Spent all of yesterday hacking at pieces of pork with swords, axes, hammers, and bayo

**Hooded Justice** · Posted On: 4/07/2010 1:03am

Originally Posted by Wounded Ronin

Do you think someone has to be some kind of master swordsman to grab a machete and kill a restrained pig? Unless he has the pinnacle of swordsmanship the machete somehow won't work?

What seems to have been missed in this thread is that you were trying to slash and cut with swords that were not designed to be slashing or cutting weapons. The style of swords you used were European swords evolved to defeat European mail armor by piercing it or simply bludgeoning your enemy. They naturally would have little to no slashing power. As you mentioned the blunt force is enough to break bones but the sword was simply never intended to be a slashing weapon. Curved blades are more suitable for slashing attacks so if you had a katana then the slashes against the cloth and leather would have been much more effective.

**Permalost** · Posted On: 4/07/2010 1:11am

I've had a chance to use a spike bayonet on flesh targets (pieces of meat), and they just sink into whatever you're attacking without much force. An attack from a charge or a dropping strike to a downed opponent could pierce up to the barrel through most anything in front of it.

A while back, I made a flail with a wooden head, and did some test strikes on a cinder block- I wanted to see if I could break it with one strike, but it actually took two- one backhand and one forehand. Here's the video:
YouTube- flail.MOV
That test really made me appreciate the potential of a flail with a spiked metal ball instead of a piece of an old baseball bat.

**BadUglyMagic** · Posted On: 4/07/2010 11:04am

Originally Posted by Wounded Ronin

, even the axe was bouncing off the leather. Are you now going to tell me that we had no idea how to swing an axe correctly, or that I'm construing an axe as a useless tool?

Can you post a picture of the axe and the leather? At least a description of the type of leather you were using.

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 4/07/2010 9:51pm

Originally Posted by Hooded Justice

What seems to have been missed in this thread is that you were trying to slash and cut with swords that were not designed to be slashing or cutting weapons. The style of swords you used were European swords evolved to defeat European mail armor by piercing it or simply bludgeoning your enemy. They naturally would have little to no slashing power. As you mentioned the blunt force is enough to break bones but the sword was simply never intended to be a slashing weapon. Curved blades are more suitable for slashing attacks so if you had a katana then the slashes against the cloth and leather would have been much more effective.

This is correct, the swords were not specialized for chopping or slashing in the same way that a willow sword or katana would be.

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 4/07/2010 9:53pm

Originally Posted by CodosDePiedra

I've had a chance to use a spike bayonet on flesh targets (pieces of meat), and they just sink into whatever you're attacking without much force. An attack from a charge or a dropping strike to a downed opponent could pierce up to the barrel through most anything in front of it.

A while back, I made a flail with a wooden head, and did some test strikes on a cinder block- I wanted to see if I could break it with one strike, but it actually took two- one backhand and one forehand. Here's the video:
YouTube- flail.MOV
That test really made me appreciate the potential of a flail with a spiked metal ball instead of a piece of an old baseball bat.

Wow! It doesn't even look like you swung it particularly hard or anything.

**Wounded Ronin** · Posted On: 4/07/2010 9:58pm

Originally Posted by BadUglyMagic

Can you post a picture of the axe and the leather? At least a description of the type of leather you were using.

I'm having trouble finding a picture of the axe we used on the internet. It was small enough to be swung one-handed. It was a bit like a camping hatchet but it had a broader blade.

The leather was fairly thick scrap leather...let me get back to you after I've had a chance to ask someone how thick it was exactly. It was definitely a bit thicker, and more rigid, than, say, a typical leather jacket.