Any comments on the Tarwar for a sword newbe?

C

charlesbjr

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Mar 8, 2006
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Good evening all,
I have been a knife person for many years but have been getting interested in swords lately. I am looking for one that is not very long but works and can take a beating. This will be used for camp work up at hunting camp, so some brush clearing will be done (I guess bush crafting). I guess you can say that I can use a machete but I want something different and nice looking.
I have been looking around and see so many different types of katanas, dadaos (spelling?), etc. But I came across the Talwar and love the length and look. I saw one review which chopped up a pumpkin, but that can't be too hard to do.

Any advice?

Thanks!
 
I have a HI tarwar that is very very sturdy, the spine is 1/4 inch thick all the way to the tip
 
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A very, very important thing to remember is the fact that swords (as opposed to shortsword-length bush knives or khukuri) are designed for one thing alone-to wreck human or human size (and consistency) targets.
Trying to use them as axes or splitting tools is an almost guaranteed way to damage the sword and possibly end up getting a ludicrous number of stitches. I've never handled a tarwar, and it does look more bolo-like than sword like, but katana and chinese/european swords WILL eventually die from being used as camp tools.
Rolled tatami omote, soaked cardboard shipping tubes and bamboo are way more appropriate.
Not trying to lecture but I've seen some pretty bad cuts and some scary, scary near misses from sword failures.
 
JW is what anyone getting into swords needs to hear, I never really touch mine save to put them in a case and to go ooooooo, thus I dont think about the actual safety issues of using them--- it should always be remembered how deadly a sharpened wedge of steel can be, I mean you can kill someone pretty easy by accident and not even with sharp metal-- so yeah, be extremely careful, I think the tarwar would make a good machete but nothing heavier otherwise you will risk blade for sure-probably good person chopper too but im no judge, but listen to the JW
 
A good 25" Sirupati is what I use to check the mail and a heck of a lot of fun!
 
the tarwar is very heavy and long so for both those reasons would be more dangerous for camp use than a one-handed kukhri or machete. Don't get me wrong it's a very cool blade but made for cleaving zombies not clearing brush.
 
It's also pretty easy to put a bend or even a corkscrew bend (which is fun to fix, lemme tell ya) in a sword blade-especially differential hardened blades.
 
Thank you all, excellent comments! It sounds like it is what I need for a zombie invasion (LOL!) and to admire. For brush clearing and camp, I will go with a more appropriate tool.

Thanks folks!
 
Tarwars generally handle some like brush work, but they aren't warranted for it.
But swords are tricky. Our late forum friend DannyaInJapan, a man who was trained to use a sword, made one bad cut with a custom over-sized Gelbu Special and gave the blade a slight bend. It's easier to do than movies let on.
 
Thank you all for responding. I have been hearing the term battle ready used for some swords, would that be appropriate to use here? For example, can the Tarwar go through tatami, cardboard tube, etc.? Though I have never been trained in how to use a sword and probably wouldnt know where to even start, I want a functional piece, not just a wall hanger. Thats just me though.
Thanks
 
The tarwar will generally be a VERY forgiving sword inasmuch as if you make a bad cut and bend a tarwar, you'd most certainly inflict more damage on a more martially dedicated sword.
A Tarwar should easily handle anything that a dedicated sword can...and usually hold up to mild blade on/through wood impacts like taking out an 1.5" diameter sapling.

Battle ready swords usually just swords that have been constructed and heat treated so that they will hold up to and take acceptable damage of that of a real weapon of war. In short, no welded tangs, not thru-hardened, usually carbon steel over a more brittle stainless, etc.

Physics is physics and a bad cut is a bad cut. Anything long and sharp and thin can become the victim of a torque. I have zero formal training with a sword, but I can tell you that if you don't use the right technique, it's really easy to bend a sword. There is a reason why soldiers and warriors who depended on their weapons A) Were trained and trained and trained to use them correctly and B) Were issued practice swords so that they didn't destroy the real thing.
 
Tarwars are great beginner's swords, particularly the full tang models, IMHO. However, getting some legit training is far far more important...
 
Behold the results of a sword meeting a non sword target (in this case a Modern Chinese Historiography textbook on a sturdy coffee table. Disclaimer: a:25 years ago, and b:1860's katana that had the point briken off before I got it-learned to polish on it.)image.jpg I was VERY lucky. It broke straight back, not to the side, so that point section went past my ear and four inches into a lath-and-plaster wall. An inch to the right an it would have been in my sinuses.
I keep it in the forge to remind me that I, too, am an idiot sometimes.
 
Wow, that is serious!

Folks, thanks for all the input, this has been a learning experience. Of course there are differences, but I always thought of a sword as nothing more than a longer knife.

Obviously not,
Thanks again!
 
I have a chiruwa tarwar that is 3/8" from the pommel all the way up to the last 4" or so of the blade before it begins to tapper. It's short for a sword, but massively built and solid. With all that mass, whatever it hits is going to feel it.
 
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I've used my Tarwar in the woods... Its fun. Its dangerous. And it left the blade with several blemishes/edge rolls that I haven't been able to remove completely. I was EXTREMELY careful about what I was swinging at, what was behind/under/over/and on either side of my target. The Tarwar is HEAVY. It is very heavy for a sword. I don't think I could easily break it cutting saplings and such, but a full swing hitting a hidden rock or something would be devastating. I would recommend a really cool machete instead. Its cheaper, easier, and safer.
 
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