Get to the point: Hanwei Tinker Norman Sword Review

Hanwei Tinker Norman Sword Review

Hello fellow forumites and internet wanderers and welcome to my humble review. I know it's not the first one done on this piece but I wanted to do one anyway just for fun and to add to the collective knowledge base on this sword.

As a few of you may know, it was my birthday a little while back on the 24th of May (Victoria day), and as a gift my wife picked out one of the swords I had been eyeing for a while. Boy oh boy I love my wife! She ordered it through the helpful folks at K.O.A. And it was $184 American. It was ordered about a week and a half ago and only took 6 days to reach my house, and it had to come from Chicago all the way to Peterborough Ontario! That is a shipping record for me my friends. Usually I am waiting two weeks because of customs and stop overs.

I like this sword for a few reasons, the first one being that I have a great deal of Norman in my blood. One of my relatives sailed over to England from Normandy with William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy.

The second reason is that I like the look of it and the third is that I was looking at getting my first one handed sword. I usually buy bastard or two handed swords. Besides, I wanted another Hanwei Tinker because I was really impressed with the Tinker Great Sword of War.

HISTORICAL OVERVEIW

I think this sword is pretty close to what kind of sword, from the many, would have been in use at the time of the Norman Conquest beginning 1066 A.D.
It's a type ten according to Oakeshotts typology as far as I can tell. It is said that this sword would have actually had a more spatulat tip, and I believe that's correct. It's very easy to use in one hand so the other would be free to use a shield, as was the case.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

These are my initial impressions when I had removed the plastic and crumpled paper that surrounded the sword in the shipping box, and wiped away the oil.

The first thing I noticed was that the grip was very short, just as the stats informed, and that I really only could fit one hand on this sword. (You'll have to pardon my slowness. I've never owned a single hander before so this was a very new experience). This revelation was comforted by the fact that this sword is extremely light and very agile in hand. I was totally impressed! It felt different swinging a sword with a pommel directly under my hand, but I guess that goes with the territory of one handers. The grain on the blade is very typical of Hanwei Euro swords. So in short I was impressed by the weight, balance and craftsmanship of the blade for what it was and the price I paid.

STATISTICS

Overall: 36 1/4"

Blade Length: 30 3/4"

Handle Length: 5"

Guard Length: 7''

Grip length 3 7/8''

Weight: 2lb 7oz (2lb 8oz is the official weight but mine came in 1 ounce lower. Score!)

P.O.B. 5 3/8''

Thickness: 5.7mm 1.9mm

Width: 2''

Blade Steel: 5160 Marquenched Spring Steel

THE BLADE

The blade, as stated above is 30 ¾'' long by 2'' wide and tapers the whole way down the blade until the last inch and a half where it increases in taper to form a point. It starts with a broad fuller that narrows considerably by the time it reaches the end. I was able to flex the blade quite a bit both ways about 5 times each and it returned to true every time. The blade was very stiff closer to the hilt but had satisfactory flex in the last third as the distil tapper really begins to show. My only real complaint about the blade itself is that whoever was responsible for grinding the tip actually left the last 3rd of an inch blunt by just under a 32nd of an inch.

THE GRIP

The handle is wood core covered in very thin leather over thin chord wrapping. Two bits of flattened leather cord at the top and bottom serve as the risers. It has been glued in place and had a tidy seem. I say had because after only a few minutes of dry handling, it began to come apart from the core. Also another thing of note is how fast the black dye rubs of of the grip. That part was not impressive. However, I replace the grip wraps on most of my swords anyway and planned on doing the same with this one. Still, if you are not one who re-wraps your grips or is comfortable with using black dye for touch ups then you might want to consider that in your purchase decision.

THE GUARD

The guard is made of stainless steel and is polished to a mirror shine. It is squared off and slightly curved at front and back. It has a total length of seven inches and is quite comfortable to grip the sword with my thumb over the front of the guard.

POMMEL

The pommel is a stainless steel type B, just in between a Brazil Nut and a Tea Cozy, that has been polished to a mirror shine. When I have a good grip on the sword the pommel is quite comfortable. Alternately, if I grip the sword in a sloppy fashion, then the point on the side can dig into my hand making it less than comfortable.

The pommel has been peened, and as can be seen, they left the tang quite meaty at the end. You can see all the hammer marks from the process but I'm alright with that. I will likely sand it smooth when I take the shine out of the guard and pommel.

SCABBARD

The scabbard is one part of the package in particular that leaves me with mixed feelings.

On the one hand it's very nicely made for what it is: a basic scabbard that comes with the sword.
The leather work is tidy. The seem is pretty straight and the stitching at the throat looks neat.
It has two thick leather bands glued around the outside with two shinny hoops for a sword belt to attach to. The chape has also been polished to a mirror shine and is my favourite style.

On the other hand it is a poor fit to the sword. At the base of the blade where it touches the locket it fits quite snugly, but as the blade tappers the scabbard does not. It failed the upside down test miserably. The blade actually rattles around in the scabbard in all directions. Once when I was replacing the blade into the scabbard it got stuck. When I removed the blade again I heard another kind of rattling noise in the bottom of the scabbard. As it turns out, the folks at Hanwei make up for the large size of the scabbard in comparison to the blade by gluing a plastic thing halfway down the inside of the scabbard. This is to hold the blade in place probably. Mine broke and most of it fell out.

Also, as can be seen, the scabbard is much longer than the blade. This contributes to the loose fit.

Overall 70% satisfaction on the scabbard. Looks good but doesn't hold the sword still.

HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS

I am sooo completely satisfied with this sword handling characteristics. This blade handles better than I imagined it would. Quick attack and fast return in an almost effortless manner. One guard to the next with little strain in my hand or forearm. It feels as though I have grown a sword at the end of my limb. Dry handling this piece doesn't take almost anything out of me. Never handled an original so I'm not entirely sure how it would compare.

I haven't had the chance to do any cutting with it yet but when I do I will be sure to update this review with the results.

IN CONCLUSION

As an owner of this fine piece of steel I can recommend with confidence this sword to someone looking for a sword of this style. Sure the fittings are really shinny but that can be very easily sanded to a satin finish and makes a great project piece as well for the DIY crowd. If your looking at the Albion Reeve, but you just can't afford it, then this may be something to look at, especially if your handy with the grip re-wraps. It has some similar stats and is ¼ the price at $189 American at K.O.A.. Wiwingti currently has it for $165 as well.

CONS