

[valentino petrusich]

so cold steel says they are the toughest and strongest well i'm sure a busse or swamprat would top it can anyone tell me if they have personal experience with the warrior series from cold steel?