Hanwei Scottish Claymore first impressions

I have always had an affinity for the Scottish Claymore. Now without getting into nomenclature of what constitutes a Claymore as we think of it or a basket hilt broad sword, the sword I am talking about here is the large two-handed great sword that upon first glance could easily be assumed to be a clumsy unwieldy weapon.

This particular specimen was made by Hanwei and sold to me by Kult of Athena. It is obviously made in China, but for under $300 it is a remarkably well put together sword. Certainly more robust than the Indian made $60 wall hanger I bought at a flea market 25 years ago.

The Hanwei Claymore has everything one would expect in a sword carrying the name: a wide double edge spring tempered blade, a very w
gigantic quillon, and a robust grip large enough for 2 and a half hands to grasp the sword. Weighing in at about 5.5lbs, it is a beast of a weapon. The over all length comes in right at about 55" and sports 40" of blade. The quillon is about 12.5" across.

Surprisingly, for all its massive properties, this Claymore does not balance like a total pig on ice. It is obviously heavy and all swings must take over travel into account. However, where I was expecting it to turn like a tractor, it handles more like a heavy big block muscle car. Plenty of gumption but with enough handle to drop it into a lower gear if need be. Balance is about 6" forward on the blade giving it a roughly 34/21 split. I think it is actually even better balanced than it let's on. It's just so heavy that even when it hangs naturally in the grip you know you are wielding a massive weapon simply from the forearm burn from rolling it around.

I'm not exactly a small guy at a solid 5'10 210lbs, but I marvel at the strength and dedication it would take to make a blade this size dance during warfare. What it lacks in mathematical finesse, it makes up for in equally terrifying physics. More than once just rolling it around in my hand in the house, I have had to be mindful. One mistake could result in a hole punched in the drywall, furniture nicked, or a nasty ding on the shin/ankle/foot requiring more than a bandaid and a kiss from mama.

Full disclosure, I have not cut anything with it yet. I dont know when I actually will or if I will beyond some clearnaced pumpkins in a few weeks. Im not looking for this to be a competitive cutter and I rather like that it only has a rudimentary edge on it. Putting your hand to it, it feels about as sharp as a good splitting axe. Whistling the blade around, and I have no doubt it could easily travel through an arm and half a rib cage. It moves like a heavy .45 slug. No hurry to get there but thumps with the Thunder clap of Thor.

The sword is...not perfect. It came with a slight (and mostly just annoying) bow at the tip of the blade of about 5 degrees. Functionally, it doesn't make a difference, but it still bugged me enough to email KoA. Upon further research, that kinda is what it is. Almost 6lbs of spring steel that is peened at the pommel and again through the blade at the stabilizers, it cost less than $300. Such blemishes are to be expected. KoA was gracious enough to offer me a refund and also checked their other stock to see if any other sword was a bit straighter. I elected to just keep mine and be happy with it as it is.

Here's a few pictures

Slight bow to the blade, but doesn't bother function.

Excalibur of the wood pile.


Perspective: that axe is a camp axe and 26" long. That "little" khukuri is 15" over all in length. This sword is a monster for slaying monsters.

I genuinely like it

So sweat, John.

I still plan on playing around with it a bit more before hanging it up in the man cave.

My wife and I did a spit in a tube Ancestry test a few months ago. I was told by family that we were German/Irish/Native American. She was supposedly German/Irish/English. I came back mostly from the Saxony part of lowland Germany that has more in common genetically with the English and Dutch than other parts of Germany and British (no surprising as my paternal grandmother was born there), Scottish, and Swedish. My wife is a Euromutt spanning from England to the Baltics to Eastern Germany to Russia with just a touch more Scottish than me. Neither of us knew about the Scottish ancestry. I did some digging and sure enough a couple hundred years ago I've got some lineage coming straight down from the Highlands.

I figured that the fun fact of such warranted a new themed toy

Shanghai McCoy said:

Nice photos and a good review Sir.
Your sword is impressive and really gives off a "Highlander",(the movie.. ), vibe.

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Thanks! Its hard to see, but you can see my toes in the overhead shot. Its on my old picnic table, and I had to literally stand on the seat to get high enough to get the whole length of the Claymore in

I can definitely see why MacLeod opts to go with Ramirez's katana over his his Scottish sword. Much easier to hide under a trench coat

theotherwaldo said:

Most ancestry is fictional.
For example, I've got one great-grandfather who "died" five different times under five different names.
(That took a bit of research... .)
So I gave up on trying to match my weapon acquisitions to my supposed ancestry.
I just get the ones that I like.

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That's not too surprising. My great grandfather went by his first and middle name a lot. His wife, my great grandmother, was sometimes known by Lula or Lulu depending on who was writing the records.

The funny thing is that I have a very Irish last name, but my name only goes back to my great grandfather or maybe great great grandfather. It seems my great grandfather was born out of wedlock and given some name. What Irish ancestry i have seems to have come from my maternal grandmother whose last name was Kell. I was able to trace that one back a couple hundred years at least. Cross referencing other distant family trees, the DNA through lines seem accurate.

Its just funny that until my family came over to the states before the American Revolution, both sides were basically cool with hanging out in Northern Europe. I dont have a drop of DNA south of England or East of the most western part of Germany kissing up next to the Netherlands. My great-great grandfather came over to the states back in the 1930s to live with my great grandparents. My grandma talked about how he didn't speak any English, just german, but her dad only wanted the kids to speak English so he never taught them any German (most likely some dialect of Dutch).

The most interesting thing about looking these old records up is that Europe was surprisingly good at keeping records. I found honest to goodness bills or sale, births, deaths, marriages written out from the early 1700s and before. It was only when my family came over to the states and started moving into farming that the records got a lot spottier from all the births, deaths, and movement in unpopulated areas.

Anyway, back to the sword, the more I swing it around, the more I am really digging it. It does have an elegance to it. Its like making an NFL fullback take ballet to get him lighter on his feet. The claymore is never going to be confused with a graceful sword, but it is not a dumb and clumsy beast. In the hands of someone with actual skill, I think it would he beyond formidable. It has real potential for close up work if one chokes up on the blade with their off hand. I can invasion all kinds of nasty traps and arm bars.