[Ansteorra-rapier] Blade recommendation
Chris Zakes
dontivar at gmail.com
Sun Nov 21 19:39:46 PST 2010
At 09:11 PM 11/20/2010, you wrote:
>I wanted to ask you some questions about Schlager style blades. I
>am looking to buy one for my Lord who is a new rapier fighter.
>
>What is the difference between Musketeer, Schlager, and rapier blades.
The Musketeer is a heavy-duty, extra-wide epee. In Ansteorra, it's
classified as a "light" rapier, along with foils. These days, very
few people in Ansteorra are using the light blades, so buying one
means it will probably spend a lot more time sitting in his equipment
bag than on the field.
Schlagers are heavier and somewhat more sword-shaped than epees, and
are legal for "heavy" rapier (which is what most people are fighting
these days.) The problem is that schalgers are typically 36" long,
while most of the other heavy blades are around 40-42" and, as others
have said, they don't really handle like a period rapier.
Rapier blades are longer, and actually shaped like period swords, so
they handle the way they're supposed to. The top of the line is
Darkwood- (http://www.darkwoodarmory.com/) they're more expensive,
but you definitely get what you pay for. Someone else mentioned
Hanwei--they're OK as starter blades, but since they're made in
China, the blades sometimes have quality control problems. It's worth
pointing out that Darkwood has an "economy" line using Hanwei blades,
rather than Darkwood; that might be the best compromise, and if he
gets really hooked, he can always upgrade the blade later.
-Tivar Moondragon
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