Entry-level rapier suggestions?

What about the strongblade armory rapiers. I dont have any of them but now they are tempering some of their swords it might be worth a look at.

www.strongblade.com/nav/rapiers.html
I especially like the stormblade rapier

Agreed.

I don't like the Windlass stuff myself... I've handled and owned a few of their rapiers and at that price I prefer the Hanwei... and Strongblade is a step down from the Windlass IMO. The Hanwei Swept Hilt and Bone Handled Rapiers at those prices are your best bet... if you have to have wire wraped you can always figure out how to do that yourself after the fact.

I don't own one...I saw one and kept on walking. It was the dreadwind I believe.

Umm...when you see gapping holes where there shouldn't be any...yeah you can tell it's gonna be bad from just looking at it .

Like between the crossguard and the blade and a noticable gap between the pommel and handle. They cost as much or more then the hanwei, and the hanwei ones are leaps beyond better. But if you insist, feel free to buy one for yourself. They aren't unsafe or the worst you can get...but I would never get one of those over the bone handle hanwei rapier.

Im not a rennasance sword but in fact the only rennasance sword I have ever really liked the look of are the Rennasance side sword by hanwei and the strongblade musketeer. And I would be far more likely to buy the hanwei becasue it is a cutting and thrusting sword and not just one make for trusting. But thank you for your warning ill remember that later if I am ever considering them again.

Have three rapiers... Two 20 year old Kolombatovich's, (A Tercio brass swept hilt and an Athos steel cup hilt), and a recently acquired Hanwei lefty Torino.

Back in the day, Kolombat's were the bomb in the semi-affordable realm. My Tercio has held up to straight torture, let alone abuse. But I have to say, I really like my Hanwei Torino. Pommel's a bit large, but it balances well and the tip is fast. Temper seems quite good, flex is good, and I like that Hanwei uses S/S for this hilt and parts. (I've polished the Kolombat Athos too many times to count.)

I've had them all apart, and the Hanwei blade/tang seem solid. Same as the Athos, though the Tercio's is stouter. (More stout?) Had the opportunity to examine some real pieces at the Stibbert Museum in Florence, Italy. The Hanwei blade and tang dimensions seem right for the blade profile. The plastic-cored handle is a concern. (Was thinking about filling it in to a custom fit with Brownell's Acraglass and some release compound.) Overall, like my Hanwei a lot. Don't know about Windlass. Haven't played with one. People at Darkwood are awesome. Bought a handle from them. Wonderful, personal service.

Back to the Stibbert Museum. MUST SEE museum in Florence. More armi bianchi than you can even imagine. They have a case that is filled with a PILE of flanged maces. A PILE. The great hall has like six horse mannequins in full barding with riders. A whole floor of Japanese fuedal weaponry... Been to the Tower of London, been to the Legion of Honor and the Bargello. The Stibbert blows them all away.

I have the Hanwei Bone-Handled Swept Hilt. It's actually quite a nice offering. The grip is camel bone and very nicely done. The fit and finish on the sword is quite good. The ricasso is leather wrapped, comfortable, and large enough for my two-finger technique. And the hilt is stainless steel to cut down on maintenance. I ordered mine dull because I only wanted the last two feet sharp. (Yes, it was a bit tricky to sharpen.) Although quite stiff, I've flexed the blade more than 18 inches and had it return to true with no set in the blade. Basically, a really nice rapier for the price, but the scabbard is nothing to write home about - pretty utilitarian.

Okay so...I've never personally had a sword, and I've handled VERY few. But I really want a rapier, and I'd like to get into fencing. I've done some research on one in particular that I really like the looks of, but can't find much on, even the review here has almost no information on the functionality and quality of it and that's the Hanwei Bone Handled Swept Hilt Rapier...it seems like a nice sword, but I don't know...I found some people kinda' talking about it on here, but they still didn't say much...does anyone have some real information on this particular sword? We're on a tight budget so I really need a good value for the money, and I can't find anything within our budget that appeals to me anywhere near as much as this particular piece...I would also like to just mess around with it on just an average day...so again is this a good buy? I'd probably be buying it from Kult Of Athena.