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The guy on the right is using a mordhau grip. It was used against full plate armor guys, because slashing and piercing was basically useless.
Using that grip, you transform a sword in a hammer, and that leaves dents on the armor and provoke concussions if hit on the head.
How does my guy not chop his fingers off? I mean, even if it's not the sharp end out the back ends gotta cut directly into his palm. After a hit, all that force has got to go somewhere. Getting your palm slashed to the bone cannot be healthy
There's a specific grip to use that keeps hands quite safe from the blade, which really only cuts when the blade slides along a surface or already has some speed before impacting a target. If you've ever used a good kitchen knife, the blade cuts much easier if the you slide the knife forward or backward in addition to downward.
Skallagrim has a really good video about what's actually going on with the grip and even uses a real sharpened sword in the demo https://youtu.be/YT_bmO6CnRA?si=zK0_Yz4LagA4Fyi0
Despite popular belief, while very sharp, swords aren't actually all that sharp. You can't make such a thick blade be razor sharp (coincidentally why the image of a cowboy shaving with a survival knife is also fantasy, you can't get a knife that sharp). Swords are fairly thick and while the sharpened edge will cut skin easily if slicing or hitting with force, it is not sharp all over the entire length of the blade. It won't cut your hands if you use a firm grip and hold it correctly. But also, you are in a fight, you are already in a life or death situation, a few cuts on your palm won't be a deterrent if the alternative is getting murdered by a dude in full suit of armor.
Of course you can get a knife that sharp. You can get anything flat that sharp. But when you make things that sharp they don't hold an edge for very long, so it's not a practical angle for a survival or bush knife. General use pocket knives are usually sharpened to an angle of about 24 degrees, and a straight razor is usually around 15 degrees. Since the leading edge is much thinner, it has to be resharpened and honed much more often and is not suitable for cutting hard objects like wood, or in the case of swords, bone.
Applying theory to another facet of life:
The blades in a typical disposable razor are so thin, sharp, and malleable that they can be resharpened with a typical towel. This got me a lot more for my money until I discovered safety razors. These hold a better edge and can also be resharpened, with leather instead of a towel. I've been shaving for several years on a $15 box of blades I'm not even halfway through.
So whenever some Cowboy or Ranger shaves with a survival knife, it's just proof that knife never saw any action.
Or that he sharpened it for shaving right before shaving. It's mostly just Hollywood stuff because it looks cool.
This is just misconception. Swords could very easily be sharpened to shaving sharp and still be used in halfswording. It's all about the type of grip you use and using thick gloves also helps.
Could is very different from were or want. You could sharpen it that thin, but it wouldn't be practical for combat. It won't survive first contact with anything and would make the blade prone to failure. Physics is merciless, thinner blade also means less material and a weaker structure. A sword is a compromise between sharpness, strength and durability.
Just more misconception. Swords were made with shaving sharp edges if the blacksmith was anywhere near worth his weight in salt.
The idea that swords weren't sharp is a total misconception and anyone who actually practices swordfighting techniques or bladesmithing will tell you the same.
Swords weren't generally meant for armor. Swords were backup weapons when you lost your spear/hammer/pole arm.
If you were pulling your sword it was a last resort in most cases.
The swords that were designed for armor in mind (longswords) were still as sharp as they could be but more oriented towards thrusting as that's how you beat armor, by piercing through the gaps with a strong thrust.
Swords were sharp. Sharp enough to remove limbs. If your sword is doing more blunt damage than cutting you're doing it wrong and just need to use a club instead.
You really are really weird. I never said "swords aren't sharp". There are many technical factors to sharpness. The edge required to shave hair is usually much too thin. So much that just putting it into a scabbard would dull it. While a sharp sword will hold it's edge even if hitting bone, but it won't shave hair. They were and are sharp. Extremely sharp, they will chop off heads and hands and fingers alright. But they aren't thin razor blade sharp. You don't butcher a cow with a razor. You'd have to stop every minute to resharpen it.
A slashing blade isn't always kept sharp because, wait. I don't know anything about medieval weaponry... why the fuck am I commenting... where's my horse... I'm not supposed to be here...
The glove had been invented by then. And some gloves were made of both leather and chain mail.
Fun fact: "Mordhau" literally translates to "murder hit".
The trick is to not get stabbed in the gut while doing it.
Thanks for this, very interesting!
Yes! Also I believe the guy on the left is half-swording, wherein you grip the blade with one hand to help with accuracy and thrust power.
Inb4 comments explaining mordshlag