Honshu $103 Sub-Hilt Wakizashi Review and Destruction 

Thanks Shawn. Hope all is well with you too.

Commenting to boost this

Thank you for the education. It is appreciated.

It's always so wonderful when I see someone drop these little bits of info while being cool and humble. Hats off my guy.😊

I have the karito axe and I really gladi have it. Came very sharp and even after dropping the edge on a metal frame it's still fine but with maybe 1mm rolled edge. Got it only from the Cool factor. It's tough and feels very good when you hold it. I'm currently debating the Saber or seax they offer.

I appreciate that

Damn make a vid and send the link

@@watevr4evr I got you. I can't do a video, this was two years ago and I only took pictures and my house burned down a few months after this. But let me know how I can send you pics. Email, Facebook messenger, etc. idk how to DM in youtube

I wouldn't recommend United Cutlery. With just about every sword they make, they do something wrong. Actually there aren't much tacticool blades i would recommend. Maybe the apoc line up by angus trim, but certainly not anything made by united cutlery.

There's always Zombietools if you have money and time to wait.

@@jasonknippa4410 I think this budget weapon is perfect for a single use scenario, they're a weapon quality that's fine for an emergency against an attacker, not ideal for camping but that's ok it's not it's focus.

Oh no. The dreaded PING!!! That's a dealbreaker.

I think the plan is to put a nut at the end. I think that will help.

I've seen at least 1 other video on this very sub hilt product where it came off, I remember he said it had a better balance without it.

Well, good news is there is plenty of stuff to check out now that you are here.

Thank you sir.

I figured somebody said it already. Glad I checked before posting.

The stress could have weakened the blade there. Though for the amount of cutting I did, it should have have had too big an issue. I don't think I did enough to fatigue the metal. Glad you liked the video

still?

I don't think that will be in the future. I was not thrilled with the sword and will not likely buy one myself. I also get the impression the folks at BudK don't want to work with me after this review and the drunk version.

@@Matthew_Jensen So on Shadaversity Channel, Shad's brother stated that seemed like a consistent on a couple Honchu's that they had trouble at the hilt. They broke there. That is what ive been trying to find out. Although Shad has one of the swords he really likes that hasnt broke at hilt. Still though they dont take the Handle apart on these to look at them. Im wondering about the tangs and construction method.

@@Matthew_Jensen So I own 3 Honchu's. A D2 steel Gadious, a Chinese War Sword, and their 300 Style Blade of Stainless.. Maybe I bite the bullet and take one apart at handle to see.

@@Matthew_Jensen Ive noticed that most Sword Channels don't take the Handle Apart to show the tang or handle construction. Even after it breaks. Not sure why that is. Seems like be a logical thing to do. Both to educate folks and see what manufacture's and distributors are selling..

Its a fair critique, I will see about getting them apart in the future.

gotta find it in spring

And they make it even worse by using D2 in a lot of their short sword sized blades. I mean D2!!! WTF!!! What's next? Ceramic swords??? Glass swords???

I would be happy to but I don't think they are in a hurry to send anything else.

Yeah, need those to hold up to slapping trees good.

Nearly everything seems double tere.

That's the word!

It was a solid strike but you can see how much I am putting into it compared to when I try to cut or chop into something. I would have expected a bend, twist, or some more hilt trouble. Breaking in half is not ideal. At least in my opinion.

I'm pretty sure they make a version without it.

It may well last on softer targets but breaking where it did is still suboptimal. Its a fair argument to be made that the budget means some concessions should be made. That said, the issues could be resolved with a peen and better heat treatment. Attacking someone inside might also mean missing and hitting something hard, in this case the weapon has a high potential to fail.

@@Matthew_Jensen It is not the tool/weapon who fails but the one who wields it. Do you not believe you can cut a simple and wide target vertically ?

I think you might be missing the point of the video or at least my intended point. This is specifically a review of the sword and not the operator. Sure, a crappy sword in the hands of a skilled user can do a lot. Was that your point? If so, then we agree muchaco! Still, the objective here was to show this blade in action and how this blade operates and examine this blades pros or cons. I am not trying to die on this hill, you can like what you like, but like it for what it is. Or disagree, whatever toots your horn.

My point is these items are not made with the thought in mind that people will be using them for blunt force collision. Take one of your guns outside and start smashing them against hard objects and see how long they last. Doesn't mean they are poorly built just means they are not built for that purpose.

There are firearms that hold up better to abuse than others. Sometimes that is a factor on why thy are purchased. Also a number of them would hold up rather well to being smacked around. That is changing the subject though. Keep in mind that my examination of the sword is intended to push it to failure. I know I am doing things that the sword is not ideal for but the point of the review is to examine how strong it is. Further to the add copy suggests that this is a durable usable product. That means different things to people. Conceivably in a real world scenario a sword may strike unexpected things. What I am doing could be applicable to real use case. Particularly in some kind of altercation. You first noted home defiance. Houses are full of things that are not good to hit with a sword. The people intending you harm may have object that need to be deflected or blocked. In that case, you may loose a pommel or have a broken blade. I would also imagine they were expecting some sort of blunt impact because the blade was sold with a rather dull edge. Chopping lighter targets with the original design of the blade would be somewhat abusive. Not quite like slapping a tree but not that far off. Worth calling out that swords do more than cut. They create openings and space. They get smacked and may hit other targets that are not soft. The advertising for this did not suggest it was a filet knife, it should hold up. Also, I am not expecting it to last forever. Bending on the tree would have been fine, shattering is not good. The pommel falling off is not good. At least I don't think so. You can disagree, buy what you like and like what you buy. Happy sowrding.

Would be cool to see it pulled off and make an actual strike on something.

Is that something you see in the cross section?

@@Matthew_Jensen yes. I just suspect, since i am not sure 100% (picture is not reality). But there are two small parts on the brake point, that look like they were empty. Air bubble.

20:18 into the video i see two suspects for bubbles. One is "correct", round, form, the second is elongated. Just a small cavities.

Consistency is one of the larger problems for swords. There are few examples out there of a product with a Steller, consistent, and long history.

Hrm.. Interesting note. In Japanese arms, they are always right handed. There were no left handed swords or at least not that I have seen. All the left handers were made to use their right hands. That remains true today for the most part.

I was going to say that perhaps it's designed to wear it edge down, but that wouldn't matter on a Kriegmesser.

Another theory of mine is that they just don't pay attention to this stuff

@@helenwrong6363 Yes, I think you're right.

Most welcome

Honshu is not as bad as most of their other stuff, but still, in therms of durability, you'd be way better off buying a cheap stage fighting sword from Czech Republic and sharpening that. There is a company arms and armor (website is written arms-armor, not arms-n-armor), making those for quite an affordable price.

@@sihilius, I know of Arms and Armor, Honshu, and Windlass, I think I'd rather buy from them than BudK, but I'm more of a Windlass guy myself tbh

You are not wrong. I am doing things that the sword was not designed to do but the trick here is the sword is marketed a bit as being able to do them. Also they are not as far off what happens to swords as you might think. I explain in the video what the ad copy says. It looks a little different now than when I made the video but it is supposed to be a durable weapon. It is not a durable weapon. It is not bad for $100 but the failures it experienced are not ideal. To use your ax analogy, if you took your ax and hit a stone and it shattered, that would not be a good ax. If it dulled, bend a bit at the edge, or maybe even cracked the handle, that would be reasonable, but shattering would not. In this case, the same is true. I am pushing the sword, the pommel falling off and the blade breaking is bad. Other blades do not break doing the same activates. If nothing else it suggests that there is opportunity for improvement based on other blades on the market (even at $100). I would further note that if you need a sword it may be in a situation involving a person who is trying to hurt you and you may need to use the sword defensively or you may miss or encounter unexpected objects in whatever engagement you find yourself in. Slapping a tree is abusive but its not that different to someone hitting it with a club or bat, its not that different than a bad strike to a motorcycle helmet. Shit happens in sword fights, its fair to want a sword that can deal with a little more of the unexpected.

Have a look at the A.P.O.C. Survival Katana. Looks a lot better on from what i can see in the pictures and I've seen some positive reviews about A.P.O.C. If you have the money, i'd recommend checking out zombie tools, they are supposed to be nearly indestructible.

funny you mention that

naa, they make some cool stuff. This one did not work out but no reason to paint them with such a wide and fecal filled brush.

no

I did not mind it.

@@Matthew_Jensen i remember you saying something once awhile back about something like that prohibiting a reverse grip.