Global Gear Highlander Sword Review

The Highlander sword has to be one of the most recognizable (and popular) movie swords on the market. Despite the fact that most replicas are, as usual with movie swords, stainless steel decorative pieces - recently there have been a couple of actual functional replicas...

United Cutlery went some way towards addressing this recently, with an officially licensed replica made from 1045 carbon steel (the minimum ‘functional’ level of carbon content for a sword). But it was an Australian based sword seller and OEM manufacturer, Global Gear, who really sparked my interest with a Highlander sword by the forge who made the Chikara swordthat impressed me some time ago...

And after talking with Leon at Global Gear about it, who was clearly very proud of this functional replica based on the original sword seen in the movie that was first weilded by Ramirez (Sean Connery) and then MacLeod , it seemed that this might just well be the Katana that Highlander fans had been waiting over 25 years for...

Global Gear G917V Highlander Katana

And inside, the box is packed with all kinds of goodies including: a golden detailed sword bag, felt lined sword stand, decent quality sword cleaning kit (including mekugi nuki hammer, uchiko powder ball, choji oil, etc) and a couple of certificates, one giving you a brief overview of the sword and the other a quality control check list.

And of course, the sword itself... ;-)

Putting the extras aside, let’s concentrate on the sword – starting with the feature that really defines these swords, the distinctive Dragon head hilt.

FIT AND FITTINGS

Made of faux ivory, the Dragon head hilt of the Global gear Highlander sword is a world apart from the cheapo mass produced replicas seen in the last 25 years.

The attention to detail on this sword is truly striking, and while it is of course some kind of plastic, it feels very heavy and solid – creating a unique counterbalance to the blade, something that I will expound upon a little later in this review.

But from a purely cosmetic point of view, the embossed images on the hilt are not only accurate to the film but really do look impressive – even the ‘red ruby’ looks good and gives it all just that little dash of color and additional interest.

The dragons head ‘pommel’ seems to be the most faithful rendition of the actual movie prop around, and looks much better than the ‘rounded’ head version that was created by Marto of spain many years ago and really does have quite a presence to it.

Moving down towards the blade, we come to a faithful brass rendition of the tsuba, slightly antiqued and blackened to give it a dash of character.

My only real qualm was that the fit between the tsuba and the nagako (tang) could have been just a fraction of an inch better aligned, and wiggles ever so slightly. It is a little frustrating that the hilt of this sword seems to have been epoxied to the tang and cannot be removed to shim or otherwise correct this problem, but in all honesty it is not a big deal, just mildly irritating.

Moving on, the saya is a gorgeous glossy red color, with real buffalo horn koiguchi and Kojiri caps on either end, making for a nice touch.

Overall, apart from the slightly loose tsuba, the fittings of this sword are quite breathtaking, but the best is yet to come...

THE BLADE

The blade of this Highlander sword replica is truly something stunning to behold.

Made from spring steel and differentially hardened with an edge boasting the ideal HRC of 60, the hamon is both very real and very beautiful, rolling elegantly the full length of the blade.

The level of polish is excellent - not quite a mirror finish - but it is more than good enough to does bring out the detail and activities of the hamon.

The kissaki is very cleanly executed, and has boshi (hamon going right to the tip) though has no yokote, cosmetic or otherwise.

Being sans bo-hi, the blade feels extremely solid and powerful – and the second you pick this sword up you know that, from a backyard cutters point of view, it is something very special indeed...

Weighing 2lbs 10oz, and with a point of balance some 6” from the tsuba, this sword is no lightweight pipsweak. But as soon as you hold it in your hands and raise it to strike, it feels extremely ‘alive’.

I don’t know if this is the result of the unique weight and balance of the foot long hilt combined with the solid and powerful blade, but the second you put this sword in motion, you can feel it almost reaching out to slice the target as if it knows your intention and guides itself perfectly into the target – a phenomenan bourne out in my test cutting session with this little beauty...

TEST CUTTING

This sword is an absolute joy to cut with.

The egde is beautifully honed, and when combined with its raw cutting power, is a truly rewarding and somewhat awe inspiring cutter.

VIDEO: Cutting Tests Effortless cutting on PET bottles and tatami mats, even one handed it is a breeze with this sword doing all the work

Indeed, as you can see in the last part of the video, even cutting a Mugen Dachi full tatami mat resting on a pedestal barely disturbes the mats balance and is testament to this blades cutting ability, and the cuts are both extremely clean and crisp.

CONCLUSION

All in all, when it comes to selecting a functional Highlander sword, there can be only one – and it is most definitely the G917V Highlander Katana...

Even for the casual backyard cutter who has only a passing interest in the movie, as a standalone cutter with attitude, this sword cannot be overlooked.

Pros:

• Extremely faithful and beautiful functional replica of the movie sword

• Amazing and very natural handling with serious cutting power

• Slightly loose tsuba and cannot be disassembled

WHERE TO BUY

The Global Gear G917V Highlander Katana is only available HERE from Global Gear for AU$440 (about US$338 based on the exchange rate current at the time of writing this review).

While it is shipped direct from Global Gears Australian (Melbourne) based warehouse, and is therefore an extremely good deal for Australian sword enthusiasts (for once) – Global Gear, as their name suggests, ship internationally on a regular basis with the average cost of shipping being $100.

While this may seem expensive, they ship very fast – with my sword being received the next day after being dispatched and most international shipments arriving 2-3 days later.

Considering what you get though, and the lack of any other serious highlander sword that even comes close to this one, it is truly a small price to pay.