Review: 17th Century Italian Rapier by Windlass Steelcrafts

*** Where to find this sword ***

*** Specifications ***

Overall length: 114 cm / 45 in
Blade length: 96 cm / 38 in
Blade width: 1.1 - 2 cm / 0.4 - 0.78 in
Point of balance: 7.5 cm / 3 in from the crossguard
Weight: 1.2 kg / 2 lbs 10 oz

Blade material: 1065 high carbon steel
Hilt assembly: Full tang, nut

*** Pros / Cons ***

+ Very light and well balanced for fine point control
+ Good fit and finish for the price

- Overly flexible blade that takes a set easily
- Thick, clunky quillon block (the triangular center point of the crossguard)

Support the channel, get bonus content and other rewards:

Books about history and/or martial arts, swords, knives, video/audio equipment, and other stuff I recommend:

Kult of Athena, my favorite online store for reproductions of historical arms and armor, fantasy swords, etc (affiliate link):

Where to get HEMA gear and practice swords:

Get in contact or see a list of my video uploads:

Channel-related shirts and other merch:

My side channel (for rambles, vlogs, opinions, gaming, etc):

Best-selling knives on Gearbest:

[DasHurzify]

Two adult men compare blade length, flexibilty and then engage in vigorous thrusting

[vqjcuhp]

Is not that the grip is too long, the sword is made for a wielder with 6 fingers.

[thehailedacorn]

You can tell how much Skal likes the sword by whether or not he's wearing gloves.

[buzdygan]

i was just waching Skall, and now, i can watch Skall!
Ps. Please more Loki!

[danielherrasti]

Here in Spain its what you mostly find. Most hema places teach rapier, rapier and parring daga and rapier and buckler.

[prismaticc_abyss]

Skall before you move, let Eric break one more axe.

[lordjs]

Very nice to see a video about rapier. Rapier is one of my 3 favorite types of swords.

[thesupersonicstig]

The legendary Pommel may have met its match

"The Bullet Tip"

[tyjohnston]

Windlass swords aren't bad for the price, but the blades do tend to be "whippy" or a bit too flexible (imo) to some extent, at least the longer blades.

[johnfrancisdoe]

Congratulations on finally solving the lighting problem at the club.

[Heartless-Sage]

Always love videos on rapiers, thank you. :)

[MrSven]

i have a pre-fire hanwei too.
its perfect for beginners and virtually undestructible. love it.

[AlyxMSC]

I was actually about to buy this because I loved the look of this thing. Thanks for the video Skall. Woud've spent 300 dollars for a wall hanger other wise.

[Psiberzerker]

Surviving examples are highly decorated, but it's difficult to tell when some of them were engraved, and inlaid. In the 18th century, a lot of collectors (Particularly of Italian Spada, Rapiers, and Chinquedea.) had their pieces engraved, inlaid with gold, and isilver to raise their value, or just prettyfy their collections. There were also a lot of forgeries due to the Neo-classical movement, particularly in the New World. Caveat Emptor. Also, in general the more ornate ones were just kept better, in Royal armories, and museum collections, because this sword was owned by Louis VI, or whatever. The EDCs were used, dinged up, and repaired. Notice that the ornate swords in museums show very little wear, and tear, because they were worn as Jewelry, and a sign of status. They also weren't kept in museums, and private collections for centuries, because the ornate ones have more value.

[derschwartzadder]

Compared to historic swords, that guard and grip are GIGANTIC.

[joshuazane]

I like the design of the hilt, very elegant.

[Flyguy]

that's floppier than most modern fencing epée blades o_O holy shiat

[Psiberzerker]

Well, it doesn't look like it was designed for a six-fingered man, but the extra room inside the hilt is really nice. I hate swept, and basket hilts that are too close, they bust up your wrist. (Without the Lining. Mind you, Scottish Broadswords typically have some lining, which helps.) Also, singlesticks are great, because the hilt is leather. Speaking of which, do you know any decent singlestick suppliers, or should I ask Matt Easton?

[pgandy]

In defence of the long handle I’ll say that it moved the PoB back giving better point control. I nearly bought that model some years back opted for the Pilsen Rapier and I am glad to say it has a stiffer blade. I did find an issue with the Pilsen due to the square corners on the quillon block and removed them, the same could be done with that Italian Rapier. A lot of people put Windlass, and other Indian manufacturers, down for unsharpened blades, which is the law of the land. I did too at first then discovered by declaring those swords as “unsharpened replicas” customs is much easier to get along with. I hope Windlass, Universal, Weapon Edge and the others are forced to follow the practice, ditto for Del Tin. That’s a nice looking rapier and hopefully that was just a faulty blade.

[Megatron_]

It reminds of the rapier swords that were used in The Three Musketeers in 3D