[F. Carl Holz]

Recently I decided start in on learning rapier. Up until now I had only gone so far as longsword and a little sword and buckler, so the shift calls for a change in equipment. I'm not yet willing to commit an especially large amount of money to it, but I want something that works.

For these reasons I picked the Hanwei practical cup-hilt; I have references on Spanish as well as Italian rapier I hope to utilize and, truth be told, I think it looks good and it comes with a fitted scabbard, something I haven't seen on other rapier trainers.

So, I have a two part question:

1. Is this a practical choice as a starter? I know that there are better swords out there, but I don't want to have to stomach a bill much more than $200, and I am unaware of many other options.

2. What supplier should I go through/is there a difference? The three I had considered were: therion arms, Kult of Athena, or Hanwei shop (who is supposed to be the official hanwei supplier) however I was amused by the spread of prices they presented me with. I understand that KOA has a sort of quality control in place, but I’m not sure of its efficiency. I've also got the impression that Therion Arms makes a point of only selling the most recent issue of any model.

The prices listed go:
Therion Arms: $195
Hanwei shop: $159.99
KOA: $133.95

[Craig Shackleton]

I have ordered from Kult of Athena many times and been happy every time. I've never heard a bad review of them.

The Hanwei Cup hilt practical is a good starter rapier, as is the Hanwei practical rapier (the swept hilt one), which is even cheaper, and also available from KoA and Therion.

The only other rapier I generally recommend that comes in under $200 is from Alchem ( http://www.alcheminc.com/longhilts.html ), although the model I personally prefer for rapier is just over $200.

Good luck!

[Reinier van Noort]

In a similar situation, I bought the Hanwei Practical Cup Hilt from the Knight Shop (.co.uk). I got the Cup Hilt because it fitted the sources I wanted to use best. Recently I also found out that the Cup Hilt blade is considerably less flexible than the other practical blades (that are very flexible!).

So, in short, I heartily advice the Cup hilt as a starter rapier.

[Pauli Vennervirta]

I had a practical cup hilt. I agree that it is an ok. rapier for a beginner, but still it is miles away from, say, Darkwood Armory economy models. Balance and durability are much better with Darkwood and you get the blade lenght you need.

[Chris Slee]

I still swear by the Hanwei 1098 rapier ($129) I bought from By The Sword (http://www.by-the-sword.com) about three years ago. It may be a little heavy in the overly complex hilt but it looks good and moves easily in bouting. You can easily get replacement blades ($50) if you need to - i've only needed to once - with standard lengths of 37 and 43 inches.

[Craig Shackleton]

The 1098 and 1099 practical rapiers are only $95 from KoA, which is ridiculously good. I don't find them overly flexible, but then I prefer a good amount of flex in a practice blade. I know some people find the hilt a little heavy, but the balance is pretty good, and I have no trouble with it. I've used much worse. As far as the guard being overly complex, I'm not sure what to make of that. I will say that it is the only commercially available rapier I have encountered with which you can effectively and easily bind your opponent's blade with the sweeps. The only rapier I've seen that was better for this purpose was one that was handmade by my friend specifically for this function. Not many people teach how to do this technique though.

[Isaac H.]

Another excellent as well as affordable rapier supplier I highly recommend Zen Warrior Armory (ZWA). I have purchased two schalgers from them and have been very pleased.Mine were $180, but there are some models for less than $120(depending on what blade you choose ). You can mix and match parts to create your own custom sword.Although the selection isn't superb, the customer service is. When one of my ZWA blades broke due to unatural tang stress,they replaced the blade for half price!

The Hanwei practical cup hilt is a begginers weapon at best. A student in my rapier academy owns one so I have observed this weapon first hand.The blade is definately stiff, but far worse is the fact that the quillons are quite weak.Since there is no support between the quillons and the bottom of the guard,the wimpy quillons eventually bend inwards due to combat stress and tightening the pommel.The balance of this sword isn't amazing and the red leather that lines the inside of the guard is peeling off. Although Hanwei is a fantastic company, the practical cup hilt is far from being a fantastic sword.

[Jim Mearkle]

I asked Therion about replacement blades for the cup-hilt, and he said they were not available. Then again, the whole sword isn't much more than a replacement blade from Darkwood.

[Greg Coffman]

Are there any practice blades out there with historically accurate rigid blades?

[Pauli Vennervirta]

I would say that Darkwood bated blade could be quite rigid, but blunt.

[Steven Reich]

[F. Carl Holz]

I didn't realize that the difference to a darkwood armoury economy rapier was so little (well, $80), would you say the extra $80 for a darkwood armoury economy rapier is worth it?

[Pauli Vennervirta]

[Craig Shackleton]

[James Holczer]

I have to echo the preference for Darkwood. The blades that Darkwood produces are in my opinion superior to anything put out by Hanwei. That’s not to say that the Hanwei blades are bad, it just that they do not handle like a Darkwood. Any Hanwie blade I’ve seen 40” or more has far too much whip in it for my taste. While I agree with Steven Reich that you can perform historical techniques correctly with a lot of blades that are out there but an overly whippy blade causes your point control to suffer and depending upon the degree of flexibility it can cause small quick blade actions such as disengagements to become larger and slower.

[Steven Reich]

[James Holczer]