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‘Showing the nerd’ with swords, cloaks and a wolf pelt – Nunatsiaq News
May
Features Oct 18, 2024 – 8:30 am EDT
Rankin Inlet man discusses weaponry, skill and sticks up for the European long sword
Tristan Logan Quasa Duffy-Taparti stands near his home in Rankin Inlet, where he often practises with many of his swords. He is wearing his cloak and wolf pelt. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
By 
If you ever talk to someone who says a long, European-style straight sword is a “dumb hefty club,” stop listening to them.
They’re the “dumb” ones.
At least, that’s what Rankin Inlet sword expert Tristan Logan Quasa Duffy-Taparti says.
He challenges the commenters on internet forums, rebutting naysayers under posts with titles like “What’s the Point of Long Swords?” and “Rapier vs Longsword: Which is the Superior Dueling Weapon?”
People say these swords are heavy and unwieldy, Duffy-Taparti says, but they simply don’t understand the centuries-old techniques they were developed for.
Duffy-Taparti, 29, sat down for an interview with Nunatsiaq News on Oct. 5, surrounded by dozens of his swords.
He says he owns more swords than he ever cared to count. He is also an artist, a frequent dungeon master for Dungeons and Dragons, a great fan of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movie series, a proud owner of a real wolf pelt and a self-proclaimed nerd.
Most of his arsenal is replicas made of wood or plastic and used for training, although Duffy-Taparti also owns several real blades, including a genuine Japanese Katana, a curved Samurai sword.
Duffy-Taparti was five years old when his father carved him a wooden sword. He loved it so much that he never stopped caring about swords and continued to hone his skill.
Some of the swords at Tristan Logan Quasa Duffy-Taparti’s house in Rankin Inlet. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
Today, when he goes out around Rankin Inlet, he often wears a knight-style cloak or a leather vest and carries one of the sword replicas.
He has several answers as to why he does this. He has been giving them so often that the answers are refined and ready to go.
First, swords are cool.
“Have you ever been five years old?” he asked.
“Remember picking up cool sticks on the ground and bringing them home? Well, I just never stopped.”
And second, why wouldn’t he have dozens of swords?
It’s great training, and it’s better than what many people his age are doing with their time and money.
“I don’t drink or smoke. I don’t want to buy that, so I have this cool sword instead,” he said.
Duffy-Taparti says he never found company with most of his peers in school. They weren’t interesting to him. By graduation time, some of his classmates were already parents, while he just wanted to get better and better at sword techniques.
He says it’s just a hobby — and it’s not cheap. He has spent thousands of dollars on swords and shipping. A single training sword can cost between $100 and $300. And those swords often break, so he needs to buy new ones.
As for real swords, they can cost thousands of dollars.
Duffy-Taparti, who works as a clerk at the local hardware store, says he is not bothered by being called a nerd. He embraces the term.
“Show your nerd,” he said a couple of times during the interview.
A few years ago, “a huge nerd” at the local Northern store came up to him and asked whether Duffy-Taparti was carrying a Dai Katana, a curved and slender Japanese sword with a single-edged blade and squared guard.
He wasn’t. It was a Daito Bokken, a Japanese curved wooden training sword that resembled a Katana.
They got into a conversation, and now are good friends who regularly play Dungeons and Dragons.
Similarly, he met all of his best friends and his girlfriend through his love of swords.
“After a while, a cousin of mine asked me, how do I keep running into all these nerds?” Duffy-Taparti said.
“I just don’t hide my nerd.”
He’s one of the nicest guys and role models I’ve come across in Rankin. Every time I go to EPLS Store, I look forward to chatting with him.
Tristan is a refreshingly genuine person.
He is kind and welcoming to every single person he meets. A true stand out in the community.
Well done Tristan for doing your own thing in your own way, and in your own style !
Many years ago I went to a museum in Zurich, Switzerland. In one room they had a
selection of weapons which had been used in the Middle Ages and were in very good
condition considering how old they were.
There were swords daggers, spears, maces, war hammers.
A very fearsome collection.
There are a few companies that make functional replicas.
He also has a lot of names.
Way to go!
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