United Cutlery M48 Naginata Stangenwaffe

The blade is sharp out of the box, easy to assemble, it is easy to work with and I got what I paid for! I would recommend this product to everyone! The company also.

I only write reviews about topics I have direct experience with regarding products used for that topic. I spent some time in a Medieval/Fantasy reenactment club and used a variety of much safer versions of pole arms or I wouldn't be still around to write this. Naturally, weaponry was a big part of the culture and as a martial arts student I have always taken an interest in the real no nonsense applications of a weapon for self-defense purposes and lets face it: this is the same reason you are looking at this product right now even if you don't want to tell your neighbors that.This actually feels really good in the hand and I have the first impression that I could use this to defend myself with, more likely against an angry bobcat or Black Boar while hiking than anything else because in every state but Texas this would certainly be illegal to walk around with...but we're working on that. It feels really goodI was pretty skeptical of the pole being made of fiber glass infused nylon but out of the box the pole feels pretty rigid to me. If I plant one end in the ground and smack it around it does not flex much at all. No, I haven't taken it into the bak yard to butcher Zombi attack dummies or anything like that to put it under stress testing and yes, expect me to do that later but my impression is that it seems much stronger than I expected.What it needs: it needs a longer blade, something at least as long as a typical Wakizashi around 18-24 inches, which would bring the length up to taller height and also forms the basis of my 2nd criticism. It's a decent length but I would have liked it if it were slightly taller. I am 5'9". the Average Japanese male is around 5'7" to 5'9" but the average Japanese Female is a little shorter than this and as it happens the Naginata were often used by Female Samurai defending Castles and so would have to be made shorter to counter-balance with their body weight and height. I read somewhere that the Naginata was not a "mans Weapon" because of this and if that source was correct (who knows?) then I feel bad for the Men who had to face one of these in battle. The reason for the pole was allegedly to give the Female Castle defenders a reach advantage to make up for their shorter stature and allow a nice long lever as a. force multiplier to generate sufficient force to down a armored male Samurai...or so I had read. I would feel pretty confident carrying this thing on a hike as a Male Not-Samurai in the 21st Century and put the fear of Smite into vorpal razor Backs and vicious bobcats. If I invaded someones house and was confronted with this I would probably run back out the other way even if I was a really big dude.. I think it needs to be longer though over all and this could be done by either adding a solid steel cap on the bottom that is long like the blade and can act as a counter-weight allowing the blade to be only slightly heavier than the cap to assist in slashing strokes OR make the blade a little longer with the same width AND provide a smaller cap on the end to balance it with.the lack of a tsuba at the bottom of the blade is not really much of an issue because you are not likely to use your hand that high on the pole while also fighting vs. a sword wielding attacker so the hand protection is not as important here. The finger grooves on the pole leave me feeling like this is a Glock of the Melee weapon genre and hence the so-called "tactical" claim. I get it and actually it works well for this product. It does in fact feel tactical: all utility and no beauty at all but I think it still looks nice...or at least feels nice. Assuming you are on a Hike in bad weather you don't need your staff rusting, or getting water logged and rotting from getting wet. Now, could you brace this between trees and use carabiners and para-cord to climb with or hoist gear or bags? Not sure if the pole would support the weight but it sure seems pretty strong without testing it yet. Since I do live in Texas the next time I go on a walk with my dog I will take this as my walking stick and keep the blade covered of course because even though its Texas and we're allowed to carry stuff like this, we can't do it with the blade drawn or we are in deep Cow Pucky. too bad I don't have a really cool looking 21st Century Shinobi tactical BDU schtick to present myself with because this tool would be the perfect accessory to that.

The NAGINATA POLEARM W/ Vortex Cover. This is a Bad A_ _ Product. With " NO " Disputing it at all. 5-Stars.

It looks pretty wicked up close, and if someone were threatening me with it, I would run away. So, it works well as a home defense weapon in case of home invasion or burglar. It's also got a sharp enough point for skewering someone if they don't get scared as easily. However, the blade itself is not so sharp. It'll cut skin with the tip, but the blade edge itself won't. Even a full force 180 degree swing with it didn't cut cardboard. If you have a way to sharpen it better, it'd probably do better. Still, the plastic haft is sturdy and still enough to use for sweeping under someone's feet to trip them up, and the blade will hold up. It could be fatal, but requires some skill to do it. It's serves its purpose well.

I am giving it 5 stars for one reason. I knew what I was getting into. I did not expect a 600.00 Paul Chen Naginata for 90 bucks. I will say I learned that the steel, 2cr13, is simply 420 stainless steel. It is not the best steel but then again, I have had knives...still have some,,,in 420 ss and they have served well. Question is,,,did United Cutlery try to pull the 420 wool over our eyes by calling it 2cr13? Like a marketing ploy to make it appear to be something else.....dunno. But were they misleading? No.They were honest.It is dull as a butter knife but I can fix that. Fit, finish, detail, cool tactical look, it is all there and satisfactory. I intend to cut bottles with it and some semi hard targets. I think the blade is thick enough that it will not snap. I believe it is a durable piece but is it worth 96.00? I say no. But I will still rate it 5 stars since that has nothing to do with the item. I say it is more of a 60.00 spear and soon the prices will reflect that after the newness wears off.https://youtu.be/UYTfj8VdtRw