short shortsword

did anyone else notice he wants a short shortsword?

is that like short shorts?

maybe he just wants a leafbladed knife

or just a smatchet?
 
Forget the smatchet......


Get a Randall....


HPIM1210.jpg
 
I'm not sure if this is on target, but this has always struck me as something useful for a small sword

commando.jpg
 
I'm not sure if this is on target, but this has always struck me as something useful for a small sword

commando.jpg
This was a good thread but I would like to add a little bit to it if I may. Shorter swords are usually created due to local environment of where they are fighting. Of course all swords were created to adapt to technology and to environment. Most short swords like the Barong (sometimes spelled Barung) as pictured here http://SPAM.com is a very conveneint fighting tool in deep jungle environments. You look at the blade length of that sword on the link and its only 15 inches with an over all length of 21 and change. I'd like to add that the Barong is a very well engineered blade also where it can easily cut a body in two. Size does not matter to much when it comes to a Barong!

When the Spanish first went into the Philippines and worked their way into Mindanao, that was one of the reasons they could not fight man to man with the Filipinos. The Spanish were not yet adept to the environment of the jungle. So they got themselves cut up by the Filipinos who were of course used to their own turf.

I noticed a few of you say you like a longer sword and hey, I can agree with that. But up close and personal in a crowded area, a short sword will make you feel very comfortable.

Ron Kosakowski
http://SPAM.com
 
I can think of at least 300 Spartans who would disagree.

How much are you willing to spend? Laci Szabo sells a good short sword on his site that he calls the American Short Sword. It's availiable with a 22" or 17 1/2" blade. It's not leaf-shaped, but it's very durable, light and fast. Laci tells me he's cut through a log with it in a single stroke.

Dude you watch too many movies.

If he told you the sword would also cook you breakfast in the morning would you believe him?
 
You can fry your eggs on a smatchet, everybody knows that...

Yeah, but you gotta be careful not to heat it up too much. If a smatchet loses its temper it'll pimp smack you to the ground and kick you around a bit. :)


I know, that was a bad pun even for me.
 
Dude you watch too many movies.

If he told you the sword would also cook you breakfast in the morning would you believe him?

Sorry, kid, my interest in the conflict in question predates most of the movies that refer to it. The Spartans shortened their xiphos swords to around 13" in length, recognizing that this was the most efficient length for their purposes. I've even held an original bronze age archer's sword with a blade well under a foot in length. My point was simply that "sword" is more about intended use and technique than size. In the book of Judges, Ehud, the left-handed man, used a sword small enough to hide behind his thigh to assassinate a king who was oppressing the Hebrews. As the term translated as "thigh" in the OT is sometimes actually a sexually-toned-down reference to genitalia, it may have been even smaller still. That is, unless Ehud was hung like a mammoth.

Thanks for playing though.
 
Without going into the impossible debate of what is the magic length between a sword and a knife, why does the potential fact that Spartans used a 13" blade indicate they are swords?
 
I dunno. I guess because they as well as contemporary militaries and present-day historians called them that? Who am I to argue with the toughest bisexuals in history. How does having a popped collar make one cool?
 
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