Post by Jordan Williams on Feb 6, 2019 6:37:51 GMT
I do not own this sword. But I got to handle it today for about 10 minutes, and am still extremely excited I got to touch it. I made as many mental notes as I could, and made as many subtle movements and guards as I could with the store staffer standing next to me.
Blade - the blade was about 1 inche wide at the base, and tapered down to about 10/16ths before finally edging put at about 8/16ths of an inch wide for much the remainder of the blade, however it still tapers down towards the tip, gradually and in a linear fashion.
There is a narrow but deep fuller that runs for roughly 8 inches down the blade from the guard.
The blade is a diamond section and I would estimate around 4 inches long looking at my photos for reference. It makes the hanwei rapier in the background look like a spadroon.
Also, I used to own that hanwei model. The hilt is gross but has a beautiful blade. The ricasso will nip at your hands. Unless I had a different model, I didn't pay much attention to it.
The blade is not whippy it all, it stays straight until pressure is applied, and at this point it flexes as much as one would want a fighting sword. I wouldn't have any fear of the sword not penetrating clothing, nor of it snapping due to having too stiff of a temper.
It feels too light for any real cutting, but the edge will certainly slice well with the tip. In fact I almost sliced my fingers on it. The tip is beautifully easy to control. My goodness, like pouring water. Absolutely perfect. Just enough blade presence to feel confident, but light enough to feel like holding a hypodermic needle. "Well balanced" being used here is a given and an understatement. It is perfectly balanced.
Let's get the downside out of the way.
The pommel, being a nice, pretty, solid, and well made disc shape does sort of jab into the palm when holding it with one finger over the guard. Two fingers is much more comfortable.
That's all for the negatives.
The Hilt - the cup hilt is wide, somewhat shallow, and very well made. The finger rings are bolted to the guard plate, and the quillons are long and well made.
The front facing quillon is connected to the knuckle bow by an ornate sort of swirl.
The bone grip has a green die and looks very pretty. It also feels smooth in the hand, but still grippy enough. It is about 3 inches long with a metal ferrule at the top, and turns from oval to circular as it approaches the pommel.
Overall I would rate this rapier very positively if it could be reproduced by a maker. The closest I can find on KoA is this.
kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=DT5179
Everything below the blade shoulders is wrong though.
And it only costs 3 grand...
Hope you enjoy this little writeup. The measures are a little bit off, but I really wanted to put down my thoughts on paper.
Blade - the blade was about 1 inche wide at the base, and tapered down to about 10/16ths before finally edging put at about 8/16ths of an inch wide for much the remainder of the blade, however it still tapers down towards the tip, gradually and in a linear fashion.
There is a narrow but deep fuller that runs for roughly 8 inches down the blade from the guard.
The blade is a diamond section and I would estimate around 4 inches long looking at my photos for reference. It makes the hanwei rapier in the background look like a spadroon.
Also, I used to own that hanwei model. The hilt is gross but has a beautiful blade. The ricasso will nip at your hands. Unless I had a different model, I didn't pay much attention to it.
The blade is not whippy it all, it stays straight until pressure is applied, and at this point it flexes as much as one would want a fighting sword. I wouldn't have any fear of the sword not penetrating clothing, nor of it snapping due to having too stiff of a temper.
It feels too light for any real cutting, but the edge will certainly slice well with the tip. In fact I almost sliced my fingers on it. The tip is beautifully easy to control. My goodness, like pouring water. Absolutely perfect. Just enough blade presence to feel confident, but light enough to feel like holding a hypodermic needle. "Well balanced" being used here is a given and an understatement. It is perfectly balanced.
Let's get the downside out of the way.
The pommel, being a nice, pretty, solid, and well made disc shape does sort of jab into the palm when holding it with one finger over the guard. Two fingers is much more comfortable.
That's all for the negatives.
The Hilt - the cup hilt is wide, somewhat shallow, and very well made. The finger rings are bolted to the guard plate, and the quillons are long and well made.
The front facing quillon is connected to the knuckle bow by an ornate sort of swirl.
The bone grip has a green die and looks very pretty. It also feels smooth in the hand, but still grippy enough. It is about 3 inches long with a metal ferrule at the top, and turns from oval to circular as it approaches the pommel.
Overall I would rate this rapier very positively if it could be reproduced by a maker. The closest I can find on KoA is this.
kultofathena.com/product.asp?item=DT5179
Everything below the blade shoulders is wrong though.
And it only costs 3 grand...
Hope you enjoy this little writeup. The measures are a little bit off, but I really wanted to put down my thoughts on paper.
But he can sure touch them.
Someday when I don't work at a community college with unreliable higher staff I'll start up a payment plan with them for an old piece. 
