-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Conquest-The Axman Cometh youtube
- Thread starter Edwood7
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2010
- Messages
- 130
I always loved that show.
He brings up a lot of good points, but misses a few.
First, he misses probably the biggest advantage an axe has over a sword or spear, and one if its best defenses -- even against other axes -- the technique of using the beard to hook the other guy's weapon and move it out of the way. The lighter one hand axes, used in conjunction with the spiked shield meant that you can get the swordsman's sword out of the way, and if you turn it to his shield side, he either has to retreat, or risk taking a strike from the spiked shield on his weapon side.
That techniques but with lighter axes (tomahawks) and long knives was used up to the 19th century by the American Aborigine.
The other thing he missed is he said the day of the axe was over at the battle of hastings. Not true. Later axes had a rearward spike added, and could pierce plate mail, or the cutting edge use on less armored adversaries.
Even today, servicemen sometimes carry the "tactical tomahawks" (think: light, spiked battle axe), and used the spike end or the sharp end, appropriately to great effect.
So I'd argue that it's one of the few inventions that is so useful -- and multiuse, that it's not yet obsolete.
But then again, I'm an axeman.
He brings up a lot of good points, but misses a few.
First, he misses probably the biggest advantage an axe has over a sword or spear, and one if its best defenses -- even against other axes -- the technique of using the beard to hook the other guy's weapon and move it out of the way. The lighter one hand axes, used in conjunction with the spiked shield meant that you can get the swordsman's sword out of the way, and if you turn it to his shield side, he either has to retreat, or risk taking a strike from the spiked shield on his weapon side.
That techniques but with lighter axes (tomahawks) and long knives was used up to the 19th century by the American Aborigine.
The other thing he missed is he said the day of the axe was over at the battle of hastings. Not true. Later axes had a rearward spike added, and could pierce plate mail, or the cutting edge use on less armored adversaries.
Even today, servicemen sometimes carry the "tactical tomahawks" (think: light, spiked battle axe), and used the spike end or the sharp end, appropriately to great effect.
So I'd argue that it's one of the few inventions that is so useful -- and multiuse, that it's not yet obsolete.
But then again, I'm an axeman.