whats the the "ultimate form" (most highly refined) of weapons like swords, axes, bows, etc?i know technically, you can always improve shit, but by the 1500's-1600's things had sorta reached an apex in design; you really start to see each culture converge in form before guns took overso, what was the last "real" (not ceremonial) form these types of weapons took before their abandonment?
>>65129388Well, for dealing with armor, you have polearms, estocs, rondel daggers. For unarmored, rapiers, sabres, various unarmored-fighting-swords (starting with the side sword and not changing very much from there).The funny thing about modern swords is, they never really converged on a single design. Infantry (officer) swords ranged from sabres to basically rapiers. Cavalry swords from basically sword-lances (in england and america) to sabres that would not have looked out of place in the 16th century (poland).
there really isnt one. firstly, because its all contextual. what's best on a horse with a musket and pike block is completely different to what's best on a ship, and that's completely different to if you're wearing plate armours. and if you're wearing plate, that's different to if they're using firearms, or not, and so on and so on and so on. the additional problem is, once you're past a certain point, they're all good enough. there's no deader than dead, etc. And even a bronze age Ewart Park or Chinese Warring states sword will get you to that point. So there really isnt any "best" out there. there's plenty that are pretty bad - you wouldnt want to be trying to use a congolese sword with smallsword fencing methods, but equally, trying to use a smallsword like you would a 15th C german longsword's going to break it in 3 seconds. So really, what it boils down to is preference of looks and appearance, and what era it was being used in, against what sort of other arms and armour.
>>65129415I think china issues a cavalry sabre right now, so yeah.
Isn’t the China/India border skirmish currently being fought with melee weapons? Maybe look at what they’re using
>>65129388Seems like everyone went to some sort of saber
>>65129427from what i've seen, they were basic post-modern melee weapons, not actual traditional weapons
>>65129449What is this shitHit up lk chen, hanwei, windlass or what's their name and get yourself some proper weaponry.
Depends heavily on the use case. I'd say the ultimate jack of all trade weapon, for a man in armour, is a poleaxe.
>>65129388>what was the last "real" (not ceremonial) form these types of weapons took before their abandonment?Bayonett
>>65129388https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e68nuAcSuWQ
>>65129581trvke
>>65129431More like that was the last role they were relevant in
>>65129388Swords peaked with the katana.
>>65130016Simple as
>>65129641imagine running someone through with your little pencil blade and he just keeps coming and chops you in the neck with a hatchet. Fencing is the most obscenely feminine hand to hand combat ever
>>65130016That's gross. I have a katana, wakazashi and tanto. That doesn't mean I know what I'm talking about, but that's gross.
>>65130576Happens even with beefier swords. You're supposed to give them a quick stab, extract the blade and parry the afterblow. Not run them through.
>>65129388For the army - halberdFor armored 1 on 1 combat - bec-de-corbinFor home defense - rapierFor everyday carry - smallsword
>>65129388The ultimate form of melee weapons? We started the melee arms race by knapping stone until we had a knife, and the culmination of thousands of years of trying to cut and stab each other ended with soldiers carrying a bushcraft knife for the field.
>>65130016Don’t make me culturally enrich your ass
>>65130576If you somehow fail to hit a vital organ that disables an enemy instantly like the heart or mayor arteries, with the lightest, most minmaxxed sword ever made, you would have also died from magdumping your subcompact 9mm into a charging moon cricket and missing an off switch. Those fencing foils look weak as fuck because they are meant to reduce the risk of actually stabbing someone as much as possible, and its a serious concern because of how lethal those stabs can actually be. You need to be higher than an astronaut to not feel being fully run through your chest, and they are cutting themselves on it more, possibly fatally, if they dont immediately stop moving.
