[E Stafford]

Hello all. Edwin here, first time posting. I'm a classics student at a University in Utah, USA. As such, I have an interest in this kind of thing, especially for research purposes. I was wondering if anyone could direct me to a good rapier, or at least a good rapier blade. I have an idea of what I'd like: a shell guard rapier with a practice blade, and then later, a stiff, historical blade, rather than something like a foil. I had a candidate in mind, the CAS Iberia Gustav, but it looks like the blade isn't up to par. Any help would be great. I've also looked through the reviews, but nothing there appealed to me. Thanks.

[Jonathan Blair]

Welcome to myArmoury, Edwin. Hope you like it here.
How much are you willing to spend and how long are you willing to wait?

[Roger Hooper]

Better than getting a Hanwei/CASI would be to go to www.Darkwoodarmory.com - It seems that all their customers have good things to say about them and their swords.

[Max von Bargen]

I would also take a look at Arms & Armor (www.arms-n-armor.com). Their rapiers are pretty expensive (I think they're more expensive than Darkwood), but I've only heard positive feedback about them, too.

Welcome to the site!
Max

[James Holczer]

Hello Edwin,

I'll echo the sentiment about Arms and Armor and Darkwood, both are excellent choices. You can find hands on non biased reviews of various rapiers both by Darkwood and Arms and Armor in the review section of this website. But I might add that if you are really looking for an excellent shell or cup hilt fencing rapier you might want to check out "No Quarter Arms". Dennis Graves has been making rapiers for theatrical companys and fencers alike for 30 years and he really does do excellent work.

http://www.noquarterarms.com/index.html


Jim Holczer
Umbs School of Fence/Martinez Academy of Arms

[Sean Flynt]

When I was studying rapier, I thoroughly enjoyed my Alchem Pappenheimer (w/ custom short quillons).

http://www.alcheminc.com/swept.html

These weapons are well under $200 and the Alchem folks were very accomodating of my custom request (no extra charge).

The hilts aren't perfectly historical, but they're strong and mine worked well in my own sparring. The tapered schläger blade was very stiff, which made it possible to use the weapon in an historically accurate manner. If you get a long blade, you'd lose some stiffness. The setup I had (a blade of moderate length matched to a hilt design of ca. 1630) was appropriate for the period of my interest and the text I was studying. It wouldn't be appropriate for study of the long, open-hilt 16th century rapiers.

Alchem has some simpler hilts that would be more appropriate for early rapier study. You might have trouble finding a practice blade long enough for that period but still relatively stiff.

[E Stafford]

Darkwood Armory just keeps coming up, doesn't it? . I'll look into them. Thanks for the help.