Hanwei Tactical Wak

Just got one of the Hanwei Tactical Waki's.The Kraton is surprisingly harder than any other I've seen which is nice and provides a comfortable grip.The fiberglass sheath is tough and a nicely finished.My only complain was there were a few inches at a couple of spots on the blade that did not have an edge which was disappointing.

Did anybody else get one and have more input?
 
See Michael Janich's review of the Tactical Waki in the January 2011 edition of Tactical Knives. The article begins on page 44.

In summary, ". . . when it comes to mastering the mechanics of live blade cutting in a fun, economical way, this $169 suggested retail price high-performance sword is hard to beat."

:)
 
razorburn said:
Just got one of the Hanwei Tactical Waki's.The Kraton is surprisingly harder than any other I've seen which is nice and provides a comfortable grip.The fiberglass sheath is tough and a nicely finished.My only complain was there were a few inches at a couple of spots on the blade that did not have an edge which was disappointing.

Did anybody else get one and have more input?
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Mine just arrived today. I like it; mine came uniformely sharp; maybe is a bit
narrow, but is very light (and I guess, very fast, if you are into sword figthing).
But, I'll have to wait until I put it through some tests, to form a better opinion.
 
I read Mr. Janich's review and it sounds like an interesting blade. I'd like to check one out. It'd be fun to use around the yard. :D
 
HikingMano said:
Did you ever get to run of of these through the paces, Steven?
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Got a chance to put this through the paces with single rolled Mugen Dachi mats today, sorry for the delay, it takes a while to get time and inclination to cut anymore, because it makes a big mess in the backyard.

Balance is exceptional. Weight is a bit light for my preference. Sharpness was "adequate"......you would deeply lacerate soft tissue with this, and cause trauma to bones, but by my standard of cutting through the mat completely with one stroke, the edge was not up to par.

Will try tuning the edge, and see what results we get.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Thanks Steven! Looking forward to results with a tuned edge :thumbup:

How do you feel about the handle now? Still longer than you'd like?
 
HikingMano said:
Thanks Steven! Looking forward to results with a tuned edge :thumbup:

How do you feel about the handle now? Still longer than you'd like?
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The handle is still about 2" longer than I would like, for a wakizashi...it is 9 1/2" from the tsuba to the end, a two hand grip only requires about 7 1/2" for me, but I have small hands.

It was very easy to cut one handed out of the scabbard, but the lightness is one of the contributing factors to not making it fully through the mat.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I figured I should quote this here as well, since I posted it in the Tactical Katana thread:


HikingMano said:
Will do :thumbup: It might not be for a while though...too much cutlery, too little money... :D

I'm no expert by any means, but the Wakizashi was impressive to me. It really is durable. I and another have hacked at 2x4s with it ( I don't know how to properly cut yet, I'll leave opinions on that to Steven and others), the only damage was a slightly loosened habaki and tsuba, and maybe a slightly bent blade from poor technique. Amazing, given hacking away at 2x4s with no technique (at least, on my part). The loosened parts were easily repaired with a bit of epoxy. We were actually surprised at how good of a geometry the blade had, it cut wood quite well with polished, deep, cuts (no sharpening, stock performance).

I even glanced off a granite counter top with the tip (sparks flew), and the only damage was a minor chip on the cutting edge of the kissaki. It was easily sharpened out in 5 minutes with some sandpaper on a backing. I'm surprised there wasn't more damage, even with a glancing hit.

I would like to know exactly what the full tang looks like though. When you first look at the tsuka, it looks like a full width tang. But then you notice that the "tang" is wider on the tsuka and ends flush against the tsuba, while the blade is less wide coming out of the tsuba. So I'm guessing the tang is hidden in there somehow. I'll take a picture of it later.

The Wakizashi balances well and is light and fast in hand. It'll be interesting to see if the Katana will be a good heavier cutter.
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Don't know if these pics show it well. It's easier to see when you have it in hand.

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I should have been more specific, I'm seeing the cracks on the edge side of the Habaki. I was concerned that this was common with this model.
 
Sigsaur, those pics aren't for the gap in the roughly finished habaki, they were for the full-tang question I was talking about in my post above.
 
Makes sense to me given that this is a sword geared towards non-sword-savvy people. I'm guessing they ran the HT a little more on the impact resistant side to allow it to soak up a little extra abuse.
 
I have one but have not had a chance to use it yet. I really like it very much. Thinking of getting the matching Katana.
 
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