This is Thrand and I completely agree on using historical replicas to recreate and discover historical combat styles and the reasons for their design they would have known what they were doing and made them for the exact purpose at hand to be most effective with arms and armor of the period

@tanegurnick5071

5 жыл бұрын

this is Tane and I agree as well

@asantehunter

5 жыл бұрын

This is sparta.....that is all

@callumbiasnow4825

5 жыл бұрын

HAIL Thrand here 👍

@TimeSurfer206

3 жыл бұрын

Hail! I am Surfer, and have studied the art of Smithing. And I am here to tell you that combat styles revolve around the equipment available. And the equipment available depends on the metalsmithing available.

@Tarantio1983

3 жыл бұрын

@@asantehunter Surely if THIS IS SPARTA, then IT IS MADNESS!!! That or a kick in the guts that catapults a man backward into a well!

Falchions have always reminded me of a machete, light and nimble made for hacking and slashing.

@Theduckwebcomics

5 жыл бұрын

Greg Thewestgaredneck Falchions of this stuff type look exactly like machetes, but others don't at all.

@dynamicworlds1

5 жыл бұрын

Same general idea. Good for getting through heavy cloth

"I'm not gonna bang on about James right now" Now *that* is a video I'd watch.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

IPostSwords 😏

@thomascollins5622

5 жыл бұрын

IPostSwords Same here!

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

*gulp*

@IPostSwords

5 жыл бұрын

J. G. Elmslie you know you want it.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

J. G. Elmslie I love your work. (Falchions and messers both need more love.)

Don't mind me, just watching this to get an idea of how my D&D character should look like when fighting

@Blueturtle1

3 жыл бұрын

This is a mood

@petitpanierdosier3206

2 жыл бұрын

Fuck this game guys

I love the ridiculously cartoony look of those types of falchions. The proportions (other than distal taper) look like a caricature, it's beautiful

I don't know about historical reenactment but I do a lot of "backyard" cutting and blades like that are very, very good at slicing through thick cloth and clothing and green wood (fresh still living wood). My uneducated guess would be that those were used against people wearing gambeson, more people can afford mail so maybe even more could afford gambeson that couldn't previously afford any armor.

I just want to know where the misconception on ANY weighted sword was for bashing through armor. If you wanted to smash something like a blunt force weapon you went and got a blunt force weapon. Blades are for cutting and stabbing and not always both.

@fabiovarra3698

5 жыл бұрын

maybe from some friendly turnaments where they used blunt sword for bashing armor, because with a mace or an hammer you can't be very safe

@kaimagnus5760

5 жыл бұрын

Fabio Varrà I could see that. Like in Tournaments of Skill or something where you wanted to show up the Knight from the neighboring fief but didn't actually want to kill him.

@Theduckwebcomics

5 жыл бұрын

I think it's a common misconception that started in the 18th and 19th centuries because the swords of the day were far more elegant, thin and shapely: when they looked back at those big wide blades and the armour that went with them they came to the wrong but atractive conclusion.

@GamelessOne

5 жыл бұрын

It's more about Battle of the Nations, like Matt mentions. We have much higher standards of safety, so things are different. Matt really explains it quite well, try watching the video again.

@GamelessOne

5 жыл бұрын

Sure, I was just replying to kai magnus comment. Knights might in some rare cases have used oversized blunt falchions for training, but it seems unlikely anyone would spend that much metal making a strange training weapon, which would be mostly useless/inferior in actual combat.

So, we've talked about swords, we've talked about axes, we've talked about spears. Can we talk about war picks? Like, how popular were they and when? What were they intended to be used for?

@uncleTbag86

3 жыл бұрын

Hammering plate mail knights. Confuse them. Get your dagger and then slip it in between the plates.

@baltsosser

3 жыл бұрын

Cracking armored knights open like lobsters.

Good overview on the subject. Thanks Matt!

If you look at fantasy art and even some art of historical scenes/military history (by modern artists), you get lots of weird proportions that just look awkward at times. I think this is especially true with handles/grips. Often looks quite silly, but it’s super common and it isn’t limited to one type of pre- or early modern weapon.

That falchion looks like a fancy manchette.

Hi Matt! It might be that there were different designs of falcions for different purposes, but in the 16th century there absolutely were falchions/cutlasses designed as anti-armor weapons. Blaise de Montluc in his Commentaries states outright that the falchions carried by the French Gendarmes in his day were specifically intended for hacking at morion helmets or mail sleeves. I could also give examples of some other military treatises if you want which list falchions or cutlasses as anti-armor weapons alongside maces or one-handed axes. Yes we can say today that a curved cutting blade like that would be very inefficient for getting through metal armor. But when it comes to intent or purpose you can't really argue when there are primary sources saying "hey, this is what this weapon is designed to do."

If we want to be really serious about learning about the shapes and dimensions of the tools used, and why they were of those lengths, then it would make sense to try working with a range of sizes - Have an original example with an 8cm grip? Build copies with 7cm, 8cm, 8.5, 9, etc, and get completed examples into your hand to objectively review the differences they make. What works, what advantages does it have, what disadvantages do you find? Experiment with using things to the extremes at either end - At what point does a feature on a sword become too small to use? At what point is it too large to be effective?

@tamlandipper29

5 жыл бұрын

RealLuckless - that's a good point about testing in general, but isn't there a risk that you'd be applying modern design and test principles to an historical design that would have been crafted.

@davidbriggs264

5 жыл бұрын

Tamian Dipper: That may be true, but it would still help give an insight into how weapons of the past were created.

You're my favorite dork. Always so interesting!

Great video and thanks for addressing the too long of grips on one-handed swords! (And thanks to Elmslie and Thrand for their comments as well!)

Very nice video review for Falchion.Thank you very much.

I'm brushing up on falchions right now because I plan to get into armored combat (i.e. Battle of the Nations that Matt brings up here), and I want to use a falchion and punch shield as my primary weapons. Figured, if I'm gonna use the thing, I should know it inside and out and not just on using it. Thanks, Matt! :)

@cancermancer692

3 жыл бұрын

just keep your R1 button intact

In the painting shown at 6:29 one of the mounted figures is cleaving another pretty much in half with what looks like a two handed single edged sword. Do you know anything about that sort of weapon? Almost looks like a weird super-falchion! :D

@michaelmorgan2818

5 жыл бұрын

JoyfulRunning looked similar to a kreigmesser

@Fluffy52600

5 жыл бұрын

Two handed falchion Thing? Messers and their like are what you want. Well, there's the maciejowski (GAH) chopper. (Edit) That looks like a scythe that has been cut down to a sword-like weapon.

A heavily gloved/gauntleted hand would fill that gap nicely.

And somehow, I missed this video 3 years ago.

They must be an absolute nightmare to quench

@MadNumForce

5 жыл бұрын

kungfuasgaeilge Nothing tells they were quenched, at least quenched well. The Cluny falchion shows wild deformations you would never see on a properly quenched sword/machete. That's why on some pictures it appears to have a curved spine.

@kungfuasgaeilge

5 жыл бұрын

The wild deformations are exactly why I said they'd be a nightmare to quench. A sword that hasn't been heat treated won't work, especially one so thin.

@dynamicworlds1

5 жыл бұрын

Just because they're so thin on a broad area, or is there another reason too?

@kungfuasgaeilge

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, you've got it pretty much spot on. If you're looking for another reason, note that they weren't working with beautiful homogeneous modern steel but myriad ingots (maybe self-made) with inclusions and carbon content that could only be calculated with colours (at temp) or repeated file tests. ...but yeah, if you whack a bit of steel into a long, thin, wide thing and shock every part of it with a few hundred degrees C difference over a few seconds, it will react.

@dynamicworlds1

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the reply. Nothing I wasn't able to think of, but I only know enough metallurgy to understand how quenching & tempering work and little more beyond that and the equivalents for bronze weapons, so I wasn't sure. I wonder if the smiths had some methods to deal with the issue, or if they just chocked the warped ones up to low quality/failures and accepted there was a certain unavoidable failure rate (as we can see with Japanese swords and their quenching process often causing cracking)

Matt, when you say 'Man-at-arms', do you mean what is known in Medieval sources as 'miles' or something else? Because some misconception arises from the way in which 'miles' is translated into different languages in academic literature and I'm curious to what kind of warrior you are referring.

nice Superdry shirt Matt! have they contacted you about a sponsorship yet? I've got to get back in shape so I can fit in my Superdry shirts again. Great video!

As a possible reason behind grip length with reenactment and HMB swords made by manufacturers I imagine would be different sizes of mass produced gauntlets of different styles can bulk up your hands width differently. Something along the lines of one size fits all

Prior to this video, I was under the impression that falchions were explicitly two-handed heavy swords. Thank you for the correction.

Hey Matt, ever thought about talking about the faussart, or Maciejowsky Sword, or Warbrand sword,practically the one shown in the illustration you brought up?

@Kobolds_in_a_trenchcoat

5 жыл бұрын

I've heard one theory that the macjiejowski falchion was basically just an artist depicting either a falchion or Messer having never actually seen one. Not sure how true or likely that is but it sounds somewhat plausible.

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

highly unlikely, given I can account at least half a dozen different published sources. plus there's a closely related (but not identical) extant example in Italy. We'll get onto that in a publication someday.

@junichiroyamashita

5 жыл бұрын

J. G. Elmslie how it is called the italian one?

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

I have a suspicion they were called "Falcastro", but its still speculation and cant prove it till I have more research done.

@junichiroyamashita

5 жыл бұрын

J. G. Elmslie the falcastro is different,is more like a type 2 falchion with a d guard The falcastra is schytelike Then the term for falchion( falcione) is also used for glaives so there could be a connection since the warbrand resemble both

Thanks Matt, I have made a thin blade but have been wondering if I should make the handle shorter, it's hand and a half but I like the look of the shorter grip and a pommel, I suppose I could always make another and have both versions.

Now I can say I've seen Matt smacking his blade...

That is a beautiful weapon!

According to one study, 9cm is the median hand width of male hands. This means that 50% are larger. How much larger? Only 5% have hands 9.5cm. One percent has hands 10cm wide. So I think that increasing the hand grip by a single centimeter may well be called for. However, not more than that.

Actual question, what's so good about Super Dry shirts? I know Matt wears them a lot and should be going for a sponsorship, but why does he like them so much?

@jacklonghearse9821

5 жыл бұрын

Chevalier Mal Fet Because it makes the ladies *Super Dry* ...Wait

@joseignaciohileradorna5122

5 жыл бұрын

Kali Southpaw Indeed the least fashionable type of shirt.

Thanks. Been preaching all that forever :D

That sword spanking was nice. XD Awesome video dude, recent sub here from the Metatron.

Hello Matt, great video as always, hopefully the message of it not being a sword shaped mace! For re-enactment purposes or for HEMA , use would you be able to fit a Red Dragon glove with a 9cm or 8cm grip?

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, easily :-)

George Clooney wants his falchion back...

There's one thing I still don't understand about Falchions: Many sabre, machetes etc. widen at the tip and keep the weight at the handle minimal so that they can hit hard. Most swords have distal and profile taper and a heavy pommel to take mass from the blade so that the point can be moved in a more agile manner. The Falchion looks like it can't decide and just adds weight to both ends cancelling the benefits out and increasing the overall weight (even if it's lighter than most reproductions). So what's the point of doing so?

@scholagladiatoria

5 жыл бұрын

That's not how inertia works. If you increase mass at the tip then you increase inertia. Adding mass at the back help you accelerate that mass quicker.

@BladeFitAcademy

5 жыл бұрын

My sense is that the falchion is a gambison fillet machine. Lots of textile armor existed and performed well to absorb energy and stop cuts. Falchions can cut that stuff better than a typical sword as far as my understanding goes.

@edi9892

5 жыл бұрын

BladeFit Academy that's what I thought too. My question was rather why bother adding a big pommel, when without it, it hits just as hard and is lighter.

@Theduckwebcomics

5 жыл бұрын

The profile width of the foible may be about simply adding strength to the blade. That's the thinnest part of the sword because it's meant solely for chopping and that sacrifices strength, so you increase it by widening the metal... At the same time you don't necessarily want to move the balance point too much so you add more mass at the pommel to counteract that.

@BladeFitAcademy

5 жыл бұрын

Maybe to make it more a precision weapon? Not everyone could afford to cover themselves head to toe in maille, but many made it a priority to cover their person with some maille and a falchion needed to be nimble enough to thread the needle between gaps. Not 100% sure on that, just a hunch.

Thanks for the video. If you have anything to say about the Faussart depicted in the immage you've shown, I'd like to hear it.

Thanks for the video! I'm a huge fan of single edged blades. Could you possibly talk about medieval English hangers? I think that would be an intriguing video! Also, did anyone ever carry both a double edged blade and a single edged blade? Just a thought about different situations and different functionality.

@sylvanstrength7520

5 жыл бұрын

Nicolas Hanslik Thanks so much!

@sylvanstrength7520

5 жыл бұрын

Nicolas Hanslik Almost reminds me of how the landsknechts would carry their zweihänders and wear either Messer or katzbalger.

I have a question about the falchion if it's not meant to bang against the mail or armor what are the principal targets that you would go for with such a sword like joints and neck thank you

That Falchion's blade actually has a lot of similarities with the blade of a Machete: the shape, the springiness. I'm not an expert on Machetes and all the ones I've seen looked shorter than this, but there might be some longer ones out there.

@rikospostmodernlife

Жыл бұрын

The longest ones there are are ~70cm; the ones from the brand Gebr. Weyersberg Solingen (corneta) do have a lovely distal taper

Now that's a manly one hander sword! It looks amazing.

I think there is one thing of note that I'd say regarding grip sizes in the modern day and that is in the event that we choose to wear gauntlets we opt moreso for heavy fingered or mitten styled gauntlets which as I understand it are not equivalent to contemporary hand armor of the era of the falchion. From what I gathered falchions should have coexisted with demi gauntlets and mailed mittens or gloves which are rather lighter both in terms of padding and the thickness of steel itself than what most would consider safe sparring gear in HEMA presently. As such a slightly longer grip might be preferable for those using them for sparring instead of only for cut testing and individual drills and many people simply cannot justify the expense of two of every sword type with one solely for solo drills and one for practice this isn't about thinking we know better than the people of the era but simply having different goals. A weapon meant to kill in armor meant to protect one's life but not protect one's health is not a safe sparring environment for people practicing this as a sport or as a hobby. So I think people asking for a longer grip have a certain amount of justification to do so, although a case could be made that making a falchion "safe" for sparring would make it utterly unlike a true falchion in handling but I would imagine without a 100% profiled edge and with heavy armor it would be possible? I'll leave that judgement to those who know more than myself though.

Hooray for falchion videos! Hooray for Elmslie! Sure, James is a friend and I am biased, but he really is a brilliant researcher and proponent of calling out bad information, bad “Clementine Oranges” and debunking so much if the gobshite out there. Heh.

Have you / are you willing to do a video on either the falx or the falcata?

I used to think falchions were like axes in sword shape. Good thing your first video about falchions put that thought down.

I suppose their primary advantage over standard arming swords was cutting through gambesons, or boiled leather?

Keep hearing what it wasn't for. What WAS it for? Why does the widespread use of mail invoke the design of a sword that can't be used against mail?

Although Shad Brooks did a good job on falchions and messers, I really look forward to upcoming videos you might have on the "war cleaver."

I'm curious what a scabbard for a falchion looks like. Presumably the throat has to be wide enough to fit the widest portion of the blade, when fully inserted how do you keep the much narrower hilt end from rattling around?

And now I understand the falchion. I never did at ALL before. Now they make sense,.

I wonder if the development was similar to the dao as the falchion seems to fall between there and butterfly swords . I am curious if the European hilt handles easier and if you could use 2 as easy (which still is not very) as dual wielding 2 sabers. Since they seem to have appeared when armor was more of defense than using a shield, I wonder if they were used with a shield or buckler. I prefer cutting to thrusting, but I think I would rather have one where thrusting was still an option. They do seem to be pretty maneuverable though.

At 2.08 everybody in that battle scene appear very chilled out - even the guy impaled on a spear seems OK with his impending death. 'No biggie'.

Living out in the country in southwest Louisiana, that has me thinking of machetes☺.

@jacklonghearse9821

5 жыл бұрын

wildside316 *HUMIDITY*

@paulpasche7853

5 жыл бұрын

Yeah, me too. Specifically a cane machete

@LommyColdhands

5 жыл бұрын

I live in Lake Charles! SWLA well represented ha

It's quite handsome. I bet it was expensive.

I imagine they were popular for chopping through gambeson

I could see these falchions function well as "slicers" for cavalry.

It makes sense why falchions aren't very long. I bought a replica of the Bargello museum falchion, a falchion from the Renaissance. I think it's about 23 inch long not counting the handle.

what about two handed falchions were they generally heavier? Could you make a video about them?

Kind of early... "Langmesser" - with the limited timespan and examples, could they have been employed purely as a coup de gras / execution tool for post battle cleanup?

Grip size looks fine even for monster hands, maybe people want sneaky extra range in sparring. It always strikes me as a weapon between armour eras, as such.

BANG ON ! Matt Easton 2018

That is lovely falchion.

What would a falchion be used for if not for cutting through mail?

Cor, that's a big one.

Everything looks fun and tidy with this grip idea, untill you get a big bckien red dragon glove that doubles as a sweat bucket thickening your hand in every direction. That my friend is why mose thing for hema have longer grips.

So if you remove the cross guard would it be considered a long machete?

Do you know if it possible to get the thickness and taper of historical blades?

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

Cristobal Perez Verdugo Yes, though I don't know specific sources you can contact, apologies. Maybe you could contact some maker's that happen to have said data? I know for sure, that James Elmslie has data on messers and falchions, and I believe Peter Johnsson has data on other blades. (Peter has worked/works with Albion Swords, and those are pretty awesome.)

Do falchions persist after this 80-90 year period you spoke about? In the Elmslie typology (according to Shad), it seems that Falchions and Messers are considered the same weapon with similar blade typologies, and just a different style of grip. Yet when I've never seen a messer with a 'Cluny' style blade, nor a falchion with a 'cat's claw' broken back blade type like classic messers have.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

Forndrome There is a image floating around of a two-handed French falchion, in the form of the 3e type, from the Elmslie Typology. (It has a blue grip, I believe searching for "French two handed falchion", should bring it up.)

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

that 2h french falchion was designed (based on those in the BNF FR.51 Speculum Historale) for Paradox Interactive's "War of the Roses" videogame in 2012/13... I was the designer. (still want to make a physical version of it!) that said, they exist all the way through the 15th C - there's half a dozen examples in the Royal Armouries, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and other locations. the critical detail is that the types of single-edged arms developed through their period, that the broad cleaver-type F1 group only last till about 1300-1325, before dying out, and being replaced by other designs.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

J. G. Elmslie Well then, it appears you have the ability to make sexy blades, irregardless of the medium. (I may have a keen interest in acquiring one of those some day, I think it would look great next to a Alexandria.)

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

shouldnt be too difficult to find my website, so you're welcome to message me when you're thinking about getting one (that Cluny is for sale just now, a Castillon Hoard falchion's on the workbench, and other custom work is always a possibility) and the earlier cleaver (type 1) blades generally arent seen in messers, simply as they were obsolete by the 1400's when messers first appear. though I have found one tantalising hint of a F1 falchion-bladed baselard, which might count as a messer-hilted weapon, in an italian painting. More work to be done there, too. There's quite a few of the cat-sclaw style Type 3e blades in the later 16th C, but generally speaking, that's post-medieval, as are the messers which are contemporary. There's a curious question mark over the messers in fechtbuch, as they dont really appear in the archaeological record, compared to straight type 5's, and similar profiles. again, something for more work on.

@Forndrome

5 жыл бұрын

That is very interesting, thanks. I believe they date from the 16th century, but do you consider the 'Swiss saber' type swords to be a continuation of the messer/falchion tradition? I ask because I've seen an example the A489 Swiss Sabre from the Wallace Collection, which has the type 4a style blade which seems a pretty unusual design with the raised false edge and raised start of the blade.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SHING SOUNDS THIS BELL IS SO DAMN OMINOUS

I have a question. What balance point this got? How many centimeters from the guard? Thanks for the video, sorry for the language.

Wait... are you telling me people on the internet are arguing about something they actually know very little about!?!?

Matt is smacking his falchion again, someone call an ambulance!

This got me thinking about the single edged viking sword, any ideas about them, their use and historical significance?

@sambakich7494

5 жыл бұрын

Stian Soisdal I call them Norse falchions.

@2bingtim

5 жыл бұрын

The Vikings had contact via the Rus of the Steppe nomad cultures who often favoured single edged swords-bringing us the sabre. That's one probable source, though long saxes may be another.

the handle part is i think because of that they use maybe the gloves so their hand fits in (i am currently in viking sword fighting group and thats why our swords have bigger handles than the real ones) :P

They also get weapon triangle advantage against dragons

Shadiversity video series about falchion and messer is very good.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

Pekka Mäkelä Indeed, and his charts of the Elmslie Typology appear to be the only images I can find. (On the typology.)

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

you can get it in the "das Schwert: Gestalt und Gedanke" museum catalogue, (which you should for the rest of it, 'cos its a beautiful book!) 2nd edition is out now and available here: shop.histofakt.de/Index.php?language=en The long-overdue published version of the typology should be in the Royal Armouries "Arms and Armour" journal at the end of this year, but its been badly delayed for reasons I'd rather not go into.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

J. G. Elmslie All of my yes. (Also, sorry to hear about the delays that you have experienced. I pray to the blade Gods, that your work gets published without a hitch.)

@j.g.elmslie9901

5 жыл бұрын

Crom! I have never prayed to you before, I do not have the tongue for it. No one, not even you will remember if we were good writers or bad, why we taught, or why we lectured. No, all that matters is that one wrote against many misconceptions, that's what's important. Peer-Review is what pleases you, Crom, so grant me one request, grant me Publication! And if you do not listen, then to Academia.edu with you!

Are there real advantages of a Falchion over a standard side sword or arming sword?

@calamusgladiofortior2814

5 жыл бұрын

Tareltonlives if I recall correctly, the arming swords of the era were moving toward a more tapered profile to increase thrusting capability at the expense of cutting power. The falchion offered a sword with good cutting power, for those who wanted it. Also single edge swords are generally a little simpler to make, thus cheaper. But I welcome correction from anyone more knowledgeable on the subject.

@TanitAkavirius

5 жыл бұрын

They cut better.

@dynamicworlds1

5 жыл бұрын

Specifically, a sword better at cutting will have an easier time with heavy clothing and cloth armor. As mail and later plate became more common, they fell out of favor for the arming sword's point and easier ability to use the hilt as a bludgeoning impliment. When metal armor faded again and was replaced with often thick uniforms, we saw the return to favor of single-edged cutting swords in Europe (some of which also had a broadened section toward the tip), though as true cloth armor didn't return, the saber was a sufficient cutter for the job.

@Elluem

4 жыл бұрын

It seems like they're optimized for cutting down poor people or people not prepared for combat. At least, that's what it seems like to me. They came about when we had armor that could make them pretty meh... so, anyone that was wealthy and ready for combat would probably be all good against them lol I could also see them as a self defense weapon, since people probably aren't wearing armor unless they're going into battle or are guarding something. If you were going up against someone wealthy in this era, you'd want a sword that's better at thrusting, with a narrower point.. ideally. In a battle, most likely a polearm.

A question on grips, I wonder the average hand size of a 13th century person vs today? Are hands larger tiday?

Looks like a shinny machete rabon. A farm tool used in my country until these days for cutting cane and weeds. And was used by some armies (montoneros) as a sword also. I see it's utility against a shirt wearing soldier... but what can it do to an armored knight?

O.K. That's well-reasoned. Also, centimeters?

Do you ever hit the camera when you wave “them scimitars” around?

I'm vaguely surprised you can even hold that in just one hand.

Please correct me if I'm wrong: swords back then weren't mass produced, so someone who bought a sword would have had it made to fit right? As people were a tiny bit shorter back then proportionally their hands would be maybe a 1cm smaller in width too? So if you are a tall guy today with big hands, i think a comparable longer grip (and blade to keep the proportions) would be adequate.

@dynamicworlds1

5 жыл бұрын

Some were, some weren't. To point to the extremes, a noble in Western Europe wouldn't be abnormal to have his entire kit custom order (and even common soldiers would often have things that had been made custom, even if they were origionally made for someone else and bought used) but the Byzantine Empire (being eastern Rome) had a lot of their gear made to standards and then issued to soldiers. Even in the latter case though, since the mass production wasn't uniform like we think of it today, one could probably find something that fit your body well unless you were a rushed conscript being told to just take what you were handed and move out (not that a low-end conscript in western Europe would be better off).

maybe these weapons were made to measure? My palm is 10 cm wide, a 8cm grip would be too short. Might be impossible to know what people back then considered to be the optimum grip length. How can we know if we have archeological examples, but not the width of the wielder's hand?

@neuroinsect1944

3 жыл бұрын

I mean. Made to measure would be optimal.

What is Commander Two Hander wielding at 6:30?

It almost sounds like Falchions were closer to machetes than other swords, due to the thinness of the blade.

Very much just the thing for slicing a Worm! lol

I think the grip issue is kinda katana hangover in peoples mind.

Wow, I feel properly bollocked and I don’t own nor have ever wielded a sword. I mean I’m now going to argue, unless I have a double handler! Ave it!

Could they possibly be used for chopping horses legs?

A falchion looks very similar to north east Indian dahs.

What a strange video. You answered the question of why get a longer handle for falchions, reenactment. For big hands plus hema gloves, some need longer handles. Tradeoffs between historical accuracy and reenactment are required, especially when it comes to safety.

Can you confirm when the Falchion (German, Hattin, Gothic, Maciejowski, or Medieval Falchion) reached England? Would it have existed in the period 1150-1340 AD?

Would the Windlass "falchion" be an accurate recreation?

@RyanRyzzo

5 жыл бұрын

The Thorpe falchion inspired one? It's too heavy and doesn't handle well. And imo rather cheaply put together.

@LurkerDaBerzerker

5 жыл бұрын

It is saddening, how difficult it is to find falchions and messers in general. (Let alone decent ones in the mid to low range. If you have deep pockets however, then it isn't issue as there are a variety of high end pieces, plus you could always go custom.)

Did Falchions have hollow or solid pummels?

What is that monsterous weapon the Knight is chopping that guy in half with 6:26

I agree with you 100% about weapon modification and people not knowing enough to justify it. Until they (and I) are experts at theory and in practice, they have no right to their opinion on such matters. Of course, rational things are still rational no matter who says them.

I find them incredibly similar to many types of machete in many ways, which is quite interesting.

But with such thin and light blades, they surely could not have appeared because of maille armor prevalence, right? There had to be some other reason for their popularity.

Surely it depends how big your hand is.