转贴美国刀友lokar对于汉威丁克系列维京剑的品鉴

汉威

转贴美国刀友lokar对于汉威丁克系列维京剑的品鉴
原文地址： http://sbgswordforum.proboards.c ... wordreviews&action=display&thread=10538

汉威

Since this is my first review, let me know if I leave anything out.



My sword collection had been suffering for awhile from a severe case of viking deficiency. I wanted to fix that but none of the swords I saw really caught my attention. Then towards the end of 2008 I saw pictures for the prototype of the viking sword designed by Michael 'Tinker' Pearce for Hanwei and knew that I had to have one. After many months of waiting they finally arrived in May for $279.65 at Kult of Athena and I grabbed one of the first shipments. Finally, the sword I had been waiting for over a half a year for was mine.

Historical Overview

The classic viking sword is thought to have descended from the roman cavalry spatha after the Norse adopted and adapted it to their own purposes( the fuller, distal taper, and a gradual narrowing of the blade width) to make it better suited to a warrior on foot. Michael 'Tinker' Pearce has said himself that he did not base the sword on a single antique but used idInitial Impressions

Shipping from Kult of Athena was fast as always, arriving at my door two days after placing my order. Inside the shipping box and the wadded up brown paper was a smaller box that contained the sword in a plastic sleeve. One of the first things I noticed was how thin the grip of the sword was but i'll get into that later. After cleaning off the grease used for storage it was time to take it outside for some pictures. Except that it was raining so photos would have to wait for another day with less water.

Statistics

Blade Length : 30 3/8"

Blade Width: 2 1/8"

Grip Length: 4 1/8"

Overall Length: 36 7/8"

POB: 4 1/2"

COP: 19 14"

Weight: 2lb 8oz

The HandleInitial Impressions

Shipping from Kult of Athena was fast as always, arriving at my door two days after placing my order. Inside the shipping box and the wadded up brown paper was a smaller box that contained the sword in a plastic sleeve. One of the first things I noticed was how thin the grip of the sword was but i'll get into that later. After cleaning off the grease used for storage it was time to take it outside for some pictures. Except that it was raining so photos would have to wait for another day with less water.

Statistics

Blade Length : 30 3/8"

Blade Width: 2 1/8"

Grip Length: 4 1/8"

Overall Length: 36 7/8"

POB: 4 1/2"

COP: 19 14"

Weight: 2lb 8oz

The Handleeas found in several swords of the period, particularly those found around Trondheim, Norway.











Initial Impressions

Shipping from Kult of Athena was fast as always, arriving at my door two days after placing my order. Inside the shipping box and the wadded up brown paper was a smaller box that contained the sword in a plastic sleeve. One of the first things I noticed was how thin the grip of the sword was but i'll get into that later. After cleaning off the grease used for storage it was time to take it outside for some pictures. Except that it was raining so photos would have to wait for another day with less water.

Statistics

Blade Length : 30 3/8"

Blade Width: 2 1/8"

Grip Length: 4 1/8"

Overall Length: 36 7/8"

POB: 4 1/2"

COP: 19 14"

Weight: 2lb 8oz

The Handle





The pommel and guard are steel with circular indentations that look nice but are not too showy.




The grip is wood with leather glued over it. I like how the seam is made well enough that it is not noticeable unless you put your face close and stare at it. At 3/4" thick the handle is narrower than I am accustomed to, but I found with use that it was just as comfortable as my other swords, just different.







The pommel has a steel wire running through one of the lines along with the indentations. On the end you can see the peened tang as well as the indentations left by the hammer that has a kind of charm for me (those small bits sticking out are wood).




The guard is 3 1/2" wide with the same circle indentations and narrows on the ends.

The Blade





The blade has a satin finish with a fuller running down the length and under the guard and narrowing from 2 1/8" at the base to 1 1/2" at the end of the fuller.




The tip gradually brings the blade to a point and I think it is one of the nicer parts of the sword.




While it can be hard to catch on camera, the sword comes with a secondary bevel edge. These edges can sometimes cut just as well it nevertheless makes the blade slightly less attractive. In flex testing the blade was bent to ninety degrees but came back true and straight.

The Scabbard








The scabbard is wood covered leather with steel around the throat, chap, and and a second band seven inches down. There is also small rings at either end of the bands for securing the sword to a belt. The leather is tightly stitched on the back and runs the length of the scabbard and goes under the chap which has a nice U shape instead of straight across. The sword was difficult to draw out at first but since these pictures were taken it has become just as easy to draw as any other sword while still remaining in the scabbard while turned upside down.

Handling

Swinging the blade requires little effort but changing directions mid-swing needs quite alot of force. I've found that the easiest way to use this sword is to come back with a return stroke or keeping the blade constantly moving. I'm at what I consider to be an average height of 5'10" and am neither skinny nor have large muscles, and the blade felt neither heavy or light, just the weight that you think a sword should feel in your hand. As I said before the grip is thinner than usual but after some use it feels normal and is large enough to accomodate the ax handle or handshake grip.

Test Cutting

Wondering about how the edge would do, I started easy with gallon jugs which offered no problem. Progressing to two liter containers it still did the job, though no as cleanly and sometimes knocking the bottle over as well. Then to water bottles and that was were there was some problems. While it will cut them the bottles also went flying, looking closer at the remains of these plastic missiles I saw that the cuts would change direction partway through. It seemed like the blade did not have enough of an edge to enter cleanly, causing the bottles to bend around the blade as it continued through.

Slightly disappointed in the edge I decided to take advantage of it by testing the swords durability on my tire pell.





During the next few weeks I only used this sword during my daily sessions to see how it would hold up. At one point I accidentally hit the wood on the top with a full force strike, but after a very close inspection I found my sword, even with it's edge problems was alright and without a mark on it. So far it's been struck against the pell somewhere around 8,000 times yet shows no signs of looseness or bending.

Conclusions

Currently $279.65 at Kult of Athena this is an attractive and sturdy blade that can take a beating. While the edge that it comes with is not as sharp to do most of the cutting people will want right out of the box, it's an easy fix since the edge is already there.

Pros:
-Beautifully simple
-solid as a rock
-Handles well

Cons:
-Factory edge needs additional sharpening
-Grip can be off-putting at first, but that goes away with use

The Bottom Line

I would recommend this sword to anyone who has the money to pick one of these up, with a little work on the edge this would be one of the better production viking swords you can get.