How do you carry weapons - sheaths, ties, tucks, in hand?

[Gort]

I have a friend who practices at the Royal Armouries with a two-handed sword - his sword isn't particularly sharp. In fact, many of the moves involve grasping the hilt with the right hand, the blade with the left, and stabbing with the point, or clubbing with the hilt.

Unlike D&D, in reality, a two-handed sword can do slashing, piercing AND bludgeoning damage.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

I have a fighter character with a semi-cursed spear, which never leaves his hand. We've actually made it a feature of the character, in that even if you wake him up in the night the spear is in his hand before you can do anything.

 

[rich]

what about a double-bladed sword? I've been trying to figure out a good way to carry it...
the best idea I've come up with is to design a sheath on a horse, as has been suggested for the larger 2-handed swords, but that leaves the other (possibly sharp, most likely pointy) end sticking up. I think you could put a sheath on that end as well -- it would look kinda funny, and would take an extra moment to get the weapon ready...
any opinions?

 

[Wolv0rine]

what about a double-bladed sword? I've been trying to figure out a good way to carry it...
the best idea I've come up with is to design a sheath on a horse, as has been suggested for the larger 2-handed swords, but that leaves the other (possibly sharp, most likely pointy) end sticking up. I think you could put a sheath on that end as well -- it would look kinda funny, and would take an extra moment to get the weapon ready...
any opinions?

Well, being a completely fantasy weapon, you obviously have to invent something. Me, I'd say a shealth on each blade, with the sheaths tied together in a simple knot to hold it together. When you need the weapon, draw it and pull the tiestring.. the knot yields and the sheaths fall away. You can collect them after battle.

As for the Ren Faire bunnies crack, as far as I know Museum Replicas bases their reproductions on historically accurate foundations (save for those products labelled as licensed or fantasy), so I'm not too worried about the accuracy angle. Doubly so (as mentioned) since we're talking fantasy anyway.

In general I'd say if you have a horse, odds are good you keep your stuff on it. If not, you probably carry it around the easiest/safest (to you) way you can manage.

 

[xbrokenxswordx]

Certainly, medieval swords were not actually very sharp. In fact, the classic longsword has been described as a sharpened crowbar.

Described by whom? The idea that medieval sword fights were basically two guys bashing each other with semi-sharp baseball bats is a myth. Even the massive zweihunder swords were used for 'fencing' at the time and had schools, and documented texts, dealing with the correct use of the blades. Swords of the time were light, and sharp, though maybe not razor sharp. But they were effective killing tools, not glorified bludgeons.

 

[Anabstercorian]

Described by whom? The idea that medieval sword fights were basically two guys bashing each other with semi-sharp baseball bats is a myth. Even the massive zweihunder swords were used for 'fencing' at the time and had schools, and documented texts, dealing with the correct use of the blades. Swords of the time were light, and sharp, though maybe not razor sharp. But they were effective killing tools, not glorified bludgeons.

A sharpened crowbar is a very effective killing tool. I don't think anyone denies that these were deadly weapons, just that they weren't very sharp.

 

[mhd]

Even the massive zweihunder swords were used for 'fencing' at the time and had schools, and documented texts, dealing with the correct use of the blades. Swords of the time were light, and sharp, though maybe not razor sharp. But they were effective killing tools, not glorified bludgeons.

Depends on the use of the sword. If I remember correctly, some of the fencing manuals were concerned mostly with judicial combat. There you need a different sword than e.g. the "Doppelsoeldner" ('double mercenaries'), who stood in the front line of the battle field waiting to chop down pikes and halberds (for which they were paid double the usual amount).

But then again, most of the swords would've been sharp. It's just the difference between sharp as a razor and sharp as a chisel...

 

[JDJarvis]

for i,ages of axe sheaths go check out google at the image data base. there are real functional axe sheaths and ornimental ones aplenty.

http://images.google.com/images?q=axe+sheath

A two handed sword sheath looks like a sword sheath, its job is to protect the blade. That back slung crap you see is crap, at least the way it is usually shown, one couldn't draw the sword out of the scabbard with such a sling and would only carry a sword for transport using such a method not it if one planned on using it in a hurry. When ready to use one it was taken out of the sheath and carried possbly with a blade wrap that could quickly be thrown free.

 

[Krieg]

Ironically enough, the "how sharp" argument has doubtlessly raged for several millenia. There are a myriad of different edge geometries on the western blades that have survived. This is because the "sword" is not a static object, it was a dynamic weapon that evolved in many different directions to meet many different goals.

One thing we can't lose sight of is that weapons (in this case swords) never existed in a vacuum. The armor faced by a 10th century Viking was very different than that faced by his descendents 500 years later. Swords were designed to defeat whatever defensive measures they were to be wielded against, be it a simple hauberk or an all-whyte harness (ie full plate).

A very large percentage of surviving western blades do have a sharpened edge. While few (if any) are of "razor" sharpness, don't be fooled into believing that they were not extremely efficient cutting weapons.

Go into the kitchen & grab a Chef's knife. Wrap your hand around it & squeeze the blade against the inside of your palm, chances are you will not cut the skin. However if you were to pull that same blade across your skin under gentle pressure you would quickly be headed to the hospital for stitches.

Now ask yourself, is that blade sharp?

The only European blades that were unsharpened as a matter of course, were the Tuck/Estoc & the Smallsword. Both were extremely specialized weapons that emphasized the point over all else. The Tuck did so in an attempt to defeat the escalation of heavy armor in Euope while the smallsword was supremely adapted for civilian duels.

I have a friend who practices at the Royal Armouries with a two-handed sword - his sword isn't particularly sharp. In fact, many of the moves involve grasping the hilt with the right hand, the blade with the left, and stabbing with the point, or clubbing with the hilt.

Half-swording seems to have been a very limited practice. The only primary evidence of it's actual use were in judicial duels, which were highly formalized and regulated. There are several explanations as to how a swordsman using half-sword techniques kept all his fingers.

1. Armored duels = gauntlets.
2. Existing period greatswords have extended ricassos, and only the last 1/3 -1/2 of the blade is sharpened.
3. It is quite possible to hold a sharpened blade in bare hands with a tight grip. You will not cut yourself unless the blade slides against the skin.

But then again, most of the swords would've been sharp. It's just the difference between sharp as a razor and sharp as a chisel...

You might want to reconsider that analogy. Ask a competent woodworker about how sharp a good chisel is.

A sharpened crowbar is a very effective killing tool. I don't think anyone denies that these were deadly weapons, just that they weren't very sharp.

I put far more stock in primary sources than I do in what constitutes "common" knowledge.

Fullero pattern-welded blade

Ewart Oakeshott referred to many of the period blades he had handled as being as sharp as "a well-honed carving-knife".

If you have any doubts as to the abilities of a European longsword as a cutting weapon feel free to view the videos found at The Journal of Western Martial Arts.

They will look familiar to any Iaido students who practice Tameshigiri.


Note: The first video contains a single usage of profanity.