Ooh I likes this I do, I likes it a lot. I have to say here though that if you’re under 17 then this post is probably going to aggravate you I’m afraid, because a ) you can’t get one without supervision even if you wanted to and b ) you really shouldn’t have one to be let loose with anyway, considering the damage that potentially could be done! Nothing personal to anyone of that age but unless you have several years of martial arts training and weapon handling expertise under your belt then this is akin to a gun in the hands of someone who hasn’t ever been versed in the 4 rules; its as simple as that.

All of my `proper` swords are under lock and key, in a house with a crushingly expensive alarm system, security floodlights and direct connection to the local cop-shop. I’m sure most people who have functional swords aren’t quite as well protected as that but I’m glad that I am, just to be on the safe side

This rather funky yet simplistic design lends itself to either an Arabic or oriental kinda look, as you can see from the photos on this page here: http://www.swordsofhonor.com/dadao.html which isn’t where I got it from but it comes up nice and easy in Google, and has better pictures

In terms of historic use the Dadao was a basic, peasantry-level weapon but also used by any general civilian army throughout many centuries, and right up until the Second Sino-Japanese War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War which actually led directly into WWII, so out in the real world weapons of this style certainly put in their fair share in terms of practical use, and just by handling this thing its easy to see why they would have been useful even in an age of firearms.

The huge weight-forward blade and massive manoeuvrability afforded by the long handle that enables a very wide, efficient and powerful grip would give a Dadao such immense speed and power that up-close-and-personal and in a life-or-death situation I know I would choose to have one of these and know how to use it, rather than any rifle or even SMG you could care to mention! Only an incredibly reliable and handgun would compete with this in a combat scenario, and every gun runs out of bullets…. This thing is brutal.

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I got mine from a highly reputable sword/blade/edged weapons dealer, so far they have proved to be the most reputable and cheapest I’ve ever come across. If you are old enough to buy from there and something like this takes your fancy, then I heartily recommend taking a look at http://www.blades-uk.com/?ad=8

Maybe their response system isn’t the fastest in the multiverse but they never fail in a reply, and in any case you can even state the urgency of your enquiry – hopefully this is a feature of their system that isn’t abused wholesale by impatient customers!!

The reason I originally looked at this was to do some gardening, believe it or not, although the actual area I was thinking of and had been asked to decimate has been cleared by the over-enthusiastic attentions of my parents who, especially considering their Hardcore Christian tendencies, are almost too good at destroying all manner of vegetation, from weeds to trees (you would not believe the number of trees my dear old Mum has cut down and gleefully set on fire, right after Father has chopped them up into little pieces…) almost nothing stand a chance once they set their eye on it – and on the plus side its kinda cool to have folks that can be immensely handy with axe, saw, and a big box of matches

The blade of the Dadao is carbon steel and has some slight flex in it, but still retains extreme strength as is only fitting. It comes, not as sharp as I expecting, but factory sharpened and as-yet untouched by whetstone or leather, but with the weight of it and its sheer fearsomeness I think its plenty sharp enough

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At £85.00 + about £6.50 delivery from Blades-Uk, this is great value for money if you are collecting some good quality, functional blades from interesting periods of history; an added bonus with something like this is that it covers such a vast period of history that it can be used in multiple themed areas of a larger collection - much like, in a firearms themed collection, something like the 1911 .45, which would be equally at home in a WWII theme, a Chicago Ganster theme, a 50’s/60’s Spy theme etc etc.