Apropos of nothing in particular, but this collection of images of ceremonial swords employed by the US Air Force simply demanded a wider audience.

	-={(Astynax)}=- "I could swear I had the sword in the second picture in a game at some point."

Well those are goofy as all hell ain't they.

( Speaking as a blacksmith? -Ew- )

Those belong in video games, and nowhere near a real military.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter

>Those belong in video games, and nowhere near a real military.

I think a couple of them are from video games...

--
Unable to save the day: File is read-only.

>Those belong in video games, and nowhere near a real military.

Well, given that we're talking about the Air Force...

(feel free to suggest your own variation)

"Fly me closer, I want to hit them with my sword."

Having been an utter sword-nerd since time immemorial, I offer you this:

http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/fulaste.htm

The page IS in Swedish, but the general idea of "Hideous/Silly swords" should sort of come through all the same.
There's a whole set of pages, but since the site utilizes a "frame" layout, it's probably easier if you just add the numbers 2 through 7 just before the period.
...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

>Having been an utter sword-nerd since time immemorial, I offer you
>this:
>
>http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/fulaste.htm
>
>The page IS in Swedish, but the general idea of "Hideous/Silly swords"
>should sort of come through all the same.
>There's a whole set of pages, but since the site utilizes a "frame"
>layout, it's probably easier if you just add the numbers 2 through 7
>just before the period.

Heh, it's like someone decided to actually forge the art from a multitude of RPG sourcebooks. Though I suppose a few of them could qualify as 'merely impractical' rather than 'more dangerous the the wielder than their opponent'.

	-={(Astynax)}=- "Kobrakatana!"

I'm not sure about the rest of them, but the one with the pinched bit in the middle of the blade seems to be designed with half-swording in mind. Why you'd make that feature into the blade instead of y'know... using a gauntlet? That bit's beyond me. Maybe the makers weren't into heavy armor?

This one? http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/images/barbarian2.jpg?x

It might've been a thing, but considering how far out the "waist" is, you'd need arms like an orangutan. Not to mention it's a significant weak-spot. At least you get a back-up knife for when the blade snaps.
...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

Yeah, that one. It's the only one I see there that kind of makes sense - but as you noted, it has many very obvious design flaws. I don't think I'd trust that backup knife, either. It looks like it would fall off after one or two parries.

>Having been an utter sword-nerd since time immemorial, I offer you
>this:
>
>http://www.foxtail.nu/bjorn/fulaste.htm
>
>The page IS in Swedish, but the general idea of "Hideous/Silly swords"
>should sort of come through all the same.

My hat's off to Google Translate for such an excellent job of getting this guy's disgust across in English:

> "In the same spirit, we have a bunch of stainless steel kitchen knives
> from Spanish Marto, suitable for barbarian wannabes. It is difficult to
> decide which is the ugliest, so the whole bundle must be included. I
> suspect that the designer overdosed on shitty heavy metal and worse
> barbarian films in the 80's…

I can only imagine how snarky it is in the original Swedish...

-- Bob
-------------------
My race is pacifist and does not believe in war. We kill only out of personal spite.

That he as actually a pretty good translation, indeed. But yes, the snarkiness is high.

"As your comment about the so-called Christmas katana sword, it is clear that you can associate gadgets with anything. For example, I have heard comments that Del Tin looks like overgrown cutlery. "

Clearly from people who think that Christmas catanas are the most beautiful thing they have seen ;-)

"As I said, taste is divided."

Hellyeah. In good and bad taste ;-)

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"

Anyone here watch Forged in Fire? Contestants build blades and the final weapon is usually a weapon from history, which they then put through tests to see what the weapon can do. Watching what a sword or bladed weapon can do to a pig or hog carcass is sobering -- just because no one carries such weapons around these days doesn't mean they are any less lethal than they were centuries ago.....

Craig

>Watching what a sword or
>bladed weapon can do to a pig or hog carcass is sobering -- just
>because no one carries such weapons around these days doesn't mean
>they are any less lethal than they were centuries ago.....

"They did most of the good work with this. I'd like you to see what it does to a side of meat, because in hand-to-hand combat, that's all a man is."
- James Burke, Connections: A Personal View of Change episode 03: "Distant Voices" (1979)

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.

>just
>because no one carries such weapons around these days doesn't mean
>they are any less lethal than they were centuries ago.....

Slightly unsettling fact: up until about 1965, the coppers around here still carried sabers rather than truncheons/nightsticks, and they really only stopped that because they were a pain to get in and out of patrol cars with.
There's a deterrent for you.

...!
Stoke Mandeville, Esq & The Victorian Ballsmiths
"Nobody Want Verdigris-Covered Balls!"