Blackened Rapier

This is a wonderful piece.   The guard is very well constructed, sturdy, and highly detailed.  In spite of all of the perforations (a weight-saving measure), it feels solid.  The grip is good.  The blade is extremely stiff - much less floppy than my Christus Imperat (itself not a toy), and very business-like.

The entire sword is extremely lively in hand and is well-balanced.  I have no doubt that it would do its duty if it were called upon.  It is balanced less than 3" from the guard, so it's clearly meant for thrusting.  If your impression of rapier-fighting is based on old Erol Flynn movies, then this will be a good introduction for you because it is plenty nimble but also sobering in that you will realize how lethal similar swords could be.  (This one is in the very light end of the historical range for the type, and a little shorter, but doubtless would have qualified for the part in a historical setting).  You will not go wrong with this one.

I got the sword a while back and just took it to the ren fair near me and got alot of comments about its beauty and i fought with it in choregraphed fighting and it held up nicely under the stress i love the sword, it is both beautiful and functional for members of fighting reemactment groups.