(
Pros: Handle Material, Overall Quality, Finish
Cons: None
Nicely finished Dadao but too thin
I bought my Hanwei Dadao almost 30 years ago, actually I bought two and I still have both in my collection. Upon receipt of these dadaos, I admired the nice finishes and fittings of the blade and handle. When i went to practice swinging the blade, I founded it to be quite light weight and the blade to be thinner than I had expected. I collect several other brands/types of Chinese dadao and their blades are substantially thicker than the Hanwei dadao. In fact some of the World War 2 era dadao blades are twice as thick and heavy as the Hanwei. From my perspective, this Hanwei design is designed for light weight training and chopping. A similar dadao I sold to my friend who tested it by chopping coconut tree trunk cracked the blade. Other more substantial dadaos are much more sturdy than this Hanwei blade. I kept my blades for practice of using a lighter dadao to facilitate foot movements and faster swings. Although the blade is very sharp, I would very much hesitate to use it as a combat blade, as it's thin blade can be easily be compromised by a heavier blade or by a baseball bat. All in all, it is a nicely finished and sharp blade and is suitable for practice, but be careful of using it in a similar manner as a real dadao. The other dadaos I collected range in weight to over 3 lbs to 4 lbs in weight. The dadaos as used in WW2 by the Chinese needed to be a heavy weight chopper used to deflect and block a japonese rifle/bayonet attack and then followup by lobbing off a head. This Hanwei dadao will not suffice for that.
