Results and comments from the Aug/Sep 2003 survey.

	Ýves’ big SCA rapier survey #1 ~ Miscellaneous comments on blades
	Updated: May 24, 2005

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Policy blurb

By default, authors of comments sent in response to this survey are named only by their permission. Usually, other people mentioned in a comment are named only with their permission as well. Each comment represents only what the author typed in for the survey at the time.

» This survey was conducted during August-September 2003. Things change over time. «

Some comments were edited for content. Certain harsh words have been changed for your amusement. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of the surveyor.

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# of Responses
by Kingdom
 
AEth.  = 34/235
Anst.  = 36/240
An Tir = 56/347
Art.   = 12/124
Aten.  = 27/460
Atl.   = 60/425
Caid   = 49/400
Drach. = 21/76
Eald.  = 12/77
East   = 46/480
Loch.  = 22/120
Mer.   = 27/140
Mid.   = 52/640
Nor.   = 25/164
Out.   = 26/214
Tri.   = 46/237
West   = 14/70
Unk.   = 2

The gist

These comments were sent in response to Question 11. The other pages of comments mainly focus on one type of blade. Not so on here.

The comments

Note: Any remarks in the comments below from Yves look like this.

Jump to: Blade merchants, Various uncategorized comments

For more comments and stats, see the links at the bottom of this page.

Blade types

All or multiple types

Several people said they like all of the blades.

Φ AEth. ~ Blades that fail too quickly.  ``Ivan

Φ AEth. ~ I like them all heavey prefered. light rapier is fun to.

Φ East ~ ... the one in my opponent's hands. I die. I die a lot.  ``Richild

Φ Mer. ~ Having fenced primarily with Schlager, I really have no basis for comparison. Personally, I have concerns about how safe a fiberglass blade would be due to breaking/splintering issues. I feel Foil is not up to the rigors of SCA fighting - a sabre would be a much better choice than foil and might even work as a light sword alongside Schlager. My Epee experience in SCA has been with a double-wide. I feel it is better suited for SCA that a standard USFA Epee, but not as appropriate as a Schlager. ... I feel that, due to the lighter weight of the blade, there are some practitioners who tend to go for excess speeed and invariably hit harder than necessary (granted, that was in a melee). Overall, I do not have strong reservations against Epee - I just prefer Schlager. Having fenced against Del Tins, I have found nothing wrong with them. The Zamorano, Hanwei, and Fiberglass blades all fall outside the spectrum of my current SCA experiences.  ``Sigurd

Φ Out. ~ I don't really like using Del Tin or Zamarano blades, just because they are usually very long and quite wobbly. I prefer the Hanwei blades and the oval/diamond bladed Schlager blades that are 35".  ``Peryn

Φ Tri. ~ I like all the blades that I have used, but my choices have been strongly influenced by my Don and other White Scarf friends.  ``Dulcia

Φ West ~ They all have advantages and disads. Hanwei is cheap, but requires much more maintanance, Scotti Diamond is great but no longer produced, the Generic Oval Schlager is mid price, but stiff.  ``Nytshaed

Curved (schläger) blade

Φ East ~ I dislike the Alchem curved blades, because they fell "odd" to me and are easier for me to hurt people with...the tip is never where my muscle memory expects it to be.  ``Ian

Φ Out. ~ I have practiced with the experimental curved schlager, and I love it. It is what got me involved in fencing.

Φ Out. ~ My favorite by far though is the new Alchem curved light weapon blade that is being considered for SCA fence.  ``Jalid

Daggers

Φ Anst. ~ I also do not like the squarish flexidaggers for similar reasons but do like the safeflex or other wide blade daggers as long as they have some sufficient flex.  ``Claire

Φ Atl. ~ The supper flexable daggers, alot of people do not notice when hit with it. although the tripplete daggers are sometimes too stiff.  ``Geoffrey

Φ East ~ I like Safeflex daggers because they look better than the modern flexis.  ``Brokk

Φ Loch. ~ My flexidaggers are fun.  ``Aldwin

Saber/sabre

Φ Mid. ~ I like foil, epee and schlager about equally although each handle very differently from one another. My favorite weapon, however is the olympic style saber.

Φ Out. ~ I have used olympic style saber, in ancient times (18+ years ago in Atenveldt, for 5 years): I like it, personally, but think it is too light for SCA use, and many fencers mis-use it (I don't care for non-SCA mis-use, either). I don't miss it.  ``Guillaume

Φ Tri. ~ You forgot saber, used many years ago. I miss it. [Nope, I omitted it to focus on blade types that were currently legal.]

Blade merchants

Darkwood

Φ Caid ~ I love my Darkwood bated rapier with 2 port guard. It is beautiful, handles right, and I get that history rush (so THIS is what it felt like to do these moves..). Once I got to handle an actual early 17th century blade, and it felt pretty much the same (except I was terrified I might drop it!)  ``David

Read more comments on Darkwood Armory. (Q 13,14).

Epees – (Blaise Freres, Dinamo, France Lames)

Φ Atl. ~ France Lame- Ive had 2 break.

Φ Atl. ~ Hate franceslames. Down with frances lames!  ``Alejandro

Φ Tri. ~ I would steer clear of any blades that bare the S+M mark. These are made by Dinamo Forges and are substandard blades. (They have a nasty propensity to reverse c-curve.) Also, IMHO, any France Lame blade less that 10 years old. The double wides (kak: Musketeer blades, made by Blaise Frere are excellent blades in their 40" form, but are much too stiff in their 35" form. I would avoid TCA's Dinamo D90X, and hold out for their T90X instead (again, made by Blaise Frere.)The Blaise Frere/TCA T90X is by far the superior blade for SCA fencing. Modern standard epee blades are less expensive, but unless you are an experiences fencer, or really good (as we ALL SHOULD BE) at your point and touch control, you will replace them far more frequently.  ``Cillian

Scottie Armory

Φ Aten. ~ I like the Scottie Armory blade very much.  ``Lann-Valdis

Φ Aten. ~ Scottie Arms all the way. Too bad we lost him as a maker/supplier.  ``Wallace

Φ Aten. ~ I also have a bated rapier blade made by master Malcolm the Scot, which is similar to the Del Tin bated rapier. It is weighted slightly differently (more tip heavy), and seems to wear just as well, if not better.

Φ An Tir ~ Love my Scottie rapiers.

Φ East ~ I love my Scotti Diamon.

Read more comments on Scottie Armory. (Q 13,14).

Triplette/TCA & Dinamo

Φ Anst. ~ The New TCA blade is closer to a Del Tin.  ``Doré

Φ Atl. ~ TCA Schlager - Love it.

Φ Atl. ~ I've only used the Triplette and Dinamo blades, which have been OK for the fencing I've done.

Φ Atl. ~ Dinamo, holds a curve real well once it's been worked, but doesn't hit too hard. Also fairly durable.  ``Renard

Φ Caid ~ Not really a schlager, but I like my TCA rapier.

Φ Mid. ~ I am now using the Tripplette wide rapier blade, I like it.

Φ Mid. ~ Just replaced my schauger( off list breakage, their not meant to be sat on!) with Tripletts new T03.

Φ Tri. ~ Dinamobrand from Triplette seems to have a softer touch and better flex but seems to get sharp bends more than Triplette's T-90X blade.  ``Gavine

Read more comments on Triplette/TCA. (Q 13,14).

Flexible, floppy, light, short, soft, whippy

Φ An Tir ~ Dislike anything whippy. Long fibreglass and Hanweis and some of the long WKCs.

Φ East ~ I really don't care for the lighter, shorter, or whippier weapons at all. They're bad simulators, and they encourage bad (nonhistoric) technique.

Φ Nor. ~ I like softer blades ie, flexable.

Φ Out. ~ I really dislike whippy, floppy blades.  ``Jalid

Various uncategorized comments

Sorted by kingdom.

Æthelmearc

Φ I have to get stronger before I can deal with the bigger weapons... have not done foil because nobody else here seems to.  ``Miriel

Φ Anything I can aford that feels good in the hand. I like Foil, I like Eppe, I love Shclager. But I spend much of my time broke.

Φ I use oval Schlagers, and triplette standard foils and epees. I have not had any problem with any of my blades and like them all. Durability, control, ease of maintainence is all good.

An Tir

Φ Fiberglass is good for starters, but I don't think it mimics a steel blade well enough. I've tried many different comstructions, and own one my self, but I prefer steel of any type other than foil, epee, and hanwei (due to safty issues).  ``Tomas

Artemisia

Φ I have tried "schlager impersonators" (del tin, etc) a handful of times, but never owned one as yet. I vastly prefer schlager and schlager impersonators over modern fencing blades for two reasons. First, safety: In modern fencing competitions I have seen both foils and epees break, and in each instance a jagged, sharp, pointed break occured. I have never seen a schlager break in my 6 years of using them, and every instance of a schlager breakage I have ever heard of has been a flat break perpendicular to the blade, i.e. not sharp. Second, and just as important, the heavier blades more accurately represent the rapiers which we are supposedly using, which encourages us to use them in a period manner as per the existant texts. The modern fencing blades are far too light, allowing them to be used in manners decidedly out of period. They are nonetheless fun to use, but, in my oppinion, inappropriate for out purposes.  ``Nathaniel

Atenveldt

Φ All blades with diamond cross sections are better to use because they resemble actual blades the closest. Schlagers are period practice blades and are the ONLY good substitute to the former. Epees, foils and fiberglass are not constructed for the use of period techniques and should be avoided for this reason.  ``Sebastiana

Φ Any blade that accurately simulates a rapier is ok with me. If it doesn't (weight, balance, size) then it's not a rapier and should be used for something else.  ``Senan

Atlantia

Φ I like Schlager and Epee best mostly because I have used them more and are more comfortable with them. I only started playing with schlager recently and am not authorized yet, but love it because it feels more substantial on the thrusts. It feels more realistic to me. I do like the whippy quality of an epee and the ability to move faster as speed is one of my assets, but to me foils are a bit too whippy and I hvent practiced enough with a Del Tin to be comfortable with it.  ``Keelin

Caid

Φ Prefer strait schlager, but am better with epee.

Φ I don't like the ones that aren't mine! I want more of my own blades!

Φ I like all the blades, they all have their own properties and usage, you can't use a shlager like a del tin, you need to modify your style for the properties of the blade. I like epees, but I don't think they make good rapier simulators, so far I like Del tin's the best though.  ``Lot

Φ I'm still finding the perfect blade for me. I come from a classical strip fencing background and I was instructed that the heavier type schlager blade was the up-and-coming form. The transition from foil to heavy schlager is like learning to drive an 18-wheeler after driving a vw bug for years. So, I'm still experimenting. Epee & a practice schlager are in my near future.  ``Iliana

Φ They each have their benefits/drawbacks. If a weapon is well made I cam make it serve some kind of purpose. A hanwai may be a little whippy, but its lightweight makes a good off-hand, or 5th-round (when you're tired) weapon. I found the Del-Tin I borrowed a bit heavy (most likely the mounting, not the blade) but it was great defensively, and helped me work on my stamina. Epees and Foils allow for better point control than the heavier blades, and are much less intimidating to newer fencers. If a weapon is legal and I can't find a good use for it, it is not the fault of the blade.  ``Meala

Φ Can I say I like them all when they are mounted in an appropriately balanced guard? I like foils and epees for the speed and that I don't get tired with them. Though they aren't very good rapier simulators. The old schlagers are great but I don't really like the new ones much as they seem to have too much weight out at the tip (need a very heavy pommel to balance them right). Del Tins are some of the best rapier simulators out there and I love them for that. I've just started using a Hanwei and I like them for a decent simulator (looks better than a schlager) that is affordable and not quite as heavy as a Del Tin. So pretty much, I've liked everything I've played with!  ``Grainne

Drachenwald

Φ While 40" seem quite popular, without a taper they handle like metal flexi-straws which cuts down on point control dramatically.  ``Raphael

Φ I have recently acquired my own Hanwei - best weapon ever in my opinion. I no longer bother even bringing my epee to practices - the heavier blades are so much more fun. When my son is rich I will expect him to buy me a Del Tin.  ``Kári

East

Φ Epee and schlager are preferred. Foil no longer used as too weak.

Φ A blade is a blade is a blade. Each one has pros and cons. It all depends on what you're trying to use it for.

Φ I wish the East would move shlager only. I like my epees, but it encourages/requires a style of fencing that has nothing to do with the period we are studying. While the schlagers aren't perfect, they are at least getting closer to this.  ``Matatias

Lochac

Φ Fibreglass, schlager and modern fencing blades because they don't handel like period weapons.

Φ I like both Fibreglass & Steel. Often I find that the Steel blades are poorly balanced due to the wrong type of hilt & thus perform badly. I am an agile fighter & therefore prefer speed over weight.  ``Hanbal

Midrealm

Φ I like both schlager and epee equally, they are just different, and you need to handle them differently. Epee involves more precision and speed as opposed to strength, where schlager is much heavier and requires more strength to handle.  ``Lydia

Outlands

Φ Enjoyed all of them each fro diffrent reasons. The epee is fast the schlager let me be more period and the del tin is very showy.  ``Diana

Trimaris

Φ Little preference. Use what I have when break get something else.

Φ The eppe is faster the Schlager is more realistic. They require different tactics. Both are fun in different ways.

Φ Have not disliked any type of weapon blade used...but have had problems with some of the insividual forges. ie TCA had problem blades a while bacl on both epee and schlager.

Φ Epee and schlager are favorites though I think both are limited in actual use by the constraints of some rules. Fibreglass or foil would be other end of the scale because of their lack of reality in weight and feel.  ``Elric

[end]

More pages of blade comments

Del Tin . Epée and Foil . Fiberglass . Hanwei

"Heavy" blades . Schläger . Zamorano

Your feedback is most welcome!

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Original page posted: October 18, 2004. Last tweaked: July 1, 2006.

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