Mestro wrote:
Getz wrote:
Well, rapiers are thrusting weapons, the very definition of bad weapon designis to take an uber cutting material and make a thrusting weapon out of it...
I was talking about the length of the rapier, not necessarily the trusting use of it. It depends on the cutting material too, the Durus Flamma vibrates, but I wonder how thick the blade is, the thickness of the blade would put a limit to how deep it could cut on a stroke. The sides of the cut would clamp on the blade, vibra-handle instead of vibra-blade.. And the point would be like a very fast jack-hammer action, it might not be the actual thrusting power of the wielder that punches the tip in, but the hammering that the point gives to the impacted surface as it approaches contact.
Reason for a curved blade for slashing is so that you can have a slicing action at point of impact instead of chopping at the point of impact. If you have a slice through anything Durus Flamma, a curved blade is pointless since you don't need the slicing action.
Thick blades are pointless since the Durus Flamma is unbreakable, you don't need the added strength a wider blade gives you. So the best Durus Flamma balde shape should look like a Rapier, long, thin, narrow and light. Three maybe four feet in length for the tall elves.
Modern fencing epees - one of the descendants of the rapier - is, ironically, the heaviest of the three modern Fencing weapons: foil, sabre and epee. I've fenced all three. I hate epee, dislike the foil, adore the sabre.
The blade has to have some weight for balance, so even if you could make ultra-lightweight blades, I think you'd end up with putting some weight in the blade. A lot of sabres were made with two edges and a point - I owned one exactly like this - and distinctly un-curved.
If I were to specify a Durus Flamma, I'd go for double-edged, flat triangular x-section blade that can cut and thrust. Far more options in a fight, and easy to withdraw from between an opponents ribs because of the x-section.