In hindsight I realize I neglected to comment much on Tod's work itself, as I was just focused on the practical aspects of those historical designs. Regardless of whatever they were thinking back then, his craftsmanship here and now is outstanding. That's why he has earned the right to harshly criticize some features of historical originals... see Matt's video on that. :) ua-cam.com/video/vD7HmlZqdDM/v-deo.html
The sword with the hammer on the end isa tournament weapon. The rule was that a piece of metal had to be attached to the tip of the sword as a break stop to prevent it from peing able to run the opponent through. Some clever guy has bent the rules by attaching a hammer head as the break stop. German officers still played this type of tournament in the early 20th century, which is why many of them had facial scars and missing eyes.
Tod's work is so phenomenal... That it isn't a "made by the guy standing next to you" kind of thing. It IS a piece plucked out of history, as if by time travel. The strange "judicial duel hammer" thing... There was no discussion of "is this hook in the same place as the original" when discussing it's function. "Todd may not have put it in the right place" wasn't a possible answer. it is accepted to be accurate of the original. Tod's work is so clean, and so true, that his work is beyond reproach. His work is casually accepted seamlessly as "the original". It isn't a reproduction anymore. To the mind, It's 100% the real deal. By not commenting on his craftsmanship... You have given him very high praise indeed. Accidental praise is the most genuine. And I think he knows that.
yeah, it's the sort of view I wish Tod and Matt had done previously when the weapons first came out, but I suspect they might not have the same options in terms of cameras-that-don't-have-arrows-through-them, which is all good. Amazing work Tod does, even on things like his trebuchet, which you'd expect some rougher joinery on.
Judicial Duel were all about even odds, so givng the opponents unusual or even weird weapons would help to ensure that no one had an advantage from being used to it.
More than just "won't have used before" I see it more like "this is an objectively bad design in critical ways that makes it behave unintuitively, so it's not possible for you to have used it before nor for you to be used to anything comparable"
The oversized dagger I get the impression that (based on their observations) it was made for someone wanting the START trouble against law-abiding people just carrying regular knives and daggers, and still being able to skirt the law when not causing trouble. “Once you have it out, it has advantages over someone with a smaller blade” is what got me thinking this.
@@queenannsrevenge100 maybe it was a "cocodrile dandee" situation and u just have to show that thing for the oponents to back out of figthing you and leave
About the very long rondel dagger: I'm an art student and very good friends with an historian and an engineer. I also happen to be a HEMA instructor and we've been doing an academic research about these long stabbing daggers that are essentially short sword length. In Italy we have a few southern italian sources which talk about and showcase such weapons. The neapolitan infantrymen in the battle of Otranto (1460) are shown carrying these short estoques/long daggers. After a bit more research we came up with the sources talking about southern italian infantrymwn carrying "stocchi/ mezzi stocchi/ daghette" (short tucks) as secondary weapons that could be more serviceable for their manner of doing war (3 infantrymen attack one guy, the familiar comes in with one of these or a woodsplitting axe and finishes them off). I won't cite the entire research because it's very vast and we're planning on publishing it as a book, but we found that extremely long stabbing daggers or short swords are rather common as weapons for southern italian foot soldiers since the age of Federico II up until the half of the XVI century. It's a regional specialty, and we found specimens with three-lobed guards (almost like a tri-bollock tuck) and fishtail pommels both in iconography and as physical specimens. Baselards were also common, often in the place of swords even, as it's been understood from a research in the church of S. Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples. The Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were still very fixated on the manner of late roman legions in warfare, it seems, favoring short, stabbing tucks for taking down enemies in groups. It's an intresting topic of research, might be worth looking into because southern italian medieval weaponry is very peculiar.
Regarding the research I talked about... it still isn't complete. Still, when it will be (with its own bibliography and an official publication) it would be quite the honor and, I believe, a pleasure to be able to discuss the topic of southern Italian weaponry and, in particular, the phenomenon of long, tuck-like daggers as commonplace weapons in history. I'm just saying this to let you know that me and my collaborators are open to the idea of a collaboration (sorry for the wordplay here) for the sake of knowledge. For this possibility, how will we be able to contact you for an exchange? I think academic studies on this topic are lacking, especially in our southern Italian region... there is much, much more than it seems. Just a little spoiler: there has been a political and military relationship with the Kingdom of Naples and the dynasty of Vlad Tepes of Wallachia, to the point that we found evidence of various elements of central-European Holy Roman Empire culture in the church complexes and tombs of southern Italian and Neapolitan knights.
I think you just sold three copy of that book, one each to Skal, Tod and Matt; Also, you've just raised an extremely interesting possibility they may not have accounted for: _travel._ Possibly the Roundel XXL wasn't native made but carried by a traveler: _or_ that a traveler who'd seen them abroad asked their friendly local weaponsmith to make one from description.
@@5peciesunkn0wn not yet... but we are thinking of calling it "Study on the stylistic incidences of the Parthenopean hoplology from the XIV to the XVII century"
@@ShadowDragon8685 that's possible too... once we publish the book it'll be clearer for anyone i hope... btw no, i haven't sold any copies yet, it's still in the making
Loved this video and we as a community actually need more of them. Blade users talking with blde makers to better understand the materials and actual implementation of things. Not just wierdly odd weapons but even standard ones. Love it! Thanks gents!
I can certainly guess the fascinating off camera conversations that must go on between you three. Especially in regards to the stupid laws on arms and armour we have
Schola, Skalla, and Tod, the three horsemen! (Unintentional pun here: "Todd" is a word for "Death" in German, which just conjures to mind a the funny scene of "the four horsemen: Krieg, Pest, Hungern.... and *Todd...* )
There were plenty of folding-shaft Italian spetums in the 16th century: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spetum commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spetum_(folding),_Italy,_c._1550_-_Higgins_Armory_Museum_-_DSC05683.JPG I'm convinced the flick spear replica made by Tod was based on a very similar polearm.
@@ZemplinTemplar There are some things I do notice all the surviving foldable ones seem to be highly decorated. This might be survivor bias you only keep the good looking ones. But there are also examples of versions that do not fold and those tend to be a lot less decorated. So might it be that they used the more plain version in general use, and that the crate of fancy folded ones was brought out when they needed to make some dramatic entrance ?
Dequitem had an interesting conclusion after fighting with hussite flail for several hours in full plate armor. It's easier for non-trained guy to score a hit because it moves unpredictably. But it's harder to control the weapon precisely for the same reason.
The other advantage of the flail shown here is that it's literally a converted farming tool, similar to Okinawan weapons. The Hussites were mostly farmers, followers of Czech preacher Jan Hus.
@@DalHrusk all flails are THE EASIEST weapons to land hits with. And it’s actually hard to really damage yourself. You’d have to be a total coordination-less goof or you’d need to be showing off etc
@@DalHrusk imagine just a chain. Easy to land a hit with? So damn easy, right? The whip and flail as nearly limitless skill-cap but the learning curve is a flat line.
Really nice to see you working with Matt and Tod....also weird weapons for the win. Hope you had a good time and if possible.....more collabs in the future?
I can definitely imagine the armorer who was visited by the "good idea fairy" trying to hawk a blingy flick spear. Or the journeyman presenting the piece to his guild: "yeah it's probably not practical, but look how COOL and well made it is".
The Journeyman's old master dragging himself back into the guildhall after a tavern-crawl "Add a Greek Fire Siphon to it." before collapsing into a puddle of vomit.
That's what I'm thinking of the bike-chain flail as well. Probably requires a more skilled craftsman (or just more time/material) to make than a regular chain, and thus is more expensive and used as a status symbol. Like a medieval iPhone.
weirdly, flick-opening spears show up in some other places - yesterday I found a *Confederate American* version of this, albeit being much simpler - a flick-opening pike. The good idea fairy strikes many!
"Or the journeyman presenting the piece to his guild: "yeah it's probably not practical, but look how COOL and well made it is"" as a masterpiece, in the sense of "the piece you present to be accepted as a master"
@@ulrichkalber9039 Exactly, it's all about knowing your audience. Surely not every masterpiece changed the world, they would just have to prove that you can work to some high standard. That feels like it might encourage showing off over pragmatism.
Tod just casually tossing his GORGEOUS flick spear to the ground made me laugh for some reason. Its so strange to see a craftsman that puts in as much effort as he does also be so pragmatic that he can say, "Yeah, it sucks," and YEET. One of the coolest guys ever.
Agreed. By far and away one of the most useful bucklers out there. Though you probably want to carry a normal one as well for when a sword gets stuck in that one lol
YES!!! I'm glad you got to do this and I hope there's more to come of it. I'd love to see you sparring with Matt and testing some of Tod's stuff. Discussing more unusual historical weapons is always fun too. Hope you had a great trip!
that flick partisan spear follows the rule of cool. Imagine being the one nobleman in Renaissance Italy that arms his bodyguards with these. Everyone else is limited to short weapons inside a carriage, but then you come out with 4 bodyguards behind you. They all flick out their weapons and like some 16th century transformers, they suddenly are all armed with spears. They dont have to be durable. They just need to work once when needed, but nobody is going to mess with you and your army of transformer spears when everyone else is carrying shorter weapons.
I watched one of the videos on Matt’s site and left a similar comment: It is great to watch my three favorite HEMA you-tubers in one handy video. Good Stuff! Keep up the good work. I hope that you enjoyed your trip!
@@Skallagrim Gah, sorry!! I didn't catch his feature on your video a few years back - something for me to watch later this Saturday! Regardless, it's great to see you both in-person here in ol' Blighty. I've distinct teenage memories of your videos featuring Lee Smith vs Richard Marsden that helped light the sparks of my interest in weapons collecting, restoring and sparring. Thank you. Your videos specifically helped me extend my love of swords from displaying them, to sparring with them :)
I saw the other video and all I can see in your eyes is "Give me the sword"! Loved the collaboration. All three of you have different skill sets and it was amazing.
14:40 A heavy, unique looking weapon that doesn't hit as hard as you'd think it would sounds perfect for a tournament. The heavy weapon means the fight slows down so the audience can see. The iron shaft could even be a safety feature where instead of poleaxing your opponent, the shaft bends if you hit them too hard.
Legendary collab , i wished for a video like this since i saw your old videos with the crossbow that todd made. Thanks to that video i learned about Todds Workshop, i thank you for that!
You're joking right. Do you have any idea whatsoever of the actually timelines in history in regards to weaponry? The first contact with Japan with anyone from England was roughly 1600.(William Adams) You notice that it was mentioned these "flails" (the correct name vs chain mace) were referenced in documents from the 1400's long before anyone from England could have had any contact or knowledge of anything to do with Ninjas!
@@bigcconservativeguy2534 I guess you're not familiar with the term "Mall Ninja"? That has nothing to do with ninja, it refers to people who like ninja movies, buy cheap and useless but "fancy" looking decorative "weapons" and feel like their now like those movie ninjas.
@@Glimmlampe1982 Nope you're correct. I tend to ignore, extremely irrelevant, childish and asinine things that occupy the time of sub 85 IQ troglodytes. They are not ever in any rush to enter my sphere either to make me aware of them, which is likely the only good judgement they'l ever show in life! More to the point of your comment regarding the weapon. When wielded with the required skill it can be devastatingly effective, something that would escape a great many people of this era, including you apparently, hence your reference, as there is a definite lack of the dedication required to achieve any such level of skill in virtually anything. Except perhaps vaping and beating off in Gran's basement apartment where they reside!
A “SwitchSpear” is one of those things likely developed because some noble was tired of his guards complaining about the impracticality of the storage of their pole arms or something. 😂
I was speculating just as Tod confirmed, that the folding spear was likely a bodyguard's weapon. Being able to fold it up and carry it places that would be awkward to lug around a pole arm would be useful. I can see an adventurer carrying something like that in a sling on his back in an RPG context.
Great vid y'all! I'm a big fan of the weird weapons series and very happy to see you getting involved in the collab Skal. I thought I might comment on the "bike chain" mace for a moment. For quite some time I have had a chainsaw flail of sorts I made by using a discarded chainsaw chain with teflon tape on one end to make a handle. It was loosely based on an anime I saw in my youth where a bike chain was wielded by a street gang type person. More recently I saw a documentary on Bruce Lee which claimed he used such a weapon in his youth as a member of a street gang. More recently I have made a second one out of a regular bike chain as an homage to Lee. Both of them can be very dangerous and often act in ways that can be hard to anticipate. Since the bike chain is more lubricated, has no bladed "teeth", and is longer it also handles completely different though in a similar fashion. With the chainsaw chain when it binds to itself it can become much more dangerous since the bound static portion will act like the ball of a morning star. One of the largest advantages I can think of in using such weapons which can only be wielded in a linear way is that if it was dropped or disarmed from the wielder it would be highly unlikely someone else could just pick it up and use it. I suppose that's one of the big advantages of being proficient with any weird weapon, lol. Thanks for the vid! It seems I have a few of these collab vids to mill through though I plan to space them out, savor the experience and will most likely either be a wallflower or very wordy as I am generally prone to being.
It really is a great skill that he can just see something in a museum, that doesn't exist outside of that setting, and make it himself so people can do more than just look and write about it.
Such a worthwhile collaboration! I’m glad you three met up to share your expertise and points of view. Easily my top three channels for historical weapons and armor.
I have enjoyed all three of your channels individually. Watching the three of you together, sharing and adding to each other's ideas was just fantastic. I wish there were more collaborations like this on UA-cam where nobody's egos got in the way and people just demonstrated a genuine interest in what someone else had to say. Thank you guys.
Re the 1 handed flail: Those were mostly used on horseback, afaik, to reduce blowback compared to a mace. The chain version might make it easier to avoid the ball hitting your own horse when bouncing back from a downward strike. And unlike the knight, the horse usually was armored less along the sides, with mere padding instead of steel.
Awesome to see all three of you together. I think a lot of these weapons fall into the “experimental category.” Someone came up with an idea, the idea disseminates throughout the communities and eventually you have enough people copying the idea to test it, and they never catch on.
for the spring loaded spear, I don't think the fragility really matters at all, and I don't think it necessarily is a "show off" weapon. It clearly is NOT a battlefield weapon, it isn't going to be hitting armor, or be hit by other spears. It clearly is meant for areas where you don't want a big weapon. Like the inside of a carriage. If you're in a sleigh/carriage/etc in the middle of a cold winter with the doors closed with a guard or two, they can have one of these inside and deploy it if some bandits or whatever bother you.
TBF, the pole flail isn't really unusual, and they were pretty common once you move past the standards. Loved that Buckler, that thing would be devastating in a duel.
My dream Collab! I've been following you for years now hoping something with Matt Easton might happen! Haven't even watch it yet and I'm gonna comment and hit the like button.
3 guys I look to for medieval weapon knowledge. I've been watching you for like 10 hrs and Matt Easton for about 5. Todd for about 2. Love these videos, do more!🤺
Excellent collaboration!!! Seeing your take on all of these weapons that I've been enamoured by on Todd's channel is really cool. Something of an in person reaction video! Being hands on with the objects really elevates it, too, since you don't need to speculate on how it feels in the hand. (Maybe add "reaction" to the title so people know? Those types seems to be popular) Really cool to see you guys together, honestly, and I hope you had a great time!
Love the realisation. " In a judical duel both weapons can be garbage, its fair." Also happy they showed you the big flail. I saw theese videos and found it very interesting what a good weapon this is.
I could see the hook on that polehammer/sword being used for a belt hook, with the understanding that you'd have to hold the pommel. Not as a lang term storage solution, but as a more convenient way to transport it around the tournament grounds. I'm imagining a competitor in full plate armor, hand on the pommel of that monstrosity, almost making a show of how amazing and unwieldy the thing is.
At first glance i thought that it was Matt Parker from Standupmaths on the thumbnail and then i realised that there are 2 different bald Matts on UA-cam.
There's essentially an Italian Boarding Sword that has a blade that's the opposite of the Sword Breaker. Other strange weapons are Indian Zulfiqar, Liao Dao, Congo Axe-Knife, Ngombe Ngulu, Spanish 19th Century Light Cavalry Hook Saber (hand string cutter), Tarch Shield, Targone Shield, Haladie Dagger, Reverse Tanto Knife, and German WW1 Engineers Sawback Bayonet.
@ 7:40 wow i love this thinking! It seems too common that we latch onto the most intuitive reason and then mock anything that veers away from that....but there could be any number of factors that influence it that we just can't/don't think of nowadays.
It can be hard to tell on his channel when he's alone in frame, because Matt Easton is long and lean, but when he is next to others you can see that he is quite a bug guy.
@@alwincamitz4747 Caged targa is the shield in this vid made by Tod. Gou-Rang is a Chinese buckler with long hooked arms for parrying. Skall has done a vid on the Gou-Rang.
First thought on the flick spear that would come to my mind is crowd control. Guards could move through the city crowds without dangerous and intimidating blades exposed, but when push comes to show, deploy the blades and get the crowd to behave, maybe?
In hindsight I realize I neglected to comment much on Tod's work itself, as I was just focused on the practical aspects of those historical designs. Regardless of whatever they were thinking back then, his craftsmanship here and now is outstanding. That's why he has earned the right to harshly criticize some features of historical originals... see Matt's video on that. :)
ua-cam.com/video/vD7HmlZqdDM/v-deo.html
When i finished watching the video i was hoping to see this comment. Tod is an amazing artist and we know that you know that.
Congratz on the collaboration.
Lol, especially with all the hints Matt was dropping to do just that...
The sword with the hammer on the end isa tournament weapon. The rule was that a piece of metal had to be attached to the tip of the sword as a break stop to prevent it from peing able to run the opponent through. Some clever guy has bent the rules by attaching a hammer head as the break stop. German officers still played this type of tournament in the early 20th century, which is why many of them had facial scars and missing eyes.
Tod's work is so phenomenal... That it isn't a "made by the guy standing next to you" kind of thing. It IS a piece plucked out of history, as if by time travel. The strange "judicial duel hammer" thing... There was no discussion of "is this hook in the same place as the original" when discussing it's function. "Todd may not have put it in the right place" wasn't a possible answer. it is accepted to be accurate of the original. Tod's work is so clean, and so true, that his work is beyond reproach. His work is casually accepted seamlessly as "the original". It isn't a reproduction anymore. To the mind, It's 100% the real deal.
By not commenting on his craftsmanship... You have given him very high praise indeed. Accidental praise is the most genuine. And I think he knows that.
Enjoying Skall's POV camera of Tod's weird weapons. Really shows off the quality Tod puts into every piece, even these projects.
Yeah, his craftsmanship is fantastic.
yeah, it's the sort of view I wish Tod and Matt had done previously when the weapons first came out, but I suspect they might not have the same options in terms of cameras-that-don't-have-arrows-through-them, which is all good. Amazing work Tod does, even on things like his trebuchet, which you'd expect some rougher joinery on.
Yeah, Tod's films were great and the additional perspective is really interesting!
Judicial Duel were all about even odds, so givng the opponents unusual or even weird weapons would help to ensure that no one had an advantage from being used to it.
My thoughts too.
Give both sides a weapon they never used before
People have always been doing challenge runs even before gaming.
More than just "won't have used before" I see it more like "this is an objectively bad design in critical ways that makes it behave unintuitively, so it's not possible for you to have used it before nor for you to be used to anything comparable"
When I heard they were made in a pair, I had an absurd vision of someone trying to dual-wield those sword-hafted hammers.
@@artor9175same lol.
King: "Stop carrying swords in the street! They are Dangerous battlefield weapons!"
Noble: "Ok." (Pulls out comically large dagger.)
I use my zweihander dagger for peeling apples.
@@rhetorical1488"But I only use my poledagger to gut the fish, officer"
The oversized dagger I get the impression that (based on their observations) it was made for someone wanting the START trouble against law-abiding people just carrying regular knives and daggers, and still being able to skirt the law when not causing trouble. “Once you have it out, it has advantages over someone with a smaller blade” is what got me thinking this.
@@queenannsrevenge100 maybe it was a "cocodrile dandee" situation and u just have to show that thing for the oponents to back out of figthing you and leave
@@queenannsrevenge100 it's always a cat and mouse. some people are trying hard to mug people and others are trying hard not to be mugged.
This is what I imagine my companions in Skyrim talking about my inventory.
For real
Lmao
Lydia and Inigo drunk on ale digging through my chests and commenting on all the wacky things we have hoarded from ages present and past
About the very long rondel dagger:
I'm an art student and very good friends with an historian and an engineer. I also happen to be a HEMA instructor and we've been doing an academic research about these long stabbing daggers that are essentially short sword length. In Italy we have a few southern italian sources which talk about and showcase such weapons. The neapolitan infantrymen in the battle of Otranto (1460) are shown carrying these short estoques/long daggers. After a bit more research we came up with the sources talking about southern italian infantrymwn carrying "stocchi/ mezzi stocchi/ daghette" (short tucks) as secondary weapons that could be more serviceable for their manner of doing war (3 infantrymen attack one guy, the familiar comes in with one of these or a woodsplitting axe and finishes them off).
I won't cite the entire research because it's very vast and we're planning on publishing it as a book, but we found that extremely long stabbing daggers or short swords are rather common as weapons for southern italian foot soldiers since the age of Federico II up until the half of the XVI century. It's a regional specialty, and we found specimens with three-lobed guards (almost like a tri-bollock tuck) and fishtail pommels both in iconography and as physical specimens. Baselards were also common, often in the place of swords even, as it's been understood from a research in the church of S. Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples. The Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were still very fixated on the manner of late roman legions in warfare, it seems, favoring short, stabbing tucks for taking down enemies in groups.
It's an intresting topic of research, might be worth looking into because southern italian medieval weaponry is very peculiar.
Regarding the research I talked about... it still isn't complete. Still, when it will be (with its own bibliography and an official publication) it would be quite the honor and, I believe, a pleasure to be able to discuss the topic of southern Italian weaponry and, in particular, the phenomenon of long, tuck-like daggers as commonplace weapons in history. I'm just saying this to let you know that me and my collaborators are open to the idea of a collaboration (sorry for the wordplay here) for the sake of knowledge. For this possibility, how will we be able to contact you for an exchange? I think academic studies on this topic are lacking, especially in our southern Italian region... there is much, much more than it seems.
Just a little spoiler: there has been a political and military relationship with the Kingdom of Naples and the dynasty of Vlad Tepes of Wallachia, to the point that we found evidence of various elements of central-European Holy Roman Empire culture in the church complexes and tombs of southern Italian and Neapolitan knights.
I don't suppose you have a title for the publication to let us know what to look out for in the future? :D
I think you just sold three copy of that book, one each to Skal, Tod and Matt;
Also, you've just raised an extremely interesting possibility they may not have accounted for: _travel._
Possibly the Roundel XXL wasn't native made but carried by a traveler: _or_ that a traveler who'd seen them abroad asked their friendly local weaponsmith to make one from description.
@@5peciesunkn0wn not yet... but we are thinking of calling it "Study on the stylistic incidences of the Parthenopean hoplology from the XIV to the XVII century"
@@ShadowDragon8685 that's possible too... once we publish the book it'll be clearer for anyone i hope... btw no, i haven't sold any copies yet, it's still in the making
Loved this video and we as a community actually need more of them. Blade users talking with blde makers to better understand the materials and actual implementation of things. Not just wierdly odd weapons but even standard ones. Love it! Thanks gents!
Having all 3 of you together is an absolute TREAT!!!
This was such a fun day - thanks to Skall and Tod for hanging out!
@@scholagladiatoria you, @skallagrim and @tods_workshop are it. You’re literally the trinity right now of great content on this topic.
I can certainly guess the fascinating off camera conversations that must go on between you three. Especially in regards to the stupid laws on arms and armour we have
Schola, Skalla, and Tod, the three horsemen!
(Unintentional pun here: "Todd" is a word for "Death" in German, which just conjures to mind a the funny scene of "the four horsemen: Krieg, Pest, Hungern.... and *Todd...* )
This is a reminder: Silencing criticism is wrong. Unfortunately, you don't believe that as evidenced by your actions.
@@ChaosSwissroIl tf is your problem?
That Street Fighter intro though? Chef's kiss!
a collab i wasn't even hoping for! thanks! ❤🔥
Dream collab
Definitely awesome to have them meet up
The adventuring party is formed 🌟
Wait what’s that supposed to mean?
Same here
The excessively long Rondel dagger is for when you need to perform a stealth-takedown on a VERY fat guy, or two guys standing next to each other :P
Or if you’re really short and they’re tall 😂
The preferred weapon of the little-known, but universally feared, Hobbit assassin. Generally employed from behind on the up-stroke.
Or if you're isekaied to a word where ogres and monsters need to be slain
@@christopherreed4723"little-known"... I see what you did there.
Obviously they are a very small dagger for a large Atlantean! Signed/ Graham Hancock. lol.
Oh damn its all of my favorite weapon history youtubers collabing! Heck yeah!
That flick spear is awesome! I can tell I’m going to love this video. Great to see you doing this collab.
I imagine that robbers seeing these suddenly appear may quickly rethink their odds.
Bloodborne trick weapon IRL.
There were plenty of folding-shaft Italian spetums in the 16th century:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spetum
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spetum_(folding),_Italy,_c._1550_-_Higgins_Armory_Museum_-_DSC05683.JPG
I'm convinced the flick spear replica made by Tod was based on a very similar polearm.
I could see them kept inside a carriage by the door like modern fire extinguishers. Basically a backup-backup emergency weapon.
@@ZemplinTemplar
There are some things I do notice all the surviving foldable ones seem to be highly decorated.
This might be survivor bias you only keep the good looking ones.
But there are also examples of versions that do not fold and those tend to be a lot less decorated.
So might it be that they used the more plain version in general use, and that the crate of fancy folded ones was brought out when they needed to make some dramatic entrance ?
The beauty off the long shaft flails with shorter chains is it's easier to avoid hitting yourself. Much harder to damage yourself with it.
Dequitem had an interesting conclusion after fighting with hussite flail for several hours in full plate armor. It's easier for non-trained guy to score a hit because it moves unpredictably. But it's harder to control the weapon precisely for the same reason.
The other advantage of the flail shown here is that it's literally a converted farming tool, similar to Okinawan weapons. The Hussites were mostly farmers, followers of Czech preacher Jan Hus.
@@blarfroer8066 true. And thx. But tbh they say that in the video.
@@DalHrusk all flails are THE EASIEST weapons to land hits with. And it’s actually hard to really damage yourself. You’d have to be a total coordination-less goof or you’d need to be showing off etc
@@DalHrusk imagine just a chain. Easy to land a hit with? So damn easy, right?
The whip and flail as nearly limitless skill-cap but the learning curve is a flat line.
Really nice to see you working with Matt and Tod....also weird weapons for the win.
Hope you had a good time and if possible.....more collabs in the future?
There will be more collabs on Matt's and Tod's channels, and I've got a couple more with Matt (lots of footage to edit, so it might take me a while).
I can definitely imagine the armorer who was visited by the "good idea fairy" trying to hawk a blingy flick spear.
Or the journeyman presenting the piece to his guild: "yeah it's probably not practical, but look how COOL and well made it is".
The Journeyman's old master dragging himself back into the guildhall after a tavern-crawl "Add a Greek Fire Siphon to it." before collapsing into a puddle of vomit.
That's what I'm thinking of the bike-chain flail as well. Probably requires a more skilled craftsman (or just more time/material) to make than a regular chain, and thus is more expensive and used as a status symbol. Like a medieval iPhone.
weirdly, flick-opening spears show up in some other places - yesterday I found a *Confederate American* version of this, albeit being much simpler - a flick-opening pike. The good idea fairy strikes many!
"Or the journeyman presenting the piece to his guild: "yeah it's probably not practical, but look how COOL and well made it is""
as a masterpiece, in the sense of "the piece you present to be accepted as a master"
@@ulrichkalber9039 Exactly, it's all about knowing your audience. Surely not every masterpiece changed the world, they would just have to prove that you can work to some high standard. That feels like it might encourage showing off over pragmatism.
Great video, Skall! It's so good to see you, Tod, and Matt teaming up!
"One of my finest works Skall, come on!!" lmao.
The pole flail it's just so stupidly simple and brutal that you can't help but love it.
Like Skall said it's a fancy "unga bunga stick". Beautiful simplicity tends to resonate with people more than fancy complexity.
there is something truly beautiful about the unga bunga stick that i can't quite put my finger on lol
Tod just casually tossing his GORGEOUS flick spear to the ground made me laugh for some reason. Its so strange to see a craftsman that puts in as much effort as he does also be so pragmatic that he can say, "Yeah, it sucks," and YEET. One of the coolest guys ever.
That little buckler is one of my favourite things featured on Tod's channel. If he sold them, I'd buy one.
He takes commissions. Based on his other work, you'd be looking at about 1-2 grand. Likely about 1300$ USD.
the konami code buckler
Agreed. By far and away one of the most useful bucklers out there. Though you probably want to carry a normal one as well for when a sword gets stuck in that one lol
Nice to see all three of you together
YES!!! I'm glad you got to do this and I hope there's more to come of it. I'd love to see you sparring with Matt and testing some of Tod's stuff. Discussing more unusual historical weapons is always fun too. Hope you had a great trip!
I sure did. :)
that flick partisan spear follows the rule of cool. Imagine being the one nobleman in Renaissance Italy that arms his bodyguards with these. Everyone else is limited to short weapons inside a carriage, but then you come out with 4 bodyguards behind you. They all flick out their weapons and like some 16th century transformers, they suddenly are all armed with spears.
They dont have to be durable. They just need to work once when needed, but nobody is going to mess with you and your army of transformer spears when everyone else is carrying shorter weapons.
Yeah if I was facing that as you describe, I wouldn't want to bet on calculations of the long term durability of my enemy's surprise spears
Like, you know how intimidating flicking out an extending baton can be? Imagine that but it’s multiple guards extending their spears at the same time.
I watched one of the videos on Matt’s site and left a similar comment: It is great to watch my three favorite HEMA you-tubers in one handy video. Good Stuff! Keep up the good work. I hope that you enjoyed your trip!
yessir!! never imagined you'd collab with Mr Easton. Wonderful stuff to see.
Good show Skall, good show I say!
I've done collabs with him before, just not in person. :)
@@Skallagrim Gah, sorry!! I didn't catch his feature on your video a few years back - something for me to watch later this Saturday!
Regardless, it's great to see you both in-person here in ol' Blighty.
I've distinct teenage memories of your videos featuring Lee Smith vs Richard Marsden that helped light the sparks of my interest in weapons collecting, restoring and sparring. Thank you.
Your videos specifically helped me extend my love of swords from displaying them, to sparring with them :)
I saw the other video and all I can see in your eyes is "Give me the sword"! Loved the collaboration. All three of you have different skill sets and it was amazing.
14:40 A heavy, unique looking weapon that doesn't hit as hard as you'd think it would sounds perfect for a tournament. The heavy weapon means the fight slows down so the audience can see. The iron shaft could even be a safety feature where instead of poleaxing your opponent, the shaft bends if you hit them too hard.
This is the kind of content I can watch easily. A bit of history, a a couple weapons, 5-8 minutes per item.
Great collaboration and I got to see some pieces that I was totally unaware of! Thanks to all 3 of you!
7:04 I've never realized how well-known Crocodile Dundee probably is
The "knoife scene" is probably more popular than the movie itself 😄
@@reptiloidmitglied2930 Not probably. DEFINETLY.
@@reptiloidmitglied2930That’s not a collaboration-video - THIS is a collaboration-video… 😁
The Triangle of blunt and edged Culture. What a pleasant collab.
best medieval weaponry trio
This is AMAZING :D What a wonderful surprise!
So awesome that you were able to go visit and collab with those guys, amazing!
THIS is the collaboration we have been waiting for!
26:00 Weird Weapons of History are as much a showcase of Technical Skills and Craftsmanship as much as Experimentations in Practicality.
Legendary collab , i wished for a video like this since i saw your old videos with the crossbow that todd made. Thanks to that video i learned about Todds Workshop, i thank you for that!
The chain mace is basically the Renaissance version of a mall ninja weapon😂
You're joking right. Do you have any idea whatsoever of the actually timelines in history in regards to weaponry? The first contact with Japan with anyone from England was roughly 1600.(William Adams) You notice that it was mentioned these "flails" (the correct name vs chain mace) were referenced in documents from the 1400's long before anyone from England could have had any contact or knowledge of anything to do with Ninjas!
@@bigcconservativeguy2534 I guess you're not familiar with the term "Mall Ninja"?
That has nothing to do with ninja, it refers to people who like ninja movies, buy cheap and useless but "fancy" looking decorative "weapons" and feel like their now like those movie ninjas.
@@Glimmlampe1982 Nope you're correct. I tend to ignore, extremely irrelevant, childish and asinine things that occupy the time of sub 85 IQ troglodytes. They are not ever in any rush to enter my sphere either to make me aware of them, which is likely the only good judgement they'l ever show in life! More to the point of your comment regarding the weapon. When wielded with the required skill it can be devastatingly effective, something that would escape a great many people of this era, including you apparently, hence your reference, as there is a definite lack of the dedication required to achieve any such level of skill in virtually anything. Except perhaps vaping and beating off in Gran's basement apartment where they reside!
A “SwitchSpear” is one of those things likely developed because some noble was tired of his guards complaining about the impracticality of the storage of their pole arms or something. 😂
I was speculating just as Tod confirmed, that the folding spear was likely a bodyguard's weapon. Being able to fold it up and carry it places that would be awkward to lug around a pole arm would be useful. I can see an adventurer carrying something like that in a sling on his back in an RPG context.
I'm working on a modern version of the 'flick spear' and trying to figure out a pollaxe version too. Great to see the 3 of you together. Thanks!
Great vid y'all! I'm a big fan of the weird weapons series and very happy to see you getting involved in the collab Skal. I thought I might comment on the "bike chain" mace for a moment. For quite some time I have had a chainsaw flail of sorts I made by using a discarded chainsaw chain with teflon tape on one end to make a handle. It was loosely based on an anime I saw in my youth where a bike chain was wielded by a street gang type person. More recently I saw a documentary on Bruce Lee which claimed he used such a weapon in his youth as a member of a street gang. More recently I have made a second one out of a regular bike chain as an homage to Lee. Both of them can be very dangerous and often act in ways that can be hard to anticipate. Since the bike chain is more lubricated, has no bladed "teeth", and is longer it also handles completely different though in a similar fashion. With the chainsaw chain when it binds to itself it can become much more dangerous since the bound static portion will act like the ball of a morning star. One of the largest advantages I can think of in using such weapons which can only be wielded in a linear way is that if it was dropped or disarmed from the wielder it would be highly unlikely someone else could just pick it up and use it. I suppose that's one of the big advantages of being proficient with any weird weapon, lol. Thanks for the vid! It seems I have a few of these collab vids to mill through though I plan to space them out, savor the experience and will most likely either be a wallflower or very wordy as I am generally prone to being.
Very impressive craftsmanship by Tod.
It really is a great skill that he can just see something in a museum, that doesn't exist outside of that setting, and make it himself so people can do more than just look and write about it.
Really good seeing your take on these, it was great seeing Tod surprise Matt with them in his videos.
The crossover we desperately waited for!
Such a worthwhile collaboration! I’m glad you three met up to share your expertise and points of view. Easily my top three channels for historical weapons and armor.
As a long time fan, I have waited years for this collab! Hopefully this is just the start of something bigger!
I have enjoyed all three of your channels individually. Watching the three of you together, sharing and adding to each other's ideas was just fantastic. I wish there were more collaborations like this on UA-cam where nobody's egos got in the way and people just demonstrated a genuine interest in what someone else had to say. Thank you guys.
Love the intro! 😂 And glad to see three of my favorite UA-camrs in one video. 😃 Need to go back and finish the one on Matt’s from yesterday.
Amazing collab from the best of the big sword channels here on UA-cam. I hope to see more.
Re the 1 handed flail:
Those were mostly used on horseback, afaik, to reduce blowback compared to a mace.
The chain version might make it easier to avoid the ball hitting your own horse when bouncing back from a downward strike.
And unlike the knight, the horse usually was armored less along the sides, with mere padding instead of steel.
Oh mine, what a treat for a pleasant evening, seeing these three gentlemen discussing matters of historical weirdness.
Awesome to see all three of you together. I think a lot of these weapons fall into the “experimental category.” Someone came up with an idea, the idea disseminates throughout the communities and eventually you have enough people copying the idea to test it, and they never catch on.
Great seeing you all together. All my favorite weapons guys having a good time.
What a f*n Collab, ahh man: 2-3 times a year on UA-cam, we are blessed with great interviews or videos, this is one.
for the spring loaded spear, I don't think the fragility really matters at all, and I don't think it necessarily is a "show off" weapon. It clearly is NOT a battlefield weapon, it isn't going to be hitting armor, or be hit by other spears. It clearly is meant for areas where you don't want a big weapon. Like the inside of a carriage. If you're in a sleigh/carriage/etc in the middle of a cold winter with the doors closed with a guard or two, they can have one of these inside and deploy it if some bandits or whatever bother you.
Someone rich enough to afford them could probably afford to repair them, also.
Nah, a lot of people buy expensive stuff qnd then are too poor or too deep in dept to maintenance it
3 of my favorites in one video 🎉
Thank you 🙏🏻
That shield is wild! :) It's amazing to see the collab with Tod and Matt.
That shield is interesting but I think I'd rather have the Chinese hook shield in my off-hand. Any shield is good, of course.
TBF, the pole flail isn't really unusual, and they were pretty common once you move past the standards. Loved that Buckler, that thing would be devastating in a duel.
The Triumvirate of Steel has assembled.
My dream Collab! I've been following you for years now hoping something with Matt Easton might happen!
Haven't even watch it yet and I'm gonna comment and hit the like button.
Weird weapons are often like off-meta cards in a tcg: effective counters to specific strategies but generally less effective
Awesome! A great collaboration showcasing some fascinating historical weirdness. Loved it!
So neat to see the 3 of you together. On to the others channels for the rest of the story.
This was a delight to watch, glad to see you guys together :)
Omg this is the best thing to see in my feed after a rough past few days!
DANG! What a collab!
3 guys I look to for medieval weapon knowledge. I've been watching you for like 10 hrs and Matt Easton for about 5. Todd for about 2. Love these videos, do more!🤺
Glad to see you three ganging up!
Excellent collaboration!!! Seeing your take on all of these weapons that I've been enamoured by on Todd's channel is really cool. Something of an in person reaction video! Being hands on with the objects really elevates it, too, since you don't need to speculate on how it feels in the hand.
(Maybe add "reaction" to the title so people know? Those types seems to be popular)
Really cool to see you guys together, honestly, and I hope you had a great time!
Also, really cool fighting game intro!!
What a epic Collab !!!
Love the realisation. " In a judical duel both weapons can be garbage, its fair." Also happy they showed you the big flail. I saw theese videos and found it very interesting what a good weapon this is.
Collab for the ages. Just great.
I could see the hook on that polehammer/sword being used for a belt hook, with the understanding that you'd have to hold the pommel. Not as a lang term storage solution, but as a more convenient way to transport it around the tournament grounds. I'm imagining a competitor in full plate armor, hand on the pommel of that monstrosity, almost making a show of how amazing and unwieldy the thing is.
The holy trinity of wholesome, not weird or embarrassing swordtubers! Love to see it.
Schola is pretty weird and embarrassing.
A dream collaboration come true! Fascinating showcase indeed. Cheers!
That little hand cam thingy is awesome. TY
That "Flick spear" looks like a perfect weapon for a game.
At first glance i thought that it was Matt Parker from Standupmaths on the thumbnail and then i realised that there are 2 different bald Matts on UA-cam.
3 of my favorite yt comfort people in a collab. can´t be a bad day! thanks guys...
Insert Ice Cube "today was a good day" here
I had to use my AK today. I'm going tomorrow I won't.
There's essentially an Italian Boarding Sword that has a blade that's the opposite of the Sword Breaker.
Other strange weapons are Indian Zulfiqar, Liao Dao, Congo Axe-Knife, Ngombe Ngulu, Spanish 19th Century Light Cavalry Hook Saber (hand string cutter), Tarch Shield, Targone Shield, Haladie Dagger, Reverse Tanto Knife, and German WW1 Engineers Sawback Bayonet.
the holy trinity of swordtubers
I wouldn't call Todd a "swordtuber," since he does general medieval weapons. Plus Shadiversity's not there.
But close enough, I'll give you that.
@@MayBeSomething we all know shads the grumpy uncle you never invite to Christmas because they get drunk and tlak about the superiority of a stick
@@kevinmorrice We've already had the "stick beats flail" conversation, haha.
@@kevinmorricedepends on the race or religion of the stick, if Shad is involved. And God forbid it's a left stick instead of a right stick
@@willywonka7812 and beware the dreaded big stick
How exciting. And yes, those were fascinating. Good work too.
This is the colab I did not know I needed.
The colab I know I needed, but thought it would never happen.^^
Three great channels in a Collab, Christmas comes early this year.
Thank you very much guys 😊👍🏻
I love how they both enjoy Skall's reactions! LOL
@ 7:40 wow i love this thinking! It seems too common that we latch onto the most intuitive reason and then mock anything that veers away from that....but there could be any number of factors that influence it that we just can't/don't think of nowadays.
WTF just happened! Great to see great men together!
Very cool collab between 3 of my favorite historical weapon guys!
I had no idea Matt was so JACKED the heck
He spars all the time so it makes sense. Sword fighting is a hell of a workout
It can be hard to tell on his channel when he's alone in frame, because Matt Easton is long and lean, but when he is next to others you can see that he is quite a bug guy.
@@michaelbates4834 he really is. He's quite intimidating to fight. Has a lot of reach and knows how to use it
One of my Fav Colab's this year,, Thanks Guys
Imagine that caged targa with the arms of a Gou-Rang hooked buckler.
what
@@alwincamitz4747 Caged targa is the shield in this vid made by Tod. Gou-Rang is a Chinese buckler with long hooked arms for parrying. Skall has done a vid on the Gou-Rang.
@@RainMakeR_Workshop ok
I like the idea.
@@Skallagrim maybe have a word with Tod lol
I’m so thrilled you all got together!!
3 dudes who we feel we know like friends. Very cool👍👍
First thought on the flick spear that would come to my mind is crowd control. Guards could move through the city crowds without dangerous and intimidating blades exposed, but when push comes to show, deploy the blades and get the crowd to behave, maybe?
This trio is golden.
Love this. I hope in the future it gets to happen again. Wonderful.
This one sparks joy
Awesome! I'm at least a subscriber on all three channels, best collaboration ever! Looking forward to all of the videos!