Featured Sponsor Listings

What is the most devastating sword this world has seen?

Feb 2, 2007 at 9:32 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 84
wakeride74

wakeride74

Headphoneus Supremus
Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Posts
5,047
Likes
24
I watched a couple movies recently that got me curious about this. I watched The Last Samurai and of course the katana (name?) is always a favorite because of its design and the graceful art involved when used by the properly trained.

I also watched Troy (testing out my HD player) and the short swords used in that move and other like Gladiator seem exceptionally effective in such combat. Major props to the choreographers for the Troy fight scenes, Pitt's movements are nothing short of impressive.

Anyway, so any of you blade history buffs want to take a stab (insert shameless pun) at the question: what is the most devastating sword the world has seen?

btw - lightsabers don't count
wink.gif
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 9:37 PM Post #2 of 84
Ah man, was going to vote for lightsabres.
frown.gif


Well, I like samurai katanas. They are deadly yet beautiful.
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 9:38 PM Post #3 of 84
I'm not sure if it's the most devastating sword ever, but I'm pretty fond of the rapier:

moc_rapier.jpg
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 9:43 PM Post #4 of 84
Katana. Not only its deadly, its strong as well. It is made of soft and hard metals. Hard metals can be sharpen till very sharp but it is brittle. The soft metal is used to make it less brittle and with the hard metal cutting blade, it is deadly and strong.

Its design can slice, chop and stab. Very versatile.
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 9:45 PM Post #5 of 84
Wow, I was thinking more metaphorically...like maybe " a keyboard connected to a computer connected to the internet..."

But, I'll go with the sword the guy in the "Marines" ad swirls about. Or, the one used by Zorro, the Gay Blade....

Joe
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 10:34 PM Post #8 of 84
< zip >

But seriously, the most devastating sword would be the one that did the most devastating... could be a rusty machete, for all we know. Personally, I wouldn't want the blade of a bloody-handed tyrant. Bad karma and all that.
plainface.gif


Another take on that theme would be a sword owned by a famous duelist... most dueling swords were never intended to be compared against wildly differing blades (i.e. the old, beaten-like-a-dead-rented-horse katana vs. rapier argument).

Any sword that's properly made in the pattern-welded tradition and honed to a razor edge is pretty devastating, and the new factory-made blades are getting pretty close.
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 10:37 PM Post #9 of 84
probably the roman 1st century pompeii sword:
SD1051_Roman_Sword.JPG

it's what built the roman empire.
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 10:45 PM Post #11 of 84
Quote:

Originally Posted by afbug /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Katana. Not only its deadly, its strong as well. It is made of soft and hard metals. Hard metals can be sharpen till very sharp but it is brittle. The soft metal is used to make it less brittle and with the hard metal cutting blade, it is deadly and strong.


I think it´s certainly the Samurai Katana. Recently there was a very informative TV program on the NatGeo channel about how the Samurai katanas were made (one of the programs in their "Martial Arts week" programming). The manufacturing techniques involved baffle even present day metallurgical engineers.

The ancient Japeneese (not so ancient, but quite a few centuries ago anyway) not only figured out ways to obtain the outmost quality steel, then they also figured out what Afbug mentioned: that an extremely hard metal can be brittle. So they used a softer metal inside the core of the blade, the combination ends up extremely hard and not brittle at all (this resulting quality of a combination of hard+soft materials I believe is called "resilience" -or at least it´s called the equivalent to "resilience" in Spanish). They also forge the source metal brick hammering it and then bending it on itself hundreds of times, so the blade ends up being hundreds of microscopically thin layers of extremely hard and high-purity steel around the softer core. They also used rather special sanding stones and techniques, and final engravings to beautify and "sign" the katana.

The tv program indicated that to make an original Katana using the traditional ways, from obtaining the iron ore, processing it, till getting a finished up katana, took overall the work of about 15 people (different crafts involved) over a period of time of at least six months (iirc). An original Samurai katana is truly a jewel, a true work of art and engineering, while also an extremely effective weapon, all at the same time.

Edit: link to Wikepedia's Katana entry.
 
Feb 2, 2007 at 10:50 PM Post #14 of 84
I'd take a Katzbalger. Maybe not the "world's deadliest blade", but more suited for modern uses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by afbug /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Katana. Not only its deadly, its strong as well. It is made of soft and hard metals. Hard metals can be sharpen till very sharp but it is brittle. The soft metal is used to make it less brittle and with the hard metal cutting blade, it is deadly and strong.

Its design can slice, chop and stab. Very versatile.


Different heat treats accounts for the greater hardness of the edge compared to the back.

The katana makes use of a differential heat treat to create a harder edge while leaving the back of the blade relatively soft. The advantage is that the katana's edge can be heat treated to a significantly higher hardness than non-differentially heat treated swords, and thus have a sharper edge. The disadvantage is that the edge is more brittle, and you only have one.

Versatility isn't great either. It is designed to slice, which it does very well. Due to design though, it's a relatively poor chopper. It can be used to stab, but isn't great at it. That's what the Wakizashi and Tanto are for. European longswords were actually much more versatile.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top