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CAS/Hanwei Antiqued "Bastard Sword"
I bought this one on a whim in the fall of 2006, sight unseen.
It seemed irrisistable at a good price, over 50" long, and under
3 pounds in weight. Since arriving, it's been made fun of by
myself and half the people in my swordsmanship class. There was a
lot of "what were they thinking?!"
While it's hard to tell how good the construction quality may be inside the
hilt, the balance is certainly completely wrong. Granted, there were
historical pieces that were just as badly balanced, but it seems to me
that you'd want to reproduce the finer qualities of the period.
The center of gravity is roughly 9" from the guard, and the pommel
is very small and lightweight such that it makes a poor counterbalance to
a rather hefty blade. The sword feels clumsy and cumbersome. It's a visually appealing
display piece, however, and will probably find a comfortable home on
one of my walls somewhere.
On the plus side, the blade flexes nicely. It doesn't wobble or whip
around, and yet when pressed against the floor, it will flex nearly
90 degrees and return to true.
CAS/Hanwei has since redesigned the sword, using a new solid pommel
construction which results in a more sturdy hilt, and better balance,
bringing the center of gravity to about 6" from the guard. I have
not handled the new model, however.
| Overall Length |
50 ⅛ inches (127.32 cm) |
| Blade Length |
39 ⅞ inches (101.28 cm) |
| Hilt Length |
10 ¼ inches (26.04 cm) |
| Blade Thickness at base |
.21 inches (0.53 cm) |
| Blade Width at base |
1 ⅞ inches (4.76 cm) |
| Guard Width |
9 ⅛ inches (23.18 cm) |
| Weight |
2 ½ pounds (1.14 kg) |
| Center of Gravity |
9 inches from guard (22.86 cm) |
| Center of Percussion |
22 ½ inches from guard (57.15 cm) |
(More Information)
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