by Avery Pierce
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2436.jpg)
Introduction
I got to thinking about doing this lately; reviewing the first functional sword I ever bought. There's a small, liberal college town called Boone about 45 minutes from where I live. When I was younger I spent a lot of time up there in the mountains. It had and still has new age book stores, leather shops, laid back bars and an easy going atmosphere. One of the leather shops also had swords of varying quality. Now bear in mind, this was 13 years ago and I had never heard of Hanwel, Cas Iberia, or really any other manufactuer besides Windlass. All I knew at the moment I saw and held the sword was that it was of far better quality (back then) than any other sword I owned. Both my best friend and I bought one, at a hundred bucks apiece.
Stats
Overall length - 38 3/4"
Blade length - 27 1/8"
Grip Length - 8 1/4"
Blade width at base - 2"
Blade width 3" from tip - 1 1/2"
Cross Guard Width - 6"
Pommel width - 2"
P.O.B. - 3 1/8" from guard
C.O.P. - 16 1/2"
Weight - 2lb 14oz
Hilt
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2439.jpg)
All the hilt components are made from solid brass. Machine milled and since I've owned it they've polished many times. In fact they're due for another good polish. The grip itself is a leather covered piece of wood. The first time I ever broke the hilt down it was a pain to get the grip loose; the grip was epoxied on and it took a lot of work to get it loose. And heres the reason=
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2443.jpg)
As you can see, the grip was drilled with a drill bit and they used the epoxy to fill the void. I made a sleeve out of wood to act as shim now, and when assembled it's very tight.
After over a decade of use the leather has come unglued and gotten a bit loose. Last year I slide a large horse syringe filled with 2 part epoxy and kinda spot glued it. At the moment it's stayed pretty tight.
Blade
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2437.jpg)
This is really just a no frills blade. When I first bought it the blade had a rough polish at best. I don't know if Hanwei does a better job, as this was really an Iberian blade when I bought it. Since then I've put the blade on the sander and buffing wheel, giving it a decent satin polish. It also had a pretty steep secondary bevel which I've since fixed. For the price I paid, I really have no complaints. It just took a little elbow grease to get the blade in good shape. If I had to say, this blade closest resembles a hollow ground blade. Which is a bit weird because when I look at the pictures of this sword on Hanweis website it almost looks like it has a fuller. I guess it's just the lighting in the picture.
Scabbard
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2435.jpg)
Again, this is a no frills scabbard. Kinda cheap looking really, but it's held up well over the years. It's basically a "sandwich" type of scabbard. There's a 3/8" piece of leather seperating the top and back. The sword fits nicely in there but it's gotten a little loose over the years.
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2440.jpg)
It came with a baldric or belt loop sewn in to the back that has seen a lot wear. Although some of the stitching has come loose it's still in good shape.
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2441.jpg)
Tang assembly
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2442.jpg)
Now, here's the real reason I'm doing this reto review. There has always been issues with the kind of tangs on these early swords. Issues that have even gone on to today. Sometimes you get a good, solid tang, sometimes it might be rebar. I got lucky on mine. I've cut all sorts of targets with this sword and have never had an issue.
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2445.jpg)
Here's the funny thing. As I said, my friend and both bought one of these at the same time.
He never cut with his, but last year he decided he'd try a bottle or 2. He asked me to clean and sharpen his blade. What I found made me start a thread back in April of last year.
http://sbgswordforum.proboards.com/inde ... hread=9882
Here's a side by side of mine and his.
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2446.jpg)
They welded rebar for the tang.....rebar I have no idea whatsoever why in the world rebar seemed like a good idea to them, but this is simply dangerous to put on a sword sold as functional. As I've said, apparently these issues haven't been completely resolved, so be sure to check the tang on any of the lower end earlier models before cutting.
Handling
![Image](http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/ww1/absilits/retro%20review/100_2437.jpg)
Okay, so like I've said, I've cut all manner of things with this sword. Well above what we'd consider abuse. It feels good when held with one hand, just a tad blade heavy. But when weilded with 2 hands it feels light and ready for action.
I had some fun with the effects on windows movie maker to make my "retro review" video. I only cut 3 bottles, but I can attest to the cutting ability of this sword as it's probably cut 500 or so bottles plus limbs, wood, and a few other things I'd rather not mention.
the Lowdown
Given that this is an older model, I'll not list pros and cons as I can't say what if anything has been changed. But I can say that the price hasn't changed much; these can still be found for about 130 bucks. For the money you'd be hard pressed to find tougher hand and a half out there.....that is if the tang is good...Plus, given that this was my first real sword, I have a soft spot for it.