Billhooks: The Forgotten Choppers of the Western World

During the Roman period the Dacians were also known for their billhook-like style of sword, called the falx. The blows dealt with these weapons were so strong that Roman soldiers took to reinforcing their helmets with cross-bars.

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Not sure what the Dacians actually called their weapon, but falx is latin for billhook. The Romans used the term loosely for all curved edge tools: scythes, sickles, pruning hooks and billhooks - so apt for a large curved sword as well.... To differentiate between different tools they used an adjective.

Hence:
falx silvatoria or falx arboraria - a billhook for cutting wood
falx vinitoria - vine pruning hook (often a double-edged small billhook)
falx putatorem - pruning billhook

see: http://billhooks.co.uk/Page 1.htm
 
The Dacians themselves called the single-handed version a "sica". The falx is what it has become most popularly known amongst arms/armor circles, though it was just the Roman way of saying "forward-curving sharp thingy." :D
 
I bought a very substantial billhook a few years ago from Lee Valley. It has a nice leather washer handle and cost only about $25. Much heavier than the Fiskars. I'm a little scared of using it while stooping, because I've chopped brush and found the curved point very close to my shin.
 
When using a sickle for such tasks it's traditional to plant a stick in the ground in front of the shin you're pulling towards. If you pull too far you hit the stick instead of your shin. I imagine such a practice would lend itself well to a billhook as well! :eek:

I, too, would be interested if sickle and sica share an origin. :cool:
 
Billman1949 said:
It would be interesting if a linguist could say if sica has the same root as sickle....
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Sickle is from the Latin - 'secula', which is another generic term for a sharp curvy thing... But where the Romans got it from, who can say? Perhaps it entered their lexicon through contact with the Dacians, but that is pure conjecture, and no proof exists.

The Language of the Dacians is totally extinct, and only a few words are know... but many of those which have survived are similar to the better know, but equally extinct Phrygian language. Both languages are related to Hittite, which is the best known, but still fragmented language of the family.

From the bits and pieces that we have, it seems that the Dacians may have shared some cultural traits and rituals with the Phrygians and Hittites as well... But beyond that there is simply not much known.
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
When using a sickle for such tasks it's traditional to plant a stick in the ground in front of the shin you're pulling towards. If you pull too far you hit the stick instead of your shin. I imagine such a practice would lend itself well to a billhook as well!
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I use both a billhook and a sickle from right to left - across my line of axis, but not towards me. Often a billhook is used in a downwards motion, in which case it should be used outside the line of the body - i.e. to the right of a right-handed person. If possible it should be used back hand, i.e. away from the body. However, much depends on the task...

In medieval pictures of vine pruning the blade is shown facing the user, however it is not used with a chopping motion, but pulled towards the user with a paring or slicing cut...

European sickle users often wear finger guards, made of wood, or sometime leather, and my late father-in-law, a retired English farmer, always wore leather gaiters to protect his shins
 
Billman1949 said:
I use both a billhook and a sickle from right to left - across my line of axis, but not towards me. Often a billhook is used in a downwards motion, in which case it should be used outside the line of the body - i.e. to the right of a right-handed person. If possible it should be used back hand, i.e. away from the body. However, much depends on the task...

In medieval pictures of vine pruning the blade is shown facing the user, however it is not used with a chopping motion, but pulled towards the user with a paring or slicing cut...

European sickle users often wear finger guards, made of wood, or sometime leather, and my late father-in-law, a retired English farmer, always wore leather gaiters to protect his shins
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Good rules with choppers of any kind! The suggestion of using the stick-shield method I made above was more for whitedoor's benefit based on the method he seems to be using. I use mine much as you describe. :)
 
I like it! Never seen a "tactical billhook" before--it's about time! :D:thumbup:
 
thats exactly what I thought when I saw that pic. I'm sure it could be refined, and made plenty useful in both the outdoor and defense roles. The long handle makes it seem versatile. I'm sure it could be worked into a breaching template too.
 
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SHW billhooks (made in Germany) are currently being imported to the USA; Google search terms "SHW cabbage knife".
 
I wonder if machetes are decendent of bill hooks. They came over from Europe and just like the axe was refined over time and lost the hook part. Just a theory.
 
Chopping knives and tools have been around for a long time, so it's quite likely that the machete evolved from more typical knife-like choppers rather than billhooks, which are also used in Central and South America.
 
Shotgun said:
I wonder if machetes are decendent of bill hooks. They came over from Europe and just like the axe was refined over time and lost the hook part. Just a theory.
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"Machetes" and sickle-shaped tools have existed in one form or another since the stone age as it was and is, a primary tool for farming. Every continent had their versions and it wasn't limited to Europe.
 
CWL said:
"Machetes" and sickle-shaped tools have existed in one form or another since the stone age as it was and is, a primary tool for farming. Every continent had their versions and it wasn't limited to Europe.
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True it wasn't limited to Europe but that's where most of the steel came from back in the day. Same with axes. I don't think people in South America were swinging 2 foot long sharpened stones. :D I think it's plausible machetes could have evolved from billhooks brought over in the beginning but again just a theory.
 
A.W.U.K. said:
The billhook has been around a lot longer than 1000 years; it was a common tool in the pre-Roman Iron Age.
I've got a cheap Indian or Chinese one I bought years ago for something ridiculous like £4. I keep meaning to find myself a better one.

A few nice ones here:

http://www.toolnut.co.uk/products/billhooks

http://shop.btcv.org.uk/shop/level3/19/level

http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/cutting-tools/billhooks/

Etc, etc :)
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May I add

http://www.woodsmithstore.co.uk/shop/Products/Tools/Billhooks, Slashers and Grass Hooks/

http://www.farmrite.co.uk/category/226/Slashers-Billhooks


Also a friend has a kid living in Italy, and she brought back a locally made double edged billhook
Picture to follow
 
I have written some of this in the thread called "Japanese Machete?" but this thread merits a more concise version:
The word for chopping knife (hatchet) in Japanese is 鉈 "nata". You will get an idea of the variety if you do an image search for that character.

- there are 腰鉈 koshi-nata, meaning "worn at the hip", a general use hatchet (also万能鉈 bannô-nata)
- 竹割り鉈 takewari-nata, a nata for splitting bamboo (this one often comes w/o a wooden handle)
- 剣鉈 ken-nata, literally "sword-nata", is a clip point nata mostly used by hunters
- 嘴付き鉈 kuchibashizuki-nata with a blunt or pointed nose
- 鉈鎌 nata-kama, literally hatchet-sickle which is probably closest to the idea of a billhook
- 枝打鉈 edauchi-nata which are a kind of hybrid between a hatchet and a handaxe

A lot of nata are chisel-ground for right hand use, except takewari-nata and ken-nata which typically have a standard two bevel grind. There are countless regional variations, too.


Ookami
 
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Thanks for the break-down of the Japanese types! It's hard to research things when you don't know what they're called. >_o
 
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