Thank you Jim, for sharing all that knowledge.
I will follow your assumption on the " but there were of course exceptions " part.
Whether 'my' author mentioning could be a fantasy, i find more than one source admitting that the pipe-back sword was fragile indeed.
"As a fighting weapon, the 1822 Pattern was rather unsatisfactory, the blade being far too weak and the hilt bars affording little protection".
https://www.militariahub.com/british...officer-sword/
Besides the fragility issue, this could mean (these) infantry swords were still "serviceable"
.