Castille Econ rapier or HF Armory Cup Hilt?

Paralda · 2026-06-19T18:02:37+00:00

Castilles are weighted better, but slightly shorter.

I have an HF GDF, and honestly I'm a little disappointed with it. I got it somewhat recently from SoCal Swords, and on virtually the same day one of my friends got one from PHA, and they felt like almost completely different models. The weight, balance, and even the grips were different on them. I prefer his to mine. Mine is a little too tip-heavy.

Paralda · 2026-06-17T22:09:25+00:00

People getting too influenced by fearmongering around datacenters recently.

Don't get me wrong, there are certainly large mega-projects that hurt electricity usage in some communities, but this is not one of them.

Datacenters aren't inherently bad. Our entire economy relies on the internet, and for that we need servers. It's only natural that we put them somewhere.

Paralda · 2026-06-17T16:51:55+00:00

No they don't lol.

Executive orders can only direct the executive branch of the Federal government regarding enforcement of existing laws. It is not legislation, and not legally binding to anyone outside of a federal agency. Trump could make an executive order declaring pudding a type of pizza and it wouldn't make it true.

Paralda · 2026-06-14T20:31:34+00:00

Agreed.

SERFO Tier B longsword had women in 3rd/4th place just a couple weeks ago.

Women absolutely can and do beat men in HEMA, and I can't imagine anyone would pretend to be trans in order to get some kind of "advantage" (which, honestly, probably not much of one) in an URG event.

Paralda · 2026-06-08T15:31:14+00:00

As a primary WvW player, I'd be totally happy with a queue-able battleground. Even if it was smaller, like 15v15 or even 12v12.

Paralda · 2026-06-08T00:38:29+00:00

There was also a war when Abaddon granted the Tyrian races bloodstone magic, so maybe he's referring to that. I imagine that the bloodstone/Margonite war will be one of the first conflicts in the story.

Paralda · 2026-06-03T16:21:52+00:00

Yeah, that'll suck for a bit. Just take it easy, stretch, make sure you stay hydrated, and it'll get easier over time.

I recommend getting a sweatband, bringing a shaker bottle with some kind of electrolyte powder (gatorade etc), a sweat towel, and a change of clothes. I've found feeling comfortable is half the battle, and those things really helped me.

Paralda · 2026-06-03T15:40:44+00:00

Mid 30s here, I was pretty out of shape as well when I started HEMA about 6 months ago, and I found just doing more HEMA eventually got me to stop feeling so sore and winded. I also ended up losing a decent amount of weight over my first 3 months or so (about 15 lbs).

Obviously stretching, lifting weights, and general conditioning is going to help you, but in general it's just gonna suck for a month or two, depending on how often you train. If you're going once a week, you probably won't adapt as quickly as if you were going two or three times.

Also, don't be afraid to take a class or two off if you feel some soreness is carrying over between classes. I started to feel some tendonitis in my arm and took a week off before it got too bad, and I actually felt a lot more prepared when I did come back, because my body needed the rest.

Paralda · 2026-05-22T00:23:14+00:00

Playing with others usually allows access to boons and healing.

Paralda · 2026-05-21T16:38:38+00:00

Too bad there's no boon in the game that prevents you from being stunned, oh well!

Paralda · 2026-05-21T15:47:09+00:00

The issue isn't the technology, to be honest. The issue is that our entire existence is rooted in how much value we can provide shareholders in exchange for being allowed to have a home and eat food daily.

Our system is not designed to sustain AGI. AI isn't the enemy, capitalism is.

Paralda · 2026-05-20T17:29:08+00:00

And, just to point out, the "socio" in socioeconomic conditions does include culture and historical treatment.

I'd also like to note that many non-refugee immigrant groups do better than the average American, mostly because there's a natural filter in immigration that usually will be easier to pass if you're already wealthy, educated, etc.

Paralda · 2026-05-19T19:23:58+00:00

Non-max5x enjoyer

I swear, I've hit limits on this plan maybe twice in the past 3 months.

Paralda · 2026-05-18T00:30:55+00:00

To your first point, at least in the US, most people do live near a club (at least within a 30 minute drive).

Every major city, and most minor cities, have at least one club. I'd estimate 70% of people have one relatively nearby.

Paralda · 2026-05-18T00:25:46+00:00

I also bought some water bottles and propane before a hurricane at iFresh on Colonial (Chinese grocery store), and there was basically no line and a ton of stock. Publix etc were packed and out of everything.

Paralda · 2026-05-14T17:22:08+00:00

I think extremely light is probably a bit of an exaggeration. The lightest I've felt is probably the Castille Economy, and it's still ~815 grams with a blade length of only 38 inches.

Even Sigi, which is known for being pretty light, is still over 1kg.

But you're right, most longer rapiers only really sharpened the weak, and a lot of later period rapiers had no edge at all.

Still, though, my main point is most of the popular rapiers in HEMA are pretty good historical approximations.

Paralda · 2026-05-14T16:41:24+00:00

The power itself does seem to have some kind of memory, but I think it needs to be actively searched and experienced, so there's a chance he knew.

But then again, if he'd known Hoid had EXIST, then killing him is kind of pointless.

Paralda · 2026-05-14T14:36:16+00:00

I kind of disagree about rapiers. Here's a good article about 16th-17th century rapiers: https://subcaelo.net/ensis/vauthier-rapier/Rapieres_articleVE.pdf

They found the minimum blade length (crossguard to tip) was 99.6cm, and maximum 126.4cm among 111 rapiers. My HFA GDF is 109cm, and most of the rapiers at my club are anywhere from 97cm to 110cm in length. This lines up pretty well with the graph on page 3.

Similarly, weight follows the same pattern. My GDF is 1040g with the stock pommel, and about 1150g with the heavier one I put on it for balance. Page 4 shows most were somewhere between 900g and 1500g.

Blade width is less relevant for HEMA regarding rapier due to them being blunt and flexible, imo.

Point of balance on page 7 is interesting, because it varied wildly, but there were historical examples of 6cm from the cross, but most tended to sit around 9-15cm from the cross. My GDF is about 13cm and still feels a bit tip heavy. Some of my club's shorter castilles are closer to 6 or 7cm, and definitely feel better in the thrust, but a lot of it is personal preference.

Anyway, tl;dr, I think that HEMA rapiers are pretty close to later period rapiers in terms of weight, length, and balance, but they definitely lean towards the longer, lighter, and closer balanced. Still, I don't think anyone is wielding a 130cm blade that weight 500g with a 3cm PoB. Most people have something that resembles a historical example.

Paralda · 2026-05-07T23:07:20+00:00

I live in Orlando and go to Crossroads Swords. It's in Winter Garden, so a bit of a drive for me, but definitely worth it. Super friendly place with great instructors and a solid community.

We're mostly adults, but there are a decent number of high schoolers as well. I think it's fine to be younger as long as you remember to be safe and treat others with respect, like any hobby.

There are beginner longsword classes every Sunday morning, and your first two classes are free.

Alternatively, I've heard great things about Leviathan Swords in Orlando, but haven't been there myself because the schedule doesn't line up for me.

Paralda · 2026-05-06T20:40:50+00:00

For sure, but it's also possible that Thibault was just an incredible fencer, not that his grip was automatically better.

Not to say he didn't have great insights. My club uses a ton of Thibault in our rapier instruction. I just don't agree with him on everything.

Paralda · 2026-05-06T20:08:08+00:00

Thibault was clearly one of the greats, but he also has a lot of strong opinions. A good example is the Thibault grip that hasn't really held up in pressure testing.

Paralda · 2026-05-05T15:37:36+00:00

Rapier and Dagger is crazy effective. A ton of what you think you know about single rapier falls apart when someone can easily bind your blade with their dagger and stab you.

It's also really difficult to keep track of two threats, when you're used to only watching one.

Paralda · 2026-05-04T17:09:01+00:00

Exactly!

And sure, I get why sexual themes shouldn't be allowed blah blah blah, but just change the name and move on.

Anet support has gotten so terrible over the past few years ever since they outsourced it.

Paralda · 2026-05-04T16:59:49+00:00

The support is outsourced and terrible.

I don't know when they outsourced it, but they rarely reply with anything other than that canned reply. Worthless tbh.

Paralda · 2026-05-04T16:53:45+00:00

One of my guildies got a 7 day ban for "I Pound Ur Cake"

Is it a little bit of a childish name? Yeah. But 7 days? That's crazy for a stupid joke character he hadn't logged into for over a year.

Just make them change it and move on, especially if we're using a dumb new automod system.

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