Darkwood Teardrop Pappenheimer
Original: Circa 1620-1640
The modern practitioner of rapier combat has long had very poor options for fencing tools. For many years the swords primarily used by the rapier fencer were those designed for the modern sport. While such tools could certainly allow the user to practice safely, modern sport swords are very inaccurate in terms of rapier handling and weight.
Darkwood Armory, run by Scott Wilson, caters to the rapier fencer by creating reasonably priced rapier hilts mounted to rapier blades made for fencing. These swords are designed to balance accuracy in handling and safety. This particular sword is what Darkwood calls a "teardrop plate" Pappenheimer, which falls under A.V.B. Norman's classification of a Type 67 hilt. It is mounted on a Del Tin bated rapier blade, which is just slightly heavier and stiffer than the Del Tin practice rapier blade, though not enough to make it unsafe for fencing.
The bluing on this hilt is very deep and even, and has shown surprising resistance to scratches, considering it is used for fencing. The bars show some welds, which is common with "standard" models, but since Scott Wilson makes all of his hilts himself, a customer wishing for a higher level of accuracy and finish can certainly pay more for it, and Scott is more than able to produce high quality pieces.
See our
hands-on review for more information on this sword.
Overall length: 49"
Weight: 2.6 pounds
Width of guard: 9.75"
Blade: 39.5" long from shell; 1" wide
Ricasso: 2.5" long
Grip length: 3.5"
Point of Balance (PoB): 3.75" from guard
Center of Percussion (CoP): ~28.5" from guard
Makers:
Darkwood Armory and
Del Tin Armi Antiche.
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