Also, in regards to "fire" the Online Etymology Dictionary says: Fire: Meaning "to discharge artillery or a firearm" (originally by application of fire) is from 1520s; extended sense of "to throw (as a missile)" is from 1580s. So it seems late 16th century individuals might have said "fire" in regards to bows or crossbows.
I always have a dilemma when I see Tod's website. All of his work is amazing and I love the crossbows especially but they are just so expensive (not a criticism, the quality more than matches the price as far as I can say). I could afford to buy one or two crossbows but I feel like it would be really hard for me to justify such an expense (especially since I'd love something like that central European hunting crossbow which he's showing on his website and equip that with a cranequin...one of the most pricey options). Watching videos like this one, I don't know how much longer I will be able to resist the temptation though :D
That backwards held crossbow is EXACTLY like Sonny Puzikas's hold of an AK rifle for the "blooming death" technique; except a pistol (not reins) is held in the other hand and the operator is on foot (not horseback) and spinning in circles to shoot in all directions while displacing horizontally and or vertically because he is alone, surrounded, and without cover. The pistol is precisely used while the rifle suppresses. It came from a "lone survivor" story and is very cool to see Sonny demonstrate. I've shot my AK that way (no pistol!), its easy and accurate with a bit of practice at across the room distances.
Fascinating stuff. I've read somewhere that the fastest way to shoot crossbows was perhaps for crossbowmen to team up in groups of two, and one man to be the shooter, while the second man loaded. They use two crossbows and pass them between one another. I think the evidence for this is images of crossbowmen operating in pairs behind pavisses, where only the man in front has a quiver of quarrels, suggesting that he is the only one doing the shooting.
As a boater who frequently canoes down quiet country rivers... I question your safety views slightly... :P I wonder if a pavise can be made as a flotation device.
I can't own one... In Poland it is much easier to get firearm license than crossbow license. Crossbows must be super deadly. In UK does it require any special license, or you just buy one?
one of my favourate armies in DBM is the granadine crossbow army (mass peasant crossbowmen supported by some knights, professional crossbowmen and mounted crossbows) it is said that in Granada nearly every peasant owned a war crossbow. so it would be interesting to know if they were like english longbows (in the sense they were trained regularly and thus were fairly elite, or if they were more closer to militia crossbowmen.
I had a replica crossbow bought from a european castle town gift shop back in 2nd grade and it was only about a foot long, but it functioned exactly like the hand-crank version shown here. And that thing was NOT just a toy. I remember bringing it in for show and tell and the first time we shot it out in the yard the teacher was like "ok then, class let's go inside and I'll hold on to that thing for the rest of the day).
"Mastery of their weapons, especially the crossbow, was one of the reasons why the Genoese were so highly esteemed in war. Ramón Muntaner, a Catalan knight who fought against them earlier in the 14th century, records that the Genoese were well provided with sharp arrows and would shoot off many. They have a fashion of shooting ceaselessly and they shoot more quarrels in one battle than Catalans would shoot in ten." Part of the reason is that their muscle groups, like the longbowmen, were trained on the windlass and could wind faster with a higher gearing. They also had two man shields on a support where they and their loaders could shelter before pepperpotting forward.
19:10 the technical way to see it is you're sacrificing/converting some linear momentum into angular momentum. This is why most main battle tanks today matches a saboted flechette round with a smoothboore gun to defeat armor, by maximising linear momentum.
Bullets always lift to! Your sights are level, your barrel is tilted slightly up (with proper alignment) so you "mini-mortar" all rounds into place. If you zero at 200 yards you are high before then and low after. Being a bit high helps close up, aim at belly/sternum and you can hit center mass or the chest or head/shoulders while a very low shot still gets the pelvis or legs. It also helps compensate for the drop.
I'd be interested in seeing crossbow (and longbow/warbow) power measured by chronograph and projectile weight, like one might do with a firearm. That should allow one to get down to newton-meters or foot-pounds regardless of efficiency, let-off, and any other complexities.
I usually stick to RPM, either "rate per minute" or "repetitions per minute" as there's also a difference from rate of fire of a fully automatic firearm vs firing then reloading & firing a lower capacity firearm. I also shoot a recurve bow, so I've adapted it to that as well.
Loved this collaboration, very informative and interesting. Recently had the pleasure of ordering a mace from todcutler.com and I'm very pleased with the result. Thank you Matt for not only providing me with historical insights but also for bringing Tod's work to my attention!
in Ventimiglia in Liguria i saw a few times a crossbow competion, but the crossbow used were too big to be shoot from shoulder and their bolts were long as my forearm and at least two fingers thick
(Not to imply one is better than the other, but...) The advantage of a crossbow over a longbow is that you can train an effective crossbowman in just a few hours. It takes years of practice to be effective with a longbow, mainly due to the need to develop the strength to draw it, and to hold the draw long enough to aim.
And... btw... Could you, please, describe two other ways of working with crossbows: horsshoe foot realoading (I'm sorry if it sounds stupid and makes no sense) and horseshoe and hooks on the belt of the shooter. What was the fastest, the most usefull, the most powerfull setup? And was the steel bow the best in all situations? How about wooden bow, fast loaded (different wood type)? It would be great if you could make comparison - Bow lenght, bow strenght, steel and different wood types, windless, horseshoe, hand reloaded and so on. What do you think? Such "benchmark" whould be great adddition to any historical works on crossbows! All the best!
In regards to the genoese crossbowmen, the pavise is the first thing that comes to mind that differentiates them from other crossbowmen, well, that and a servant to carry the pavise to the battlefield lol.
Exploatores and just like firearms, a long barreled rifle with sufficient amount of slow-burning powder will impart a higher velocity to the bullet than a short barreled pistol with the same ammount of a fast-burning powder.
If you want to compare stored energy in bows and crossbows you basically need Hooke's law leeding to a stored energy E ~ kx² (with k beeing the spring constant of the bow), or more prcise the integral over the draw-weight ( F(x) ) from where you start drawing to the final draw-length. Differences in the efficiency factor may also play a role....
In Germany crossbow and lance were seen as two valid choices (and thus the two most common) for non-men-at-arms cavalry, called "Ringerpferde", from "Geringere Pferde" (lesser horsemen).
Woa man, sorry maybe you'll want a doctor to check at your ears. Sure sound like Texas to me. I see lots of movies which happen in Texas and this sound really the same, or all most. Only thing missing is oxen and bent up hats. I admit though, maybe the actors they have to play in this movies are not real Texas citizens, and I haven't yet met any Texas citizens in my country.
Can you please do a video on whether it would be practical to use daggers and knives with shields. I would like to know if it would be practical compared to a sword or an axe . Thanks a bunch!
Did Tom every tried to recreate the crossbow that was described by Anna Comnena? A crossbow with a lock in the Middle ( thus longer draw back ) and the user had to law down on the ground with his feet on the bow and both hands on the string to draw it back to arm it.
In NSW, Australia, yeah, totally illegal. Other states (QLD) they're not. I have a firearms license for a rifle, but there's no license that will let me get a crossbow.
What's more effed up is that normal bows (recurve, composite, whatever) are totally legal. So are spear guns. No license needed. Crossbows though? obviously too dangerous for the public
I have been lead to believe spin stabilisation leads to longer range for bullets that have a length greater than the diameter due to reduced tumbling. IE the tumbling looses you more than the rifling does. Tumbling of course has a hideously detrimental effect on accuracy too.
Hey Matt Easton, I have a question for you about a potential future video on your channel. Is there any chance you could do a video or two where you have an interview, sparring session, whatever, with Mike Loades? He's become my personal idol as a military historian, and I'd really love to see the two of you discussing medieval military history together.
That's a beautiful Bolt, Would it work with a six inch spring steel spike? Have you seen the Lithuanian Crossbows? Their Bolts look like big darts with long spikes
If you were to design a crossbow with modern knowledge, but with only period-appropriate materials, what would you change from the traditional design? I'm thinking to start, just from an ergonomics perspective, some better handles/triggers could be designed. I wonder if you could design a version of the windlass that wouldn't get tangled so easily...
Are windlasses faster or slower than cranequins? And how do they compare to each other in general (price, ease of use,...). I would expect cranequins to be more expensive and more difficult to make using medieval technology.
Wouldn't it be possible to make a crossbow that would work with three-flighted bolts if you added a groove along the front of the stock for the third flight to slot into?
In are 18th century small swords better than 17 century small swords video you said that Spanish were still using cup Hilted rapiers instead of small swords well in 1810 where they still using rapiers or were they already using small sword? I really need your help
I do the Spanish did use the rapier far later then most of Europe, I'm not 100% sure but I do believe it was still in use around that time , but dying out , I hope that answers ur question, but again I'm no expert but I recall hearing it
Great video. By the way, I'm doing research for a novel that I'm writing, and I've been trying to find information about medieval Scottish warfare. I was wondering, what did they use when it came to ranged weapons like bows and crossbows?
The Scottish were famous archers, using longbows, especially in the Highlands and Islands. In the Lowlands and border regions, crossbows were more common. The Borderers used a hand spanned light crossbow called Latch which could easily be used from horseback.
I remember reading about bolts for maritime crossbows being super expensive while the crossbows were quite amazingly cheap. The idea was to supply a lot of crossbows and a small amount of ammo. The dead would be looted or they would no longer be in ranged combat so they wouldn't run out.
Here it mentions the small cheap crossbow only being 3 to 5 shillings a piece. That is incredibly cheap. web.mit.edu/21h.416/www/militarytechnology/crossbow.html
And if you listen about the wood curved fletching on the bolts you would need to avoid feathers or leathers rotting while stored on a naval vessel in the damp...a skilled craftsman could make a simple unadorned munitions grade crossbow in an hour or two. To put it in perspective a good crossbow maker would make more in a day than a crossbow sells for. Now imagine the time involved in hand making crossbow bolts with wood fletching. Easy to see that less than 20 bolts would be more expensive than mass producing crossbows.
The short answer is, "no". The longer answer requires some expansion: First, work != force, so the question is flawed in its wording. (This is like asking someone how many light-years old he is.) Second, force x time (not distance) gives you "impulse", which is a measure of momentum.That would be in pound*seconds (imperial) or Newton*seconds (SI). Energy delivered to the target would be 1/2 * mass * velocity^2 (assuming that all the energy of the bolt were delivered.) Third, it's my understanding that draw weight refers to the peak force required to draw the bow (whether crossbow, or otherwise). Since the amount of force will tend to drop as the arms of the bow release their curve, impulse will be somewhere below (peak draw weight) * (time on the string). Finally, ft.*lbs or Nm is a measure of torque. To see this in action, look at the goat's foot used with the 180lb bow. Tod is using (WAG) somewhere in the range of 30 - 40# of force over a distance of 3/4' or so, which would be around 30 ft.*lbs of torque (around 40 Nm). ETA: Also, quite a lot of the energy in the system will go toward accelerating the arms of the bow rather than the bolt or arrow. This is one of the advantages of a short, high-draw steppe composite bow over a longbow. The shorter arms of a crossbow will be less of a problem here than a longbow as well. Note that I don't consider the question unreasonable (hence the effort of responding). Physics can be tricky, but it's interesting enough to be worth studying, I think.
no, a lot of energy is lost in sound , friction and heat , and moving the mass of the spring , the weight of the bolt and the rope used . dynamic efficiency equation at play
As Todd explained the crossbow has a much smaller power stroke from a longbow,then the logical question comes,why did they do that? Why didn't they take the 400 pound crossbow and made you draw the bolt much further back or even as back as a longbows draw length?
Thanks for the reply Sam, the longbow has to be that tall to produce the required energy,since it is made out of wood. This is not an issue for the metal crossbow bands like those in the video it can produce the poundage and far more. Maybe it is an issue with the steel,that if bent too much maybe it breaks or bends permanently?
On todds channel he says in a few videos that he thinks it is due to them not being confident in the metal's strength. In other words with the metal of the time, they were afraid that the bow would snap if they had a longer powerstroke.
Cool thanks for the answer! Then would be interesting if anyone attempted to use modern steel and and see how much more effective a crossbow would be with a longer power stroke.
Greg: As I understand it (I haven't shopped for a crossbow recently), and as Todd himself put it in another video, modern crossbows typically have a much greater power stroke, possibly as much, if not more than twice the distance.
Yeah, I have one question, probably stupid and already answered... What if the steel break? It would be easy to set string between both ends to make sure your head will be not hit by broken steel... (just rope between both ends of the bow or some kind of artistic rope knitting?). Is there any evidence of steel bows breaking in the crossbows during battles or hunting? I can hardly imagine people using cheap steel bow crossbows and not being affraid of breaks... It was real problem or it's only my imagination? All the best! Thank you! :)
From other videos (Tod's and other's), I have gathered that the short length of the power stroke is actually designed to prevent that. Even with relatively bad steel, you would just never be pulling hard enough to break it, the flip side being that the spring actually has to be much more powerful. In comparison, you can make a modern crossbow with as much draw length as you want (more or less) simply because the steel is reliable.
I have seen photos of Renaissance crossbows where the arms of the bow were wrapped in leather of heavy fabric . I always suspected that was to prevent lose fragments flying around in case the bow shattered.
Not regarding crossbows but I have an interesting question that I would like to see a video for. Hypothetically speaking, what would be an ideal body type soldiers during the Middle Ages should have and how it differs or similar to other time periods, particularly ancient and Renaissance periods? I am asking this because of some fight manuals I have seen, have slightly different body types which makes me question if certain modern body types are more beneficial in training than others.
This reminds me of a video: ua-cam.com/video/DSTvLAhLpgQ/v-deo.html But yeah: I think it is fair to say that medieval soldiers trained in ways specific for the sort of combat and travel which they anticipated doing, and this probably varies wildly from modern athletes. Consider that a medieval soldier might need to march for more than week with little rest and still be expected to fight; I doubt many strong men today could do that on a meager diet of dried meat, unfiltered water, and bread. That said, I have my doubts that there was some sort of special workout secrets from the past. Looking at Jean Boucicaut's biography (a late medieval Knight), his workout regime looks a bit like a mishmash of modern cross-fit. ua-cam.com/video/q-bnM5SuQkI/v-deo.html and he probably had the best sort of education available at the day. Not a bad workout by ANY means, but not radically different.
Rate of shooting is discussed in the video. The ancient Chinese invented a repeating crossbow(Lever operated) & into the early C20th most homes were supposed to have one.
In Germany it`s the other way around. Owning a rifle? very difficult. Walking around with a knife/blade longer than 12 cm? You`re fucked.. Walking through the middle of a town with your crossbow, loaded and ready to "fire"? No Problem! Shooting in a public park with a crossbow or a longbow? Perfect! ... Great video, by the way!
Damn @5:46 that casual bolt to ground chuck!
Also, in regards to "fire" the Online Etymology Dictionary says:
Fire: Meaning "to discharge artillery or a firearm" (originally by application of fire) is from 1520s; extended sense of "to throw (as a missile)" is from 1580s.
So it seems late 16th century individuals might have said "fire" in regards to bows or crossbows.
Also, with a crossbow, you can wait for somebody to pop out of cover. Try that with the one hundred forty pound bow...
What are you talking about? They do it in movies all the time. :D
Ygritte could do it. Haven't you seen Lindybeige's video?
Ygritte could have punched Thanos and the Anti-spiral through the moon and out of the Milky Way.
@DerLaCroix1 why would you "pop out of cover" with a weapon that doesn´t need you to move??
I always have a dilemma when I see Tod's website. All of his work is amazing and I love the crossbows especially but they are just so expensive (not a criticism, the quality more than matches the price as far as I can say). I could afford to buy one or two crossbows but I feel like it would be really hard for me to justify such an expense (especially since I'd love something like that central European hunting crossbow which he's showing on his website and equip that with a cranequin...one of the most pricey options). Watching videos like this one, I don't know how much longer I will be able to resist the temptation though :D
That backwards held crossbow is EXACTLY like Sonny Puzikas's hold of an AK rifle for the "blooming death" technique; except a pistol (not reins) is held in the other hand and the operator is on foot (not horseback) and spinning in circles to shoot in all directions while displacing horizontally and or vertically because he is alone, surrounded, and without cover. The pistol is precisely used while the rifle suppresses. It came from a "lone survivor" story and is very cool to see Sonny demonstrate. I've shot my AK that way (no pistol!), its easy and accurate with a bit of practice at across the room distances.
I'm not simple and I'm hardly a man, but when I see Matt and Todd, I press like.
9:44 unless there's _fire arrows_ involved!
+fsmoura just be careful that you don't mention that in front of lindybeige
French people shooting fire arrows from a spandau. Lindy's worst nightmare.
Good thing they won't be able to aim at him, an individual target, only at a _general area._
It is very difficult to aim at someone whilst running away.
FIRE ARROWS!!!
Thanks to you two, I have an unholy desire for a crossbow now, lol.
This Joe Gibbs character must be one strong guy. Years of practice and Muscular skeletal development. Tod's crossbows are things of beauty.
What a thoroughly pleasant and knowledgeable chap.
Fascinating stuff.
I've read somewhere that the fastest way to shoot crossbows was perhaps for crossbowmen to team up in groups of two, and one man to be the shooter, while the second man loaded. They use two crossbows and pass them between one another. I think the evidence for this is images of crossbowmen operating in pairs behind pavisses, where only the man in front has a quiver of quarrels, suggesting that he is the only one doing the shooting.
That throw! 5:45
Looked up Joe Gibbs as recommended, returned to this video a humbled man.
Rounds per minute- c.1 or 2 at a push with the windlass & 7 or 8 with the goats foot.
Great video guys. Thanks.
As a boater who frequently canoes down quiet country rivers... I question your safety views slightly... :P I wonder if a pavise can be made as a flotation device.
RealLuckless You need AEGIS.
... I wonder how many 15 foot canoes I would need.
I can't get enough of those Matt & Todd videos !
Those are gorgeous crossbows!!!
Awesome insightful video and a great guest. one of the more educational vids in a long time
I can't own one... In Poland it is much easier to get firearm license than crossbow license. Crossbows must be super deadly.
In UK does it require any special license, or you just buy one?
You have to be over 18 years old, that's the only restriction I'm aware of.
I am just guessing but I think that crossbows are often banned because they are quiet, so you can poach with them really easy.
So why pneumatic harpoons are fully legal? They seem to also be pretty quiet.
Agnar Selvik well compare hunting potential of crossbow with that of a harpoon...
But yea, law-makers are not very clever as far as weapon laws go...
The reason the crossbow is perfectly legal is because they are crap after 40 yard the bolt drops like a stone & pretty inaccurate etc
These old style crossbow just look so fun to use. So much ritual in it! ;)
one of my favourate armies in DBM is the granadine crossbow army (mass peasant crossbowmen supported by some knights, professional crossbowmen and mounted crossbows) it is said that in Granada nearly every peasant owned a war crossbow. so it would be interesting to know if they were like english longbows (in the sense they were trained regularly and thus were fairly elite, or if they were more closer to militia crossbowmen.
@24:00 I never knew about the sights, thanks Todd! (Great video Matt!)
Yeah, that bit is the gem of this episode.
I had a replica crossbow bought from a european castle town gift shop back in 2nd grade and it was only about a foot long, but it functioned exactly like the hand-crank version shown here. And that thing was NOT just a toy. I remember bringing it in for show and tell and the first time we shot it out in the yard the teacher was like "ok then, class let's go inside and I'll hold on to that thing for the rest of the day).
"Mastery of their weapons, especially the crossbow, was one of the reasons why the
Genoese were so highly esteemed in war. Ramón Muntaner, a Catalan knight who fought
against them earlier in the 14th century, records that
the Genoese were well provided with sharp arrows and would shoot off many. They
have a fashion of shooting ceaselessly and they shoot more quarrels in one battle than
Catalans would shoot in ten."
Part of the reason is that their muscle groups, like the longbowmen, were trained on the windlass and could wind faster with a higher gearing. They also had two man shields on a support where they and their loaders could shelter before pepperpotting forward.
amazing content in this video, Matt.
Tod is very eloquent and precise on his teachings. :)
Tod seems like a really cool guy to hang with.
Spin stabilized allows a more aerodynamic shape adding range as well as accuracy for bullets. Spinning bolts does increase accuracy.
got some really good info about crossbows that I didn't know about... but that mic cord...
19:10 the technical way to see it is you're sacrificing/converting some linear momentum into angular momentum. This is why most main battle tanks today matches a saboted flechette round with a smoothboore gun to defeat armor, by maximising linear momentum.
Tod's a legand
Bullets always lift to! Your sights are level, your barrel is tilted slightly up (with proper alignment) so you "mini-mortar" all rounds into place. If you zero at 200 yards you are high before then and low after. Being a bit high helps close up, aim at belly/sternum and you can hit center mass or the chest or head/shoulders while a very low shot still gets the pelvis or legs. It also helps compensate for the drop.
Very interesting video! Great that you discuss missile weapons as well on your channel.
I'd be interested in seeing crossbow (and longbow/warbow) power measured by chronograph and projectile weight, like one might do with a firearm. That should allow one to get down to newton-meters or foot-pounds regardless of efficiency, let-off, and any other complexities.
Matt-Tod collabs are fantastic
I usually stick to RPM, either "rate per minute" or "repetitions per minute" as there's also a difference from rate of fire of a fully automatic firearm vs firing then reloading & firing a lower capacity firearm. I also shoot a recurve bow, so I've adapted it to that as well.
also rounds per minute
proper archeryb term is to loose , let loose , but launching is also acceptable
Loved this collaboration, very informative and interesting.
Recently had the pleasure of ordering a mace from todcutler.com and I'm very pleased with the result.
Thank you Matt for not only providing me with historical insights but also for bringing Tod's work to my attention!
Hi Mat, great video as usual. Could you specify the approx. loading time for the two different crossbow types (to avoid the bad "rate of..." word ;-)?
Thank you sirs for the excellent video.
in Ventimiglia in Liguria i saw a few times a crossbow competion, but the crossbow used were too big to be shoot from shoulder and their bolts were long as my forearm and at least two fingers thick
Already saw Tod's video, but you deserve a view too.
(Not to imply one is better than the other, but...) The advantage of a crossbow over a longbow is that you can train an effective crossbowman in just a few hours. It takes years of practice to be effective with a longbow, mainly due to the need to develop the strength to draw it, and to hold the draw long enough to aim.
Love them Crossbows!
And... btw... Could you, please, describe two other ways of working with crossbows: horsshoe foot realoading (I'm sorry if it sounds stupid and makes no sense) and horseshoe and hooks on the belt of the shooter. What was the fastest, the most usefull, the most powerfull setup? And was the steel bow the best in all situations? How about wooden bow, fast loaded (different wood type)? It would be great if you could make comparison - Bow lenght, bow strenght, steel and different wood types, windless, horseshoe, hand reloaded and so on. What do you think? Such "benchmark" whould be great adddition to any historical works on crossbows! All the best!
Barry Kent tod already has videos on the loading methods
Yes, I saw them, but it's only few of them, that's why I'm asking for the rest.
In regards to the genoese crossbowmen, the pavise is the first thing that comes to mind that differentiates them from other crossbowmen, well, that and a servant to carry the pavise to the battlefield lol.
it´s the same as a rifle, most pepole can learn how to shoot one in a few hours. master it, that is where the work is.
Exploatores and just like firearms, a long barreled rifle with sufficient amount of slow-burning powder will impart a higher velocity to the bullet than a short barreled pistol with the same ammount of a fast-burning powder.
If you want to compare stored energy in bows and crossbows you basically need Hooke's law leeding to a stored energy E ~ kx² (with k beeing the spring constant of the bow), or more prcise the integral over the draw-weight ( F(x) ) from where you start drawing to the final draw-length.
Differences in the efficiency factor may also play a role....
Very cool! I like that little one!
In Germany crossbow and lance were seen as two valid choices (and thus the two most common) for non-men-at-arms cavalry, called "Ringerpferde", from "Geringere Pferde" (lesser horsemen).
Nothing like two bald Englishman holding long lengths of wood
Not really that long...
FingerAngle it's not the length it's the girth and the power stroke
Huh? I thought this guys live on Texas. There accent sound like Texas to me. (Sorry my English is no enough strong.)
Hilbert's Inn nope neither of those accents are Texas those are both Englishmen
Woa man, sorry maybe you'll want a doctor to check at your ears. Sure sound like Texas to me. I see lots of movies which happen in Texas and this sound really the same, or all most. Only thing missing is oxen and bent up hats. I admit though, maybe the actors they have to play in this movies are not real Texas citizens, and I haven't yet met any Texas citizens in my country.
It appears the stirrup also helps keep the bolt from tipping over when aiming low (?)
I looked at Tod's site, the large crossbow in this video is GBP2,400. And worth every penny, I would say.
For those who like a TL:DW :- 'Click', 'Twang!', 'ARGH!', 'Reload!'
really interesting, cheers
Amazing video!
The way Tod toss those bolts into the ground looked very practised. They'd be all over the place if i'd done it. 5:43
Very informative ! I'm wondering how cavalry would operate in a battle using these cumbersome weapons ?
Hello Mat I was just wondering if you can make a video about Bolognese sidesword fencing
Can you please do a video on whether it would be practical to use daggers and knives with shields. I would like to know if it would be practical compared to a sword or an axe . Thanks a bunch!
Now I'm imagining people drawing a line on their thumb knuckles to get a more precise sighting for accuracy.
In storage a wooden bolt is likely to warp spinning reduces the effect of warp on accuracy.
Did Tom every tried to recreate the crossbow that was described by Anna Comnena? A crossbow with a lock in the Middle ( thus longer draw back ) and the user had to law down on the ground with his feet on the bow and both hands on the string to draw it back to arm it.
best crossover ever
I wish crossbows weren't illegal where I live.
Crossbows are illegal? Like, totally? Can people own rifles?
Depends on the kind of crossbow
In NSW, Australia, yeah, totally illegal. Other states (QLD) they're not. I have a firearms license for a rifle, but there's no license that will let me get a crossbow.
IPostSwords that is effed up
What's more effed up is that normal bows (recurve, composite, whatever) are totally legal. So are spear guns. No license needed. Crossbows though? obviously too dangerous for the public
Those old guys weren't dum at all...
I'm just imagining Genuese crossbow snipers. Horrifying.
They existed. Welcome to the world of castle sieges and the term "sticking your head above the parapet"...
You misspelled "dumb"
I am super interested in how fast these bolts are going. You or Tod have chronograph?
Tod did shoot one over a chrono, the video is here: ua-cam.com/video/kHnZo6ELEV0/v-deo.html
Joffrey would be impressed
Can you talk more about the accuracy of medieval bows and crossbows? At what distance can you expect to hit a human size target 100% of the time?
Ok, I'm going to resubscribe :) Great video!
Well that was a lot of info and well... Neat.
Isn't there a sort of stand for the windlass? I see them being put on the floor and it take time to pick them up.
Wow, those crossbow bolts lifted up like a plane taking off!
I have been lead to believe spin stabilisation leads to longer range for bullets that have a length greater than the diameter due to reduced tumbling. IE the tumbling looses you more than the rifling does. Tumbling of course has a hideously detrimental effect on accuracy too.
Hey Matt Easton, I have a question for you about a potential future video on your channel. Is there any chance you could do a video or two where you have an interview, sparring session, whatever, with Mike Loades? He's become my personal idol as a military historian, and I'd really love to see the two of you discussing medieval military history together.
I have actually met and talked with Mike a few times. It's not impossible, though he lives in the USA now and I haven't seen him for a few years.
That's a beautiful Bolt, Would it work with a six inch spring steel spike? Have you seen the Lithuanian Crossbows? Their Bolts look like big darts with long spikes
If you were to design a crossbow with modern knowledge, but with only period-appropriate materials, what would you change from the traditional design? I'm thinking to start, just from an ergonomics perspective, some better handles/triggers could be designed. I wonder if you could design a version of the windlass that wouldn't get tangled so easily...
Are windlasses faster or slower than cranequins? And how do they compare to each other in general (price, ease of use,...). I would expect cranequins to be more expensive and more difficult to make using medieval technology.
Wouldn't it be possible to make a crossbow that would work with three-flighted bolts if you added a groove along the front of the stock for the third flight to slot into?
In are 18th century small swords better than 17 century small swords video you said that Spanish were still using cup Hilted rapiers instead of small swords well in 1810 where they still using rapiers or were they already using small sword? I really need your help
Viter F yes
Andy Wilson so they were still using cup hilted Rapier in 1810
Viter F maybe
I do the Spanish did use the rapier far later then most of Europe, I'm not 100% sure but I do believe it was still in use around that time , but dying out , I hope that answers ur question, but again I'm no expert but I recall hearing it
Great video. By the way, I'm doing research for a novel that I'm writing, and I've been trying to find information about medieval Scottish warfare. I was wondering, what did they use when it came to ranged weapons like bows and crossbows?
The Scottish were famous archers, using longbows, especially in the Highlands and Islands. In the Lowlands and border regions, crossbows were more common. The Borderers used a hand spanned light crossbow called Latch which could easily be used from horseback.
Should have had a Wilhelm Scream in the distance when the bolt flew over the target.
Would the earlier introduction of muskets end the medieval age and knights earlier as well?
Now that's a lot of celebrities for one video! ))
Rate of shot, could be a useful alternative to fire id think.
I remember reading about bolts for maritime crossbows being super expensive while the crossbows were quite amazingly cheap. The idea was to supply a lot of crossbows and a small amount of ammo. The dead would be looted or they would no longer be in ranged combat so they wouldn't run out.
Ty Larson IDK for a fact but that sounds screwy to me.
Here it mentions the small cheap crossbow only being 3 to 5 shillings a piece. That is incredibly cheap. web.mit.edu/21h.416/www/militarytechnology/crossbow.html
And if you listen about the wood curved fletching on the bolts you would need to avoid feathers or leathers rotting while stored on a naval vessel in the damp...a skilled craftsman could make a simple unadorned munitions grade crossbow in an hour or two. To put it in perspective a good crossbow maker would make more in a day than a crossbow sells for. Now imagine the time involved in hand making crossbow bolts with wood fletching. Easy to see that less than 20 bolts would be more expensive than mass producing crossbows.
I'd definitely like to own one, but I'm pretty much out of money at the moment so it'll have to wait.
"Yes and No" - Todd...
Good answer Todd. :-)
Pherhaps rate of Volley, or Rate of Release, or something similar may be more fitting Then rate of fire?
Can you use the word _cadence_ to mean rate of fire? In German _Kadenz_ has the same meaning as rate of fire.
If work =force x distance does that mean a 300 lb crossbow with a 1 foot power draw will deliver 300 ftlbs of force?
The short answer is, "no".
The longer answer requires some expansion:
First, work != force, so the question is flawed in its wording. (This is like asking someone how many light-years old he is.)
Second, force x time (not distance) gives you "impulse", which is a measure of momentum.That would be in pound*seconds (imperial) or Newton*seconds (SI). Energy delivered to the target would be 1/2 * mass * velocity^2 (assuming that all the energy of the bolt were delivered.)
Third, it's my understanding that draw weight refers to the peak force required to draw the bow (whether crossbow, or otherwise). Since the amount of force will tend to drop as the arms of the bow release their curve, impulse will be somewhere below (peak draw weight) * (time on the string).
Finally, ft.*lbs or Nm is a measure of torque. To see this in action, look at the goat's foot used with the 180lb bow. Tod is using (WAG) somewhere in the range of 30 - 40# of force over a distance of 3/4' or so, which would be around 30 ft.*lbs of torque (around 40 Nm).
ETA: Also, quite a lot of the energy in the system will go toward accelerating the arms of the bow rather than the bolt or arrow. This is one of the advantages of a short, high-draw steppe composite bow over a longbow. The shorter arms of a crossbow will be less of a problem here than a longbow as well.
Note that I don't consider the question unreasonable (hence the effort of responding). Physics can be tricky, but it's interesting enough to be worth studying, I think.
no, a lot of energy is lost in sound , friction and heat , and moving the mass of the spring , the weight of the bolt and the rope used . dynamic efficiency equation at play
As Todd explained the crossbow has a much smaller power stroke from a longbow,then the logical question comes,why did they do that?
Why didn't they take the 400 pound crossbow and made you draw the bolt much further back or even as back as a longbows draw length?
Greg a long bow is around six feet long mounting that sideways makes an extremely wide bow. It would probably be called a ballista.
Thanks for the reply Sam,
the longbow has to be that tall to produce the required energy,since it is made out of wood.
This is not an issue for the metal crossbow bands like those in the video it can produce the poundage and far more.
Maybe it is an issue with the steel,that if bent too much maybe it breaks or bends permanently?
On todds channel he says in a few videos that he thinks it is due to them not being confident in the metal's strength. In other words with the metal of the time, they were afraid that the bow would snap if they had a longer powerstroke.
Cool thanks for the answer!
Then would be interesting if anyone attempted to use modern steel and and see how much more effective a crossbow would be with a longer power stroke.
Greg: As I understand it (I haven't shopped for a crossbow recently), and as Todd himself put it in another video, modern crossbows typically have a much greater power stroke, possibly as much, if not more than twice the distance.
accuracy while leading a moving target? Maybe that's why not anyone used them ages ago?
Yeah, I have one question, probably stupid and already answered... What if the steel break? It would be easy to set string between both ends to make sure your head will be not hit by broken steel... (just rope between both ends of the bow or some kind of artistic rope knitting?). Is there any evidence of steel bows breaking in the crossbows during battles or hunting? I can hardly imagine people using cheap steel bow crossbows and not being affraid of breaks... It was real problem or it's only my imagination? All the best! Thank you! :)
I doubt there's much risk of the steel bow stave breaking. The string can break though, or the bow might break loose.
Automotive leaf springs can break. It would mess you up.
From other videos (Tod's and other's), I have gathered that the short length of the power stroke is actually designed to prevent that. Even with relatively bad steel, you would just never be pulling hard enough to break it, the flip side being that the spring actually has to be much more powerful.
In comparison, you can make a modern crossbow with as much draw length as you want (more or less) simply because the steel is reliable.
I have seen photos of Renaissance crossbows where the arms of the bow were wrapped in leather of heavy fabric . I always suspected that was to prevent lose fragments flying around in case the bow shattered.
Hi! Which books/treatises do you guys recommend for understanding weapon fighting?
Hi thanks a lot for your videos. Is it possible that the chinese uses crosbows back at the time of Confucius.i.e 5th B.C ?
Not regarding crossbows but I have an interesting question that I would like to see a video for. Hypothetically speaking, what would be an ideal body type soldiers during the Middle Ages should have and how it differs or similar to other time periods, particularly ancient and Renaissance periods? I am asking this because of some fight manuals I have seen, have slightly different body types which makes me question if certain modern body types are more beneficial in training than others.
This reminds me of a video: ua-cam.com/video/DSTvLAhLpgQ/v-deo.html But yeah: I think it is fair to say that medieval soldiers trained in ways specific for the sort of combat and travel which they anticipated doing, and this probably varies wildly from modern athletes. Consider that a medieval soldier might need to march for more than week with little rest and still be expected to fight; I doubt many strong men today could do that on a meager diet of dried meat, unfiltered water, and bread.
That said, I have my doubts that there was some sort of special workout secrets from the past. Looking at Jean Boucicaut's biography (a late medieval Knight), his workout regime looks a bit like a mishmash of modern cross-fit. ua-cam.com/video/q-bnM5SuQkI/v-deo.html and he probably had the best sort of education available at the day. Not a bad workout by ANY means, but not radically different.
What is the typical rate of loose on one of those? Do they make extended quivers for combat assult situations?
Rate of shooting is discussed in the video. The ancient Chinese invented a repeating crossbow(Lever operated) & into the early C20th most homes were supposed to have one.
Rate of release?
I ship them so hard
Aldor the crossbows or the englishmen?
Yes
Only 25 min? More please
In Germany it`s the other way around. Owning a rifle? very difficult. Walking around with a knife/blade longer than 12 cm? You`re fucked.. Walking through the middle of a town with your crossbow, loaded and ready to "fire"? No Problem! Shooting in a public park with a crossbow or a longbow? Perfect! ...
Great video, by the way!