A Military Rapier REVIEWED & TESTED: LK Chen Saxony German Rapier 

My god, it looks like a longsword blade fit onto a one-handed hilt. It's beautiful.

Why do rapiers have to be so pretty.

When you said the metal finish of the hilt looked like bathroom furniture, I had just came back form the bathroom in my Grandmas house, and I have been laughing for the past fifteen minutes

This is why I respect Matt so much, his reviews are always so fair and without bias. I'm impressed by LK Chen doing swords from all over the world, most of his I've seen so far have been Asian styles. It looks like a lovely sword with some great constructive criticisms from Matt, and I'm sure LK appreciates the comments. Also a great demonstration of what even light cuts with such a blade can do

If the hilt construction was better on this, it'd be a no-brainer for me. I'm not the biggest fan of conventional rapiers, but sideswords and other complex-hilted cutting swords are some of my favorites. It's a shame they seem to have cut-corners when it comes to the integrity of the build. I have confidence that LK Chen will remedy this eventually, but for now I'll have to pass.

Great video, as per the usual. Your candor is always so gratifying when you're speaking on a subject; feel like the temptation to gloss over issues gets to a lot of folks. Also, thanks very much for introducing the company a few years back, Matt! This reminded me to check order tracking; my Scarlet Sunrise just left Ningbo Airport, today! I'm very excited to practice my form with it (hopefully my neighbors won't be too upset). Also, they're an absolute pleasure to deal with.

I found this rapier its in the Rüstkammer in Dresden. The original swordsmith is Peter Tesche.

I bought this one some months ago. Reasonably happy with it. Just a small point is they promise delivery in about 6 weeks but mine arrived 13 weeks after placing the order. The frustrating part is they didn’t communicate or offer any reassurances that it was running later than their promised timeframe. There is a slight crack in one weld on the swept hilt that’s only visible from the underside, but it’s not a deal breaker. Other than that it’s a lovely sword and I’m more than content with it. Cheers.

This isn't supposed to be a replica of any one specific example of German rapier, it's meant to be inspired by the Met's collection. A historically plausible piece rather than a faithful reproduction.

I do enjoy your instruction and insights on these subjects. Thank you.

Giving swords to you, someone who suffers from Stahlsucht, is like giving a beer to an alcoholic :D :D

A very interstin topic would be an examination of George Silver's discussion of the faults of rapier thrusting oriented fencing and the problem he identifies in "short swords" employed in military affairs. The notable aspect regarding "short swords" being that he say they lack a "hilt." It is a period specific view of the use of swords in England.

This video had me thinking about the pros and cons of wire grips vs leather grips, and other types, especially when it came to stuff like comfort, prolonged usage, etc.

Great detailed review, thank you!

Thank you for the video! I'm still hoping to get myself a military rapier sometime...

Have you done a video on what would be a "typical" Dumas style "Musketeer" type sword? or a fight choreography video on the 1970s Michael York/Oliver Read films?

Those were some excellent cuts! The milk bottle with little cuts was very impressive! Much more of a cutting sword than I would have guessed.

Great review......you've got to love a properly functional cut and thrust rapier.

I quite like the idea of a more modern approach, aesthetically it looks lovely to me, I like the matt finish, guard, grip detailing etc.

Excellent video, the pommel reminded me of Hernán Cortés's sword, the one in the video is very nice.

I think its this ability which makes it the king of swords, sure it excels in thrusting but in capable hands it would even slash with a whip like movement, that is scary.

This looks like a Munich Town Guard Sword. I swear you just did a comparison video a couple of months ago.

Yes, so beatiful. Love rapiers.

If it's a military rapier it's probably designed for use with gloves or gauntlets, so the guard would be unusually large. Kult of Athena is asking $558, or about 442 Pound. Thickness tapers from 7.5mm to 2mm and the Blade length is 40.375 inch with a width of 34mm. It looks very tempting.

great stuff!

Love these rapier.

Thank you. Saved for later for when I have the budget for a sharp. Maybe by then they'll have adopted your idea for a longer tang and a real nut.

Thank you for the comprehensive review.

Reminds me of the Munich sword I've been considering. Rapier-style, beefier blade. 👍

Im learning and having fun at the same time!

19:43 Prepare to be halved and halved again... and again, and again, and again, and again. Wow. Incredible cutting. That takes an excellent sword and an excellent swordsman.

Disappointed to hear about the rattle, and twist as on paper it looks like my ideal sword, except for the days when I fancy being a Viking. As to finding things in museums, I've never been able to find the Munich town guard in the Wallace.

Try wrapping some Teflon tape around the threads and then try putting some loctite on the end of the nut before you screw it on the thread that should help with some of the sloppy play, hope it works.

Military rapier - the pinnacle of sword designs perhaps? Beautiful, versatile and effective.

Looks nice for slice and dice

It looks like a sword plausibly carried by one of Cromwell's Ironsides, or Rupert's Bluecoats in the Civil War. The thick leather gauntlets the cavalry wore would have fit the larger guard.

That sword night have ended up in the Philadelphia museum if it had been part of the Kienbusch collection.

From now on we can officially rate all sword blades on the "Thrusty-Cutty" scale.

Thank you very much for this very educational video and nice sword please have a good day.😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊.

I like the look of the fifth one down behind your head, a very handsome looking blade.

Matt: Good value for $500, decent replica. (25 min later): So the 37th thing I think is wrong with this is

Yeah you can defo see its cast dont like the satin finish .Id like to see it polished and a tiny bit aged so it wil still look new but more authentic looking .Im sure they can have options on the hilt

Please review LK Chen's new Long Quan Jian!

Looks like a XVIIIb slightly on the slimmer side with a rapier hilt. Of course rapiers used on the battlefield were no fencing foils.

OH yeah, here we goooooo😁

I'd probably want to try heating the hilt & getting the glue to soften to remove it. Then clean the threads, blacken the pommel & guard, apply some anti-seize to the threads, and put it back on. The pommel almost certainly *is* the nut. Worst case the threads cause the tang to bottom out in the pommel, in that case if I needed to tighten it I'd drill it out at the tap size a bit deeper, then tap it further in. Shouldn't need much if that happens.

Thanks for the review it looks nice. The Rapier it's not my style however I will take a military over a traditional one.

Nice... I wish there was a lefty option on those. (Yes, I am aware that the grip can be used by lefthanded people, but it somehow bugs me to have to use it the wrong way around)

With some kind of thicker gauntlet the grip size would be about right, right?

Met has a German Saxony sword. Accession number 28.100.2 Not sure if that is what you are looking for. I just got a modestly priced Depeeka Pappenheim hilt through Kult of Athena and I really like it.

Remove the pommel, file the threaded bit down a bit, clean out all the glue, and thread it back on. The additional space from a very slightly shortened threaded bit should give the clearance necessary to get it good and tight without bottoming out.

These type of Rapier was the primary cavallry sword in the 30years war. During the battle of Breitenfelde in 1631 Swedish and Saxony cavallry used these Rapiers succesfull to charge imperal pikesquares and turning the battle in their favor

A rapier THAT cuts, Mr Easton! 🧐

Could the slight twist in the blade be the reason for breaking pieces of the wood rather than completely cutting clean?

"Cut is cut. [In combat] it doesn't matter if its clean or breaks off; if it's in 2 pieces the job is done." Someone said that to me at a sword event in 2001. In relation to the branch you tried to cut that broke off partly.. well if that were an armed it would still be destroyed & likely severed if not close to it. So yes it's not as heavy a cutting weapon as many swords are but it is quite capable of doing enough damage to stop the opponent with a cut.

Those thrusts, I'd almost say Matt has been picking up rapiers during practice more and more. Imagine, 2026, Matt Easton chooses rapiers over sabres.

I'm been debating getting this sword or the darksword armory duke sword for my first sword.

if i were to say be wanting to put that blade on a Mortuary Hilt would the ricasso the same width as the tang? not that you've taken it apart but does it look like it would be

Matt did you see the rapier found by youtube magnet fishers in the Netherlands a few weeks ago?

Cheers

Why the index finger over the cross guard - is that a grip to improve manoeuvrability, to use the balance of the sword to full effect? I get that the finger is still protected by the fancy spiral bit (technical term), but to place fingers beyond the grip seems counterintuitive to a layman like me. Even though I’m no swordsman nor a collector, this was a fascinating insight into sword construction details - nice one, Matt.

Are these awkward for left hand use?

10:44 Is it broad enough for a broad sword? : >

Good review. Knowing almost nothing about swords, it does seem to be like 15% oversized all the way around. Shame to since there doesn’t seem to be much around of that era as far as I know. 👍🏼👍🏼

Matt, his is not a reupload is it? I feel like you've reviewed another rapier like this before that also had a matte/stain finish to hilt an guard.

Matt, you have a bit of pull with sword makers, could you advocate for more left-handed options in reproductions? So many nice swords, such as this or the Munich Town Guard, that I'd snatch up in a second if they offered a lefty version, but have to leave on the table.

I want 1 but plan too gun blue it. reasons maintenence and a dark weapon almost disappears in motion

Can I call it a great spadroon? Or is the hilt too wrong for that?

Seriously, how much do you think Matt’s collection would appraise for?

Interesting.

Okay, when does a rapier stop and complex jilted longsword begins? Kinda get that rapier sorta blurr the lines. The hilt allows two hands and there are long swords that could cut worse and that this .

I would love to pay 1,000 for an LK chen sword with all the bugs fixed. Full tang, proper finishing on the hilt better scabbard. The blades and the handling of his work is fantastic, I have told him more than once to start a premium line, charge double, still be well below Albion prices, and fix all the niggles.

You can get a long sword, hand made to your specifications, from Regenyei for that money.

This is my default understanding of battle-ready rapiers. I don’t want a glorified foil.

Someday, Matt will change his name, and end the video with "I have been Matt Easton, I won't be again…"

Praise with faint damns.

Thrusty end. Cutty end. No whacky feature?

how does it compares to the Industrial era cavalry pallasch sword

Are you keeping that one Matt, interested if you want to let it go (save me the import fees).

Its like a rapier with the camera zoom turned up to .25

What a beautiful weapon, but did you say cast iron on the handle guard 😮 oof. I’d say buy it for the blade but 500 bucks for a blade… eh buy a weapon that is a fixer upper for 500.. I mean maybe as a training weapon but oof yea I agree with another comment that maybe for 200.. 250 is stretching it .. I don’t know the process of making it enough to gage if it’s worth it. With recent inflation maybe tack on an extra 50-100 and your still at max 350.. and that’s stretching it to the point of not really wanting a fixer upper.. at 350 if the fixes suggested in this video we’re done and the hand guard was carbon steel I wouldn’t be able to say no it’s a beautiful weapon and wow if that handle was colored 😅 maybe that kind of fix would be worth fixing up

A cut and thrust rapier for people with large hands.

I would think that a man relying on that particular weapon, in matters of life and death. Would probably have a problem with there being a " rattle " to the handle. After all said rattle is likely to turn into a lose handle. Bear in mind I am no expert on swords. I do look at this from a practical point of view. What is more likely to work more often than not and has less chance of breaking down at the absolute worst possible time.

ya that metal finish is what stopped me from buying them

I’ve seen heavier British trooper swords that an impact has warped the blade 😮

at first glance the hilt already looked too large, proportionally wrong. if that's what the original was actually like, then i wonder if it was for someone with huge hands or wearing a very thick glove

At what point does a military rapier become a spadroon?

Would it be fair to say that a rapier can be identified by the fact that its blade is lighter, longer and has a complex hand guard? Keeping in mind that I am no expert, I can point out some things that I have observed to be common to the swords I have seen that were identified as rapiers by people who know better.

so at 6:30 into the video i know that i have no interest in this sword. thank you matt! 😁

One could certainly make a comparative argument that it is a broadsword.

Cut-centric rapier is an oxymoron imho. It's just a single-handed sword with fancy hilt.

Respectfully I disagree about the color of the wire. A silvery steel looks amazing.

Hell no I wouldn't want a slash from that sword, any more than i want to get shot with a .22! Side question.. Did they have chemical bluing at the time historically? Or what was the method of bluing at that time?

How many subscribers do I need to get myself a promotional LK CHEN?

I have yet to grow my second index finger, but I’m improving

To me this is the real John Carter of Mars sword ...used by the Red martians and green alike.

A glued pommel sword for $500 seems... really unfortunate, and kind of surprising for LK Chen.

🗿👍

at 20:24 i see it now needs a concave spine or blood grove to be really effective at thrusts

99% of us only know "rapier" from the movies, and so think long, thin and pointy. 11:44 Thus, carried in the 30 Years War? 13:32 In period, wouldn't men have worn gloves?