I'll add some more to this as well, since during Adrian Empire's Imperial Crown War I got to handle quite a few good reenactment swords.
here's my opinion on the ones I handled and I'll post links and pics of similar weapons on here as well:
first off, I'll talk about the hanwei designs again. They're good blades, affordable and look quite a bit more accurate than the BKS ones.
http://www.cashanwei.com/product/practical-single-hand-sword/sh2046http://www.cashanwei.com/product/practical-norman-sword/sh2326and the "rare" - apparently it isn't being made anymore???
http://casiberia.com/product/practical-viking-sword/sh2047 - even though it's "in stock" and such on the site
maybe it was an older model. I'm not entirely sure.
the two favorite I handled:
http://casiberia.com/product/tinker-bastard-sword-blunt/sh2401and
http://casiberia.com/product/practical-basket-hilt-broadsword/sh2059I liked them all really and all of them had very good balance and were quite durable. Most of the swords I handled minus the basket hilt had been owned by the knight for well over 12 years of hard abuse.
When it comes to the baskethilt, I've handled far better weapons, but again, for the price, there is no comparison really. But for me, I'd spend the extra money and get a nicer one. It's not that the hanwei wasn't "nice" but its balance just felt a bit off, believe it or not, more hilt heavy than blade heavy, and the finish on the basket was sub-par for me. But then again, when it comes to those weapons I'm truly spoiled. Of course, the basket hilts I admire usually run 75% to 400% more expensive than the hanwei, and again, you get what you pay for.
for a crusader era or viking era sword for reenactment though, I'm leaning more towards Hanwei.
The two BKS weapons that were at war weren't even allowed on the field because:
a) too heavy
b) caused a danger because of a lack of flex in the blade
they were absolutely gorgeous though, and to me, handled quite nicely.
here are the two swords most similar to the ones from BKS I saw at war:
http://imakeswords.com/handhalves.htmabout half-way down
and again about half-way down
http://imakeswords.com/falchions.htmbeyond that, BKS makes a very nice weapon. It's just one that for my case, I'd have to be careful about how much it weighs. Ironically because of AE's ruleset, it's easier for a greatsword or an axe from BKS to meet the weight requirements than their single handed falcions. The hand and a half was just over weight, and to the marshal, just seemed overly built to be used safely against the much lighter hanwei weapons and the plywood shields most people were carrying. As a matter of fact, for a demonstration of the weapons ability, it cracked a 36" round war shield in one blow by the marshal and he wasn't even swinging it that hard.
for cutting, I'd avoid both. There are far better weapons out there for that purpose. Namely Albion, Arms & Armour, and Darksword armory as the big three.
For me, and for what I use it for, the hanwei is the one for me personally. I can get two, if not sometimes even three hanweis for the price of one BKS. From 10 feet away in a nice scabbard, the hanweis look better too because they aren't oversized. And, the marshals love them.