Hanwei Tiger Katana Review

This is a review of a Hanwei Tiger Katana.
Blade Specs:
Handle/Tsuka Length: 13.75”
Blade/Nagasa Length: 29.5” (without habaki)
Sori: .535”
Moto-haba: 1.292”
Motokasane: .314”
Saki-haba: .857”
Sakikasane: .219”
Weight: 2lb 11.5oz
POB: 5.25” from tsuba
MSRP: $1309.00
KoA: $1039.95
CAS Site:
casiberia.com/...
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www.kultofathe...
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[@Leon_Kozza]

To get whatever is in the bottom of the saya out, you can tape a small fishing hook to the end of a thin piece of bamboo or dowel. Might have to unbend the fishing hook a bit. I've found plastic, paper towel and foam in a few saya.

[@BushesRs]

They make push button grabbers. You can get in different lengths that are used to grab screws and things like that and hard to reach areas. You push the button and it has a small claw that comes out of the cable

[@TeaandTickers]

Hi Matthew at last! A decent review on the sword that I have owned since the mid 2000’s I don’t do any practising like you do I just cut a few water bottles and haven’t done that for ages. I have a matching Waki and Tanto as well to complete set and they proudly sit on my windowsill on a stand great review thanks!

[@brotherman37]

I hope Hanwai utilizes your feedback. I'm a longtime fan and customer of hanwei products, my last purchase was a orchid katana i had to send back because the qc was terrible.

[@overeasymode]

I love your reviews. Can you cover a nagamaki. It's always an interesting sword/spear/polearm that no one else covers.

[@TONEDEAFSOUND]

i believe he worked with a small one if you want to see a large one used my channel has a review on larger ones

[@Matthew_Jensen]

working on it..

[@overeasymode]

@@Matthew_Jensen thanks

[@SpaceGhost182]

Thats a bummer about the ito man. Thats such a cool sword from Hanwei too, one of my personal favorites. At that price that shouldnt happen imo. I honestly feel like dragon king is going to surpass hanwei in the near future. Imo equally well done fittings better tsukamaki from my experience, better tsuka shaping, and imo a sharper stock sword.

[@johnmcnamara336]

Enjoyed your review; In 2005 I bought the complete offerings of the Tiger Classic, SH1204 Katana, SH1205 Washiash and SH1206 Tanto from Kult of Athena. All were excellent, tight wraps on handles, smooth transition to Kashira and Fuchi, good saya fit, bottom cap transition to saya does stand out as you pointed out in your review

[@Hunterjensen7450]

That ito seems pretty darn loose for the price point. It looks like what i would expect on a 100-200$ sword.

[@fetusthegreat9797]

Maybe I just got lucky but I have 3 katana each at or under 300 dollars 2 from handmade sword and 1 from hanbon and none of them had ito that loose.

[@erichusayn]

Just shape the tauka and tighten up the tsukamaki and hanwei would be great.

[@lechatdeluna8472]

I like it. It has a lot that I look for. Except the lose ito. I had my "Peace" sword for about a month then practice kata with it and the Ito came apart. I was upset cuz it was the first run at Buguei. I purchased the wakisahi as well.

[@SpaceGhost182]

@lechatdeluna8472 dude, that sucks. My grail sword has been the old pine for over ten years. I heard bugei isn't really the same as it was when Keith and James were still there

[@DK_1983]

This is dissapointing at best... So Hanwei is going downhill from this sword and forward? They "cheaped" out on production/details? I can live with it not being razor sharp out the box, since I wouldnt even want a single dollar of the price of the sword to go into "polishing" .. I want every single dollar to go into the blade instead. But it looks like Hanwei has fallen to the 200-250 dollar sword brackets. One positive tho. They finally made the handle same width as the blade. Good. I hate when the handle is "fatter" than the blade. And lots of Hanweis older swords are like that.

[@aaronmatheson9730]

A other good review bud but I am more interested in the Hutterite kabuto!! Gots to get me one of those bad boys! That would be a good idea for some merch!! Us Canadians would clear out the first batch I will bet!!

[@danielchrysalis6554]

I’m glad i got mine back in the day before the forge fire. The new ones don’t appear to have as much sori. & it was an $1800 sword back then, I’ve wondered why the price has crept down over the years. In fact the only sword that was higher end was the Kami. I hope the orchids haven’t stooped like this, i still want one & don’t think I’ll find an original in near perfect condition.

[@StudioGDT]

This one was a little odd to me…but I’m glad you did it…some stuff was really nice other bafflingly substandard. Very interesting. I really liked the blade profile though

[@TopLob]

Your expression when you cut the tree in one cut is pretty funny. Kinda has "What the hell??" written all over it. Nice to see them so strong. Kinda more of a war sword than a tatami cutter. Just how I like them. There are a lot of easy cheats people do to be able to cut nicely without technique. As a Battodoka, I see that way too often. No niku, razor sharp, hira zukuri. Bends in the wind, but glides through tatami like a hot knife through butter.

[@lewisw7916]

It's really odd seeing that loose ito every time you review a hanwei I've got 8 of them all super tight. It's like the American and European stock gets wrapped by two different companies. Great review as always very pretty sword agree with you in wishing it had a shorter handle aswell

[@theresinsamurai4520]

I remember when this was first introduced..... remember cutting with it and the extra weight to it seeing the quality issues just shows out why I haven't much from their brand in years sad when they used to be THE NAME in decent blades including their Swedish powdered steel blades which this was one of along side the Orchid, Mantas and a couple others... so so disappointing

[@outlawsamurai47]

I like the theme but I don't like the short blade with the long grip

[@GermanSausagesAreTheWurst]

That guy that used to own Bugei Trading Company popularized extra long handles and turned it into kind of a fad. The design of this sword is probably the remnants of that. There were some historical weapons that had extra long handles, but most were regular size.

[@MaaZeus]

As far as japanese media goes, the swordmaster Kyuzo in Kurosawa's Seven Samurai uses a Katana with quite a long handle. Extra long handled katanas were a thing that some styles preferred, for extra counter balance I guess. If the tang goes all the way to the end of the tsuka, it should pull the point of balance towards the handle, just like a solid pommel on some chinese or western swords may have. It is after all extra steel and weight added to the other end. But in cheaper swords that I have seen with extra long handle they usually have a normal sizes tang and blade with extra long tsuka slapped on them, which makes the long tsuka only an aesthetic or grip preference choice. I do not know what it is like in Bugei and high end Hanwei swords but in old Hanwei Practical Pro Katana the blade is the same as in Practical Plus, tang and all, and the extra long handle is just extra wood with no change in balance.

[@outlawsamurai47]

@@GermanSausagesAreTheWurst I like big proportion swords I follow the rule of 1/3 the length of the sword blade for the grip

[@outlawsamurai47]

@@MaaZeus I love 7 Samurai

[@MaaZeus]

@@outlawsamurai47 As a cinematic art piece, yes it is a good and well done film. But as a movie that I can actually enjoy in a movie evening in one sitting, I'll always pick Yojimbo and Sanjuro over Seven Samurai, it is just too long for its own good. 😅

[@lucanic4328]

Shad would cry seeing this little test and make a 3 hours video reply telling you are wrong and that this sword should have bent and chip

[@blackwings7373]

I recently purchased Skyjiroo Upper level Katanas. I must say they are way better than Hanwei $1k plus range.

[@Matthew_Jensen]

Some of the Skyjiro blades like the Kumo were really impressive. They do some things better than Hanwei but I not sure I would call them "way better." What parts do you like more about your skyjiro?

[@TopLob]

But aren't their upper level swords like 3k$?

[@antj8680]

Has anyone got their hands on a Praying Mantis recently? Im debsting whether to get one or not

[@TheBlacksmith5]

Personally, I would really love to see this sword tested to failure. To my knowledge, no one has tested a K120C blade to failure, and im incredibly interested in seeing the full durability of it. Im currently looking at 2 katana, the Hanwei Bushido, and the Shadow Dancer Swords "Sahikomi Polishing Ko-Choji Katana (item no.:352319). If the Hanwei is significantly more durable, that would influence my decision. I plan on trying to make a tsuka for the Hanwei if I get it. I don't expect the Shadow Dancer to be durable, I know it's not intended to be. But it is a slight matter of how big of a difference there is between the two, and seeing K120C tested in video format would be incredibly helpful.

[@Foomchoom]

Fuckin hell I want a company to send me a $1K sword for a YT review...

[@Matthew_Jensen]

They send the DK Sea Wave $1200, an apoc katana $200, and this tiger for $1200. I am very lucky! If you are keen on getting sample, start a channel and work at it. It took me ten years but you could probably do it less if you are smarter.

[@tengu190]

That is a massive nakago.

[@GermanSausagesAreTheWurst]

That was my first thought. Like holy cow, it must go all the way back to the Kashira

[@zenhydra]

I was about to post a similar sentiment.

[@SamuraiGuy87]

FINALLY!!!! 😂 😱

[@gloving4hire]

Is the cloudhammer steel works still the best katana?

[@DarkRob316]

Best is kind of a subjective word, I don't think there's any one best brand or best katana. Some companies do some things better than others. What I will say for Cloudhammers is their S5 shock steel is ridiculously tough, it's very hard to break. Shadiversity wasn't able to break it. Matt might have been able to get it to break, I can't remember exactly, but if he did I know it took him way more effort to break it than anything else. But yea that's Cloudhammers claim to fame, they're nearly indestructible. Oh and their leather ito to, nobody does it better.

[@gloving4hire]

@@DarkRob316 indeed

[@sinisterswordsman25]

Risin' up, back on the street Did my time, took my chances Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet Just a man and his will to survive So many times, it happens too fast You trade your passion for glory Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past You must fight just to keep them alive It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight Risin' up to the challenge of our rival And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger Face to face, out in the heat Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry They stack the odds 'til we take to the street For the kill with the skill to survive It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight Risin' up to the challenge of our rival And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger Risin' up, straight to the top Had the guts, got the glory Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop Just a man and his will to survive It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight Risin' up to the challenge of our rival And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night And he's watchin' us all with the eye of the tiger The eye of the tiger🐅 The eye of the tiger🐅 The eye of the tiger🐅 The eye of the tiger🐅 🤘

[@Baleur]

I know nothing and have only watched katana videos for a week. But that handle is awful. Not just the wrapping, but its literally bent, and the wrapping is uneven horizontally as well. AND its twisted from bottom to top.. How come $300 swords on your channel have nicer ito and handles? If i spent $1k for this i would refund it and go to another vendor. The fittings look amazing though.

[@grahamwarford5452]

1100 and wrapped like a sack of carrots.. you must be joking 😮😮.

[@petersiska9939]

OMG look at that loose Handle wicking for 1100 haha ...i said it they are all shit

[@ooQ-pi3es]

Ridiculous!!!!!!!!!! Curvature is weird and wrong!!!!!

[@joemaggio6806]

That ito is unacceptable!! My Hanwei for half the price is not like that. I can’t believe you can expose the edge of the same like that. Amazing fittings, same, and blade though

[@petersiska9939]

Hanwei has just shit .....haha ...those Katanas are all big poop...go buy at Katanzo or toshiro swords u will see the differenz

[@notanotherswordreviewchann4901]

Yep it's a hanwei...