[Nate C.]

Greetings all,

I am looking to expand my collection by one rapier in the near future . While I greatly enjoy my Mercenary, I wanted to add a sword I know a little more about using to my collection. Thus I have been looking at web sites and all that kind of thing (thank you myArmoury links page). After my preliminary research I have come to the conclusion that ...... I don't have a conclusion . So, I wanted to ask the community (owners especially) for info on the rapiers they have seen/used/owned. What I want is a functional, sharp, and historically accurate production rapier. I'd be especially interested in hearing about Armour class, vladamir Cervenka, and Atrim rapiers as I haven't heard much about them. I'm not intent on one style but I prefer the pappenheimer/cup/plate-filled style for their extra hand protection.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers,

[Patrick Kelly]

[Sean Flynt]

For a high-end, off-the-shelf rapier, I too would go to A&A. For me, the Cavalier Rapier or Town Guard Sword, both c&t blades rather than slender, thrust-only. There are some lovely needles at A&A as well. If you can find one, MRL's old German rapier is a sweet thrusting weapon based on a documented original.

[Joe Fults]

I've owned rapiers from Lutel and Armour Class and I've handled quite a few from A&A, MRL/Windlass, and Deltin so my experience is a bit more limited than some. Based on what I've been exposed to, I'm most impressed with the work from A&A and Lutel.

[Russ Ellis]

I'll second, third or fourth (whatever) the votes for Arms and Armor. My favorite of theirs that I've personally handled is the German rapier.

[Sean Flynt]

In my previous post I completely ignored your desire for hand protection. Have you considered the new Pappenheimer-style rapier from CASI? Its sharp blade is interchangeable with CASI's practice blade. Ditto for the matching main gauche. Sounds like you might want to do some training/sparring with your rapier, so this might be a good way to go. For the price of an A&A you could get the CASI, main gauche and practice blades for both, with enough cash left to get a couple of years worth of self-tanning lotion to help you hide the bruises.

http://www.by-the-sword.com/acatalog/images/SH2206.JPG

[William Goodwin]

One other place looking into would be Scott Wilson @ Darkwood Armory.

[Patrick Kelly]

[Nate C.]

Wow,

Let's see.... that's votes for A&A, A&A, Lutel, A&A aaannd, A&A . Thanks for all the feedback.

I definitely have been drooling over the A&A site (thankfully I have the extended "drool protection" policy for my computer). I kind of figured I'd get this kind of response, but I s\wanted to hear if there were any other opinions out there.

On the subject of lutel, has anyone besides Joe handled/owned one and if so, what were your impressions? I notice in the pictures on the Lutel site that the hilts look quite nice but the blades look a little "blocky" as if they are for re-enactment use. Does anyone know one way or the other on that?

Thanks for your continued input.

Cheers,

[Gordon Frye]

Nate, I'll throw in my support for A&A too. Although I haven't handled a LOT of the repops, I've handled enough originals and A&A's to know that the A&A product is pretty darned close to the originals... and if you fudge-factor for the differences in makers, eras, etc, then they're probably pretty much dead on the money.

The only A&A I have is the Dresden, which isn't exactly a rapier, more of a hand-and-a-half that someone stuffed a complex rapier guard on and said "Viola! A Horseman's Sword!", for which it's just dandy. But the Musketeer is VERY nice too, and from my handling of it, and several originals, it's a very nice reproduction in all ways.

So... if your budget allows, by all means go with A&A. But if not, then I would expect that the advice given by the gentlemen above would be quite worth taking. Especially the tanning lotion....

Cheers!

Gordon

[James Holczer]

It truly depends what you want this rapier for and what you intend to do with it. If your looking for a top of the line production rapier I would have to agree that A&A should be your front runner. But if you're looking to really fence with it and don't want to worry about getting a few scratches and nicks in it then take a hard look at Darkwood. Scott Wilson's line of standard pieces are in that catagory. Darkwood is also capable of producing custom work and much finer examples. It all boils down to what you want to spend and what you want it to do.

[Patrick Kelly]

[Joe Fults]

[Chris Last]

You've gotten most of the advice I would have given already about A&A but seeing as no one has spoken up about Lutel, I'll throw my personal feelings in.

I own a Lutel 14006 (http://www.lutel.cz/14006.htm) and like it very much. I prefer the blade with its blunt edge as what I do with it is more practice work and sparring than any cutting work or the like. The blade is much more flexible than the A&A blades I have handled (Milanese, Dresden). I can bend my blade to 90 degrees with relative ease.

I love my piece, but I also bought when the dollar was strong and in a group order to help out with shipping to the states. I personally like to handle weapons before I buy, and if you are in the area of the Bristol Ren Faire, you can handle both makers weapons. A&A has a booth right by where my group is and Mayhawke Armoury sells Lutel wares.

[Nate C.]

Greetings once more.

I'm sensing a definite trend here . Arms & Armor must have worked very hard indeed to gain it's reputation. I definitely like what pictures I've seen of their work. And I have been leaning towards A&A for a while. However, as an engineer, I like to get as much info as possible (some say too much ) before committing that kind of money.

I am now stuck in the quandary of which one to get (oh, sweet agony ). I'd be especially interested in hearing anyone's personal experiences/opinions of the Gustav Vasa, Dresden, Cup hilt, and Italian 3 ring rapiers. Comments on their handling, strong/weak points and general usage (ie C&T, thrust only, etc.) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all the info.

Cheers,

[Gordon Frye]

[Joe Fults]

You can find reviews of the Gustav and Italian here:

http://www.myArmoury.com/reviews.html

[Nate C.]