Flesh rippers are fine when you know the game well enough, really bad weapon to pick up when going to a new biome or against new enemies. When you have high enough block skill, you can even parry some enemies like deathsquitos or just one-shot them before they can land a hit on you. It's also hilarious to make sneak attacks with kicks or just do a flying drop kick (with feather cape) on a troll and have them fall into pieces. So rippers are all about mobility and quickness, and they are very effective when you are familiar enough with terrain and mobs and their attack animations and resistances.

Rippers don't give any movement penalty when they are drawn/equipped, and their attack animation is quick, so you can really just run through the first five biomes (once you're familiar with them) and murder stuff by kicking them in nuts and then slicing their face open. Use root harnesk with padded armor pieces for survivability or fenris set for speed and fire resistance in the plains and frost caves. Especially in the mountains, the benefit of increased speed and low stamina cost for good DPS is very useful. Just stay away from the golems and lox or use backup weapons against them.