Medeival Rant 2

Medeival Rant 2

"Archers wear their Quiver on their back."
-Not combat applicable ones. In order to gain enough power to go a fair distance and still pierce an enemy, long bows and arrow shafts were needed. Some arrows could reach 36 inches, so they were worn on the belt and to the side. And quite often arrows were stuck in the ground before battle for easy access.

"Arrows pierce plate armor"
-No, they don't. Not even at the weaker points on the front and the sides. All it will do is leave a little bruise on the plate, but that's it.

"Swords break, especially if huge guys with maces stomp on them"
-Wrong also. Swords bend, if they broke that easily they would have been totally useless in combat.

"Swords are freaking heavy, like 40 pounds."
- Bullshit. A one handed sword weights approximately 2 pounds. A hand-and-a-half sword would be 2.5 to 3 pounds. A double handed sword would not weigh more than 6 pounds. There have been few cases where ceremonial swords could reach 9 pounds, but they were not intended for practical use anyway.

"Katanas are the lightest and fastest swords ever."
-Nope. Japanese Swords weigh about 2.5 to 3 pounds. Light blades are practically useless. Swords need weight in order to do any valid damage. This goes double for the katana, since it%u2019s only main purpose is for cutting.

"Cool people were huge armor but no helmets"
-Certainly not. More than half of all attacks from excellent sword styles aim for the head. It is the first thing that should be armored. You have everything on your body two times, but just one head...

"Plate armor is damn heavy."
-Chain mail is actually heavier. A full plate cuirass would weigh about 11 to 17 pounds, that%u2019s less than the average high school backpack. But a short sleeve mail hauberk could weigh 20 to 30 pounds.

"Good armor..."
-...Is not worn without a Gambeson, Aketon, or padded jack. This might vary from culture to culture, but armor needs to be padded. And mail doesn't protect your arm from breaking.

"Archers needed to be slim to hide in the woodlands and be agile"
-Highly unlikely, Because weapon quality bows back then were made of heartwood from yew or ash, and could have a draw weight up to 150 pounds, and in some cases the longbows could be 180 pounds. That's like lifting a full grown man with three fingers. Archers were huge guys.

"Armor is really heavy and can make you really slow."
-Trained knights could be just as limber and agile armored as they are unarmored, being able to climb ropes, roll quickly, and even jump onto their horses.

"The depression in swords was used to let blood flow out of a body, reducing suction, hence the term "blood-groove"."
-The "fullar" as it was correctly called, was used to lighten the blade, to balance the sword further, and to make it stiffer. Not for reducing "suction".

"Cool swordsmen wear their swords on their back, like Link."
-It%u2019s a physical impossibility to draw an averagely long straight-bladed sword from the back with a closed scabbard. Back-worn swords are usually short, or curved, or so long it can%u2019t be hung at the side, In which case the sword would have a sheath that would only enclose the tip, and have a securing mechanism for the guard.

"Fantasy swords, in general"
-Most fantasy swords suck, but that%u2019s what many people seem to be interested in nowadays. With sporting such titles as %u201CThe demon slayer of Valeen%u201D or %u201CDark Dragon of Fire%u201D, one trait is always the same between these swords: They all come with poor quality materials, and hazardous blade and hilt designs. The most recognizable are the spiny cutouts in the blade and the spikes that point backwards on the guard, the latter being in just about every fantasy sword. The makers purposefully do that to the guard so people can%u2019t actually use the sword. Anyone who knows about swords knows how much of a joke they are. Buyer beware,

"The term %u2018Katana%u2019"
-Katana just means sword in Japanese, that%u2019s it. I could take a broadsword or a rapier into Japan and it would be referred to as katana. If you walked into a Japanese sword shop and asked for a katana, they would ask %u201Cwhat kind?%u201D The term for a longsword (Samurai%u2019s sword) is Daito; the term for the shortsword is Wakizashi, both as a pair being called Daisho. So stop saying you have a katana when it could mean anything.


"My sword is so cool; it%u2019s made with high quality 440 stainless steel"
-Stainless steels do not make good swords; the chromium content will weaken the grain boundaries of the steel in large quantities. It%u2019s good for knives, because they need to be stiff and retain an edge longer. Wallhanger sword manufacturers use stainless because they aim for toughness and low maintenance, unlike real swords that require constant care, but in turn they are too brittle for full contact use.