@@johannes8270 I just laughed with Matt saying "this is made of high quality JAPANESE STEEL"... the shit we have to say to pay for our living in the modern world, I don't blame Matt at all since TH-cam been paying very bad in the last years and been a pain for content creators.
As an engineer I have to say, that baselard dagger has a REALLY impressive ease-of-manufacture design! Those quillons are cut/bent portions of the tang. So, its a hilted dagger without any hilt components; just a knife, some wooden handle scales, and a hand full of rivets. That MUST have made it cheaper to make, and would factor into it being popular with civilians.
Fascinating - I find the history of civilian, non-firearm, weapons particularly interesting and your channel is second to none in satisfying that interest! Thanks Matt.
@Turaglas Didn't Ian review a French (?) revolknife... or knifolver... haha... kind of thing? Was like a, well, knife, with the revolving cilinder in the open and close to the hand, no barrel I believe... and can't say more, talking from what I got on top of my head. Anyway! That'd have been a good one 😀 Cheers!
@@taianonni Thank you, sir! Great explanation, and even with a name provided, so I can look them up, too! 😀 Moreover, great nick, I clicked on your name to see if you had a channel because it hints of one of those that give you tips on how to do complicated things, well, in a simple way! Have a great day!
I did not appreciate the Scottish dirk until I started raising sheep for mutton and wool. A long sharp single edged blade is priceless in practical use as well
Am I alone in thinking that it is fine coincidence-- nay, _providence_ --that a man who found himself in the unusual occupation of making quality replicas of medieval swords and daggers (other arms as well, but loads of swords and daggers) has the surname "Cutler"? 🤔😉🙂
In city's like Haarlem, Amsterdam and Leiden you could only wear a dagger (or big knife) if you lived in that city. So we often find lots of daggers in the old moat next to the gate.
I know how these people felt as their daggers had to be ditched. I know because I have experienced this at a couple of airports over the last twenty years. I've lost no daggers though as even I am not daft enough to get as far as security with a dagger. A Victorinox Swiss Champ and a nice Moki folder have been lost to airports in my case.
I always assumed it was a military surplus situation. Soldiers take them home after the battle, armorers got stuck with a bunch of overstock after the treaty was signed. Over time fashion kicks in and civilian options appear
Could be. The military were kind of notorious for selling obsolete weapons as scrap of metal. William Wallace's claymore was a great sword with a new handle. Just slap a new handle on a scrapped dagger blade. Remember, until Bessemer, new steel was ungodly expensive.
More of what makes this channel so good. An exploration of functionality, but not only one that's able to say "maybe"--one that acknowledges that (especially when every design has its advantages/disadvantages) social norms/convention, and even personal preference, are also huge factors!
Great video. Fighting with a sword and dagger reminds me of the time when I used to fence. We would play around with two foils against one foil. The person with two foils just could not lose unless he made a major mistake. Two blades against one, even if one is a dagger, gives you a real advantage.
Interesting that you've experimented with that. The dagger gives another potential advantage above and beyond the two sword points your opponent has to deal with in that getting in close to attack the dual-wielder leaves you terribly exposed to the shorter dagger point. It is clear to see that in such fights a sword and a dagger in hand is a very effective and complimentary combination.
I really appreciate that your enthusiasm for the subject comes through the screen. I often find that the best teachers are not only those who can make a subject come to life by painting a picture, but as well are able to deliver facts side by side. You masterfully blend both elements into a satisfying, entertaining, and educationally stimulating experience. It is greatly appreciated!
About the shape of the baselard, another reason might be the ability to keep hold of your dagger. We know that an armored hand can grip a sword blade for half grips, why not the opponent's dagger? A baselard would be a lot harder to yank from your hand.
I am curious about the role of weapons in civilian life during medieval times. How great was the need for personal protection? In what contexts would people feel the need for more or less protection? If a sword is forbidden in town, but you want to wear it outside of town, what do you do with it while you're in town but it's illegal to carry? etc etc etc
It varies. Different places at different times would have different dangers at different frequencies. During travel was common, although a staff was standard carry for pilgrims. Matt has mentioned previously that some places would have an inn or tavern hold onto it until you left.
As a traveller, most time you where allowed to carry your sword (secured of course) from the town gate to the guest house on the direct route, without further stops. And back for leaving town. If you where a citizen, you can carry it (secured) between your home and the nearest gate without further stop and on the direct route.
@@Seelenschmiede This makes sense. Such laws being sensible (or not, depending upon your viewpoint) are still used in the same way today in many places. Even in the famously strict (but not as strict as many seem to believe) UK there are legal ways to transport weapons between locations. It's just totally context dependent, to use one of Matt's favourite words.
Great vid Matt! Out of curiousity, you mentioned civilians commonly carried daggers as everyday wear, how common was it for individuals to wear one on the hip? One out of ten, closer to half the population, or would nearly every individual you may pass be carrying a dagger as a self defense tool?
And if I may add I'm curious to what extent that would have been skewed across gender and class, stories about high class women with hidden knives in hair at balls and stuff seem to me mostly a fantasy, but would those women walking on the street be wearing a knife and how about lower class women? Did high class women "not need" it because they would be accompanied on the street anyway?
@@muesliman100 About a hundred years ago people advertised hairpin daggers that women could wear in their hair. Up to about forty years ago women who worked in fish cleaning factories carried their gutting knives when they were walking home, which discouraged men from attacking them, and certainly from attacking them twice. I've read that one of the reasons the switchblade style knife exists is because women used to carry them as a pocket knife they could open without damaging their nails.
I think a better analogy for civilians using military equipment then buying a beretta I wanted.a larger all purpose utility knife then my every day carry, so I bought a Kabar with the marine combat knife blade. Good sized utility knife but not excessively large
Point was that I went with a classic military design rather then one that better fit my needs. The Becker with a 5.5” blade would have better fit what I use knives for, but I wanted the military design so i got that instead
I'd be interested in a follow-up to your video "Fantasy Worldbuilding: Weapons and Armor in 4 Specific Settings." I found the section on forests or jungles to be particularly interesting. Specifically I'm interested in how heat and cold influence what armor you can wear, whether fighting in snowy environments or tropical/desert heat, and what weapons might be favored as a result. For example I see a lot of Indian armor that is made of maille or plated maille, and even plate armor tends to be mirror armor rather than a full-body harness. Could that be to avoid overheating? Another environment common to fantasy worldbuilding is the indoor tunnels and halls of a "dungeon" or catacomb, or just fighting inside a castle for that matter. I've been watching Elden Ring players swinging large swords around, hitting pillars and walls and thinking to myself, "This seems less than ideal," but I'm not sure what the best alternative would be.
My way of thinking is, when it comes to the military or police, their hardware is meant to handle extreme situations when put to the test. Therefore I would want something like that which would certainly have good reliability standards. With everyday civilian life I won't have to worry too much about the test; it's just a good safeguard should the need arise. Some peasants might have thought something similarly. If it's good enough for war it'll get me out of a tight spot.
Apart from being a fun discussion, you answered a lot of questions I've had. I have a membership of my local museum and I often find myself in the medieval weapon and armour section. I'm creeped out by daggers (considering their purpose) but I also find them fascinating and beautiful.
Is the pommel of a baselard tanged? When I look at it I can’t help but imagine that being used to push against with your other hand. Maybe to give it more pressure to push through chainmail?
I wish I had an experts opinion. I’ve got a cheapo baselard and it seems to back up the pushing theory. I imagine it being used in very tight grappling situations. Use one hand to steady the knife and then holding the T and kinda bouncing your weight and pushing it in. I wish I had an armored opponent that would be willing to die to prove the concept. 😂
We bought an interesting dagger from a deceased estate, it is a cross shaped 4 bladed dagger with a fleur de lis style depth limiter for stab built into the blade shape. It is blunt on the edges and the only factor that pisses me off is that someone tried to clean it using an angle grinder and the only knife of a similar design I have found is in a German Museum from the 14th century. I am fairly sure this is a Scottish dirk or a fake made in the 19th century. The remaining patina and knife material suggests not several centuries old.
Interesting stuff, cheers, Matt 👍👍👍👍 You mentioned that back in the day, a gentleman would wear a more military-styled dagger in situations where he could not wear a sword, due to not being knighted: Might there have also been instances of an 'everyday Joe' wearing a military-styled dagger, to give the impression that he had fought in battle/was more of a badass than he truly had/was, in the same way that nowadays, someone might wear a fake Rolex/hire an expensive car, to make people think he has the flash-money?
Hi Matt, i've got a question about the regulations of weapon carrying in medieval times. I'm currently reading "Notre Dame de Paris", and there is a detail that i want to clarify: it is said in the book that carrying a dagger wasn't allowed in Paris at that time. Is that correct? Thanks for great video
I don’t know the time period of your book but at one time Paris had difficulties with students at the university of Paris, being young arristocrats, causing violent troubles as they viewed themselves as superior to shopkeepers and common townspeople
I can confirm it, from another source. In a book about the life of Villon, a french poet , is noted that he had to carry as self defense some kind of civilian butcher knife, like a lot of parissians of his time (1480) The reason for the law about daggers was the civil tension fron the Hundred years war. I cite from memory because i cant find that book , maybe some data is wrong, sorry about it...
This video does a great job describing the different styles of medieval daggers and their evolution and use, even up into the renaissance period. More quality content from a man who knows his shit!
Love Daggers. I have some. Thanks for the interesting commentary on them and their shapes. In FMA, I do Espada Y Daga, Bolo and Dagger. In tournaments, I do forms and the shape of the dagger is quite important. This was useful.
Your point about the Beretta reminded me about some advice I heard from a lawyer once. He explained that when carrying a firearm for self-defense you want to find out what the police are using, and what type of ammo they're using (hollow point, jacketed, etc) because that makes it more difficult for a prosecutor to argue you were using some especially malicious equipment.
I believe there was another factor in why civilian daggers were still mainly thrusting weapons: Climate. Europe was considerably cooler in the Middle Ages, causing everyone to wear multiple layers of linen and wool pretty much year round. I've tried test cuts with various dagger blade types against standard civilian clothing layers, it's not easy. Stabbing is much more effective. You'll also find that the further south you went (like Spain or elsewhere in the Mediterranean), the earlier you find cutting blade daggers, even at the height of armor.
Hey, Matt, how is the feeling of the grip on a baselard dagger? By looking at it I always got the impression that they were way too narrow. Does it feel weird in the hand? And why is it so thin? This always got me curious.
Around 11:14 he demonstrates how the narrow grip comes in handy when wearing a thick armored mitten or gauntlet, so that may be part of the reason why it's so thin
@@bassemb But at the same time, take a look at the rondel dagger. It is also used with gauntlets but it is substantially thicker. I imagined it could be because of gauntlets; my question is more to get an impression of the feeling of the weapon in the hand.
@@LucaHMafra The baselard has a short grip and two long lateral pieces, longer than the disks of a rondel dagger, you wouldn't get to grip it tightly because those bars provide a ton of security and indexing. Baselards with less pronounces flares have thicker grips, check out the variations on Myarmoury.
Would the wider blades found in earlier examples be indicative of less consistent and reliable steel production methods? If you could only put so much trust in the strength of the material, making it wider than strictly necessary would be one way to ensure its durability if there was a hidden flaw.
Probably not, even relatively low quality wrought iron is plenty strong enough to stab someone whith, the narrower blades were probably sacrificing the size of a stab wound to improve it's ability to overcome armour.
For daggers I don’t think it matters that much. People killing each other with daggers and knives this size sense the flipping Bronze Age. Bronze, iron with caburized edges, short blade just don’t the same level of stress long blades do.
These were also expected to be able to parry and bind with larger, heavier weapons (swords) and were constructed accordingly. Purpose-built stabbing daggers are a thing and are almost always thin spikes with very little edge and minimalistic handles: misericorde, stilleto etc.
I own a Scottish dagger from the 17th century that looks more like the size of a boot knife. It’s got a triangular blade that’s got sharp edges with a super sharp point. It’s very intricately decorated in sterling silver with a silver thistle flower pommel and silver cross guard. The handle is black horn with silver twisted cord and small silver shamrocks and the sheath is black horn with silver mounts. It’s a very cool dagger and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Most Scottish knifes are dirk style with eating implements. This dagger looks more like it was strictly for fighting.
A Shame that you have to be sponsored by a very bad knife maker compagnie. Love your video and your work. Never missed one since the beginning of this channel! Keep it up ! THXS
Obviously, there is impossible to explain every type of dagger, but I think it's important to note some particularities in some places in Europe. For example, in Mediterranean area were very popular the ear daggers. In Spain area, for example, completely sustitute rondel daggers. In representations in Iberian Peninsule in XV century it's very difficult to see rondel daggers, but in heavy armoured men-at-arms were very common ear daggers, and in more light infantry it's more common to see quillion daggers. Another good example could be the swiss degen, an obvious descent of the basilard, but almost only seen on switzerland. So, not in all Europe were common the same types of daggers at the same time.
"And here we see the English Olympic wrestling team, ready for their first match, and as I understand, the trainers have chosen to equip the team with Rondel daggers this summer games. This should REALLY give the team an advantage in bringing home the gold medal."
Okay, even loved the advertisement. Though I'm sure other knife makers are now hesitant to run an ad with you ... "He's going to do WHAT with our blades? Stab a frickin' TREE?"
It seems to be pretty well established that developments in armour resulted in swords changing from cut and thrust to thrust, so it makes sense that daggers should tend to follow suit. It does occur to me that at that point it wouldn't take long for civilian wearers to realise that stabbing blades require less maintenance to keep them effective - no need for regular sharpening, just an oily rag now and again...
An additional point: Daggers and swords slowly evolved to be more focused on thrusting because thrusting is more lethal then cutting given the same amount of energy expended. Would you rather have a 4 inch long cut that is 1 inch deep or a 1 inch cut that is 4 inches deep? That assumes the different wounds required the same amount of energy, in reality the 4 inch wide cut would have taken more energy. Then we look at skeletal structure, The quickest way to deliver a killing blow would be to pierce through the rib cage or skull. It will take a lot more effort to crack ribs or a skull with a cutting weapon then something designed more as a spike to focus the energy on a single point (or naturally slip between the ribs).
From what I’ve seen in Rex Applegate videos. Thrust and cut is just one montion. He recommend to have a sharp dagger, an prefers hollow grind for that reason.
you know, you might wanna do a collab with fandabidozi one of these days. He specializes in the highland culture, very interesting channel, and it might be cool to branch out into other areas/time periods of the surrounding cultures
Tod Cutler sells an Italian 17C Stiletto dagger. It's fairly good .No edges. Thrust only. It's very lightweight. He says duelers and brawlers carried those.
A benefit of the baselard with its flat 2 dimensional hilt is that it would comfortably sit flat against your body and not stick out and get hooked on things.
The seax is a famous example of a early medieval dagger, was its use different in earlier medieval times as grappling was probably not as frequent as in the later medieval period? And was it less common on a battlefield context?
omg, wasnt looking closely for a second and didnt even think twice about the kitchen knife sponsor. was just happily absorbing the info about it, hahaha. before i realised it wasnt one of the medieval dagger types at all.
Has anyone an idea why ancient Roman soldiers had some units that bothered carrying a dagger in addition to their short sword, while most did not? In case that you don't know: they had a leaf-shaped dagger which doesn't seem to be particularly good at thrusting as it becomes very wide very fast. Still, it was clearly a military weapon with two edges and it wasn't carried by civilians, except for ex-legionaries and a few select VIPs (including the senators who backstabbed Julius Caesar). The dagger was apparently mostly worn by legionaries in the North of the empire, but hardly seen at all in all the other cardinal directions. PS: I'm wondering because you can use a shortsword pretty much like a dagger and it's small enough to be used even indoors. Thus, I don't see a particular need for it. Moreover, the shortsword coevolved with their big shields and I can't see the dagger fitting into their military doctrine.
Imperium Romanum has just come out with a video about the pugio, answering some of your questions. Search for The War Dagger, Equipment of a Roman Soldier: DOCUMENTARY.
Is it possible the t-snapped pommel is to help with retention of the dagger in a grappling situation? I would suspect bloody gloves / gauntlets could be a bit slippery and in close, it might be a good move to just grab your opponents dagger by the blade and just pull it out of their hand if you have cut-proof hand protection. Better than getting stabbed in a life or death situation. Also, if you stick a dagger into something like mail, armor, a wooden shield, or bone, it can get stuck and be difficult to extract quickly, especially with the aforementioned bloody gloves.
I have only seen the first few minutes of his video, but quite a few HEMA and other martial arts instructors have already been involved with game developers (and continue to be). The most obvious recent example is Hellish Quarte, which was actually created by HEMA practitioners and has had continual input from the HEMA community. If a game developer is interested in working with fencing/martial arts practitioners, then they already do - many of us have had differing levels of involvement with them. They just contact us if they want to go that route.
has a dagger got enough weight/oomph/heft to knock someone out with a swing to there head? like would it have similar impact compare to a small club of equal size?
Hi, I'm thinking you may have already done this but could you do something on the Scott and their weapons. Some were very specialized. Just FYI: When I decided to go out and buy a handgun my choice was the Glock because they are carried by most Military's and Police world wide. My thought was they already did all the research on the weapon. Why would I go through the trouble of reinventing the wheel.
In the 13th century, if I'm not mistaken, most elite soldiers would be covered head to toe in mail, as opposed to wearing just a hauberk. Cutting would do next to nothing and swords weren't really pointy yet (from what I understand). That could've given rise to the dagger, as an alternative anti amor sidearm than bludgeons
So where does something like the Scottish Dirk fall into? Knife or Dagger. I have the Cold steel version, I've had it for years, and it has a thick blade. 1/4 inch at the hilt, and tapers to the point. Its dispatched a few wild Haggis.
In English I don't really know but in German it is fairly simple and quite strict: If the blade is straight and double edged it is a sword or dagger (Schwert oder Dolch) depending blade length but if the blade is single edged and possibly curved it is a knife or sabre (Messer oder Säbel) regardless of blade length.
So, my question is....why a ring on the quillion hilt? Does the ring shape serve any other purpose than just guarding the back of the hand from your opponents blade sliding down yours?
21:37 The same reason some men put heels on their shoes. Status symbol. DUH! If having heeled shoes on ,indicated a horseman, a dedicated stabbing dagger indicated a professional fighting man , or even a gentleman. Both cases, you do not want to mess with. Come on Mat, it was a bluff! If having the symbol of a professional fighter, or a gentleman, made you safer.. worth the extra coin absolutely. If it got you free drinks .. even more so. Even if all it got you was faster service at the local drinking den or eatery, it was still worth spending on it. After a while it became fashionable and ... everyone who wanted to be thought as someone carried them. Subcultures, usually turn mainstream, if a lot of people do it. How did we end up with jean pants being the default all of a sudden? I can still remember a time when wearing jeans got you arrested, on the spot. Now .. its office wear!
Hi Matt, you touched on an interesting point at 13:06 that actually led to the development of the German Messer / Lang Messer. I am pretty sure that you are aware of it, but it is worth mentioning, that the development of the German Messer / Lang Messer came about from exactly the kind of laws that you mentioned prohibiting peasants from carrying military style weapons (incl. Swords) within the confines of the city walls. The laws were worded in such a way that double edged weapons were illegal for peasants to carry, but they were allowed to carry a Messer with a back edge. Messer(s) were also prohibited beyond a certain length within the city walls. Johannes Lecküchner of Nürnburg writes about it in the 1500s. There is also a law on the books from 1400-something in Regensburg that stipulates what citizens may carry and mentions the Messer. I am sure you went into this in one of your other videos.
Anyone using a Claymore would at first certainly have a few most trusted and well trained guards. (His shields per se) I'm guessing part of the missing Claymore myth is the men with tiny swords protecting the guy with the huge sword. Unless upon horseback, I'd keep my big one on my back and use the daggers!
What were the policing arms different during the medieval period? Do the documents of the time, show subduing rather than killing techniques? I am reminded that sirahs in japan etc were a policing weapon origionally. Where the back of rondal daggers shown rather than the edge, a disarming bar rather than a just stabby stabby pry bar
Makes you wonder about the development of weapons beyond Western Europe (tm) too. Not to be a weeab, but I am pretty convinced that the Japanese full-ish body [give or take, mind the gaps] scale armor being already available around the 10th century onwards, as well as some imo rather robust full-ish body [give or blah] armor among their enemies like the Chinese, Mongolians and Koreans, also shaped the development of their side weapons. Even accounting for average height differences (though as usual I will contest we should compare like to like, noble to noble, and lower social classes by the closest nutrition levels), internal politics and cultural stuff, their main sword just getting shorter and shorter, and the development of relatively straighter (even if just on account of being smaller) second smaller side sword/long dagger/actually really just a dagger, sounds awfully convenient and coincident. And not to forget how Jujutsu/Jiu-Jitsu, a close combat grappling centric martial art, has origins in the samurai class since the 8th century, from military techniques based on close quarter combat. IMO they just had their "daggerfication" accelerated by the style of armor they faced internally and externally. But of course, that is only but an example of one other culture/set of directly interacting cultures (in the west-ish European case).
Hello Matt, I just heard you at around 7:40 saying that coat of plates was worn over mail but under surcoat. Definitely yes... but I think I've heard that... and I hope I remember correctly it was.... Danes wearing coat of plates under mail - to make the coat of plates invisible, resulting in unexpectedly efficient invisible protection. So I'm just saying it could be worn both ways... and be invisible even without a surcoat.
Could you possibly talk about, or derect me too someone who has talked about crossbows? Specifically battlefield draw weights? I know they even got up to 1,500lb but what was the normal minimum? I've seen alot of Tods workshop stuff but I can't seem to find him saying much about the minimum except 450lb once and he wasn't specific. But I'm probably just missing something.
Wanna make a stabbing dagger, but suck at metalwork? Get a cheap spike bayonet… the fixed ones can generally be mounted directly into a handle/pommel. Mosin-Nagant ones aren’t even ineffective (in a serious case of function over form).
2:30 What were those places? Because in Germany ie the Holy Roman Empire civilians had to own a sword-sized weapon by law ie NOT owning one was a punishable offence. You didn't have to carry it at all times but you had to own one.
Excellent, excellent!! Really enjoyed your discussion of daggers. However, you never expalained spacifically why the "ring" was introduced. What was the purpose of the ring?? Best wishes... Ax
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"I've got fingers on the inside". -- Matt Easton, 2022
I still prefer the older early Medieval Seax. I don't need the 17"-24" variety like the one found in the Thames. At that point just get a short sword. But a good 6"-10" Seax and it is still concealable enough but also long enough to do serious damage. Side note : Just reread what i wrote and to the untrained eye it sounds like i am talking about something else. Lmao.
But in this time peride also many ,Boy Scout/ Pfadfinder ' organisations of different kind carried knifes we germans call ,Fahrtenmesser'. A ( in Germany) popular type similar to bayonetts was sold up to 1990s/ early 2000s.
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Huusk knife is scammy company and their product aren't even that good.
This knife has been the subject of several videos de-bunking the horrible thing !
Yea, kinda disappointing to see huusk on this channel. Can't you get a quality sponsorship, that also fits the channel? Bad dragon or something...
@@johannes8270 I just laughed with Matt saying "this is made of high quality JAPANESE STEEL"... the shit we have to say to pay for our living in the modern world, I don't blame Matt at all since TH-cam been paying very bad in the last years and been a pain for content creators.
@@johannes8270 Matt is taking the piss out of it 🤣
As an engineer I have to say, that baselard dagger has a REALLY impressive ease-of-manufacture design! Those quillons are cut/bent portions of the tang. So, its a hilted dagger without any hilt components; just a knife, some wooden handle scales, and a hand full of rivets. That MUST have made it cheaper to make, and would factor into it being popular with civilians.
With armies too.
Actually, according to Tod, they're a pain in the ass to make because it takes so much extra hammering to flatten those sides out of the tang.
@@NeoRazor interesting. Is that in one of his vids? I'll have to give it a look. Thanks!
Fascinating - I find the history of civilian, non-firearm, weapons particularly interesting and your channel is second to none in satisfying that interest! Thanks Matt.
@Turaglas Didn't Ian review a French (?) revolknife... or knifolver... haha... kind of thing? Was like a, well, knife, with the revolving cilinder in the open and close to the hand, no barrel I believe... and can't say more, talking from what I got on top of my head. Anyway! That'd have been a good one 😀 Cheers!
@@hansvonmannschaft9062 They're known as Apache revolvers :) and were most commonly used by gang members and similar folk of the time
@@taianonni Thank you, sir! Great explanation, and even with a name provided, so I can look them up, too! 😀
Moreover, great nick, I clicked on your name to see if you had a channel because it hints of one of those that give you tips on how to do complicated things, well, in a simple way! Have a great day!
I did not appreciate the Scottish dirk until I started raising sheep for mutton and wool. A long sharp single edged blade is priceless in practical use as well
The big pommel also helps get the dagger out of bodies after stabbing between plates.
All the more to end him rightly with ⚔
My pugio with its beaked pommel is good with that, and grappling
@@realtalunkarku you stabby peepoles a lot?
I see from the maker's mark on your rondel dagger you are a man of taste and distinction who shops at TOD CUTLER.
ah yes good sir, i believe YOU are a gentleman of fine taste too!!
Am I alone in thinking that it is fine coincidence-- nay, _providence_ --that a man who found himself in the unusual occupation of making quality replicas of medieval swords and daggers (other arms as well, but loads of swords and daggers) has the surname "Cutler"? 🤔😉🙂
@@munstrumridcully It's not his actual surname
@@KC2761-d5x okay now I'm just sad thanks for crushing my dreams! 😩
@@KC2761-d5x seriously though that would have been so perfect if his name was Todd Cutler I honestly thought it was LOL
In city's like Haarlem, Amsterdam and Leiden you could only wear a dagger (or big knife) if you lived in that city.
So we often find lots of daggers in the old moat next to the gate.
I know how these people felt as their daggers had to be ditched. I know because I have experienced this at a couple of airports over the last twenty years. I've lost no daggers though as even I am not daft enough to get as far as security with a dagger. A Victorinox Swiss Champ and a nice Moki folder have been lost to airports in my case.
I always assumed it was a military surplus situation. Soldiers take them home after the battle, armorers got stuck with a bunch of overstock after the treaty was signed. Over time fashion kicks in and civilian options appear
Could be. The military were kind of notorious for selling obsolete weapons as scrap of metal. William Wallace's claymore was a great sword with a new handle. Just slap a new handle on a scrapped dagger blade. Remember, until Bessemer, new steel was ungodly expensive.
Surely the Pugio rates as one of the first purpose made, widely issued military daggers?
More of what makes this channel so good. An exploration of functionality, but not only one that's able to say "maybe"--one that acknowledges that (especially when every design has its advantages/disadvantages) social norms/convention, and even personal preference, are also huge factors!
Great video. Fighting with a sword and dagger reminds me of the time when I used to fence. We would play around with two foils against one foil. The person with two foils just could not lose unless he made a major mistake. Two blades against one, even if one is a dagger, gives you a real advantage.
Interesting that you've experimented with that. The dagger gives another potential advantage above and beyond the two sword points your opponent has to deal with in that getting in close to attack the dual-wielder leaves you terribly exposed to the shorter dagger point. It is clear to see that in such fights a sword and a dagger in hand is a very effective and complimentary combination.
I really appreciate that your enthusiasm for the subject comes through the screen. I often find that the best teachers are not only those who can make a subject come to life by painting a picture, but as well are able to deliver facts side by side. You masterfully blend both elements into a satisfying, entertaining, and educationally stimulating experience. It is greatly appreciated!
About the shape of the baselard, another reason might be the ability to keep hold of your dagger. We know that an armored hand can grip a sword blade for half grips, why not the opponent's dagger? A baselard would be a lot harder to yank from your hand.
I am curious about the role of weapons in civilian life during medieval times. How great was the need for personal protection? In what contexts would people feel the need for more or less protection? If a sword is forbidden in town, but you want to wear it outside of town, what do you do with it while you're in town but it's illegal to carry? etc etc etc
It varies. Different places at different times would have different dangers at different frequencies. During travel was common, although a staff was standard carry for pilgrims.
Matt has mentioned previously that some places would have an inn or tavern hold onto it until you left.
As a traveller, most time you where allowed to carry your sword (secured of course) from the town gate to the guest house on the direct route, without further stops. And back for leaving town. If you where a citizen, you can carry it (secured) between your home and the nearest gate without further stop and on the direct route.
Well, the outskirts of town could have staples and you have to peace tied the sword to the scabbard and leave it on your horse
@@Seelenschmiede This makes sense. Such laws being sensible (or not, depending upon your viewpoint) are still used in the same way today in many places. Even in the famously strict (but not as strict as many seem to believe) UK there are legal ways to transport weapons between locations. It's just totally context dependent, to use one of Matt's favourite words.
Great vid Matt! Out of curiousity, you mentioned civilians commonly carried daggers as everyday wear, how common was it for individuals to wear one on the hip? One out of ten, closer to half the population, or would nearly every individual you may pass be carrying a dagger as a self defense tool?
And if I may add I'm curious to what extent that would have been skewed across gender and class, stories about high class women with hidden knives in hair at balls and stuff seem to me mostly a fantasy, but would those women walking on the street be wearing a knife and how about lower class women? Did high class women "not need" it because they would be accompanied on the street anyway?
@@muesliman100
About a hundred years ago people advertised hairpin daggers that women could wear in their hair.
Up to about forty years ago women who worked in fish cleaning factories carried their gutting knives when they were walking home, which discouraged men from attacking them, and certainly from attacking them twice.
I've read that one of the reasons the switchblade style knife exists is because women used to carry them as a pocket knife they could open without damaging their nails.
They would be carrying an eating knife at all times...blades a blade...
Nearly every individual ...
Glad you got some of their money but Huusk knife is a rather dubious company and product.
Got to admire the stuff upper lip when discussing the Ballock dagger.
Well done, sir!
If you're a prudish person....Or the Royal Armouries! :D Another great video Matt, I had to pause it, to go and make a Tod Cutler purchase! :D :)
I think a better analogy for civilians using military equipment then buying a beretta
I wanted.a larger all purpose utility knife then my every day carry, so I bought a Kabar with the marine combat knife blade. Good sized utility knife but not excessively large
Check out the Kabar Becker knives.
Point was that I went with a classic military design rather then one that better fit my needs. The Becker with a 5.5” blade would have better fit what I use knives for, but I wanted the military design so i got that instead
I'd be interested in a follow-up to your video "Fantasy Worldbuilding: Weapons and Armor in 4 Specific Settings." I found the section on forests or jungles to be particularly interesting.
Specifically I'm interested in how heat and cold influence what armor you can wear, whether fighting in snowy environments or tropical/desert heat, and what weapons might be favored as a result. For example I see a lot of Indian armor that is made of maille or plated maille, and even plate armor tends to be mirror armor rather than a full-body harness. Could that be to avoid overheating?
Another environment common to fantasy worldbuilding is the indoor tunnels and halls of a "dungeon" or catacomb, or just fighting inside a castle for that matter. I've been watching Elden Ring players swinging large swords around, hitting pillars and walls and thinking to myself, "This seems less than ideal," but I'm not sure what the best alternative would be.
So... based on the resurgence of armor these days will/should ballock daggers come back as well?
Combat daggers today appear to be of that similar stiletto form.
Nooo! Not the Huusk! 😱
My way of thinking is, when it comes to the military or police, their hardware is meant to handle extreme situations when put to the test. Therefore I would want something like that which would certainly have good reliability standards. With everyday civilian life I won't have to worry too much about the test; it's just a good safeguard should the need arise. Some peasants might have thought something similarly. If it's good enough for war it'll get me out of a tight spot.
Apart from being a fun discussion, you answered a lot of questions I've had. I have a membership of my local museum and I often find myself in the medieval weapon and armour section. I'm creeped out by daggers (considering their purpose) but I also find them fascinating and beautiful.
Is the pommel of a baselard tanged? When I look at it I can’t help but imagine that being used to push against with your other hand. Maybe to give it more pressure to push through chainmail?
Good idea. It looked dumb to me until you said that
Also I feel like it would be easier to pull that out of a body cavity if it were stuck.
All of the above...
I wish I had an experts opinion. I’ve got a cheapo baselard and it seems to back up the pushing theory. I imagine it being used in very tight grappling situations. Use one hand to steady the knife and then holding the T and kinda bouncing your weight and pushing it in. I wish I had an armored opponent that would be willing to die to prove the concept. 😂
We bought an interesting dagger from a deceased estate, it is a cross shaped 4 bladed dagger with a fleur de lis style depth limiter for stab built into the blade shape. It is blunt on the edges and the only factor that pisses me off is that someone tried to clean it using an angle grinder and the only knife of a similar design I have found is in a German Museum from the 14th century. I am fairly sure this is a Scottish dirk or a fake made in the 19th century. The remaining patina and knife material suggests not several centuries old.
Having a fleur de lis probably means it’s French?
Interesting stuff, cheers, Matt 👍👍👍👍 You mentioned that back in the day, a gentleman would wear a more military-styled dagger in situations where he could not wear a sword, due to not being knighted: Might there have also been instances of an 'everyday Joe' wearing a military-styled dagger, to give the impression that he had fought in battle/was more of a badass than he truly had/was, in the same way that nowadays, someone might wear a fake Rolex/hire an expensive car, to make people think he has the flash-money?
Hi Matt, i've got a question about the regulations of weapon carrying in medieval times. I'm currently reading "Notre Dame de Paris", and there is a detail that i want to clarify: it is said in the book that carrying a dagger wasn't allowed in Paris at that time. Is that correct? Thanks for great video
I don’t know the time period of your book but at one time Paris had difficulties with students at the university of Paris, being young arristocrats, causing violent troubles as they viewed themselves as superior to shopkeepers and common townspeople
I can confirm it, from another source. In a book about the life of Villon, a french poet , is noted that he had to carry as self defense some kind of civilian butcher knife, like a lot of parissians of his time (1480) The reason for the law about daggers was the civil tension fron the Hundred years war. I cite from memory because i cant find that book , maybe some data is wrong, sorry about it...
@@pexobestia thanks a lot
I don't know about Paris but in Brabant it was illegal to bring "pointy knives" into taverns.
@@TrueFork well, regulation of pointy objects in a place full of drunk people makes perfect sense. Thanks for this info!
This video does a great job describing the different styles of medieval daggers and their evolution and use, even up into the renaissance period. More quality content from a man who knows his shit!
Love Daggers. I have some. Thanks for the interesting commentary on them and their shapes. In FMA, I do Espada Y Daga, Bolo and Dagger. In tournaments, I do forms and the shape of the dagger is quite important. This was useful.
A great and highly informative presentation, as always. I sit here with my Tod Cutler 14th Century quillon dagger.
Your point about the Beretta reminded me about some advice I heard from a lawyer once. He explained that when carrying a firearm for self-defense you want to find out what the police are using, and what type of ammo they're using (hollow point, jacketed, etc) because that makes it more difficult for a prosecutor to argue you were using some especially malicious equipment.
That knife with the finger hole does not look comfortable to hold.
I believe there was another factor in why civilian daggers were still mainly thrusting weapons: Climate. Europe was considerably cooler in the Middle Ages, causing everyone to wear multiple layers of linen and wool pretty much year round. I've tried test cuts with various dagger blade types against standard civilian clothing layers, it's not easy. Stabbing is much more effective. You'll also find that the further south you went (like Spain or elsewhere in the Mediterranean), the earlier you find cutting blade daggers, even at the height of armor.
15:18 he almost 😅 swallowed those balls
Hey, Matt, how is the feeling of the grip on a baselard dagger? By looking at it I always got the impression that they were way too narrow. Does it feel weird in the hand? And why is it so thin? This always got me curious.
Around 11:14 he demonstrates how the narrow grip comes in handy when wearing a thick armored mitten or gauntlet, so that may be part of the reason why it's so thin
@@bassemb But at the same time, take a look at the rondel dagger. It is also used with gauntlets but it is substantially thicker. I imagined it could be because of gauntlets; my question is more to get an impression of the feeling of the weapon in the hand.
@@LucaHMafra The baselard has a short grip and two long lateral pieces, longer than the disks of a rondel dagger, you wouldn't get to grip it tightly because those bars provide a ton of security and indexing. Baselards with less pronounces flares have thicker grips, check out the variations on Myarmoury.
Would the wider blades found in earlier examples be indicative of less consistent and reliable steel production methods? If you could only put so much trust in the strength of the material, making it wider than strictly necessary would be one way to ensure its durability if there was a hidden flaw.
Probably not, even relatively low quality wrought iron is plenty strong enough to stab someone whith, the narrower blades were probably sacrificing the size of a stab wound to improve it's ability to overcome armour.
For daggers I don’t think it matters that much. People killing each other with daggers and knives this size sense the flipping Bronze Age. Bronze, iron with caburized edges, short blade just don’t the same level of stress long blades do.
These were also expected to be able to parry and bind with larger, heavier weapons (swords) and were constructed accordingly. Purpose-built stabbing daggers are a thing and are almost always thin spikes with very little edge and minimalistic handles: misericorde, stilleto etc.
Wider blades are better slicers.
Narrower blades are better for piercing (stabbing)
I own a Scottish dagger from the 17th century that looks more like the size of a boot knife. It’s got a triangular blade that’s got sharp edges with a super sharp point. It’s very intricately decorated in sterling silver with a silver thistle flower pommel and silver cross guard. The handle is black horn with silver twisted cord and small silver shamrocks and the sheath is black horn with silver mounts. It’s a very cool dagger and I’ve never seen anything like it before. Most Scottish knifes are dirk style with eating implements. This dagger looks more like it was strictly for fighting.
I by far prefer this sponsorship over your previous video game sponsorships!
Another good discussion on practical vs legal restrictions vs. usage pattern shift.
Great video as always. Thank you, Matt. I love Todd's daggers. I own two of them myself and they are great.
A Shame that you have to be sponsored by a very bad knife maker compagnie. Love your video and your work. Never missed one since the beginning of this channel! Keep it up ! THXS
The CedricAda video on the Huusk knife was pretty entertaining at least. :-p
Please Matt, you have to do a video on ear daggers, it's about the only style of medieval dagger you haven't touched on!
Obviously, there is impossible to explain every type of dagger, but I think it's important to note some particularities in some places in Europe. For example, in Mediterranean area were very popular the ear daggers. In Spain area, for example, completely sustitute rondel daggers. In representations in Iberian Peninsule in XV century it's very difficult to see rondel daggers, but in heavy armoured men-at-arms were very common ear daggers, and in more light infantry it's more common to see quillion daggers. Another good example could be the swiss degen, an obvious descent of the basilard, but almost only seen on switzerland.
So, not in all Europe were common the same types of daggers at the same time.
daggers can easily become the living fossils of military weapons.
I absolutely luv your presentation of the Dagger. I found it to be very informative. Thank you! :-) Peace, Stiletto :-)
"And here we see the English Olympic wrestling team, ready for their first match, and as I understand, the trainers have chosen to equip the team with Rondel daggers this summer games. This should REALLY give the team an advantage in bringing home the gold medal."
How does the seaxe compare to medieval knives, would be an interesting video idea.. and the context of its use.
Okay, even loved the advertisement. Though I'm sure other knife makers are now hesitant to run an ad with you ... "He's going to do WHAT with our blades? Stab a frickin' TREE?"
It seems to be pretty well established that developments in armour resulted in swords changing from cut and thrust to thrust, so it makes sense that daggers should tend to follow suit. It does occur to me that at that point it wouldn't take long for civilian wearers to realise that stabbing blades require less maintenance to keep them effective - no need for regular sharpening, just an oily rag now and again...
Nice video, Matt!
Absolutely fascinating, thanks Matt, fantastic content :)
Thanks for the video ⚔️
An additional point: Daggers and swords slowly evolved to be more focused on thrusting because thrusting is more lethal then cutting given the same amount of energy expended. Would you rather have a 4 inch long cut that is 1 inch deep or a 1 inch cut that is 4 inches deep? That assumes the different wounds required the same amount of energy, in reality the 4 inch wide cut would have taken more energy. Then we look at skeletal structure, The quickest way to deliver a killing blow would be to pierce through the rib cage or skull. It will take a lot more effort to crack ribs or a skull with a cutting weapon then something designed more as a spike to focus the energy on a single point (or naturally slip between the ribs).
From what I’ve seen in Rex Applegate videos. Thrust and cut is just one montion. He recommend to have a sharp dagger, an prefers hollow grind for that reason.
"Of course he has a knife, he always has a knife, we all have knives!" The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
Never liked that baselard. I realize the hilt does lock your hand in but such a narrow grip would feel uncomfortable to me.
True, not to mention how fragile it seems to look.
To me it looks like it want's to twist.
you know, you might wanna do a collab with fandabidozi one of these days. He specializes in the highland culture, very interesting channel, and it might be cool to branch out into other areas/time periods of the surrounding cultures
Thank you.
A lot of good points! 🙂
Tod Cutler sells an Italian 17C Stiletto dagger. It's fairly good .No edges. Thrust only. It's very lightweight.
He says duelers and brawlers carried those.
I really like your collection. You show us what all you have
A benefit of the baselard with its flat 2 dimensional hilt is that it would comfortably sit flat against your body and not stick out and get hooked on things.
Is it possible that bollock daggers are where the phrase, "Give him a good bollucking" meaning to beat and or kill someone came from?
The seax is a famous example of a early medieval dagger, was its use different in earlier medieval times as grappling was probably not as frequent as in the later medieval period? And was it less common on a battlefield context?
Could you also discuss main gauche dagger use and design, with more upturned crossguard quillons?
omg, wasnt looking closely for a second and didnt even think twice about the kitchen knife sponsor.
was just happily absorbing the info about it, hahaha.
before i realised it wasnt one of the medieval dagger types at all.
Well off to the Medieval Army Surplus store for a selection of the latest daggers.
Has anyone an idea why ancient Roman soldiers had some units that bothered carrying a dagger in addition to their short sword, while most did not?
In case that you don't know: they had a leaf-shaped dagger which doesn't seem to be particularly good at thrusting as it becomes very wide very fast. Still, it was clearly a military weapon with two edges and it wasn't carried by civilians, except for ex-legionaries and a few select VIPs (including the senators who backstabbed Julius Caesar). The dagger was apparently mostly worn by legionaries in the North of the empire, but hardly seen at all in all the other cardinal directions.
PS: I'm wondering because you can use a shortsword pretty much like a dagger and it's small enough to be used even indoors. Thus, I don't see a particular need for it. Moreover, the shortsword coevolved with their big shields and I can't see the dagger fitting into their military doctrine.
Imperium Romanum has just come out with a video about the pugio, answering some of your questions. Search for The War Dagger, Equipment of a Roman Soldier: DOCUMENTARY.
@@twosheds7105 it says that they often used it instead of the gladius, but I'm none the wiser on why...
Is it possible the t-snapped pommel is to help with retention of the dagger in a grappling situation? I would suspect bloody gloves / gauntlets could be a bit slippery and in close, it might be a good move to just grab your opponents dagger by the blade and just pull it out of their hand if you have cut-proof hand protection. Better than getting stabbed in a life or death situation. Also, if you stick a dagger into something like mail, armor, a wooden shield, or bone, it can get stuck and be difficult to extract quickly, especially with the aforementioned bloody gloves.
Hey Matt, any thoughts on Shad's new hashtag and proposal to help videogame developers?
I have only seen the first few minutes of his video, but quite a few HEMA and other martial arts instructors have already been involved with game developers (and continue to be). The most obvious recent example is Hellish Quarte, which was actually created by HEMA practitioners and has had continual input from the HEMA community. If a game developer is interested in working with fencing/martial arts practitioners, then they already do - many of us have had differing levels of involvement with them. They just contact us if they want to go that route.
has a dagger got enough weight/oomph/heft to knock someone out with a swing to there head? like would it have similar impact compare to a small club of equal size?
I like the topic of the video and I think that part is great... BUT promoting HUUSK KNIFE? That knife is made of pot steel literally.
Not the one I tested on screen here. I chopped and stabbed wood with it.
Yeah, it was. Most of these were points made earlier, but hey, a specialized dagger video is a good thing too.
Does it come with detailed instructions and/or equipment to keep the blade sharp?
Hi, I'm thinking you may have already done this but could you do something on the Scott and their weapons. Some were very specialized.
Just FYI: When I decided to go out and buy a handgun my choice was the Glock because they are carried by most Military's and Police world wide. My thought was they already did all the research on the weapon. Why would I go through the trouble of reinventing the wheel.
In the 13th century, if I'm not mistaken, most elite soldiers would be covered head to toe in mail, as opposed to wearing just a hauberk. Cutting would do next to nothing and swords weren't really pointy yet (from what I understand). That could've given rise to the dagger, as an alternative anti amor sidearm than bludgeons
So where does something like the Scottish Dirk fall into? Knife or Dagger. I have the Cold steel version, I've had it for years, and it has a thick blade. 1/4 inch at the hilt, and tapers to the point. Its dispatched a few wild Haggis.
In English I don't really know but in German it is fairly simple and quite strict: If the blade is straight and double edged it is a sword or dagger (Schwert oder Dolch) depending blade length but if the blade is single edged and possibly curved it is a knife or sabre (Messer oder Säbel) regardless of blade length.
So, my question is....why a ring on the quillion hilt? Does the ring shape serve any other purpose than just guarding the back of the hand from your opponents blade sliding down yours?
21:37 The same reason some men put heels on their shoes. Status symbol. DUH! If having heeled shoes on ,indicated a horseman, a dedicated stabbing dagger indicated a professional fighting man , or even a gentleman. Both cases, you do not want to mess with.
Come on Mat, it was a bluff! If having the symbol of a professional fighter, or a gentleman, made you safer.. worth the extra coin absolutely. If it got you free drinks .. even more so. Even if all it got you was faster service at the local drinking den or eatery, it was still worth spending on it.
After a while it became fashionable and ... everyone who wanted to be thought as someone carried them.
Subcultures, usually turn mainstream, if a lot of people do it.
How did we end up with jean pants being the default all of a sudden? I can still remember a time when wearing jeans got you arrested, on the spot. Now .. its office wear!
Hi Matt, you touched on an interesting point at 13:06 that actually led to the development of the German Messer / Lang Messer. I am pretty sure that you are aware of it, but it is worth mentioning, that the development of the German Messer / Lang Messer came about from exactly the kind of laws that you mentioned prohibiting peasants from carrying military style weapons (incl. Swords) within the confines of the city walls. The laws were worded in such a way that double edged weapons were illegal for peasants to carry, but they were allowed to carry a Messer with a back edge. Messer(s) were also prohibited beyond a certain length within the city walls. Johannes Lecküchner of Nürnburg writes about it in the 1500s. There is also a law on the books from 1400-something in Regensburg that stipulates what citizens may carry and mentions the Messer. I am sure you went into this in one of your other videos.
Anyone using a Claymore would at first certainly have a few most trusted and well trained guards. (His shields per se) I'm guessing part of the missing Claymore myth is the men with tiny swords protecting the guy with the huge sword. Unless upon horseback, I'd keep my big one on my back and use the daggers!
I think a Basilard dagger was popular in the 14th c. because it didn't take up much room. They can lay flat against the body.
What about the Coustille Dagger, 17 inch blade so almost a short sword?
What were the policing arms different during the medieval period? Do the documents of the time, show subduing rather than killing techniques? I am reminded that sirahs in japan etc were a policing weapon origionally. Where the back of rondal daggers shown rather than the edge, a disarming bar rather than a just stabby stabby pry bar
Nothing about the stiletto??? Would love to hear more!
That is a post-medieval dagger :-)
Are you supposed to hold rondels edge out (face away from arm) or edge in (facing arm?)
Makes you wonder about the development of weapons beyond Western Europe (tm) too. Not to be a weeab, but I am pretty convinced that the Japanese full-ish body [give or take, mind the gaps] scale armor being already available around the 10th century onwards, as well as some imo rather robust full-ish body [give or blah] armor among their enemies like the Chinese, Mongolians and Koreans, also shaped the development of their side weapons.
Even accounting for average height differences (though as usual I will contest we should compare like to like, noble to noble, and lower social classes by the closest nutrition levels), internal politics and cultural stuff, their main sword just getting shorter and shorter, and the development of relatively straighter (even if just on account of being smaller) second smaller side sword/long dagger/actually really just a dagger, sounds awfully convenient and coincident. And not to forget how Jujutsu/Jiu-Jitsu, a close combat grappling centric martial art, has origins in the samurai class since the 8th century, from military techniques based on close quarter combat. IMO they just had their "daggerfication" accelerated by the style of armor they faced internally and externally. But of course, that is only but an example of one other culture/set of directly interacting cultures (in the west-ish European case).
Hello Matt, I just heard you at around 7:40 saying that coat of plates was worn over mail but under surcoat. Definitely yes... but I think I've heard that... and I hope I remember correctly it was.... Danes wearing coat of plates under mail - to make the coat of plates invisible, resulting in unexpectedly efficient invisible protection.
So I'm just saying it could be worn both ways... and be invisible even without a surcoat.
So are daggers medieval generally one ell long (or 18 inches) ?
Could you possibly talk about, or derect me too someone who has talked about crossbows? Specifically battlefield draw weights? I know they even got up to 1,500lb but what was the normal minimum? I've seen alot of Tods workshop stuff but I can't seem to find him saying much about the minimum except 450lb once and he wasn't specific. But I'm probably just missing something.
I think I will stick around for this
where can I get that cooking knife? or a good design to have one made?
Wanna make a stabbing dagger, but suck at metalwork? Get a cheap spike bayonet… the fixed ones can generally be mounted directly into a handle/pommel. Mosin-Nagant ones aren’t even ineffective (in a serious case of function over form).
2:30 What were those places?
Because in Germany ie the Holy Roman Empire civilians had to own a sword-sized weapon by law ie NOT owning one was a punishable offence.
You didn't have to carry it at all times but you had to own one.
Excellent, excellent!! Really enjoyed your discussion of daggers. However, you never expalained spacifically why the "ring" was introduced. What was the purpose of the ring?? Best wishes... Ax
"I've got fingers on the inside".
-- Matt Easton, 2022
Any theory was the balls went away from ballock dagger, to dudgeon dagger, the dirk? Why do away with a cheap hand stop?
I still prefer the older early Medieval Seax. I don't need the 17"-24" variety like the one found in the Thames. At that point just get a short sword. But a good 6"-10" Seax and it is still concealable enough but also long enough to do serious damage.
Side note : Just reread what i wrote and to the untrained eye it sounds like i am talking about something else. Lmao.
the open wearing of daggers did made a comeback on the fascists in the early 20 century.
But in this time peride also many ,Boy Scout/ Pfadfinder ' organisations of different kind carried knifes we germans call ,Fahrtenmesser'. A ( in Germany) popular type similar to bayonetts was sold up to 1990s/ early 2000s.
Is the dagger with the side ring what you would call a main gauche?