Deepeeka Rapier

Reviews

• Jasper Akroyd

  31/10/2023

  The first thing to remember about this sword is the price. For £52, there are expectations one simply should not have. For this reason I have given 3 stars instead of fewer. The sword arrived in good time. It is solidly constructed with no manufacturing faults. It looks good and it's nice to know the blade is spring-steel and won't shatter like stainless will, although I would before a harder temper. As an ornament, this is great. However it has 2 fundamental faults in the design itself, one of which I think one must expect at this price-point and the other is a big disapointment. 1) It has no distal taper. Historical swords and good reproductions will be more than 6mm thick steel at the hilt and taper town to 2mm or less towards the tip. This gives the balance and the nimble movement at the tip. This example, is 4mm thick throughout. So it is the same weight as a historical sword but too much mass is at the tip and it feels incredibly heavy. This is not necessarily an issue for some chopping type swords but it's a HUGE issue for a rapier. That being said, there is NO chance of getting distal taper at this price point as it massively increases the cost to make. It is not a "fault" of the manufacturer, but the customer should know what to expect. 2) The guard is too narrow to get my hand-in properly and I don't have big hands. This is an oversight that could have been avoided and would cost nothing whatsoever to have got right. You can hold the rapier in a "handshake" grip similar to some other swords, but this is a rapier and especially with the overly heavy blade, you'll definitely want to finger the guard with one or even 2 fingers. Not possible. There are some hot-spots in the hand where edges rub on your hand in the hilt, but these can be sorted with some sandpaper or a file. They aren't "sharp" as such, but need rounding more to be comfortable. Finally, just so people know, the designation "semi sharp" means not blunted to re-enactment standards which usually require a 3mm thick "edge". This "edge" is finer than that. But in common parlance, this blade is simply "blunt". It's not semi-sharp or any other kind of sharp. In my opinion, it is possible to sharpen. So, as an ornament I think this is correctly priced and well worth it. As anything else, it is completely unusable and even if I can widen the guard without breaking it and sharpen the blade, it would still be an awful rapier because it is so sluggish. I intend to work on the blade and I can have it as a nice wall-hanger which I can grab in the event of needing to defend my home if nothign else is available, but that is the most anyone could expect from it and there might be better choices for that including other Deepeeka swords that aren't a rapier. Still, £52 for a cool ornamental sword or idiosyncratic fire poker, is good value. Just don't expect to "wield" it.