Question: Is a Hanwei federschwert worth buying?
My verdict: No, definitely not. Just don’t.
These have been on the market for more than a decade, and they have not really improved much in that time. They break given the slightest provocation. There have been occurrences of practitioners receiving injuries from penetrating thrusts from broken Hanwei feder blades.
These are a liability to you, to your training partner, and to everyone around you. You have a duty of responsibility to your training partners, which includes not stabbing them with broken blades if at all possible, so you should avoid these swords like the plague. They are simply not worth the risk or the money.
There is nothing good to say about them.
Motivation and transparency
I do not have one of these swords myself, although I have had several opportunities to handle them over the years. I would be quite unhappy if I saw one of my students bringing one of these swords to my club, due to the risk I perceive to training partners and other people training nearby.
(Edit: this “motivation” section was added on the 9th of March 2019, as part of an effort to improve the transparency of the various reviews on this website.)
Keith Farrell teaches HEMA professionally, often at international events (why not hire me to teach at your event?), and has an interest in coaching instructors to become better teachers. I teach regularly at Liverpool HEMA, and help behind the scenes with running HEMA in Glasgow at the Vanguard Centre.
I have authored Scottish Broadsword and British Singlestick and the award-winning AHA German Longsword Study Guide, and maintain a blog at www.keithfarrell.net where I post regularly.