Kingsguard Half-Basket Swept Hilt Rapier

**THIS ITEM HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED. ***

The new Kingsguard Basket Hilt Rapier takes the best parts of the English Mortuary Sword, the traditional Swept Hilt rapier, and the Scottish Baskethilt Broadsword. And throw in a little bit of Sherman tank and Porche styling for good measure.

We've seen cheap knockoffs of this rapier, usually with poor quality stainless steel blades instead of high carbon and terrible craftsmanship. Be careful what you buy, or you may end up throwing it out within months.

The Kingsguard Rapier, named in honor of the uncountable and unsung heroes who guarded their royal lords across the centuries (be they English, Spanish, French, German, Venutian or other), is regal enough to be used by a lord, but has a powerful look worthy of an enforcer. Similar to the courtly swords of the French Garde Royal, this rapier would have been a fantastic weapon to wield. It's strength would have been its thrust, of course, but the powerful baskethilt would have given the swordsman a fantasic amount of protection to the hand. It also would have given some nice hilt-bash opportunities when close in.

The Kingsgaurd's basket is made from chromed steel, which gives it a mirror shine (all the better to reflect sunlight into your opponent's eyes -- Or, to make sure your hair looks suitably heroic when you swoop in on your rope). The cage is very tricky to make by hand; our master craftsmen have nightmares after working on these swords for long periods of time, and have been known to wake from a deep sleep shouting "Bend, damn you, bend!!!"

The blade is made from hand-forged high carbon steel and full-tanged for super durability.

The extra-thick grip on this rapier is wood, wrapped with a pliable braided wire. The pommel is a solid chromed steel, heavy enough to provide good counter-weight to the long blade (39 inches!) and thick enough to look normal on the stout grip.

The Kingsgaurd rapier comes with a leather-wrapped wood scabbard. Each scabbard, as with those of most of our swords, is hand-made and custom fitted to it's own blade, so you can be sure of a good fit. The throat and tip of the sheath are trimmed with chromed steel.

The guard on this rapier (and most swept hilt rapiers anywhere, for that matter) may be damaged if struck too hard by another object (i.e. a broadsword blade), so we don't recommend heavy sparring (remember, rapiers were meant as thrusting weapons). In fact, we don't recommend sparring at all unless you are a professional or under the supervision of a professional. And all safety precautions are followed... yadda yadda yadda. The blade is rugged, high carbon and would take a wonderful edge if you happen to be into sharpening your swords (and we REALLY feel the need to tell you that you should NEVER spar with a sharp sword). Unless you find yourself in some sort of post-apocalyptic world where strong swords become the law and you find yourself face to face with a hostile killer mutant intent on your destruction. In which case, by all means hack away.