Just think, if you needed THAT just to face unarmored peasants, imagine how tough the trained soldiers must have been. And now I can only get so far because softer folk hold me back.
@@RachDarastrix2 in fairness, most peasant men worked out their arms and backs for a living. Probably want to make sure by the time they get ahold of you, they’re too injured to wrestle you down.
@@blakereid5785 Exactly! Now a days it takes effort to find a way to get enough exercise in a day to get arms like that. You have to take steps, like, simulate the experience of making fire to light a candle by rubbing sticks together before you earn the right to flip a lightswitch, and, carry loads of wood from the forest to your house.... then, from your house back to the forest since you can't do anything with it... to simulate carrying firewood before you earn the right to turn on the oven.
@@blakereid5785Well yes, of course. On the other hand there’s the psychological impact of seeing your fellow get cleaved like those hunks of pork. Once the first burly peasant farmer falls to a blow like that, it will only be natural for the rest to hesitate if not just turn tail and run for their lives.
As far as bushcraft goes, George Monck's 17th-century military treatise recommends equipping pikers with tucks (estocs, thrust-only swords) instead of cutting swords, "for if you arm your men with Swords, half the Swords you have in your Army amongst your common men, will upon the first March you make be broken with cutting of Boughs." So, even if using swords to chop wood wasn't ideal & wasn't a great idea, soldiers apparently did it under certain circumstances.
Interesting that it talks about "equipping", ie, issuing them out from the army's supplies rather than what soldiers bring themselves. I'm sure those pikemen would take better care of their swords if they'd had to buy them out of their own pocket!
That is fascinating - thanks for that Benjamin and Quantum, the English Civil War armies were very organised, so it doesn't surprise me they were centrally issued, but a good point on care
"Grunt proofing" has always been hard to do. Your average soldier isn't always a rocket surgeon. They'll do dumb stuff and abuse the hell out of equipment, especially if you provide the equipment. In one of the most infamous examples, the Israeli Galil rifle has a bottle opener on the handguard, because guys were commonly using the magazine of their Uzis to open beer bottles and it did a lot of damage to the magazine lips. I've seen a few times were people will dismiss certain actions being done, because it'd be really damaging to the equipment, things like sticking the tip in the dirt, or hitting stones to make sparks. But I think they underestimate how often people will abuse equipment. I remember another talk about there being a law in some German cities against hitting stones with your sword to make sparks, because it was a popular intimidation tactic. It was regarded as a threat of violence. It's also absolute torture on your blade. But it does look cool to gets sparks.
depends on army and martial culture of the time, 17th century features mass armys, partialy raised from peasents as they thought to increase their troops size at any cost while even 16th century armys were often at least at the core, paid specialist mercenarys that became so voluntarily, not seldomly even of low noble birth, and majority from towns, with strong martial traditions, also 17th century armys were often underpaid and underequipped compared to late medieval or 16th century armys, often troops didnt even get swords in the 30years war and isntead armed themselfs with hatchets, wooden clubs and large knifes,
@@tods_workshop the english had constant problems with supplying arms to their troops during the civil war era, not only with closecombat weapons, i remember one account a british noble who was in charge of equipping the troops i think for an ireland campaign complained, "what are the soldiers even doing with their guns?! it as if they were eating them" bc he had to constantly try to get new muskets for the english troops as they would often break, it might be because many of these guns were imported from the european continent and not produced in britain they might have been of lower quality of preused, or just kinda expensive so they had few to spare, or that the british climate was not going well with them, also since the british isles at the time lacked a large scale production repairing broken guns was uncommon ?
Hi Tod, salutations from Brazil! You mentioned "edge damage" in this video. I would love to see a video discussing how medieval people(specially soldiers mid-campaign) would deal with such damages and how much damage was to much for them to deal with. Love your content.
That would be a pretty short video, as really in the field you can just find a rock and keep grinding till the edge is acceptable, any dents too deep to grind out fully you live with.
@@ThaetusZain Yeah if you are part of a group large enough to have a logistics train that can support that sort of camp you would probably even have a bellows and small brazier/forge type thing as well... But at that point other than the smaller scale and longer time the work would take its not any different to when the weapon was built. But its also the sort of thing that only fairly sizeable group will have - not universally applicable.
Mrs Tod “where is the joint of pork I put in the fridge?” Tod “I’ve no idea my love,” 5 mins later, Mrs Tod “Why are there a 2 machetes in the sink and what is that on them?” Door slams as Tod retreats at haste to “Tod’s workshop”.
"tried in anger" v "tried for SCIENCE!!!!" :).... although I figure the hitting plate in this case was more "Tried for completeness to shut up the idiots".
I recently took delivery of my clip point falchion from your store. It's easily the most impressive sword I own now. In terms of handling you can tell straight away that it's a cutter, it's balance is much more to the tip than my other swords. It still has that mean point on it, however so thrusts are still more than doable.
Does it have any large identifiable “made in India” marks on it? I have been eyeing that very sword but don’t want such detractors like I had on my MRL/windlass Falchion..
Did you know that the Conyers falchion is the original vorpal sword? Lewis Carrol wrote "Jabberwocky" after visiting Durham cathedral, seeing the sword, and hearing the story of the slaying of the Sockburn Worm. In it, he coined the word 'vorpal' in keeping with his penchant for creating nonsense words. Gary Gygax then used the name vorpal for a blade that severs heads (or "goes snicker-snack" in Carrol-speak), and thus we have the legendary Vorpal Blade.
As an amateur low-fantasy writer, this channel is my greatest resource, and highly entertaining to boot. I've learned so much from your channel, and my WIP's have improved tenfold for it. Thank you for what you do, Tod, not just for medieval enthusiasts but for authors like myself
Bought one of Tod's grossesmessers about a year ago, and I can personally attest to how brutally it can cut and how durable it is, having used it extensively as a machete on thick tree limbs
This corroborates the impression i've also gotten elsewhere, that the falchion is a weapon specialised for fighting unarmoured and lightly armoured foes. You'd put a peasant revolt down with it, but you'd leave it at home if you were facing armoured knights.
Hey Tod, fun little thing to point out about falchions depicted in source material. Every blow depicted is at the head, both when armor is present and when it not. When on horse and when not.
I'm trying to get my mate to understand how light and maneuverable Medieval weaponry was/is, and this video will help a lot!, Thanks for another great video Tod!
I've heard similar tales about messers being used as tools in day to day work, splitting logs and butchering for instance, which is why they were carried day to day. I wonder how much there is to that now I see this
This is the best and most plausible cleaver test that I've seen, thank you for debunking the myth of armor-piercing falchions! It's a pity that you didn't try to make an injection with a falchion with a narrower blade, but a spear is still better!
once, on a trek, i was bored, waiting for the night to come, So i figure a nearby tree, a 10 years-old birch, and took my cabbage-cutter. I focused a while, and manage to cut it almost in half. Farmers tools are strongs tools. Even today, where ou can buy another tool in the day. farmers had pikes, machetes and falchions, falxes, billhooks... various "fun" stuff to play around with. And all of theses tools ages well : the more they are used, the more they are sharpened, and the more they become aggressive, thinned where they cut, etc... A man carrying a sword can be a moron with a wallhanger. A man with a billhook in an hand, an falchion in the other, this man is for sure a threat.
Good point, any soldier should be afraid of a farmer who knows how to swing a Scythe all day, sure he's probably not armoured and his moral "courage" training might be in question but one thing you can know for certain is his hands are full of calluses from swinging edged weapons all day. There are many stories in history of farmers turned warriors. I lean towards the thought that peasant armies or militia weren't so much beaten by technology or skill at arms but by numbers and strategy. In a straight up fight armoured knights VS farmers, there's a good chance the underdog comes out on top for many reasons.
@@chasecharland1160 Highly unlikely; untrained, likely malnourished rag wearing serfs with whatever they can find versus professional soldiers, well fed from birth and armed and armoured with their polearms and plate? People who were trained to fight and kill from the ages of 5-7 onwards, often daily. In an evenly numbered fight and even ones where lowly people outnumbered their “betters” the peasants were crushed, as is shown by all of human history where this has happened, if they were more effective than men at arms, knights and lords, then they wouldn’t have fought in battles, they’d just hire peasants and nobody else because clearly the cabbage farmer is a more dangerous foe than a guy who has spent his adolescence and adult life fighting and killing people who have also spent their entire adolescent and adult life doing the same.
@@pestisthebestspaghettikeys6944 I agree with your assessment, it is the classic stereo type. I meant a few differences however, such as "numbers" being better used, professional soldiers using communication and drill, will obliterated the peasant rabble. But the one on one fight between men who weild their tools. Not all knights are well trained and not all farmhands are starving skeletons. There is a reason why many an uprising was fought with farming tools. The Japanese had the kama and sci, the European had war scyth, mallet and hooks. The Greeks used rabbit killers like sling or bow and everyone had an axe or shank and spear to spare. Armoured knights have lost to lesser troops in many historical occasion such as Agincourt, sterling, and more. The point was not to underestimate a desperate man who works the land with spade and hammer, day in and day out. Every noble and king tried their best to squash an uprising as quickly as possible, with as much violence as possible, because of real danger.
@@chasecharland1160 Now I agree with the rebellions/uprising part although then again I imagine it’d easily be thousands of enraged small folk with the support of the people, many of which including the non die hard loyalist guards/people who can sympathise with the cause, in terms of agincourt it was masses of arrows being volleyed at the enemy, superior terrain with good use of mobile fortifications/spikes to stop cavalry charges obliterating the archers mixed in with brilliant tactics and a stroke of luck by the English king, I say this as an Englishman, the French were absurdly unlucky and mainly lost by making a series of terrible mistakes one after the other, those poorer people who made up the bulk of Henry’s army were longbowmen who had a great deal of training to wield those bows and when they ran out they came crashing into the French from behind in a great wave (while they already becoming exhausted and were distracted by the English knights and men at arms) with daggers, teeth and nails. One of the best reasons I’d say that rebellions from the farmer/labourer classes would’ve been halted immediately is that they can easily halt food production, and letting it brew into a full blown uprising would mean they’d have to be completely wiped out, which means no workforce at all, you want to tax us to oblivion? Starve in your castles, not to mention guerilla attacks and all other manners of warfare. I agree that not all knights are well trained, I’d bet my left foot that there were a great deal who didn’t actually earn their ranks and were simply given them by friends/family though I’d bet my right one that they still were better equipped, fed and trained than peasants, put those men in the hands of someone who knows war and tactics and they’ll easily be lead to victory.
Reminds me of a modern occurrence that I was privy to. Former Yugoslavia. Serbian tank depot, outskirts of Zagreb. Fenced in. Men and women scaled the fence. Kitchen knives. Not a single man wearing a uniform left alive. Quite brutal. They never expected that from the "peasants". A lady friend of mine nearby there is a very good cook.
Todd, just a thought if you have a local butcher near you you should be able to purchase smaller pieces of skin on pork. A butcher will often purchase entire halves of pork and then butcher them into cuts. Leaving the skin on would be very representative for the purpose of weapon damage and might even save you a couple of quid.....
The Thorpe falcion is much on the way of swordification, but the Cluny falchion retains some traits of earlier falchions. The Cluny blade basically identical to the 3rd century machaira excavated in the sanctuary of Demeter in Eraclea, and now housed at the Museo della Siritide. I've never seen this piece in person, but the Cluny I have. There's really zero design limitation that prevent even these thin sweet spot falchions to be used as tools. The mass distribution isn't ideal because of the overweight hilt, but otherwise the Cluny is extremely close in design to the Guapote (number 284) pattern machete. Of course, the machete isn't as finelly designed, with the stiffened spine and concave grind, but the blade is 1.2-1.4mm at the sweet spot. Cane machete (the super wide kind) often have only 1mm thick blades. So it's really not a design issue, it's a material issue. While you can safely chop at seasoned oak with a 1mm thick machete (it will only give you tennis elbow), because it's modern eutectoid steel with consistant and finely tuned heat treat process, the Cluny falchion is extremely badly bent at the base of the blade were it's thickest, showing that it's not far from being in annealed condition or mild steel. It's important to notice though that while the Cluny falchion has a completely regular sword hilt, the Siritide machaira has a flat tang in the shape of pre-modern Italian cleavers and billhooks. And in general, non-swordified falchions (especially all the hook hilted ones such as seen on the Morgan Bible, Villard de Honnecourt notes, Porta Romana frieze, etc) are basically a variation on billhooks and cleavers (which, in Italy, belong to the same familly of tools, are constructed the same, etc). Swordification reduced their usefullness as tools, moving the sweet spot back on the blade, but initially they were just as good as tools than as weapons, just like parangs in South East Asia. catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/ArchaeologicalProperty/1700209365
If Skallagrim has taught me anything, its that you're not suppose to cut towards your leading leg, or you might end up hitting it when you over-swing. But damn, that difference between regular sharp and razor sharp on gambeson was huge.
You can cut however you please, but basically imagine your target isn't there, and if the full swing ends up reaching any part of you, your stance needs to change. You should be able to cut in the 8 cardinal directions and swing the blade through in a perpetual figure-8 pattern and not hit yourself. Hitting your own leg sounds as you have your own stance too wide and low and you're cutting too close.
@@chrisfields8077 Skall didn't really say that in the context of fighting. But is test cutting, because you are going to put a lot of force and overswing, better to not cut towards your leading leg. Obviously in a real fight you never would overswing because then you would be exposed.
I feel like the comparison between the slightly duller and "razor-sharp" blades during the gambeson cut really dispels the myth that medieval blades weren't super sharp--that difference could change the whole course of a battle, definitely worth the effort.
falchions especially, people look at them and think they're thick and robust bladed like a machete, but medieval falchions were very thin and light blades. they couldn't bludgeon their way through anything.
Yes so I was like "oh, (being from Germany) basically I have never known how to pronounce "falchion". Let's just take a quick look inside and find out. But you, Mr. Cutler, make content you just can't escape. Thank you, it's always a pleasure.
Yeah, kinda, he took inspiration more from the machete like brush knives in the areas he was in & refined his designs to be better at the kinds of knife fighting he saw happening/took part in
@@shinobi-no-bueno look up "D Guard Bowie Knives" and you'll see that they are shortsword sized Bowie Knives that was popular in the South during the American Civil War.
@@shinobi-no-bueno Bowie Swords, not knifes, look a lot like old Falchions and served similar functions and used in same way as a Falchions. It's one of those strange weapons that really asks when does a dagger/knife stop being a dagger/knife and becomes a sword. They don't have a set design and parameters but they were all broad choppy weapons.
I applaud your efforts here; great demonstration and good sense. Sadly in the face of internet 'expertise' I fear it will be wasted on many. Keep fighting the Good Fight.
I've been watching Tod's workshop for years and only just noticed - he's only a Scrapheap Challenge veteran! :O I'd love to see him giving a behind the scenes talk on that - forgive me if he already has and I've missed it.
Way back in my vid trails I made a film about one of the episodes. Fanatstic job, spent two years working behind the cameras in engineering and then was an expert 5 times - amazing series to work on
regarding the comment about mail's purpose @8:52 "its not so good against piercing things like arrows and spears, but swords, axes that's what its made for". Mail appears to work fine against piercing weapons as is attested to in both historical sources and in modern testing with accurately made mail. TH-camr Airnt's video "Lance versus Armour" showed that well made mail is capable of stopping a lance from a charging horse so it seems quite likely the same armour would be capable of resiting a one handed spear thrust or an arrow from the lower poundage bows found in most periods. As is often said on this channel, our ancestors were not stupid and piercing weapons (spears, arrows and javelins) made up the vast majority of the threats mail would need to stop. For many centuries mail was the preferred choice for developed European armies, even for high status individuals, despite the availability of other metal armour types such as breastplates, scale or segmented plate armour. So it does seem that our ancestors felt mail worked against piercing weapons.
Tod's local Butcher talking to a housewife - "Sorry Madam, I've just sold my last joints of pork. There's been a sudden run on them lately. I can't imagine why..." ;)
I always figured the falchion was a sword carried by wealthier people who presumed they would be fighting those that couldn’t afford mail and wanted to maximize effectiveness cutting fabric armour.
I have never forgotten the words to the song Black Sir Harry, which I learned in junior school in the 1960's: Black was his plume, black was his shield, Braver ne'er did falchion wield.
Falchions, especially in the high middle ages compared to the late where you get more saber like forms, are fairly unique in that they're basically your go-to textile slicer. Not really a good idea to liken them to axes simply because based on examples pulled up, the distal taper is nuts and gets incredibly thin so brutish force in cutting as with an axe will probably mangle your falchion. They're super thin, wide blades probably intended for richer folk to chop up textile wearing militiamen, poorer mercs, etc. Probably were expensive to use in that the edge of one might not survive a full campaign at all. At least in my mind the fragility speaks to a higher class weapon specialized for textile defeating, since a poor man isn't going to be able to afford a sword which has an incredibly thin taper and is likely to get damaged if banged against metal armor too much. *Note that I'm also thinking of the Cluny style falchoin Tod's got in his hands in the start of the video, the more saber like later falchions really feel like a different weapon altogether in the later 14th century.
I didn't know about the cross sectional profile change in falchions before. Really interesting and totally makes sense in hindsight. Also I recognised that gambison straight away. Loved your fire arrow videos.
Yeah I’ve chopped off lots of heads limbs with the different Falchions. Just slices through enemies on their soft spots. I use this historic info in Blade and Sorcery VR. It’s incredibly accurate and the tech is only getting better.
I have heard that it was a practice when using a falchion to use the back of the blade against people in metal armor, that way you get the bludgeoning without damaging the blade.
Awesome video! One of the things I heard on another channel, Dequitem, is that against mail and plate they may have flipped it in their hand to strike with the spine of the blade since the impact is all it can do anyway. Then of course with the clip point you can also use it to thrust into the gaps. Gorgeous blades and interesting to see that evolution in design as armor changed as well.
Tod, I have a 24-inch (60cm+) Collins, No. 23, machete with blade of WW II to 1950s-'60s. It is US made, and the blade rings like a bell in use. It is a brush clearing tool - I used it in junior college to do yard work in order to pay for my textbooks. The blade ranges from 34 mm (1 3/8ths inches) wide and 2 mm thick at the haft to 55 millimeters wide and one mm thick at the point of percussion, which is between 15 and 20 mm from the tip. Aside from the hilt form, it strongly resembles a cleaver falchion though not as broad toward the tip and lacking any form of guard. The US government version was issued as a utility blade in WW II for trail clearing and similar brush work, rather like the blades issued to some British military pioneer units. During WW II the Collins machete was also occasionally used in close-quarters combat. Similar Collins blades were made at factories in Columbia and Guatemala.
Thanks and interesting. Generally and I would suspect this is the case machetes have full tangs that are more robust than whittle tangs and they also generally have a flat section with short bevel rather than a wedge section, but otherwise similar by the sounds of it
@@tods_workshop That's correct. The blade tapers from hilt to tip, but not from back to edge. The edge is a simple bevel, and I _estimate_ the angle is around 30-35 degrees, which is a durable angle for working on wood and similar materials without dulling. Handling it brought back memories of chopping down blackberries that buried yards, live oak sprouts, even rogue rose bushes the owner wanted gone. It has a truly beautiful, bell-like ring in use.
Blaize de Montluc wrote that men at arms circa 1520 used to carry curtilaces (coutelas) to cut arms of maille and to cleave (destrancher) morions (Blaize de Montluc was an archer in the Ordinance Companies, as well as serving as a man at arms for a short time during that period). Rarely does he exaggerate, and wrote that he never saw such cuts (before) in his life (ie, they were surprising to him). Joachim Meyer likewise describes "hewing" with the blade of the "sabel" (depicted as the typical long knife/curtilace of the period) against an armored opponent, particularly at the hands (as well as thrusts, obviously). He says the sabel should be strong and good at cutting, but *explicitly* not too heavy.
That's interesting, but if those guys were "man at arms" understood as fully armored men with possibility of armored horses too, it's possible that their cutlasses were actually something that WAS heavy and stiff. And it's possible that horses movement added up to the impact. Then there were some maille sleeves that were made out of some really fine wire, there's one in Kraków that honestly looks like it's wire has less than 0.5mm in diameter. Together with some rivets being very badly set (probably due to the fact that overlap was really tiny, it's probably more amazing that most of them were in fact set pretty well), almost completely on the edge of overlap, it's quite possible that such mail sleeves would be susceptible even to the cut. It would surely be very light, flexible, breathable and so on, but at the cost of protection. So perhaps with very powerful swings, and some very light (and possibly bad) mail and helmets, it was possible.
@@lscibor The word used was "gend'armes", so yes. I agree, and the mention of "morions" (specifically) makes me think its in reference to seeing specifically those (infantry) helmets cut apart (and there are some rather thin and poorly constructed extants). I brought up Meyer's description because if curtilaces were always typically light, then there would be no reason for him to say that they should not be too heavy. Thin wire though, I am unsure. Low quality maille makes sense to me though. I wholeheartedly trust Montluc either way, as this is only example of anything in his entire memoir that could be considered eyebrow raising (that I have seen at least), and he speaks of it as if he witnessed it himself.
A couple of other things that I’d be interested in: The “reasonably sharp” against clothing. (Linen tunic and wool cote. Maybe a wool hood too.) The “reasonably sharp” doing a pull or push cut against the gambeson.
11:52 _"It's a very fine line that the energy is being concentrated on"_ Is it though? The force is being spread out to the entirety of each ring it hits, each of those rings is then diffusing it to all the rings it's connected on, and the gambeson behind it is spreading it out even more. By the time it hits the body, the line of force is probably close to an inch wide - even if there's more force in the centre of that inch than on the outside. I doubt that's enough pressure (= force / area) to, eg, break bone. Maybe it would bruise if you can manage to land a blow at full power in the melee of battle? It's certainly enough to break someone's flow and temporarily fumble them, but I doubt it's enough to properly wound them, let alone take them out of action. Of course, when it comes to plate, it wouldn't even do that, and the wearer might not even realise they got hit.
Well yes an no, but a good point. Technically yes and that is what I was thinking of. The sword does have a very fine line, but of course it does not cut through the mail anyway, so yes the 'line' is at least as wide as the rings and then the gambeson, possibly 12mm wide, which of course is not fine - good point - thanks
@@tods_workshop Thanks for the reply. Testing how much blunt force trauma can be caused by various weapons through mail + gambeson would be fascinating. No idea how to do that with a modicum of safety however...
A very good video I thoroughly enjoyed! I totally agree that these weapons are best vs fabric armour and for it they need to be very sharp. The fantasy of it cutting plate armor in half is just in the movies, unless it's made very, very thin then just maybe. But still not likely to happen. That's what the point is for, to thrust through it is much more feasible even with a wide blade. There is somethng I've found though. If you take a leg of pork or beef with the bone still in it and add padding and maille armor and strike it really hard with a sword something unexpected happens. The shock won't hurt the maille (single cut rings at most but probably nothing much) but it can still rip apart the padding and what's more important rip the meat under it so deep it exposes the bone even through thick muscle. It looks just like a cut but it's a tear and is often overlooked in testing since the maille isn't rent apart and maybe ballistic gel doesn't even rip like that. It does take some serious force though. Technique, using your bodys full strength and follow through like a woodsman cutting down a tree or splitting a big log. A heavier sword is probably preferable to a lighter one as well. You might want to cut with the inner node on the sword as well unless it's a stout, stiff blade. The clip point falchions in the video should do well for this even hitting with the outer node. Easiest way to get the power is to try a long travelling arc overhead and downward swing while stepping in with the sword side leg to get power, the hit should be just as you touch the ground with the stepping foot. It will activate your whole body and the mechanics are then intuitive. It's always best to lead with the sword side leg as well when cutting with sharps as it's less likely to chop your leg, though it can be done otherwise when you're used to it. Of course an attack in combat like that is very visible and they could just counter or sidestep it, even skewer you with their weapon, so the skill is in feinting and timing and even having someone else distracting the target for you to actually land it in a real life battlefield situation. It is what it is. But it can produce rending tears in flesh under otherwise unbroken maille.
Bjorn Ruther suggested that it may have been done that falchions with simple ambidextrous grips could have allowed for alternating sharp and blunt edge strikes using the cutting edge against vulnerable targets and the blunt edge like a hammer against sturdier targets. He has a video on his channel where he talks about it.
I have a 24" machete with a very deep cross section at the "sweet spot" on the blade. It really looks a bit like the cleaver falchion but doesn't have the balanced weight and the thicker spine. That machete is a chopping beast though. I sunk it about 2 1/2" (5-6cm) into a live aspen tree we were going to cut down. It is top heavy and only good for cutting heavier branches or brush because of the over swing.
"I've got a lovely bunch of falchions There they are, all standing in a row Big ones, small ones, some as big as your leg! Give them a twist a flick of the wrist That's what the swordsman said" -I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts - Fred Heatherton, paraphrased
Greay video Tod. Speaking on the topic of utilitarian swords I'm fascinated to which kind of swords would be for you the ideal ones to carry in the medieval period, perhaps looking at what someone might carry in a more urban compared to a more rural area or even profession etc. Of course we have sources in art and writing to get an idea but I do wonder how much fashion influenced people over practicality. Food for thought. All the best! Love the content matey.
Can we get you guys a ballistic gel dummy and a HEMA expert to try out some medieval weapons on some with and without armor? Maybe even a doctor to go over the damage and explain what kind of wounds would've been fatal. I would love to see something like that, and with a variety of weapons from different periods of the middle ages with weapons used around the world. I want more stuff like this.
@@thor498 I've seen a bit of scholagladiatoria videos too. That would be great. I would also like to see someone like Dave Rawlings go at a ballistic gel dummy with a two-hander, maybe a comparison between how weapons of the later middle ages compare to earlier ones against armor from the later middle ages and earlier armor. I'm no expert, but I've seen that there's an evolution of arms and I would love to see how newer stuff compares to older stuff from within the period of time over the middle ages. I'm also really interested in the Crusades. Perhaps some demonstrations seeing how arms and armor of the Seljuk Turks vs the same for the Crusaders to see how effective they were and how they were used.
The problem with ballistic gel is that it is designed for bullets as a comparable medium so whether you are in Bombay or Brighton the two sets of data are comparable. It is neither an analogue for flesh nor designed for use with swords or arrows for that matter so doubly off track. However it is the best that is reasonably available.
@@tods_workshop I've heard Ballistic Dummy Lab makes models to accurately represent blunt force trauma and stabbing wounds in addition to ballistic wounds. I've never used them, so I wouldn't know, but could be worth having for medieval arms. I"ve seen their TH-cam channel, and they look like good dummies to test blades on.
I would be interested to see what the clip point does in a thrust against gambeson and mail, and also inverted with the tip pointed downwards against the mail.
5:59 during the English civil war soldiers apparently used their swords so much for cutting firewood that they became too dull for combar, but they could use their muskets as clubs anyway
I would personally choose the clip point, probably one even more aggressive than what Mr. Todeschini has. That way it would still be relevant against mail.
I have found that angling your wrist towards you as you cut will also help get through that cloth armor. The drawing/slicing action it creates is far more effective at such than a static chop.
I recall reading a story once where man had been ambushed and just barely gotten his mail shirt on with no padding underneath, by the time it was all said and done his friends remarked on the "peculiar bruises". Wish I could remember what story it was... Also I love the Clipped Point design on Falchions ;-)
I know you focus mostly on medieval weapons, but could you take a look at more Bronze Age and Ancient weapons, like a khopesh and kopis and similar weapons and how they behave against flesh and armour? I'd love to know! Thank you for the constant amazing and informative content, Tod! Keep it up!
I've always like falchions. I've also imagined them to be more defensive and utilitarian weapons; the wider blade makes for easier blocking and deflecting, while also being more resilient to abuse. Then again, the times I've actually held a sword can be counted on one hand.
I like that the plate is still being used. Something I'm very curious is about the wear and tear/rust of armor that is used for a long time without reforging. I feel people nowadays don't think about the fact that the armors were expensive and probably used for a long while so they probably weren't as durable or consistent on average as people think.
In Bohemia, there are many similar weapons from the 12th century to the 15th or 16th century... Here they are called Tesák, or Messer which is a Germanized version, they have one peculiarity and that is the third guard on the right side. It used to be the weapon of hunters or "richer" townspeople. Although now I think it will fall into a slightly different category... 🙂 Anyway, thank you very much for the video...
I heard a description of a falchions as "The things armoured men use to chop up the un-armoured peasants" Seems appropriate in many ways.
A large part of medieval social structure in a nutshell!
Just think, if you needed THAT just to face unarmored peasants, imagine how tough the trained soldiers must have been. And now I can only get so far because softer folk hold me back.
@@RachDarastrix2 in fairness, most peasant men worked out their arms and backs for a living. Probably want to make sure by the time they get ahold of you, they’re too injured to wrestle you down.
@@blakereid5785 Exactly! Now a days it takes effort to find a way to get enough exercise in a day to get arms like that. You have to take steps, like, simulate the experience of making fire to light a candle by rubbing sticks together before you earn the right to flip a lightswitch, and, carry loads of wood from the forest to your house.... then, from your house back to the forest since you can't do anything with it... to simulate carrying firewood before you earn the right to turn on the oven.
@@blakereid5785Well yes, of course.
On the other hand there’s the psychological impact of seeing your fellow get cleaved like those hunks of pork. Once the first burly peasant farmer falls to a blow like that, it will only be natural for the rest to hesitate if not just turn tail and run for their lives.
As far as bushcraft goes, George Monck's 17th-century military treatise recommends equipping pikers with tucks (estocs, thrust-only swords) instead of cutting swords, "for if you arm your men with Swords, half the Swords you have in your Army amongst your common men, will upon the first March you make be broken with cutting of Boughs." So, even if using swords to chop wood wasn't ideal & wasn't a great idea, soldiers apparently did it under certain circumstances.
Interesting that it talks about "equipping", ie, issuing them out from the army's supplies rather than what soldiers bring themselves. I'm sure those pikemen would take better care of their swords if they'd had to buy them out of their own pocket!
That is fascinating - thanks for that Benjamin and Quantum, the English Civil War armies were very organised, so it doesn't surprise me they were centrally issued, but a good point on care
"Grunt proofing" has always been hard to do. Your average soldier isn't always a rocket surgeon. They'll do dumb stuff and abuse the hell out of equipment, especially if you provide the equipment. In one of the most infamous examples, the Israeli Galil rifle has a bottle opener on the handguard, because guys were commonly using the magazine of their Uzis to open beer bottles and it did a lot of damage to the magazine lips.
I've seen a few times were people will dismiss certain actions being done, because it'd be really damaging to the equipment, things like sticking the tip in the dirt, or hitting stones to make sparks. But I think they underestimate how often people will abuse equipment. I remember another talk about there being a law in some German cities against hitting stones with your sword to make sparks, because it was a popular intimidation tactic. It was regarded as a threat of violence. It's also absolute torture on your blade. But it does look cool to gets sparks.
depends on army and martial culture of the time, 17th century features mass armys, partialy raised from peasents as they thought to increase their troops size at any cost while even 16th century armys were often at least at the core, paid specialist mercenarys that became so voluntarily, not seldomly even of low noble birth, and majority from towns, with strong martial traditions,
also 17th century armys were often underpaid and underequipped compared to late medieval or 16th century armys, often troops didnt even get swords in the 30years war and isntead armed themselfs with hatchets, wooden clubs and large knifes,
@@tods_workshop the english had constant problems with supplying arms to their troops during the civil war era, not only with closecombat weapons, i remember one account a british noble who was in charge of equipping the troops i think for an ireland campaign complained, "what are the soldiers even doing with their guns?! it as if they were eating them" bc he had to constantly try to get new muskets for the english troops as they would often break, it might be because many of these guns were imported from the european continent and not produced in britain they might have been of lower quality of preused, or just kinda expensive so they had few to spare, or that the british climate was not going well with them, also since the british isles at the time lacked a large scale production repairing broken guns was uncommon ?
Hi Tod, salutations from Brazil! You mentioned "edge damage" in this video. I would love to see a video discussing how medieval people(specially soldiers mid-campaign) would deal with such damages and how much damage was to much for them to deal with. Love your content.
Ohyesplease!
That would be a pretty short video, as really in the field you can just find a rock and keep grinding till the edge is acceptable, any dents too deep to grind out fully you live with.
@@foldionepapyrus3441 you would have a camp, I'm sure some camps had a small grindstone or something for blade maintainance.
@@ThaetusZain Yeah if you are part of a group large enough to have a logistics train that can support that sort of camp you would probably even have a bellows and small brazier/forge type thing as well... But at that point other than the smaller scale and longer time the work would take its not any different to when the weapon was built. But its also the sort of thing that only fairly sizeable group will have - not universally applicable.
@@ThaetusZain Imagine the queue for the grindstone. Much easier to have hand stones passed around the units.
Armoured fighting is about, "Poking holes in the bits you can find to poke holes in." - Tod Todeschini. You're a legend and we love you.
The quote “strike where the enemy is weak” doesn’t just refer to armies. It works on a personal level just as much.
it's ironic that in many ways that quote still applies to fighting today especially with body armor.
@@-Zevin- It's timeless.
@@Brocuzgodlocdunfamdogson It just goes to show that phrasing can completely change how a comment is perceived. "Stick 'em in the squishy bits."
or if you are British, the timeless phrase "They don't like it up 'em"
Mrs Tod “where is the joint of pork I put in the fridge?”
Tod “I’ve no idea my love,”
5 mins later, Mrs Tod “Why are there a 2 machetes in the sink and what is that on them?”
Door slams as Tod retreats at haste to “Tod’s workshop”.
Tod, unable to sleep; Mrs Tod "are you thinking about trebuchets again?"
🤣🤣🤣
@@beepboop204 Tod: "If they launched a bunch of falchions in a trebuchet, would they remove the handle first so the enemy don't pick them up?"
long suffering
That is pretty much what happens
"Plate, doesn't touch it. You'd be an idiot if you tried." Epic self-roast, Tod.
Somehow I missed that - but all in the name of education
@tods_workshop Well said sir.
"tried in anger" v "tried for SCIENCE!!!!" :).... although I figure the hitting plate in this case was more "Tried for completeness to shut up the idiots".
I recently took delivery of my clip point falchion from your store. It's easily the most impressive sword I own now. In terms of handling you can tell straight away that it's a cutter, it's balance is much more to the tip than my other swords. It still has that mean point on it, however so thrusts are still more than doable.
Does it have any large identifiable “made in India” marks on it? I have been eyeing that very sword but don’t want such detractors like I had on my MRL/windlass Falchion..
@@wyorca The only identifying marker on it is the Tod Cutler stamp on the blade.
@@J1mston That's great to know! Thanks!
Thanks
Did you know that the Conyers falchion is the original vorpal sword? Lewis Carrol wrote "Jabberwocky" after visiting Durham cathedral, seeing the sword, and hearing the story of the slaying of the Sockburn Worm. In it, he coined the word 'vorpal' in keeping with his penchant for creating nonsense words. Gary Gygax then used the name vorpal for a blade that severs heads (or "goes snicker-snack" in Carrol-speak), and thus we have the legendary Vorpal Blade.
Tod sacrificing precious arm hair, just to prove the edge was sharp. The true dedication we have come to expect
It grew back in half an hour.
As an amateur low-fantasy writer, this channel is my greatest resource, and highly entertaining to boot. I've learned so much from your channel, and my WIP's have improved tenfold for it. Thank you for what you do, Tod, not just for medieval enthusiasts but for authors like myself
Bought one of Tod's grossesmessers about a year ago, and I can personally attest to how brutally it can cut and how durable it is, having used it extensively as a machete on thick tree limbs
For whatever reason I have always been attracted to falchions, messers, and dussaks, all closely related swords. Thanks again for another great video!
You're a size-queen, a girth-gal
Prob cause ur awesome
They are just awesome, that's why. Also the aesthetic is very pleasing.
I like them too
Falchions and Messers are two of the most underrated swords. They are really brilliant tools for so many different things.
They are not underrated- they are just underrepresnted in pop culture...
And the most misunderstood.
This corroborates the impression i've also gotten elsewhere, that the falchion is a weapon specialised for fighting unarmoured and lightly armoured foes. You'd put a peasant revolt down with it, but you'd leave it at home if you were facing armoured knights.
or when fighting goblin hoardes naturally. ;)
lord chopsalot's favourite peasant whacker
@@hraefn1821 Unironically why I have a dwarven character dual wield them.
@@torreyjones4421you’re not fooling me, i know its for peasants. Gormli Beerbeard is a real sicko.
I think exactly that
Hey Tod, fun little thing to point out about falchions depicted in source material.
Every blow depicted is at the head, both when armor is present and when it not. When on horse and when not.
I love this dudes verbiage and commentary. Immediately subscribed
I could honestly look at that wakefield hanger all day
The first sword I ever made was a dreadful 'copy' of that
I'm trying to get my mate to understand how light and maneuverable Medieval weaponry was/is, and this video will help a lot!,
Thanks for another great video Tod!
Tod carving the Christmas ham. Must be exciting for all the guests.
I've heard similar tales about messers being used as tools in day to day work, splitting logs and butchering for instance, which is why they were carried day to day. I wonder how much there is to that now I see this
This is the best and most plausible cleaver test that I've seen, thank you for debunking the myth of armor-piercing falchions! It's a pity that you didn't try to make an injection with a falchion with a narrower blade, but a spear is still better!
Tod: "Work out how you can help us and get involved in these things"
Also Tod: Proceeds to chop up meat
sooooo dubble of the same
once, on a trek, i was bored, waiting for the night to come, So i figure a nearby tree, a 10 years-old birch, and took my cabbage-cutter. I focused a while, and manage to cut it almost in half.
Farmers tools are strongs tools. Even today, where ou can buy another tool in the day.
farmers had pikes, machetes and falchions, falxes, billhooks... various "fun" stuff to play around with.
And all of theses tools ages well : the more they are used, the more they are sharpened, and the more they become aggressive, thinned where they cut, etc...
A man carrying a sword can be a moron with a wallhanger. A man with a billhook in an hand, an falchion in the other, this man is for sure a threat.
Good point, any soldier should be afraid of a farmer who knows how to swing a Scythe all day, sure he's probably not armoured and his moral "courage" training might be in question but one thing you can know for certain is his hands are full of calluses from swinging edged weapons all day. There are many stories in history of farmers turned warriors. I lean towards the thought that peasant armies or militia weren't so much beaten by technology or skill at arms but by numbers and strategy. In a straight up fight armoured knights VS farmers, there's a good chance the underdog comes out on top for many reasons.
@@chasecharland1160 Highly unlikely; untrained, likely malnourished rag wearing serfs with whatever they can find versus professional soldiers, well fed from birth and armed and armoured with their polearms and plate? People who were trained to fight and kill from the ages of 5-7 onwards, often daily.
In an evenly numbered fight and even ones where lowly people outnumbered their “betters” the peasants were crushed, as is shown by all of human history where this has happened, if they were more effective than men at arms, knights and lords, then they wouldn’t have fought in battles, they’d just hire peasants and nobody else because clearly the cabbage farmer is a more dangerous foe than a guy who has spent his adolescence and adult life fighting and killing people who have also spent their entire adolescent and adult life doing the same.
@@pestisthebestspaghettikeys6944 I agree with your assessment, it is the classic stereo type. I meant a few differences however, such as "numbers" being better used, professional soldiers using communication and drill, will obliterated the peasant rabble. But the one on one fight between men who weild their tools. Not all knights are well trained and not all farmhands are starving skeletons. There is a reason why many an uprising was fought with farming tools. The Japanese had the kama and sci, the European had war scyth, mallet and hooks. The Greeks used rabbit killers like sling or bow and everyone had an axe or shank and spear to spare. Armoured knights have lost to lesser troops in many historical occasion such as Agincourt, sterling, and more. The point was not to underestimate a desperate man who works the land with spade and hammer, day in and day out. Every noble and king tried their best to squash an uprising as quickly as possible, with as much violence as possible, because of real danger.
@@chasecharland1160 Now I agree with the rebellions/uprising part although then again I imagine it’d easily be thousands of enraged small folk with the support of the people, many of which including the non die hard loyalist guards/people who can sympathise with the cause, in terms of agincourt it was masses of arrows being volleyed at the enemy, superior terrain with good use of mobile fortifications/spikes to stop cavalry charges obliterating the archers mixed in with brilliant tactics and a stroke of luck by the English king, I say this as an Englishman, the French were absurdly unlucky and mainly lost by making a series of terrible mistakes one after the other, those poorer people who made up the bulk of Henry’s army were longbowmen who had a great deal of training to wield those bows and when they ran out they came crashing into the French from behind in a great wave (while they already becoming exhausted and were distracted by the English knights and men at arms) with daggers, teeth and nails.
One of the best reasons I’d say that rebellions from the farmer/labourer classes would’ve been halted immediately is that they can easily halt food production, and letting it brew into a full blown uprising would mean they’d have to be completely wiped out, which means no workforce at all, you want to tax us to oblivion? Starve in your castles, not to mention guerilla attacks and all other manners of warfare.
I agree that not all knights are well trained, I’d bet my left foot that there were a great deal who didn’t actually earn their ranks and were simply given them by friends/family though I’d bet my right one that they still were better equipped, fed and trained than peasants, put those men in the hands of someone who knows war and tactics and they’ll easily be lead to victory.
Reminds me of a modern occurrence that I was privy to. Former Yugoslavia. Serbian tank depot, outskirts of Zagreb. Fenced in. Men and women scaled the fence. Kitchen knives. Not a single man wearing a uniform left alive. Quite brutal. They never expected that from the "peasants". A lady friend of mine nearby there is a very good cook.
Todd, just a thought if you have a local butcher near you you should be able to purchase smaller pieces of skin on pork. A butcher will often purchase entire halves of pork and then butcher them into cuts.
Leaving the skin on would be very representative for the purpose of weapon damage and might even save you a couple of quid.....
The Thorpe falcion is much on the way of swordification, but the Cluny falchion retains some traits of earlier falchions. The Cluny blade basically identical to the 3rd century machaira excavated in the sanctuary of Demeter in Eraclea, and now housed at the Museo della Siritide. I've never seen this piece in person, but the Cluny I have. There's really zero design limitation that prevent even these thin sweet spot falchions to be used as tools. The mass distribution isn't ideal because of the overweight hilt, but otherwise the Cluny is extremely close in design to the Guapote (number 284) pattern machete. Of course, the machete isn't as finelly designed, with the stiffened spine and concave grind, but the blade is 1.2-1.4mm at the sweet spot. Cane machete (the super wide kind) often have only 1mm thick blades.
So it's really not a design issue, it's a material issue. While you can safely chop at seasoned oak with a 1mm thick machete (it will only give you tennis elbow), because it's modern eutectoid steel with consistant and finely tuned heat treat process, the Cluny falchion is extremely badly bent at the base of the blade were it's thickest, showing that it's not far from being in annealed condition or mild steel.
It's important to notice though that while the Cluny falchion has a completely regular sword hilt, the Siritide machaira has a flat tang in the shape of pre-modern Italian cleavers and billhooks. And in general, non-swordified falchions (especially all the hook hilted ones such as seen on the Morgan Bible, Villard de Honnecourt notes, Porta Romana frieze, etc) are basically a variation on billhooks and cleavers (which, in Italy, belong to the same familly of tools, are constructed the same, etc). Swordification reduced their usefullness as tools, moving the sweet spot back on the blade, but initially they were just as good as tools than as weapons, just like parangs in South East Asia.
catalogo.beniculturali.it/detail/ArchaeologicalProperty/1700209365
oh yeah! Tod's got such good content!
Thanks
If Skallagrim has taught me anything, its that you're not suppose to cut towards your leading leg, or you might end up hitting it when you over-swing.
But damn, that difference between regular sharp and razor sharp on gambeson was huge.
Plenty of real cuts happen over the leads leg.
@@chrisfields8077 What's your point?
You can cut however you please, but basically imagine your target isn't there, and if the full swing ends up reaching any part of you, your stance needs to change. You should be able to cut in the 8 cardinal directions and swing the blade through in a perpetual figure-8 pattern and not hit yourself.
Hitting your own leg sounds as you have your own stance too wide and low and you're cutting too close.
@@kswindl that's it not correct to say - "you're not suppose to cut towards your lead leg" and I don't think that was Skall's intended message.
@@chrisfields8077 Skall didn't really say that in the context of fighting. But is test cutting, because you are going to put a lot of force and overswing, better to not cut towards your leading leg. Obviously in a real fight you never would overswing because then you would be exposed.
I feel like the comparison between the slightly duller and "razor-sharp" blades during the gambeson cut really dispels the myth that medieval blades weren't super sharp--that difference could change the whole course of a battle, definitely worth the effort.
falchions especially, people look at them and think they're thick and robust bladed like a machete, but medieval falchions were very thin and light blades. they couldn't bludgeon their way through anything.
Yes so I was like "oh, (being from Germany) basically I have never known how to pronounce "falchion". Let's just take a quick look inside and find out. But you, Mr. Cutler, make content you just can't escape. Thank you, it's always a pleasure.
Cool video, thank you sir! Amazing how well it cuts a gamberson after being sharpened.
Aww, man! So close to the classic line at the end there: "That'll do, pig, that'll do."
Awesome fact findings there and I always am so glad that we have channels like yours to show us the truth!
Sharpness really counts and it took off the shoulder!
Last statement had me thinking of babe the pig, "that'll do pig" you cut well.
So the Bowie Sword of US Civil War just reinventing the Falchion.
What are you talking about?
Yeah, kinda, he took inspiration more from the machete like brush knives in the areas he was in & refined his designs to be better at the kinds of knife fighting he saw happening/took part in
@@shinobi-no-bueno look up "D Guard Bowie Knives" and you'll see that they are shortsword sized Bowie Knives that was popular in the South during the American Civil War.
@@shinobi-no-bueno Bowie Swords, not knifes, look a lot like old Falchions and served similar functions and used in same way as a Falchions. It's one of those strange weapons that really asks when does a dagger/knife stop being a dagger/knife and becomes a sword. They don't have a set design and parameters but they were all broad choppy weapons.
The Bowie knife is a copy of the Spanish dirk pattern, the Spanish fought the Moors who used Scimitars. 🤔
I applaud your efforts here; great demonstration and good sense. Sadly in the face of internet 'expertise' I fear it will be wasted on many. Keep fighting the Good Fight.
Hammer time Todd.
Always interesting. Knowledge backed up by demonstration. Thank you
I've been watching Tod's workshop for years and only just noticed - he's only a Scrapheap Challenge veteran! :O
I'd love to see him giving a behind the scenes talk on that - forgive me if he already has and I've missed it.
Way back in my vid trails I made a film about one of the episodes. Fanatstic job, spent two years working behind the cameras in engineering and then was an expert 5 times - amazing series to work on
@@tods_workshop Wow, never expected a reply from you. That's ace, thank you. I'm also happy to hear it was as fun as it looked.
I was always wondering about them. Thanks for the demo!
Another splendid video. Thank you.
regarding the comment about mail's purpose @8:52 "its not so good against piercing things like arrows and spears, but swords, axes that's what its made for".
Mail appears to work fine against piercing weapons as is attested to in both historical sources and in modern testing with accurately made mail. TH-camr Airnt's video "Lance versus Armour" showed that well made mail is capable of stopping a lance from a charging horse so it seems quite likely the same armour would be capable of resiting a one handed spear thrust or an arrow from the lower poundage bows found in most periods. As is often said on this channel, our ancestors were not stupid and piercing weapons (spears, arrows and javelins) made up the vast majority of the threats mail would need to stop. For many centuries mail was the preferred choice for developed European armies, even for high status individuals, despite the availability of other metal armour types such as breastplates, scale or segmented plate armour. So it does seem that our ancestors felt mail worked against piercing weapons.
I don't know why, but ever since I learned about them, I've always loved the look and style of falchions
likewise
Do a sword sharpening video Todd ... would be very helpful ! (thank you, great video)
Tod's local Butcher talking to a housewife - "Sorry Madam, I've just sold my last joints of pork. There's been a sudden run on them lately. I can't imagine why..." ;)
I always figured the falchion was a sword carried by wealthier people who presumed they would be fighting those that couldn’t afford mail and wanted to maximize effectiveness cutting fabric armour.
Loved that, thanks Tod. I was just thinking towards the end, "chop a joint of meat" & you did just that!
You should have tested a cut at the gambeson alone after one cut to the maille, would have been interesting how much less it would have cut.
Yes I should! where were you when I needed you?
@@tods_workshop Maybe next time?
I have never forgotten the words to the song Black Sir Harry, which I learned in junior school in the 1960's: Black was his plume, black was his shield, Braver ne'er did falchion wield.
That episode with the fire arrows was a blast!
Falchions, especially in the high middle ages compared to the late where you get more saber like forms, are fairly unique in that they're basically your go-to textile slicer. Not really a good idea to liken them to axes simply because based on examples pulled up, the distal taper is nuts and gets incredibly thin so brutish force in cutting as with an axe will probably mangle your falchion. They're super thin, wide blades probably intended for richer folk to chop up textile wearing militiamen, poorer mercs, etc. Probably were expensive to use in that the edge of one might not survive a full campaign at all. At least in my mind the fragility speaks to a higher class weapon specialized for textile defeating, since a poor man isn't going to be able to afford a sword which has an incredibly thin taper and is likely to get damaged if banged against metal armor too much.
*Note that I'm also thinking of the Cluny style falchoin Tod's got in his hands in the start of the video, the more saber like later falchions really feel like a different weapon altogether in the later 14th century.
I didn't know about the cross sectional profile change in falchions before. Really interesting and totally makes sense in hindsight.
Also I recognised that gambison straight away. Loved your fire arrow videos.
I Love ALL Tod's Workshop videos!
Yeah I’ve chopped off lots of heads limbs with the different Falchions. Just slices through enemies on their soft spots.
I use this historic info in Blade and Sorcery VR. It’s incredibly accurate and the tech is only getting better.
I have heard that it was a practice when using a falchion to use the back of the blade against people in metal armor, that way you get the bludgeoning without damaging the blade.
Thank you Tod
Awesome video! One of the things I heard on another channel, Dequitem, is that against mail and plate they may have flipped it in their hand to strike with the spine of the blade since the impact is all it can do anyway. Then of course with the clip point you can also use it to thrust into the gaps. Gorgeous blades and interesting to see that evolution in design as armor changed as well.
Yess, falchions are my second favorite sword type
Tod, I have a 24-inch (60cm+) Collins, No. 23, machete with blade of WW II to 1950s-'60s. It is US made, and the blade rings like a bell in use. It is a brush clearing tool - I used it in junior college to do yard work in order to pay for my textbooks. The blade ranges from 34 mm (1 3/8ths inches) wide and 2 mm thick at the haft to 55 millimeters wide and one mm thick at the point of percussion, which is between 15 and 20 mm from the tip. Aside from the hilt form, it strongly resembles a cleaver falchion though not as broad toward the tip and lacking any form of guard. The US government version was issued as a utility blade in WW II for trail clearing and similar brush work, rather like the blades issued to some British military pioneer units. During WW II the Collins machete was also occasionally used in close-quarters combat. Similar Collins blades were made at factories in Columbia and Guatemala.
Thanks and interesting. Generally and I would suspect this is the case machetes have full tangs that are more robust than whittle tangs and they also generally have a flat section with short bevel rather than a wedge section, but otherwise similar by the sounds of it
@@tods_workshop That's correct. The blade tapers from hilt to tip, but not from back to edge. The edge is a simple bevel, and I _estimate_ the angle is around 30-35 degrees, which is a durable angle for working on wood and similar materials without dulling. Handling it brought back memories of chopping down blackberries that buried yards, live oak sprouts, even rogue rose bushes the owner wanted gone. It has a truly beautiful, bell-like ring in use.
Blaize de Montluc wrote that men at arms circa 1520 used to carry curtilaces (coutelas) to cut arms of maille and to cleave (destrancher) morions (Blaize de Montluc was an archer in the Ordinance Companies, as well as serving as a man at arms for a short time during that period). Rarely does he exaggerate, and wrote that he never saw such cuts (before) in his life (ie, they were surprising to him).
Joachim Meyer likewise describes "hewing" with the blade of the "sabel" (depicted as the typical long knife/curtilace of the period) against an armored opponent, particularly at the hands (as well as thrusts, obviously). He says the sabel should be strong and good at cutting, but *explicitly* not too heavy.
That's interesting, but if those guys were "man at arms" understood as fully armored men with possibility of armored horses too, it's possible that their cutlasses were actually something that WAS heavy and stiff. And it's possible that horses movement added up to the impact.
Then there were some maille sleeves that were made out of some really fine wire, there's one in Kraków that honestly looks like it's wire has less than 0.5mm in diameter. Together with some rivets being very badly set (probably due to the fact that overlap was really tiny, it's probably more amazing that most of them were in fact set pretty well), almost completely on the edge of overlap, it's quite possible that such mail sleeves would be susceptible even to the cut.
It would surely be very light, flexible, breathable and so on, but at the cost of protection.
So perhaps with very powerful swings, and some very light (and possibly bad) mail and helmets, it was possible.
@@lscibor The word used was "gend'armes", so yes.
I agree, and the mention of "morions" (specifically) makes me think its in reference to seeing specifically those (infantry) helmets cut apart (and there are some rather thin and poorly constructed extants). I brought up Meyer's description because if curtilaces were always typically light, then there would be no reason for him to say that they should not be too heavy.
Thin wire though, I am unsure. Low quality maille makes sense to me though.
I wholeheartedly trust Montluc either way, as this is only example of anything in his entire memoir that could be considered eyebrow raising (that I have seen at least), and he speaks of it as if he witnessed it himself.
A couple of other things that I’d be interested in: The “reasonably sharp” against clothing. (Linen tunic and wool cote. Maybe a wool hood too.) The “reasonably sharp” doing a pull or push cut against the gambeson.
11:52 _"It's a very fine line that the energy is being concentrated on"_ Is it though? The force is being spread out to the entirety of each ring it hits, each of those rings is then diffusing it to all the rings it's connected on, and the gambeson behind it is spreading it out even more. By the time it hits the body, the line of force is probably close to an inch wide - even if there's more force in the centre of that inch than on the outside.
I doubt that's enough pressure (= force / area) to, eg, break bone. Maybe it would bruise if you can manage to land a blow at full power in the melee of battle? It's certainly enough to break someone's flow and temporarily fumble them, but I doubt it's enough to properly wound them, let alone take them out of action. Of course, when it comes to plate, it wouldn't even do that, and the wearer might not even realise they got hit.
Well yes an no, but a good point. Technically yes and that is what I was thinking of. The sword does have a very fine line, but of course it does not cut through the mail anyway, so yes the 'line' is at least as wide as the rings and then the gambeson, possibly 12mm wide, which of course is not fine - good point - thanks
@@tods_workshop Thanks for the reply. Testing how much blunt force trauma can be caused by various weapons through mail + gambeson would be fascinating. No idea how to do that with a modicum of safety however...
A very good video I thoroughly enjoyed!
I totally agree that these weapons are best vs fabric armour and for it they need to be very sharp. The fantasy of it cutting plate armor in half is just in the movies, unless it's made very, very thin then just maybe. But still not likely to happen. That's what the point is for, to thrust through it is much more feasible even with a wide blade.
There is somethng I've found though.
If you take a leg of pork or beef with the bone still in it and add padding and maille armor and strike it really hard with a sword something unexpected happens. The shock won't hurt the maille (single cut rings at most but probably nothing much) but it can still rip apart the padding and what's more important rip the meat under it so deep it exposes the bone even through thick muscle. It looks just like a cut but it's a tear and is often overlooked in testing since the maille isn't rent apart and maybe ballistic gel doesn't even rip like that.
It does take some serious force though. Technique, using your bodys full strength and follow through like a woodsman cutting down a tree or splitting a big log. A heavier sword is probably preferable to a lighter one as well. You might want to cut with the inner node on the sword as well unless it's a stout, stiff blade.
The clip point falchions in the video should do well for this even hitting with the outer node.
Easiest way to get the power is to try a long travelling arc overhead and downward swing while stepping in with the sword side leg to get power, the hit should be just as you touch the ground with the stepping foot. It will activate your whole body and the mechanics are then intuitive. It's always best to lead with the sword side leg as well when cutting with sharps as it's less likely to chop your leg, though it can be done otherwise when you're used to it.
Of course an attack in combat like that is very visible and they could just counter or sidestep it, even skewer you with their weapon, so the skill is in feinting and timing and even having someone else distracting the target for you to actually land it in a real life battlefield situation. It is what it is. But it can produce rending tears in flesh under otherwise unbroken maille.
if you had to fight someone in mail, it might be a good idea to turn the falchion around and strike with the spine of the blade to avoid edge damage.
Nah you obstruct their view with your shield while you go for their legs once down you go for the kill.
Bjorn Ruther suggested that it may have been done that falchions with simple ambidextrous grips could have allowed for alternating sharp and blunt edge strikes using the cutting edge against vulnerable targets and the blunt edge like a hammer against sturdier targets. He has a video on his channel where he talks about it.
I have a 24" machete with a very deep cross section at the "sweet spot" on the blade. It really looks a bit like the cleaver falchion but doesn't have the balanced weight and the thicker spine. That machete is a chopping beast though. I sunk it about 2 1/2" (5-6cm) into a live aspen tree we were going to cut down. It is top heavy and only good for cutting heavier branches or brush because of the over swing.
no matter how good it is in the name of science, ill never get used to perfectly good weapons going up against steel
Awesomeness in Action 👍🏻
Speaking of camp activities, It does appear to do an excellent job at butchery!
looks like i'm buying a falchion good stuff thanks tod
This takes me all the way back to my first time seeing James Burke slash into that meat on Connections.
Ok, I think I finally have got this: falchions are specialized shaving tools and kitchen swords.
I like the falchion, it's basically just a big machete and I think that's neat.
"I've got a lovely bunch of falchions
There they are, all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your leg!
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That's what the swordsman said"
-I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts - Fred Heatherton, paraphrased
Fun fact: The portuguese word for sword (espada) comes from the spatha sword from the late roman empire.
So a language that has its basis in Latin uses a Latin base for its words. Go figure.
Thanks Vitor, Rob, really? there is enough negativity in the world already
Nice touch with the pork at the end. Thank you. :)
The birds in the background are really nice.
Greay video Tod. Speaking on the topic of utilitarian swords I'm fascinated to which kind of swords would be for you the ideal ones to carry in the medieval period, perhaps looking at what someone might carry in a more urban compared to a more rural area or even profession etc. Of course we have sources in art and writing to get an idea but I do wonder how much fashion influenced people over practicality. Food for thought. All the best! Love the content matey.
Can we get you guys a ballistic gel dummy and a HEMA expert to try out some medieval weapons on some with and without armor? Maybe even a doctor to go over the damage and explain what kind of wounds would've been fatal. I would love to see something like that, and with a variety of weapons from different periods of the middle ages with weapons used around the world.
I want more stuff like this.
He will probably get mat easton to do this again on day.
@@thor498 I've seen a bit of scholagladiatoria videos too. That would be great. I would also like to see someone like Dave Rawlings go at a ballistic gel dummy with a two-hander, maybe a comparison between how weapons of the later middle ages compare to earlier ones against armor from the later middle ages and earlier armor. I'm no expert, but I've seen that there's an evolution of arms and I would love to see how newer stuff compares to older stuff from within the period of time over the middle ages.
I'm also really interested in the Crusades. Perhaps some demonstrations seeing how arms and armor of the Seljuk Turks vs the same for the Crusaders to see how effective they were and how they were used.
The problem with ballistic gel is that it is designed for bullets as a comparable medium so whether you are in Bombay or Brighton the two sets of data are comparable. It is neither an analogue for flesh nor designed for use with swords or arrows for that matter so doubly off track. However it is the best that is reasonably available.
@@tods_workshop I've heard Ballistic Dummy Lab makes models to accurately represent blunt force trauma and stabbing wounds in addition to ballistic wounds. I've never used them, so I wouldn't know, but could be worth having for medieval arms. I"ve seen their TH-cam channel, and they look like good dummies to test blades on.
I would be interested to see what the clip point does in a thrust against gambeson and mail, and also inverted with the tip pointed downwards against the mail.
I gotta start saving, I desperately want one of your Falchions!
5:59 during the English civil war soldiers apparently used their swords so much for cutting firewood that they became too dull for combar, but they could use their muskets as clubs anyway
I would personally choose the clip point, probably one even more aggressive than what Mr. Todeschini has. That way it would still be relevant against mail.
I have found that angling your wrist towards you as you cut will also help get through that cloth armor. The drawing/slicing action it creates is far more effective at such than a static chop.
I recall reading a story once where man had been ambushed and just barely gotten his mail shirt on with no padding underneath, by the time it was all said and done his friends remarked on the "peculiar bruises". Wish I could remember what story it was...
Also I love the Clipped Point design on Falchions ;-)
Dostal taper is what sets swords apart if it is done by a pro like tot it feels amazing to handle
I know you focus mostly on medieval weapons, but could you take a look at more Bronze Age and Ancient weapons, like a khopesh and kopis and similar weapons and how they behave against flesh and armour? I'd love to know!
Thank you for the constant amazing and informative content, Tod! Keep it up!
Now this is the kind advertisement I don't mind watching.
In the Elmslie typology, there are (respectively):
Type 1
Type 3c
Type 5c
I've always like falchions. I've also imagined them to be more defensive and utilitarian weapons; the wider blade makes for easier blocking and deflecting, while also being more resilient to abuse. Then again, the times I've actually held a sword can be counted on one hand.
Finally he gets the ballistic gel torso!!
you should invite matt easton for this. really wonder what would happen if a sword expert did this.
Awesome video!
Cheers
I like that the plate is still being used. Something I'm very curious is about the wear and tear/rust of armor that is used for a long time without reforging. I feel people nowadays don't think about the fact that the armors were expensive and probably used for a long while so they probably weren't as durable or consistent on average as people think.
Any Chivalry 2 players here? Falchion and large shield guardian knight class. pretty fun! :)
Tod's Cutlets
In Bohemia, there are many similar weapons from the 12th century to the 15th or 16th century... Here they are called Tesák, or Messer which is a Germanized version, they have one peculiarity and that is the third guard on the right side. It used to be the weapon of hunters or "richer" townspeople. Although now I think it will fall into a slightly different category... 🙂 Anyway, thank you very much for the video...
Great works again, Tod! Have you ever thought about going on Forged in Fire? It would be a privilege to see you compete!
Minutes from going public and already watching!
I'd be interested in seeing how the clip point and wakefield do thrusting against mail , perhaps in a future video