four foot rapier blades ???

[urbanspaceman]

Thank-you Fernando. I am not surprised you rise to the occasion.
I am a little unclear when you talk about deducting the tang: was it customary for forgers to measure their blades including the tang ? It seems reasonable I suppose.
Did they really carry rapiers with 5 foot blades ?
Definitely puts you at an advantage reach-wise, but surely unwieldy to all but the biggest and strongest gentlemen.