Not sure if I expressed it well in the video, so just to clarify: I would definitely want a full grind along the entire blade (unless there is a good reason for a particularly long blunt ricasso in the design). My point is merely that the lower half of the blade doesn't technically need to be as sharp as the upper half. So it can be left fairly dull (not necessarily blunt).

@ArvelDreth

Жыл бұрын

I completely agree. If I got a sword where the lower 25% was on the dull side, I wouldn't really complain.

@bronsonleach3573

Жыл бұрын

I think it just depends on the weapon and what it was made for. A falchion I can see being sharpened all the way because it is ment to cut cloth, a long sword may only be very sharp 6 inches from the tip but the rest with a fuller edge since that is where most strike end up anyway. Different edges for different purposes and weapons. Dane axes where very sharp because it was cutting through mostly cloth armor since most warriors couldn't afford chain mail. A poleaxe may not have as sharp of a blade because armor was more common and the edge would be all messed up if it was razor sharp hitting plate armor.

@williambreazeal387

Жыл бұрын

Some Chinese schools for sword polishing vary the edge quality for each third of the blade. The last third being the best at cutting and the most delicate progressing to the last third which was marginal for cutting but quite robust.

@90lancaster

Жыл бұрын

Engage tease mode : So if it isn't used in that way... you could maybe make it a row of spikes, or a carved dragon then ?

@m0-m0597

Жыл бұрын

The dummy could be my doppelganger

But without the entire thing sharpened how could you cut the ring off the Dark Lords finger after your sword breaks?

@neonbelly4

Жыл бұрын

Bite it off like gollum

@colinmoore7460

Жыл бұрын

Use your belt knife!

@remib2320

Жыл бұрын

Sword breaking was actually quite frequent it seems. So it may very well be a good reason to sharpen it from top to bottom.

@dj1NM3

Жыл бұрын

You can: It just hurts the Dark Lord more during the cutting off than a fully sharpened blade would.

@GuitarsRockForever

Жыл бұрын

You won internet of the day.

"Generalisations are, generally, dangerous" is an amazing line.

@mksmike

Жыл бұрын

Kinda gives off a "Only a Sith deals in absolutes" vibe.

@RealLifeIronMan

Жыл бұрын

And statistians would strongly disagree

@chrisvisser-fee2631

Жыл бұрын

@@RealLifeIronMan well that depends, are generalisations accurate >50% of the time?

@mksmike

Жыл бұрын

@@chrisvisser-fee2631 Statistics usually are accurate but only about the specific thing they're measuring. Problem is when people use the results to make a generalization that has more implications than the one thing the statistic is actually measuring.

@IIAndersII

26 күн бұрын

Well he just generalized generalisations - contradicting himself

The argument for sharpening the whole blade is that it gives you more options to injure your opponents. It makes it harder for someone to grab the blade of your sword without injury, and it reduces the slide in the bind, allowing you greater control. When in the chaos of malay combat, you can't always hit perfectly with the top half of your sword, and a weaker cut is still a worse injury than a weaker hit.

@demonzabrak

Жыл бұрын

Malay is Malaysian. Melee is hand to hand combat. I blame autocorrect.

@sanoichiro

Жыл бұрын

That's actually a very good argument. When I think of using a sword to defend myself, perhaps at night and in closed spaces, the opportunity for an opponent to rush and seize the blade may present itself. Being able to cut their hands with a little pull is a good defensive option. Kind of like a sock on a baseball bat. ;)

@MattheWolf969

Жыл бұрын

I absolutely agree with your point

@syd4n

Жыл бұрын

Im malay and we do combat using psychic powers

@ng.tr.s.p.1254

Жыл бұрын

@@demonzabrak Malais

"I paid for the full sword, so i will use all of the sword" - some knight with a sword sharpened all the way, probably

There is an account of an englishman who had his saber broken in half in a fight against a frenchman, but managed to win by wrestling and slaying him with the broken sword, so there is a scenario where you benefit from having it all sharpened.

@darth0tator

Жыл бұрын

did he use the edge or did he stab him with the broken sword? :D

@colinpapendick5628

Жыл бұрын

Maybe he used the unsharpened part as a hilt once it broke.

@DGFTardin

Жыл бұрын

@@darth0tator the account says that he "slew" the frenchman with the broken sword while wrestling on the ground. I assume he slashed him, likely at the neck

@perforongo9078

Жыл бұрын

The lesson is clear: sharpen your sword so you can kill the French more easily.

@marekverescak2493

Жыл бұрын

interesting, where can i find it?

My aikido instructor likes to remind us, " Ninety percent of the cuts are made with ten percent of the blade." While we don't train with a weapon as much as the kendo folks do, it's amazed me how often it's those last several centimeters at the blade's tip which tend to land the hit. Over time, it made us wonder, "Does the rest of a katana even need sharpening?" Your video discussed that. Thanks again for your insights!

@kronoscamron7412

Жыл бұрын

In kenjutsu idealy we use the upper third. And in kendo shiai its only considered a valid point if you strike with the upper third.

@kronoscamron7412

Жыл бұрын

Be aware that in a real sword fight you will forgo those rules. And use the whole blade. The concept of ki ken tai. Winning with spirit, winning with sword and winning with body. So in "real sword fight" use everything at your disposal to win.

@kronoscamron7412

Жыл бұрын

Also there us the ussue of distance and style and length of the blade some swordsmen fight close and personal and others keep a specific distance. We have tsubazerei and tiatare. Where you bind swords and the tsuba or the hilt and give a light push and strike the head or torso. So even the guard or the hilt can be a weapon.

@brentfisher902

Жыл бұрын

It's that way with carpets in the house too. 20 percent of your carpets get 80 percent of the wear. I think it's referred to as the Pareto principle.

Partial/Gradient sharpening seems to pop up all over the world at different times. If I recall, several types Chinese Jian are traditionally left rather dull at the bottom third, sharpened normally for the middle third, and made extra sharp at the top third through to the tip. Fascinating topic as always Skal, thanks for speaking on it!

@Likexner

Жыл бұрын

I guess you could call that sharpness taper, or maybe edge taper.

A few other tradeoffs that come to mind but were not mentioned: 1-a sword that is sharpened all the way to the hilt is going to "bite" more when it comes in contact with wood (like a shield or haft) or another blade. This could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on circumstances (though more likely to be advantageous when your sword has a smaller and less protective guard which may play into the ricasso being more of a late period thing as the complicated and more protective hilts would be doing a lot of that work and light spears and wooden center-grip round shields without a metal rim were less common). 2-it would (to a point) be far more useful for push cuts than pull cuts and those may have been a significant part of the type of combat Roland Warzecha works on recreating (which would have thus provided more reason for earlier era swords to be sharpened all the way to the hilt than we see in later period manuals where that portion of the blade is so infrequently used offensively) 3-late period crossguards are (on average) much more damaging in striking the opponent than earlier period ones so an offensive part of the blade near the hand would me more important for a "viking sword" than for a late period sword designed to be able to be effectively used for a mordhau with a long and sturdy cross guard you could punch into your opponent's face. 4-a late period sword is more likely to have to defend against strikes from polearms and war hammers, so may have paid more attention to the durability component brought up in the video These would all feed into the difference between late and early periods we seem to see with lower-blade sharpening.

It's appreciated that among all the detailed research and well-thought-through observations, you still took the time to mention that for all we know, sharpening a sword all the way was simply a matter of well-while-I'm-here-I-may-as-well-keep-sharpening. (This bugged me about feudal Japan's wearing of geta and tabi on the battlefield. For years I was convinced that there was no way an entire culture would go to battle with the equivalent of slippers on their feet. Yet, they did.)

@Kensuke0987

Жыл бұрын

geta? maybe not, but they'd probably wear waraji (straw sandals)

@PJDAltamirus0425

Жыл бұрын

XD Lots of turnshoes are essentially leather socks. There are clear benefits to minimalist footwear from enforcing proper running, sneaking, sensing the ground, allowing bending of the foot. Look fandi dozi’s KZread channel, he has several videos on it.

It does seem very unlikely that the bottom few centimeters would be used for cutting(in combat), even in cramped situations where you're limited in how you can move your arms, but maybe sharpening them helped with binding? I like the tapering from blunt to really sharp you mentioned, this smooth transition seems structurally stronger.

@Pupcan

Жыл бұрын

"...maybe sharpening them helped with binding?" I hadn't considered that until you mentioned it. It wouldn't be too difficult to test that idea, either.

@pex_the_unalivedrunk6785

Жыл бұрын

Especially if you got a big crossguard, that's gonna keep the bottom couple inches of the blade from making any contact with skin, and if the opponent is wearing even the slightest bit of a collar around his neck, it won't even cut him. It may prevent someone from grabbing your blade just above the crossguard with bare hands, however.

As a Diablo 2 Paladin in real life, i can confirm that a sword needs to be sharpened all the way for faster and more consistent Mephisto farming...

@m0-m0597

Жыл бұрын

No. I demand that nobody likes this comment! You are not allowed!

@Sekrf

Жыл бұрын

I sharpen my Gull dagger ALL the way!

@NikozBG

Жыл бұрын

@@Sekrf I tried to sharpen my Azurewrath once, but then I broke my whetstone.

@m0-m0597

Жыл бұрын

@@noncajunmud-man8882 noooooooooooo

Probably depends a lot on the sword. You're probably not going to want to sharpen an entire rapier, or much more than the top 1-2 thirds of an arming sword, but with something smaller such as a gladius or even a dagger, you're likely going to want as much cutting room as you can manage.

Another possible advantage to a blade having most its edge sharpened could be that if you were to throw a cut at somebody but you missed that sweet spot for whatever reason (maybe the opponent closes distance with you) but the bottom half of your sword connects to them anyways, then it might potentially do some cutting damage to them, albeit weaker since the force would be lower down there, but still.

It would be awesome to see tests on two equal swords, on sharp and blunt sides.

I wonder how sharp the blade was along the entire length. Axes, razors, and knives are all sharp tools, but there is a noticeable difference in how fine the edge is. I wonder if it might have been seen as more practical to sharpen the whole length of the blade, but leave the majority of the blade at the level of an axe so you can have an effective chop; then bring the third to half of the blade to a finer edge and point for better thrusts and cutting.

Highly informative, articulate, and entertaining. Great work!

@Skallagrim

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

"It seems like partial sharpening of the blade became more common in the Renaissance period onward." I think that's because they started to think more scientifically as time went on. Some armor from that era looks like something straight out of steampunk. I think the increased sophistication of arms and armor made people specialize their designs more rather than make general purpose weaponry.

@pRahvi0

Жыл бұрын

If the thorough sharpening is mainly useful in slicing, I can see why they wouldn't feel like needing that capability with (plate) armor becoming all the more common and more covering. At the same time, the same armor would encourage increasing the half-swording utility. So, while I agree, I'd say it's more like trading a rather obsolete secondary feature for enhancing another, since the latter is starting to see more use.

@Pystro

Жыл бұрын

I would rather guess that it was influenced by social factors of the time. In the middle ages, warfare was feudally organized. Most swords were owned by rich nobility (or at least the swords that are most likely to be taken as a role model for other swords). And the nobility had the money to squeeze every last bit of mortality out of their armory. Most peasants, conversely, would use cheaper weapons anyways, like polearms and axes. And those peasants who would use a sword _might_ have specifically ordered it half sharpened to save costs, but that would have been considered "not the proper way to make a high quality sword" so nobody would have even talked about it. In the renaissance, armies transitioned more towards equipping all fighters (or at least several companies of mercenaries and career soldiers) with gear of even quality. And at that scale it starts making a difference if you save a few hours on the labor cost for sharpening, because that would enable more mercenaries to afford the kit.

Very informative like always. Thanks skal

"Let's try to be civil..." OK, I'll go fetch my rapier.

My boy Fiore getting a shoutout! I've heard kukri have different blade geometry so that there is a finer edge near the hilt for carving or careful work and a thicker edge further up where you'd use it to chop wood or other chores.

Maybe a ideia for a video Skall, how weigh balance and guard types affects the use of the blade/ weapons. I never found anything that would consider theses aspects in good detail. Thanks for the video, stay safe!

Nice to see Kara in the video again. I was wondering where'd she gone. Also you should script her as a "winning side" more.

I think that even if partial sharpening is better (not saying that it isn't) there is a huuuge phycological factor at play when we are thinking of a choice of sharpening blade all that way or not from medieval people. It's like, you not gonna need that part of the blade sharp most of the time... But what if you will need it? Also I think that instances where you would need bottom part of the blade sharp occured more when you are not top notch master of swords and combat. Any competitive activity, including mutual homicide can go messy, and if there is at least 1% probablity you'll need something, you gonna try to get it. Especially in this case where the only drawback is potentially weakening the blade for a long time usage. And in that case actual probability of using bottom part of a blade for a cut is not even important, what's important is people's perception of that probability. Like, what if I mess up, what of someone grapples me and that would be the only part contacting, what if I would want to threaten some one by keeping blade close to their necks without killing them unless I have to, etc. So yea. To me makes perfect sense they almost never left bottom part of the blade blunt. I wouldn't either in their place.

5:05 seeing those old Blood & Iron sparring shots made me nostalgic about seeing them in your channel! I think it's safe to say most of us would love to see Erik Axebreaker once more lol

I remember watching a demonstration video in regards to the Cossacks where the speaker was talking about the sabre, the shamshir. He proceeded to say that only about 40-ish% of the blade was really sharpened (being the tip going down), with the rest of the blade being dull. (though it was still a usable edge)

Absolutely agree! Like the British 1895 pattern Infantry Officer's sword. I might be inclined to make the lower 1/3 of the blade with an H-beam type configuration with a broad, unsharpened "edge" and a broad fuller to balance the weight. Maybe even a very obtuse angled edge so that it doesn't cut, is very difficult to damage, and yet the very strong, obtuse quasi-edge is likely to damage the cutting edge of the sword you are parrying, potentially causing their sword to break.

Hey skal! Love your stuff, and I was wondering something! As a person with heritage from the area formerly known as Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic and Slovakia, I looked into swords from around that area and found them to be remarkably similar to German swords, unsurprisingly. With one notable outlier. The Czech Dussack, which more closely resembles a Scottish basket hilted broadsword. I would absolutely love a video covering a Dussack someday, and maybe exploring the similarities and differences between the Scottish and Czech blades. Much love!

It really comes down to the type of sword and the intended purpose. You gave exactly the two examples that came to my mind when I saw the title: only partial sharpening for half-swording, (almost) full length sharpening for shorter swords when non-combat utility like cutting rope etc. is desired. Cutlass? Sharpen it all the way to the ricasso in case you need to cut rope in a boarding action. Estoc? Just the tip!

In the Sabre manual I’m reading it says that sabres would be axe sharp only half way down the blade and dull where you take a bind, the false edge on the reverse side would be razor sharp.

Hey Skal! First off, thanks for all the amazing content, been enjoying it for a couple of years now and I wish you all the best. That said, I would terminate any deals with the people at Galaxylamps as soon as possible. I was immediately intrigued about their products as a Christmas gift for my girlfriend. Went and did a little research on some other ytube channels and saw some comparisons and their projector looked great, so I ordered one from their EU store and got confirmation. A week later I have no shipping confirmation and their DHL tracking number doesn't exist, contacted support and they told me the equivalent of "it'll ship when it ships". Did some more research and found out that a lot of people have had issues with them and their deliveries, including month long delays and faulty products for which they only offer 3 months warranty. To be honest, I have no idea how they're still active in the EU. All in all, a lot of unsatisfied customers. None of this is your fault, of course. I just want none of your other followers to throw 100 euros at these people for no apparent gain (no idea if they'll process my refund).

I remember seeing something about sharpened swords, albeit from the 19th and early 20th century. Namely that blunt swords were often seen as enough, since the sword would usually be used when charging unarmoured opponents at full gallop, and there was concern about weakening the blade and so cavalry units didn't always sharpen or resharpen their swords, however infantry swords and navy swords would be since they wouldn't be used at full gallop due to lacking a horse. I remember chatting to a Museum curator about this and he told me that you can tell infantry/navy and cavalry swords apart by their sharpness although another curator said this was an urban myth since not only did the rules of war prohibit hitting people with blunt swords during this time period (something the first curator said wasn't the case, it was etiquette to use a sharp sword but not law) and that a blunt sword would be no use if engaging cavalry (the first contended that normal convention by this period was that saber cavalry wouldn't be used to attack cavalry (lancers were used for that purpose) and that if attacked by cavalry would use pistols). And I also don't know if the legend of the WW1 Canadian airman who took down a German plane by walking along his wing and slicing the wing of the enemy plane with his sword used a blunt or sharp blade, and whether it happened is also disputed.

I agree about vibration dampening and reach in using the top portion of the blade. However more blade mass above the impact point would increase the amount of energy transferred, so in some situations and blade types it may be preferable to use a sharp lower blade.

I guess it is gonna be somewhat situational as to what is best. I generally think that one of the big advantages of a sword vs a polearm is that a sword is sharp everywhere except the handle at the bottom so that it is intentionally hard to grab and can cut all along the blade, keeping the lower half of a sword's blade dull or even blunt seems almost like taking away the whole advantage a sword has over a polearm.

@EphemeralTao

Жыл бұрын

On the other hand, leaving the bottom third of a long sword unsharpened means that it can be gripped for close-quarters fighting.

@Lethargy514

Жыл бұрын

@@EphemeralTao I'd agree, but you don't need the lower end of a sword to be dull in order to half-sword. Just wear gloves or gauntlets. Hell, Skall did a video where he did the murder stroke with his bare hands.

Thanks for adding some joy to my day. Im sick stuck at home with COVID.

I have an idea! Lets sharpen only tip of the sword, this allows us to make rest of the sword from wood and also longer!

I think the armor advancements and durability are good reasons to leave a portion dull. I’d be using the guard more as a bludgeon if I couldn’t use the blade. And accidentally hitting plate would dull it heavily.

In my training I was taught to strike with the top half of the blade max for obvious reasons. Ideally by the top third. The rest is used for parrying,blocking,deflection and binding.

Another great video Skall! Really interesting. I think I could suggest something to make video about. I always wondered what would you say about weapon like javelin. We had thrown axe, big arrow, knife etc. but I cant recall anything about javelins or pilums or just throwing a spear and what are pros(if any) and cons of that. Would love if you would bring that topic up. 😅💪🤺

This is an excellent video. Classic Skallagrim!

Minor quibble, but I think the ricasso on blades is there to help prevent losing a finger when one wields with the index finger over the guard, this was later followed with rings attached to the quillons and plates, etcetera...

One potential reason to keep a sword fully sharpened might have to do with Shield v. Shield. Trying to gain control over your opponent's shield would put you very close to them, possibly making it harder to use the weak of the blade to deliver the desired cuts. As close-in fighting and grappling on the battlefield became less viable or common, and as mass production became more essential to equipping ever larger armies, full-edged blades became an acceptable tradeoff.

@The_Sphinx-22

Жыл бұрын

That was 3 minutes in

@kronoscamron7412

Жыл бұрын

Well but you can just do a draw cut.

I love your vids, been watching for years!

Not english, sorry for my shitty language. My neighbor who was in the army learned from an older guy who learned from an older guy etc... how to sharpen the standard cavalry and infantry sabers. I had one and wanted to make it sharp so he sharpened it. And, surprise, they only sharpen the last tier, take out roughly the blunt of the middle, and leave the bottom tier fully blunt. Because when you are on the horse you will charge while laying low on the horse, saber upright in front of your face to deflect a little bit the things thrown or fired at you. And you better have a blunt edge because it will take punishment better without breaking. The last tier is sharp because thats what will make contact the more often when you mow down peoples on each side of the horse. Those sabers were almost never used on foot, and anyway it was easier to thrust than to cut someone in the middle on a battle (during sharpening he took more time on the tip than on the blade, because he needed to make a really specific angle and superposition of said angles to optimize penetration). Infantry sabers were a little bit more sharpened on the middle tier because there was no need to use it as protection.

I've read similar accounts, and I see the points of both. Personally I agree more with leaving the bottom 1/3 of the blade unsharpened (not blunt but not a honed edge) for the reasons you've stated. You're arguably expanding the life of your weapon while adding a "confidence boost" to use that area of the blade as leverage should you decide to grab it when engaging with half-swording techniques (no risk in cutting yourself).

I think the shield might be a reason why swords in earlier time periods were sharpened for the complete bladelength. If you have a shield, you can block/parry with it and there is no reason for halfswording... Later, as armour progressed and shields became less important, blocking with the blade was more common... At least that would make sense to me

Having at least enough edge in the lower half to facilitate edge on edge biting in sticky binds would be beneficial for certain techniques. Then having an edge that can be used for slicing provides enough value to offset the labor. That said, I don't think the lower half requires as much attention as the upper half, but it may be easier mentally to simply sharpen it uniformly.

If you dont have one already please make a video on phillipines headhunters axe/pick. I have one that my great grandfather got in ww2. And I saw a clip where you used a very similar weapon

edged blade vs dull blade would be interesting in a bind

Skall my man you really need to review the kingston arms atrim designed type XIIIa war sword. I haven't seen any reviews on it yet and to my (very) untrained eye it seems to be am amazing blade especially for the price point its at. It is also currently on sale on SBG.

I actually jumped when the mannequin moved! It was like he was saying “GET THAT FUCKING THING AWAY FROM ME DUDE!”

Yes, the grips and guards need to be sharpened as well for maximum murderosity

Perfectly valid, particularly fighting in harness where half swording into gaps is common practice.....less so if your opponents tend to have basic or no armour as you'll be wanting push and pull cuts from the whole blade?

I have one of the galaxy lamps and it's awesome, doffo need one of the projectors too.

This might be why some types of swords have stuff like upward spikes on them starting from halfway down, because in some cases it's just more effective than leaving it straight.

Hey Skall, what do we have to do to get a review of that Adorian messer from Landschkent Emporium? 😊 it keeps getting teased in these videos!!

If I had someone sharpen my blade for me, I wouldn't ever not tell them to do the whole damn thing. It's like how nowadays you would buy a fat base magazine just to get +1 capacity on your carry gun. Like, there is no universe where I would just tell them "don't sharpen my sword all the way", what if I did need that part and I end up dying because I couldn't cut them with it? But if I had to maintain it myself, and constantly take care of it, I would find this a very reasonable compromise. I definitely find it cool as a concept. It's a neat optimisation. A bit like budgeting, I suppose. Huh, funny how that works I guess.

I came across information that the type of sword that is on the lower half is bar, and the upper half is thinned and sharp. I found it called "Toledo blede" and it was also used in England, but supposedly the design is from Spain. I'm trying to find articles about it, but I'm swamped with newspapers from Ohio USA.

7:45 Alexandria. Middle east is generally much lightly armored, and a lot of cavalery, so slicing cuts are more important. It depends on your market. Even back in the days, the customer was always right as long he paid the bill.

Ok thats hilarious, I just had a conversation about this topic two days ago (same opinion btw). Gonna send Janek this video, ty for that

Helpful thanks

I can't hear the name Capo Ferro without thinking of Princess Bride

Some Swords have a leather wrapping on the blade because its unsharpened and it makes half swording easy, and grabbing the blade to use the sword spear style. Also the swords that have an unsharpened part are good for full plate fighting because you can grab ur own sword and use it to gain leverage while wrestling.

Good work 👍

What about hooking your index finger over the cross-guard to get more control or power? A dull half inch to an inch is helpful and saves your glove. My lightest arming sword is like this to make it faster (grip snaps). My hand and a half has about 3 inches left square and I will sometimes loop 2 fingers over. I do have fingered hourglass type gauntlets so I feel pretty safe. My Greatsword has the little hook guards and a dull leather wrapped ricaso to choke up on when a shield bearer charges the line in a war. That's as close to half-swording I get.

That dummy though LOL! I DIDN'T KNOW BOBBY HAD A PART TIME GIG WITH SKALL!

I agree 100%. Several swords ive deigned are made like this, with only the upper 1/3 of the blade sharpened and the lower 2/3 profiled to more of a 3 sided half hexagon type edge geometry.

I always thought that the benefit for sharpening the base of the blade is to damage you OPPONENT'S blade when you parry. If it's sharpened, it seems more likely to damage the attacking blade in the portion where it actually matters.

@alexxu3004

Жыл бұрын

a chipped blade still going to cut

@hntrsmoke8664

Жыл бұрын

Sharp blades are thinner and rough contact will roll or chip the edge, meaning a sharper Ricasso is structurally weaker than an unsharpened one, just as thick unfinished blade with no bevel will be stronger, heavier, and duller than a beveled blade

@EstellammaSS

Жыл бұрын

Uhm nope. Sharper means thinner, which means off angle hit can chip your own blade. If it’s sharp you’ll be comparing the materials and the angle to see who breaks, but hitting a solid metal block always chips the thinner one. It’s might be easier to catch and bind with a sharp edge at the cost of chipping your own tho.

Just a quick thought I had while watching: If you're going up against someone in really thick padded (read cloth) armor, a longer cutting edge would be more likely to get all the way through when doing a slice. As you move into the later medieval periods, heavier armors start taking over. Swords, typically, are not the best counter to these. Instead, you'd be using maces, polehammers, etc. So you might want to optimize your sword for those cases where you're up against cloth armor and leave the heavy armor to the guy with the poleaxe since the sword isn't ideal there.

@EphemeralTao

Жыл бұрын

Heavier armors are why the estoc was developed; a long, narrow thrusting sword with a sharpened tip and edgeless "blade". Not much good for cutting, but great for penetrating maille rings and the weak points in plate armour.

@Abrogator91

Жыл бұрын

@@EphemeralTao Sure, but that is one very specific type of sword. You wouldn't use it like a standard longsword.

Well, perhaps you aren't particularly likely to end up in a situation where the ability to deliver a push/pull cut with the bottom half of the blade would be essential. But if you do end up in that situation, you'll wish you had it. It could mean the difference between ending a fight in your favor, or drawing it out and possibly losing. To me, the reasons not to sharpen the bottom half or third of the blade are not life-or-death, but the reasons to sharpen the whole length of the blade very much _could be_ life-or-death. That said, even though Skall has a different opinion on the matter, his opinion is still a good one, because it is coming from an educated standpoint. He clearly knows what he is talking about and understands what all the pros and cons are, he has simply weighed the pros and cons differently from the way I have, and thus arrived at a different, perfectly valid conclusion.

Cool sponsor you have there Skall!

What do I think? I think you're pretty cool dude. You raise some good points. Let me look at some of your other videos.

Hi Skall, would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on the new blight survival game!

Yeah, this is what I’ve been saying. As long as it’s sharp enough to properly bind against another edge it’s fine. You’re not gonna hit anyone right at the cross guard and if you only have a sheath instead of a proper scabbard you wouldn’t really want the tight fit against the edge where you will probably be holding it where you draw. I haven’t watched any of the video yet, I’m just immediately sharing my opinion on what I would prefer so I can get brownie points on the Internet

@lukediehl1210

Жыл бұрын

Fresh out of brownie points. Would you accept a cookie point?

@helenwrong6363

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@@lukediehl1210 I don’t know how to eat sugar cookies without dying so as long as it’s not one of them, yes please

@demonzabrak

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@@helenwrong6363your honesty is refreshing. I’ll give you an internet point for admitting you’re going after internet points.

I think Skall's videos on sharp blade binding explain why blades would have been sharpened along the entire length before the development of complex hand protection.

As an addendum, it would be reasonable to expect that, even if you DID sharpen the lower half of a blade "all the way," it stands to reason it won't get dulled as fast anyway. So if you DID choose to sharpen thoroughly, you'd still likely wind up sharpening one half more than the other

yeah for sparing or duels i get not sharpening it all the way but if your going to battle you would want to use everything you have to your advantage hence sharpening it all the way and there's plenty of historic references to this being the case all around the globe. personally i don't think a master fencer has a say in this issue since there fighting style involves more of a pokey pokey than actual slashing.

I like mine completely blunt...and thick. Goes up better. My enemies fear the back stab.

If you're not going to sharpen the whole blade, you might as well just use a polearm (which people sometimes did). Otherwise if you're fighting someone who may or may not end up in headbutting distance while you're swinging at him, that extra sliciness comes in handy.

@KieraQ0323

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Just use a polearm anyway, they do the same thing for cheaper

I want to model a sword design that looks similar to the mirah greatsword from Dark Souls 2. It's the sword with leather wrapped around half of the swords blade. My question is. Would it be practical to use? Or is that just for looks.

Very good video!

One edge case (ha) for a fully sharpened edge would be drawing a few inches of the blade from the sheath to use it for some utility purpose like cutting a string. Obviously not an important purpose of a sword but if I were carrying one around all day everyday I could see myself using the bottom barely drawn from the sword for utility purposes.

I see that the fool with the loose coif has been ambushed by the googly eye bandit. (Though honestly since he at least has a padded coif under it, it could be representative of a poorly made maille coif that needs a helmet to go over it, even a mere skullcap...)

That last line. I'm in pain and I love it.

I like the point of protecting the bottom third. Blocking with a heavier piece of metal and having less damage in the lower blade makes the most sense to me.

How good was the Toledo sword ( i hope that i rite it good ) ? Greetings from the Netherlands 👍

I think it's a matter of preference and styles of combat, tactics, customised weapons etc.

I agree, leaving the nearest half of the blade dull is better for your sword. Using sharp edges for blocking is always going to shorten the life of your sword, swords tend to be expensive......ironically more expensive than guns.

When is an upcoming livestream going to be?

I wonder if putting small spikes or possibly serration on the lower part of the blade could increase the utility of a sword in grappling. Then you could stab an opponent with small points instead of doing short cuts. Given that the guard already occupies nearby space, I don't think it sacrifices maneuverability. It would require a different sheath to hold it, though.

The only reason I can think of to fully sharpen the lower part is maybe they found it better for catching and binding? I would assume a less sharp blade wouldn't bite as well. Or, it's as Skall supposed, perhaps they simply didn't think of it before. When you look back at transformative technology and iterative designs, there's lots of things that people technically "could" have done at an earlier period, but sometimes certain things just weren't in the collective consciousness yet. This could very well be one of them.

Before I watch this video: I have thought this as well about the lower half of the sword, to at least have 1 side unsharpened. Caviat being that if you were expecting to primarily (almost exclusively) fight textile armor that you would sharpen it all the way both sides. It is interesting that it becomes more common precisely when heavily armoured soldiers become the norm. They probably did it because it cut better against fabric. They probably started doing it because fabric became uncommon and halfswording became more important. You make the weapon that is the best today, not a weapon that can be used for a technique that will start finding usage 3 centuries later. If the lower bit had utility purpose, why wouldn't you just grind all the way? It only became a detriment when half swording.

I wonder if there are any cases of blades like Messer's with multiple angle ground in to the blade for different tasks?

So it seems likely that when swords were mass-produced for equipping an army for war, for the sake of time and resources, steps were skipped and swords that weren't sharpened down the whole length of the blade may have been common enough. Which could then lead into more professional sword users seeing potential advantages to it, as discussed here.

Could a blunt lower blade be more effective at parrying, given a sharp blade will tend to bite/bind?

Hey Skall, it's nice for an add to try to sell me something that isn't an subscription trap, well done

I would want at least the top 2/3rds to be sharpened, but then I like getting uncommonly close right between the middle distance and actually getting into grappling... specifically BECAUSE most people don't fight at that distance and it really throws people off their game, and thus often end up striking about at the middle of the blade. Of course, the reason behind my exception then actually reinforces the general statement being made. *_I_* used it for around 1 in 10 of my sparring "kills" with arming/bastard sword, but I don't know that I've ever once been hit with any point along the blade more than about 40% of the way down from the tip despite often actively trying to put myself at the ideal distance for such a strike. Anecdotal, but highly suggestive of how little the bottom of the blade is used offensively by most people.

Got a few service sharpened antique sabers. They all are completely blunt in the first third.

I'll agree, and raise you: In a late medieval / armored context, swords should also have narrower, thicker, and more tapered points; their cutting "sweet spots" should be broader, thinner, and pointed/angled rather than parallel. In other words, the best "sword" is a poleax, the only difference from the traditional poleax being that the middle third should be socketed (metal on the parrying edges, rather than just langets on the flats which rarely clash with other weapons). Better for thrusting, better for cutting, better for parrying, better for leverage / control / "half-swording", more affordable, and just plain better.

It's worth noting just because the blade is beveled for the entire length doesn't mean that it's sharp for the whole bevel. A good example is the sabers Skall mentioned at the end they're beveled for most of the edge but only truly sharp in the top half.