Newbie question

[JOEYBONES]

I am considering buying some sort of sword. A Viking , Norman , hand and a half or something like that. What I don't underatand is the "tang" issue. I know when buying a knife everyone speaks of the importance of a full tang. I recently bought a becker BK2 which has a heck of a full tang. Yet swords , which have much bigger blades, seem to have much smaller tangs.
What gives ?

 

[Wolf_1989]

I am considering buying some sort of sword. A Viking , Norman , hand and a half or something like that. What I don't underatand is the "tang" issue. I know when buying a knife everyone speaks of the importance of a full tang. I recently bought a becker BK2 which has a heck of a full tang. Yet swords , which have much bigger blades, seem to have much smaller tangs.
What gives ?

If an internal tang is wide enough and has the proper geometry and heat treatment, it's plenty strong. I prefer the ratio of an internal tang to be about 1/3 the width of the blade at the guard.

I have personally never broken the tang on a knife with an internal tang. As evidence to this I have a Camillus "KaBar" clone which is over 20 years old and has been through all sorts of hard use.

If you have a case of bad heat treating, the blade or tang can still fail, full tang or internal tang regardless.

 

[HolyRoller]

On top of what Wolf said, swords aren't made to deal with the stresses some knives do.

Though some swords DO have full tangs, such as Messers and (arguably) Katana, most swords have a hidden tang. This is acceptable because a sword is not made, nort expected, to deal with the shock of striking hard targets.

A cutting sword, when used as it was designed, will slide through flesh and (live) bone cleanly and pass through without a sudden stop. That's pretty much it's ONLY function: cutting live, mammalian tissue. This is in stark contrast to a knife, which is needed as a general use tool to slice, carve, chop, baton, etc.

Though a sword can still be considered a tool, it's use is VERY narrow. A knife should, in comparison, by more sturdily engineered to deal with the varying uses.



Note: When I refer to the function of a sword, I mean a REAL sword. Lately there's been a slight trend for over-engineered swords, like the SwampRat Wakizashi and Cold Steel Katana line, which are made to deal with stresses no historical sword design would or should. Such swords aren't made for sword-arts, but for brutal chopping, non-practitioner use, and outright abuse by the ignorant.

 

[Triton]

On top of what Wolf said, swords aren't made to deal with the stresses some knives do.

If by that we mean, being used as a prybar or a wood splitting wedge I definitely agree.

This is acceptable because a sword is not made, nort expected, to deal with the shock of striking hard targets.

If by this we mean attacking telephone poles or BMWs I agree again. However, we should remember that a sword was a combat arm, and contact with hard things like armor and other weapons was going to happen. I think in many cases in the sword community we've swung from one extreme to the other. At one time it was "swords are heavy crowbars meant to chop through other swords." Sometimes now, it's "swords are delicate flowers that can't handle any hard contact." The truth of course is somewhere in between.

Though a sword can still be considered a tool, it's use is VERY narrow.

I agree, that a sword is a very specialized tool, much like any other specialized tool, it's application is limited.

A knife should, in comparison, by more sturdily engineered to deal with the varying uses.

Especially today, when the varying uses consist of all sorts of silly things at the hands of knifenuts.

Note: When I refer to the function of a sword, I mean a REAL sword. Lately there's been a slight trend for over-engineered swords, like the SwampRat Wakizashi and Cold Steel Katana line, which are made to deal with stresses no historical sword design would or should. Such swords aren't made for sword-arts, but for brutal chopping, non-practitioner use, and outright abuse by the ignorant.

Agreed.

 

[JOEYBONES]

Thanks for the info guys. I do like cold steel products but I see that sword purists have little good to say about them. Personally I prefer sturdy over fast or historically correct. Im not going to use it for sword to sword combat , just slaying the occasional dragon.

 

[Quick Steel]

Good, thoughtful observations all around IMO. While I appreciate and have a few refined blades with which I am very careful, I think it's fine to also have some extra sturdy blades for general back yard mayhem. After all, the supply of unarmored mammals is limited.