The “disposable” theory is correct. Individual teeth can be easily replaced and is a small inconvenience compared to the inconvenience of your opponent who now has tooth shards stuck in their body. Although shark teeth may seem exotic to you, they couldn’t be more common in regions with shark populations. Sharks constantly grow new teeth and shed old ones the way your girlfriend sheds hair. After living on an island your whole life finding shark teeth on the beach probably gets to be more annoying than exciting at a certain point.
There is a sadistic logic to it, provided that you hit a naked opponent, because if you lose those teeth when you hit his shield or his protective suit, it makes no sense.
Hawaiian resident here, the leiomano was absolutely used in combat. The shark teeth are meant to break and dislodge, as replacing the shark teeth is rather easy (you can literally find shark teeth on the beach here) and it's still a hardwood club at the end of the day. It helps that ancient Hawaiians really didn't wear anything resembling armor (aside from helmets, because protecting your noggin seems to be pretty important in nearly every culture), so any strike would be against flesh most of the time. Additionally, that style you have is one of the more common to see in the modern day, but some traditional na leiomano are much longer or larger, more like swords than the knife you've got there (which still existed historically, it's just far from being the only size and shape of the weapon). Really neat weapon, even if the concept is hardly original (the Hawaiians primarily trace their roots to New Zealand and Tahiti, both of which also used shark tooth clubs).
You see them in other parts of Polynesia and Micronesia too. In some of those places there are armours, but mostly of coconut fibre or sharkskin, which I feel these would at least have a chance of puncturing.
@@maccaebusSome modern Kiribati craftsmen seem to do a good trade in reproductions of the coconut fibre bodysuits that were once worn there so that part might be feasible. The sharkskin belt cuirass and porcupine fish helmets might be harder to get. 😅
From what I understand the teeth are meant to break off into the flesh. It's designed so that instead of making an entirely new club you can hold on to the wooden part and then just replace the teeth. Similar to how you would expect a sword to grow dull and need to be sharpened again.
Makes sense. I knew that was the case with the macuahuitl, which is similar but instead of teeth it's obsidian shards and in that weapon you were supposed to replace the shards, since obsidian can ger really sharp, but is also pretty fragile.
Still i would just personally prefer just longer less paddle like club as weapon, and i bet would be more effective. To me like skall also mentioned as theory maybe more status thing. Lots of work goes in to making this especially without metal tools with very little benefit if any
Made me laugh when the teeth blasted, believe it or not but that’s actually desired hahah. Leaves shrapnel in the wounds making almost any strike debilitating even if it wasn’t lethal. Loved the review! And I’d be more then happy to fix it back up for you 😁 mahalo nui! Also the primary targets are soft targets for this style of weapon. Neck, thighs, stomach, arms.
there are a few known methods for affixing teeth, but in almost all of them they are secured 1 or 2 at a time rather then an ongoing lash which is what you see on my piece here. This means to replace teeth would be a fairly easy endeavor. Pre unification of the islands under King Kamehameha the first the Hawaiian islands where heavily waring islands and warriors took extraordinary care of their tools. After any battle woods were oiled and re finished and if they had teeth they would be replaced. @@johnbennett1465
@@johnbennett1465 I mean they didn't really have anything else to do in a primal village. But realistically i could see a skilled maker replace all the teeth in under an hour.
@@Ren-lx8wv don't know about your time estimate. But you clearly have never thought through all the effort people need to obtain all the stuff you just go down to the store to buy. While they did have some free time, they spent a lot of time working.
@@jurtheorc8117 I think more like Middle Earth warrior tribe. "Salakarim where feared as warriors in battle, but more than that they where respected for skills in crafting weapons" Something like that.
@@Franky_Sthein I can see it, the -im at the end seems to be in some older languages a way to refer to pluralities (Seraph - Seraphim, Cherub - Cherubim and stuff)
I LOVED how you glued it together and clearly where meticulous in finding all but the tiniest of pieces. It showed alot of respect for the piece and was satisfying to see!
To my knowledge, from my Hawaiian study class, at a University of Hawaii Community College, it’s more of a knife… Not a sword/club… The lecture was covering Hawaiian shrines (heiaus). We eventually talked about King Kamehameha I’s last war heiau and how it needed a sacrifice. So, he invited his cousin. When the cousin arrived, via boat, Kamehameha’s forces attacked. His cousin was losing so he decided to kill himself in a bloody way, cutting off his genitals (yikes) and continued cutting himself with his shark teeth blade. Experts, if I’m wrong, please correct me I am (currently) a humble college student…
@@blastortoisefun fact, the original writer wanted to use the word kame the word for turtle as homage to goku’s master when trying to come up with an idea the writers wife suggested the name from King Kamehameha. So the move from dbz does actually come from that 😅
Kamehameha and his cousin (Keouakūʻahuʻula) were actually at war at the time, and were feuding over inheritance of land rights after the death of the aliʻi nui Kalaniʻōpuʻu. Keouakūʻahuʻula received no land rights despite being Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s son and rampaged through Kamehameha’s lands in revenge, desecrating sacred sites and killing his men. Kamehameha and his allies then fought and defeated Keouakūʻahuʻula’s forces in battle, killed Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s successor Kīwalaʻō (who had backed Keouakūʻahuʻula), and forced him to flee, where a large portion of his forces eventually died from suffocation by volcanic ash after passing by the volcano Kīlauea during an eruption. Keouakūʻahuʻula actually knew he would be sacrificed when he was called by Kamehameha, so he performed ritual genital mutilation (ʻōmuʻo) to render himself an unfit sacrifice. Essentially, he knew he would die, but decided to spite Kamehameha at the last minute by sabotaging his offering.
Not a bad concept. Relatively easy to repair/replace, inflicts enough damage to deter or disarm a foe, while still maintaining some lethality. Wouldn't hold up in a protracted campaign, or against armored enemies, but works with a run-of-the-mill nerdowell.
What armour shows up in Polynesia and Micronesia is either woven coconut fibre or ray/sharkskin. Which these weapons, and various others made of swordfish bills, sawfish rostrums, etc, have some chance of piercing.
Which is better I wonder. Obsidian is rather fragile and when the shark teeth break off the nub is rather robust. On very lightly or unarmored opponents I foresee this being a painful weapon to be hit by.
@@Aliyah_666 Well, we have quite a number of historical sources describing the use of the Macuahuitl against the Spanish, it was that widespread. The 2 handed version is noted multiple times in different sources of being able to decapitate a horse (let alone a human). I'm not sure these kind of sources exist for the Hawaiian sharktooth club/knife.
@@Aliyah_666 Obsidian on the first flesh strike could hit a depth three strikes from shark teeth might not reach and that's probably why this paddle is more like a flanged mace than a dagger.
It makes sense that the teeth were meant to be replaceable. If your culture does a lot of fishing in waters that include sharks, you'll probably have enough teeth to go around. Heck, they're replaceable to the shark itself - they're always growing new teeth.
Alternate theory Skall, maybe instead of being a *disposable* weapon, the Leiomano was instead meant to be used against *softer* parts of the body like the belly and the neck, at least when attacking with the toothed edge; the environmental conditions of most Polynesian islands, especially those of Hawaii, would've made armor and even just thicker clothing too great a risk of both heatstroke, and out at sea, drowning, so the wielder wouldn't have to worry about those areas being armored anyway, and thuse could confidently slash at those areas with the toothed edge; when you think about it, Polynesians were the closest thing our own world had to monster hunters (in the Monster Hunter franchise sense), hunting sharks for their teeth to make weapons with, so it's no surprise that their weapons look like real life versions of Monster Hunter weapons. And the truth is, the Leiomano isn't even the *closest* thing that the Hawaiians had to swords because they in fact had *actual* swords called Pahi Kuah, that were made from the bills of Billfish, most commonly Swordfish; in other words, *irl bone* swords like in, again, Monster Hunter; sometimes their edges were lined with shark teeth like the Leiomano, and sometimes they just had their natural edges sharpened. They might've even had Pahi Kuah of *greatsword* size because Billfish can get big enough for their bills to be that long! The Samoans had their *own* version too that they made from the bills of *Sawfish* , meaning the teeth are *preattached* ; I'm sure you can see the brilliance of doing that too. KoaStudio has made a *lot* of Pahi Kuah already, so maybe you could ask him to make you one of *those* next!
@@Wild.Beaver well, they were also mariners, so they'd *also* be hunting them for their *meat* ; you can hunt a creature for more than one thing, teeth was just the thing that was relevant to the topic of this video.
@@Wild.Beaver they likely caught other fish too, but sharks are *big* , and thus have a lot *more* meat, *and* they have the teeth they'd need for a lot of their weapons; so yeah, I can imagine they'd have recognized that and hunted sharks as a result.
You certainly have done a lot of imagining. Hawaii isn't very hot at all. Temperatures range narrowly at sea level from about 25 to 31 Celsius year round. Compare that to Persia, Ottoman empire, India, Egypt or Greece and you'll find that temperatures range from similar to quite a bit hotter and yet the use of armor was widespread throughout history.
Skall beating skall is my favourite. Awesome editing! This weapon is so cool. I'm glad you are covering it. Always fun to see different weapons and fighting styles.
An one uses what ones got.. unique wood in such regions barely seen or heard of anywhere else. Basically a TRULY effective cross between a wooden sword an club An they was made to take more of a beating then thought. Couldn't be that hard to repair. Sharks teeth are incredibly sharp. An can inflict horrendous injury. These definitely was used in battles an fights. It's an extremely different kinda fighting then what your usual is Skall. Nice to see you branching out a little though. They get weirder in some countries then even this.
It would be interesting to see one with metal teeth. Not quite as "metal" as pure shark teeth but they woule be much less likely to break. Tho the breaking part is kinda interesting. Almost implying if you fought them the shards could get stuck in your skin and cause some wild dmg to the point that many who are hit by them might not survive if they happen to win the encounter. Idk if that novelty is worth not just using a normal blade tho. Still waiting for that 40k chainsword to be built 🤙
There was no metal to make a 'normal' blade with in Hawaii. However there are records and remains of swordfish bill type 'swords' though they're more or less fishy rapiers.
@@Direwolf13PS3I once saw a weapon which I can only describe as a Polynesian trenchknife. Combined a swordfish (or sailfish or billfish) rostrum with a sharktooth studded wooden knuckleduster. Truly one of the evilest looking weapons I've ever seen.
A thrusting/slashing attack option (based on the uniform curvature) would make stabs at inner thigh, throat, inner arms, & torso still dangerous with a twist of the wrist. What a great weapon! Forging time is pretty short, materials are readily available with minimal processing, & creates a versatile set of attack options. Dual wielding these would be respectably aggressive… 🤔
I don't think it could have survived full force. At least not more than a handful of blows. There's too many weak parts, even the wood would break. I guess kinda handling it like a knife would give it the most durability. Quick stabs and slashes. It's a beautiful weapon, but not very practical outside of tribal warfare.
@@thenonexistinghero Completely agreed. Very hack and slash. The wood itself is actually very solid (and they do make weapons out of the wood itself) but those teeth were surprisingly/unsurprisingly fragile. Now days, they're great wall pieces.👍 #BeautifulWeapons
From what few demonstrations I've seen, lei o'mano weren't used so much for full force swings. Instead they were used in more of a cutting motion, like a knife, drawing the teeth across the flesh and letting the cutting power of the teeth do the work
Wonderfully crafted. It's amazing how much work we, as humans, have placed into beautifying our killing weapons. There are a number of craftsmen in Hawaii and around the Pacific who make this sort of traditional weaponry--I love that they're keeping the heritage alive.
Thank you so much for making this video Skall! We Polynesians rarely get to see our culture explored by others (cough Captain Cook) and live to tell the tale. Joking aside, shark teeth were readily available not just from scouring the beach or the shallow waters, but ancient Hawaiians were proficient in all things they did. This includes shark hunting. One of many ways, they would create bails of rotten pig flesh and Awa root (Awa root is used to make a drink that has sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant effects. The active ingredients of awa root are called kavalactones, which can help reduce anxiety and insomnia.). Once the shark was sleepy you could easily dispatch it by jumping on top of its and stabbing and tearing the gills of the shark. This technique was mainly done to show others how bad ass you were. Other ways were fishing spearing and netting. There is a legend that Kamehameha killed a shark in the water when he was a young boy. According to the legend, Kamehameha was swimming in the ocean near his home in Kohala, when he saw a large shark approaching him. He grabbed a rock and threw it at the shark, hitting it on the head. The shark was stunned and turned away, but Kamehameha followed it and jumped on its back. He then used his teeth and nails to tear open the shark’s gills and kill it. He dragged the shark to the shore and offered it as a sacrifice to his family god, Kūkāʻilimoku. Hawaiians also had fishponds, turtles' ponds, and whale ponds. These were walled off sections in the shallow water of the ocean where they would capture and keep the animals there for later eating similar to how we use a fridge today. As long as the animal is alive the meat won't spoil. Today we only have one or two active fishponds on Molokai. Although aquaculture is making a comeback on the islands, they are using modern inland techniques which are not nearly as sustainable as the old way. One source says that they produced nearly 750,000 pounds of fish annually from 99 active fishponds in 1901. Another source says that they produced about 486,000 pounds of ʻamaʻama (striped mullet) and 194,000 pounds of awa (milkfish is NUMBA ONE BRADA) annually from the same number of active fishponds in 1901. A third source says that they produced upward of 2 million pounds of fish annually from more than 450 fishponds across the Hawaiian Islands. These numbers suggest that the Hawaiians had a very productive and sustainable aquaculture system that supported large communities.
It is not just Hawaiian, but has been common in various iterations throughout all of Polynesia, and is arguably even more iconic for the Māori people of New Zealand.
A good tip is filling the hole with baking powder then use thin superglue it creates a bone like surface that can be sanded. Its an old guitar repair hack for repairing a bone nut.
Well, Shark teeth were MADE to be instantly replacable. Most sharks have rows of teeth that will replace whatever falls out of the first row. In germany we literally call this "Revolver Gebiss" or "Revolver Jaw" when translated. Also, this weapon could be a really cool magic item. Fellow DnD nerds, i present: *Coast-cutter* A +X (X can be +1 to +3) Weapon that can be used as a Club or Shortsword. When used as a shortsword, the target loses X hit point every turn until it uses an action to try to mend or cover the wound (medicine check DC 9 + your Proficiency bonus + Strength or dexterity). This effect stacks with itself, but a single successful medicine check negates all bleeding. (If you want it more powerful, give it the ability to once per day cast Polymorph on you into a giant shark)
@@DistractedChiroptera I would just say the Teeth break when used too often (maybe 1 attack per tooth, of which the weapon has 10, 20 or 30) and then the bleeding can't be used until the Weapon can be laid into Sea Water over a long rest (like a Barrel), where it then recharges 1D6 + 1 Tooth. OR you give it this effect when used as a club: On a hit, the target has to make a Constitution saving throw or start holding their breath as their lungs fill with sea water. At the start of their turn they can repeat the save to end the effect. (This effect also costs 1 tooth per use).
Some sort of water elemental synergy would be neat too. I don't play D&D, but if there's ever underwater combat I feel like this thing should have advantage during it.
"I don't want to break it" *breaks it immediately* Seriously though, thanks for showing us the durability. Totally worth it to find out! I honestly thought the glue/string would break first. Very clean repair job! Still nice and fit for display.
Availability and meaning. Tiger sharks where held with great reverence and esteem. So to wield a weapon made from their powerful teeth was also considered to strengthen the weirder.
Yeah, I remember watching something where a bunch of tiger sharks near Hawaii were eating a dead whale, but they cleared out when a great white showed up to eat it. The narrator said that it was unusual for great whites to be around there, but it happens on occasion. So they probably didn’t have access to enough of their teeth.
Hello! Not an expert, but I wanted to give a book recommendation from when I did a paper on Hawaiian warfare in college. I did use the book you mentioned BUT a much better book is “LUA Art of the Hawaiian Warrior” by Richard Kelumuikawaiokeola Paglinawan. He is one of the few Lua left in Hawaii capable to teaching the art of Hawaiian warfare! Absolutely amazing book. Hope it helps, thanks so much for sharing a part of the culture of my homeland.
The "disposable hypothesis" is valid. The inconvenience of having to replace individual teeth is negligible when compared to the discomfort experienced by your opponent, who now has tooth shards embedded in their body. Even though they might seem unusual to you, shark teeth are extremely common in areas where shark populations are present. Sharks lose their old teeth and grow new ones all the time, just like someone does hair. Finding shark teeth on the beach probably gets more annoying than exciting after spending your entire life on an island.
I had a small one on a necklace as a pendant, broke a tooth and lost the fragment, it’s always unfortunate. I would say you might get more longevity/effectiveness with a thrusting slice as the teeth should slice one way and shred the other
Like dry wood or bone versus living. The root which fills the center of the tooth has dryed up and decayed leaving only the outer shell. Just as sharp but losing a lot of its structure. Still deadly but just not a strong.
Their teeth are basically designed to be disposable which is why they have lots of them. It’s kind of intended they break off and do even more damage to whatever they are biting, as their feeding style is basically rip something apart until it stops moving and then swallow. They often ingest their own teeth as well.
For anyone interested, there are similar weapons endemic to the Gilbert Islands/Kiribati. They use a similar technique of inlaid shark's teeth along the edge, but in overall shape and form, they more closely resemble arming swords, sabers, longswords, and spears. Some even have multiple branches/protrusions that give the impression of a central blade with a crossguard. Warriors of this island nation also fashioned and wore full-body suits of armor (cuirasses with raised neck guards, gambesons/shirts, trousers, etc.) fashioned from woven coconut fiber, shells, and human hair in tandem with badass helmets made from porcupine fish skin. Plenty of amazing pics of both the weapons and armor are accessible in a variety of places online. Cheers!
This weapon is an absolute delight of design and the combination of several of their important industries in period. It's genuinely amaing stuff! :) This was a really beautiful piece you had in the video. Love your content, man! Keep it up!
Skalligrim, I'm no expert but I have seen this weapon a few times. It was used in combat and they knew it would 'wear out' with use. However, shark teeth were quite ubiquitous so replacing them with newer ones was not really a problem that they had to deal with. Hope that helps shed some light on it!
Indeed they kew they would be in permanent just like weapons in a similar style from South America. I think one thing that is very loosely addressed as well is the fact that often times having scary spiky edge (like the one shown) often meant it was more of a ceremonial or decorative weapon of status. If you want a better cutting implement simply angle the teeth in the other direction and Boom! Smooth continuous cutting surface!
@@michealdelaura1853 I apologize if I seemed to be insinuating this. I was just trying to add to your comment which has very good point! They were meant to break! But ones made with teeth of this shape can be angled to make a smooth knife instead of something that rips! 💗
@@kweeshaatekneepunam2507 oh no, you're perfectly fine! I was asking if I was in fact wrong because how you worded it made much more sense and I was (still am 😆) willing to admit if I was wrong. I took no offense
I like these vids cause they take weapons we think shouldn't really be a thing; and shows why it really could have been a big deal. One of the problems with films and media is we have created an illusion to what weapons can or should be doing all the time with no real world issues, so when something like this challenges our ideas...it's nice to see it changing minds.
Long time lurker but I need to get this out: I love your content! Your sense of humour is just awesome and I learn something new every time! What more to ask for? Keep it up, you are awesome!
As a māori (a part of the Polynesian group) i know my little country is far from Hawaii but i was very excited to see this weppon and koa getting an advertisement
@@KoaStudio koa any chance you could make a video on all the different Polynesian weppons? Mabey some playlist at some point? Would help alot for reasurch
ya I have done some but I don’t know if I feel confident enough in their history to give a good description.. but I am always trying to learn new things so I definitely will keep at it.
Great paddle to spank and then tease with the feathers...LOL Its a gorgeous weapon, imagine having fragments of shark bone stuck in you. I have read they could rebuild them
The Deadliest Warrior tv series did an episode that included a shark tooth club being used full force on a ballistics dummy. The " fragile" weapon did a lot of damage. Shoalin Monk vs. Maori Warrior, season 1 episode 7.
As a Native Hawaiian who grew up there it's true: this weapon is GRUESOME if you aren't wearing mail or a more durable form of armor. It will slash through clothing and flesh, and while the teeth might break, it just turns it into a club, so still usable. A devastating first strike, and then a brutal second strike
I think one of the strongest aspects of this weapon is its intimidation / fear factor. In a culture without metal, and without armor, imagine the sheer amount of blood and horrific wounds this would produce compared to virtually any other weapon, (wooden or bone tip spears or clubs.) and 99% of the time whoever had this weapon probably just carried it around looking tough. Large scale or constant warfare wasn't really a thing either, and in the event this was used, you just have one of your subordinates replace all the teeth, assuming this was a higher status weapon to begin with. On top of it all even if all the tooth edges break off you still have jagged sharp broken bits that would still rip and tear, and even with all the teeth gone entirely it's still a club you can wallop people with. A very cool weapon.
Even without the teeth, a paddle shaped club can do a lot of damage, being more aerodynamic than a round club and focusing the force a bit more without being an actual blade. The teeth just make it look pretty and make that first blow extra devastating, but it would work even with the damage.
That's funny, I only a while ago watched a video from Traditional Hawaiian Culture what came into my Recommended, where they go through various Hawaiian weapons (including sharkteeth arms). It was very interesting and now it's good to see a "new" one up close. I also expected them to be "disposable" in the sense that you can always find more shark teeth, but I didn't expect it to need replenishing on a per-strike basis...
Thanks for the very interesting video! I've made my own Leiomano myself (purely as a display piece), and I always wondered how a "real" one would hold up in actual use. About as well as I thought it might. Certainly the shark teeth would add to the intimidation factor, if faced with a group of huge Polynesian warriors brandishing them. Also, I'm sure they add an extra bit of "mana" or spiritual power to the wielder, as Shark are known as "amakua" or family ancestor-gods. The main use of it though, was probably simply as a bludgeon. Anyway, mahalo nui loa for highlighting a beautiful handcrafted piece of artwork (and then putting it to the test). 😅😂
It might be damaged, but that very gentle test was very informative. I appreciate it as I thought it was a little more durable. Thank you for your sacrifice.
Quite ingenious and resourceful of islander warriors to use the abundance of naturally-flotsaming shark teeth from the sea surrounding their islands. As far as the ecosystem and use of resources is concerned, it's an infinite supply of sharp and durable cutting material that's easily replaceable and doesn't require sharpening or excessive carving and preparation! Now imagine needing to repair, deal with a chip in, or regrind a stone or metal tool with the nonexistent or extremely scarce resources available on an island, volcanic outgrowth, reefed atoll, or what have you in the remote areas of the Pacific. I'd rather pick up the shark teeth any day.
It really is a beautiful weapon! I'm honestly disappointed there isn't more material on the weapons of various indigenous peoples, they're extremely fascinating!
Even though it seems flimsy at first glance, from a wound perspective this thing would be an absolute nightmare. This doesn't cut, it tears and pulls flesh, making jagged cuts and wounds that would be an absolute pain in the ass to stitch up and properly treat. Another aspect I'm curious about is if they actually bothered to clean or polish the teeth at all, or if they just took it right out of a Shark's mouth... because if its the latter, that would also exponentially increase the chance of infection, especially when parts of the teeth break off into your flesh. This definitely feels like one of those things you get hit with once and then die a week later in agony.
I googled "Hawaiian sharktooth weapons". There are a lot of them. All different shapes & sizes...& a lot of other weird(to me) weapons besides. A whole new(to me) weapons tradition to study. Thank you Skallagrim.
As Skal noted a lot of those are reproductions. There are, however, lots of colonial era photos from places like Kiribati in Micronesia that will show you originals--often in combination with the local armour tradition as well.
hah the monster hunter question is also what i had in my head. there are quite a few huge sowrds with shark teeth etc. IIRC you talked about that super big 2h sword once, i forgot whom it belonged to. but yes...yes this is probably what monster hunter weapons feel like :D
I've actually seen two versions of a Leiomano/Shark-Tooth Club when it comes to the spike at the bottom of the handle. Some versions are spikes carved from the wood like this one, but others I've seen use the bill of a Marlin or Swordfish for the spike. Also, from what I understand, any shark teeth can be used, but the best teeth for a Leiomano are Tiger Shark teeth. And considering that Tiger Sharks can easily bite through something as hard as a turtle shell, that's really not a big surprise!
The design concept for this piece actually comes from an archive image. There were a lot of different styles among surviving weapons but I implement a very specific style in most of my work 🤙
Pacific Island cultures were masters of wooden and stone weapons. Their creations were as much art as they were effective implements of war. They made advances optimizing the geometry of their weapons the same as any culture with metal ones, but did so with the materials they had available, and to great effect.
I think, the Koa wood club it self is the weapon. And the shark teeth are just added damage. Like coating a dagger with poison. But, instead of a dagger, its a club, and instead added poison damage, its added bleeding and psychological damage. So, one, probably, shouldn't use it as a "polynesian sword", but use it as a wooden club instead. Just as and idea: How about replacing those teeth with splintered sea shells, like from pearl clams shell ? Those things can also make some nasty cuts. Also, "From the Outer Dark we come, and into its depths we shall return. The black sea beyond the stars calls to us."- Carcharodons Astra 😁
I've heard that this particular weapon was used mostly to end a fight by targeting soft areas like the gut or inner thigh or thigh in general to cause the most bleeding as possible to make the target bleed out. The shark teeth breaking off was an added plus and could cause even more trouble even after the fight while the other pointy end made of wood was meant to grappel with and hold in place, though clearly one can be creative and smack a skull with it too if need be. This is truely a really cool weapon and honestly one of my favorites in history
The “disposable” theory is correct. Individual teeth can be easily replaced and is a small inconvenience compared to the inconvenience of your opponent who now has tooth shards stuck in their body. Although shark teeth may seem exotic to you, they couldn’t be more common in regions with shark populations. Sharks constantly grow new teeth and shed old ones the way your girlfriend sheds hair. After living on an island your whole life finding shark teeth on the beach probably gets to be more annoying than exciting at a certain point.
There is a sadistic logic to it, provided that you hit a naked opponent, because if you lose those teeth when you hit his shield or his protective suit, it makes no sense.
If you live in a land where you can produce these in any significant quantities this means you have well enough teeth for replacements as well
It reminds me of the Aztec Macuahuitl, which uses obsidian instead of shark teeth!
don't people gather them for sale, like shells, which is why big shells have become rare finds on beaches with lot's of visitors
Girlfriend's hair may be rare or inaccessible, for some.
Hawaiian resident here, the leiomano was absolutely used in combat. The shark teeth are meant to break and dislodge, as replacing the shark teeth is rather easy (you can literally find shark teeth on the beach here) and it's still a hardwood club at the end of the day. It helps that ancient Hawaiians really didn't wear anything resembling armor (aside from helmets, because protecting your noggin seems to be pretty important in nearly every culture), so any strike would be against flesh most of the time. Additionally, that style you have is one of the more common to see in the modern day, but some traditional na leiomano are much longer or larger, more like swords than the knife you've got there (which still existed historically, it's just far from being the only size and shape of the weapon). Really neat weapon, even if the concept is hardly original (the Hawaiians primarily trace their roots to New Zealand and Tahiti, both of which also used shark tooth clubs).
You see them in other parts of Polynesia and Micronesia too. In some of those places there are armours, but mostly of coconut fibre or sharkskin, which I feel these would at least have a chance of puncturing.
@@KartarNighthawk Now that would be a test I'd like to see, provided we can get some authentic replications of Polynesian armor.
@@maccaebusSome modern Kiribati craftsmen seem to do a good trade in reproductions of the coconut fibre bodysuits that were once worn there so that part might be feasible. The sharkskin belt cuirass and porcupine fish helmets might be harder to get. 😅
Plus it floats, which is a nice feature if you're fighting over water.
That's a little strange as the Maori trace their ancestry to Hawaii, they were supposedly banished from Hawaii for their cannibalism.
From what I understand the teeth are meant to break off into the flesh. It's designed so that instead of making an entirely new club you can hold on to the wooden part and then just replace the teeth. Similar to how you would expect a sword to grow dull and need to be sharpened again.
Makes sense. I knew that was the case with the macuahuitl, which is similar but instead of teeth it's obsidian shards and in that weapon you were supposed to replace the shards, since obsidian can ger really sharp, but is also pretty fragile.
It's like how sharks replace their teeth after they fall
Still i would just personally prefer just longer less paddle like club as weapon, and i bet would be more effective. To me like skall also mentioned as theory maybe more status thing. Lots of work goes in to making this especially without metal tools with very little benefit if any
it looks like a football
@@buteocks4020?
The teeth were meant to be a replaceable "edge". That is a beautiful piece
That makes a lotta sense
@@edgarburlyman738 it's a fascinating way to achieve a cutting edge without metal, with a renewable resource
"might"..... Yeah i also think it looks good tbh !
I know they were, but it was so pretty....
When to sharpen your weapon you need to walk around the beach looking for some teeth.
Made me laugh when the teeth blasted, believe it or not but that’s actually desired hahah. Leaves shrapnel in the wounds making almost any strike debilitating even if it wasn’t lethal. Loved the review! And I’d be more then happy to fix it back up for you 😁 mahalo nui! Also the primary targets are soft targets for this style of weapon. Neck, thighs, stomach, arms.
With an original weapon, how much time and effort is needed to replace the teeth?
yoooo here he is the man himself!
there are a few known methods for affixing teeth, but in almost all of them they are secured 1 or 2 at a time rather then an ongoing lash which is what you see on my piece here. This means to replace teeth would be a fairly easy endeavor. Pre unification of the islands under King Kamehameha the first the Hawaiian islands where heavily waring islands and warriors took extraordinary care of their tools. After any battle woods were oiled and re finished and if they had teeth they would be replaced. @@johnbennett1465
@@johnbennett1465 I mean they didn't really have anything else to do in a primal village. But realistically i could see a skilled maker replace all the teeth in under an hour.
@@Ren-lx8wv don't know about your time estimate. But you clearly have never thought through all the effort people need to obtain all the stuff you just go down to the store to buy. While they did have some free time, they spent a lot of time working.
I knew about clubs with volcanic glass serrations, but one with shark teeth is somehow even more metal.
both are just super wild..just the pure imagine of having some kind of weapon made with volcanic glass serrations or any kind of that. brutal.
Ah, the wood club with natural obsidian, I believe they are called 'macuahuitl' and were made/used by the ancient Aztecs?
Samoan weapons are badass
@@timt7330 Used by the Early Modern Aztecs, actually, considering they were used in the 16th century
What about both?
I like how the pommel spike is carved into the shape of a great white tooth.
Just needs to be detachable and throwable so your opponent can be ended rightly
@toddwebb7521 salakarim thinks that we forgot about that... giving him a break, just that.
@@pepepepito623 Salakarim sounds like an alternate universe Middle Eastern version of Skallagrim.
@@jurtheorc8117 I think more like Middle Earth warrior tribe.
"Salakarim where feared as warriors in battle, but more than that they where respected for skills in crafting weapons"
Something like that.
@@Franky_Sthein I can see it, the -im at the end seems to be in some older languages a way to refer to pluralities (Seraph - Seraphim, Cherub - Cherubim and stuff)
I LOVED how you glued it together and clearly where meticulous in finding all but the tiniest of pieces. It showed alot of respect for the piece and was satisfying to see!
it looks like a football
To my knowledge, from my Hawaiian study class, at a University of Hawaii Community College, it’s more of a knife… Not a sword/club… The lecture was covering Hawaiian shrines (heiaus). We eventually talked about King Kamehameha I’s last war heiau and how it needed a sacrifice. So, he invited his cousin. When the cousin arrived, via boat, Kamehameha’s forces attacked. His cousin was losing so he decided to kill himself in a bloody way, cutting off his genitals (yikes) and continued cutting himself with his shark teeth blade.
Experts, if I’m wrong, please correct me I am (currently) a humble college student…
King Kamehameha? DBZ fans were around before DBZ, damn.
It was used more as a knife. That is correct
@@blastortoisefun fact, the original writer wanted to use the word kame the word for turtle as homage to goku’s master when trying to come up with an idea the writers wife suggested the name from King Kamehameha. So the move from dbz does actually come from that 😅
Nah man, I’m born and raised and you’re right. 😂
Kamehameha and his cousin (Keouakūʻahuʻula) were actually at war at the time, and were feuding over inheritance of land rights after the death of the aliʻi nui Kalaniʻōpuʻu. Keouakūʻahuʻula received no land rights despite being Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s son and rampaged through Kamehameha’s lands in revenge, desecrating sacred sites and killing his men. Kamehameha and his allies then fought and defeated Keouakūʻahuʻula’s forces in battle, killed Kalaniʻōpuʻu’s successor Kīwalaʻō (who had backed Keouakūʻahuʻula), and forced him to flee, where a large portion of his forces eventually died from suffocation by volcanic ash after passing by the volcano Kīlauea during an eruption. Keouakūʻahuʻula actually knew he would be sacrificed when he was called by Kamehameha, so he performed ritual genital mutilation (ʻōmuʻo) to render himself an unfit sacrifice. Essentially, he knew he would die, but decided to spite Kamehameha at the last minute by sabotaging his offering.
Yeah from what I remember the teeth are replacable. It's a brutal wood Club with a replaceable edge. Very cool concept
Not a bad concept. Relatively easy to repair/replace, inflicts enough damage to deter or disarm a foe, while still maintaining some lethality. Wouldn't hold up in a protracted campaign, or against armored enemies, but works with a run-of-the-mill nerdowell.
Why attack nerds doing well instead of neverdowells?
What armour shows up in Polynesia and Micronesia is either woven coconut fibre or ray/sharkskin. Which these weapons, and various others made of swordfish bills, sawfish rostrums, etc, have some chance of piercing.
@@johndododoe1411It's a contraction lol - ne'erdowells
This reminds me a lot of the central American Macuahuitl, adding something sharp to a wooden base (in the case of the Macuahuitl, obsidian blades).
They also apparently used shark teeth as well
Which is better I wonder. Obsidian is rather fragile and when the shark teeth break off the nub is rather robust. On very lightly or unarmored opponents I foresee this being a painful weapon to be hit by.
@@Aliyah_666 Well, we have quite a number of historical sources describing the use of the Macuahuitl against the Spanish, it was that widespread. The 2 handed version is noted multiple times in different sources of being able to decapitate a horse (let alone a human). I'm not sure these kind of sources exist for the Hawaiian sharktooth club/knife.
@@Aliyah_666 Obsidian on the first flesh strike could hit a depth three strikes from shark teeth might not reach and that's probably why this paddle is more like a flanged mace than a dagger.
Proof that awesome minds think alike. 😁
It makes sense that the teeth were meant to be replaceable. If your culture does a lot of fishing in waters that include sharks, you'll probably have enough teeth to go around. Heck, they're replaceable to the shark itself - they're always growing new teeth.
Alternate theory Skall, maybe instead of being a *disposable* weapon, the Leiomano was instead meant to be used against *softer* parts of the body like the belly and the neck, at least when attacking with the toothed edge; the environmental conditions of most Polynesian islands, especially those of Hawaii, would've made armor and even just thicker clothing too great a risk of both heatstroke, and out at sea, drowning, so the wielder wouldn't have to worry about those areas being armored anyway, and thuse could confidently slash at those areas with the toothed edge; when you think about it, Polynesians were the closest thing our own world had to monster hunters (in the Monster Hunter franchise sense), hunting sharks for their teeth to make weapons with, so it's no surprise that their weapons look like real life versions of Monster Hunter weapons.
And the truth is, the Leiomano isn't even the *closest* thing that the Hawaiians had to swords because they in fact had *actual* swords called Pahi Kuah, that were made from the bills of Billfish, most commonly Swordfish; in other words, *irl bone* swords like in, again, Monster Hunter; sometimes their edges were lined with shark teeth like the Leiomano, and sometimes they just had their natural edges sharpened. They might've even had Pahi Kuah of *greatsword* size because Billfish can get big enough for their bills to be that long!
The Samoans had their *own* version too that they made from the bills of *Sawfish* , meaning the teeth are *preattached* ; I'm sure you can see the brilliance of doing that too. KoaStudio has made a *lot* of Pahi Kuah already, so maybe you could ask him to make you one of *those* next!
Why would they hunt sharks for teeth? Sharks loose entire row of teeth every 2 weeka I believe.
@@Wild.Beaver well, they were also mariners, so they'd *also* be hunting them for their *meat* ; you can hunt a creature for more than one thing, teeth was just the thing that was relevant to the topic of this video.
@@ezrafaulk3076I think that hunting other fish was much easier and beneficial. But they might have hunt them.
@@Wild.Beaver they likely caught other fish too, but sharks are *big* , and thus have a lot *more* meat, *and* they have the teeth they'd need for a lot of their weapons; so yeah, I can imagine they'd have recognized that and hunted sharks as a result.
You certainly have done a lot of imagining. Hawaii isn't very hot at all. Temperatures range narrowly at sea level from about 25 to 31 Celsius year round. Compare that to Persia, Ottoman empire, India, Egypt or Greece and you'll find that temperatures range from similar to quite a bit hotter and yet the use of armor was widespread throughout history.
Skall beating skall is my favourite. Awesome editing! This weapon is so cool. I'm glad you are covering it. Always fun to see different weapons and fighting styles.
An one uses what ones got.. unique wood in such regions barely seen or heard of anywhere else. Basically a TRULY effective cross between a wooden sword an club
An they was made to take more of a beating then thought. Couldn't be that hard to repair. Sharks teeth are incredibly sharp. An can inflict horrendous injury. These definitely was used in battles an fights. It's an extremely different kinda fighting then what your usual is Skall.
Nice to see you branching out a little though. They get weirder in some countries then even this.
Yep
Pacific Island cultures were masters of wooden and stone weapons. Their creations were as much art as they were effective implements of war.
It would be interesting to see one with metal teeth. Not quite as "metal" as pure shark teeth but they woule be much less likely to break. Tho the breaking part is kinda interesting. Almost implying if you fought them the shards could get stuck in your skin and cause some wild dmg to the point that many who are hit by them might not survive if they happen to win the encounter. Idk if that novelty is worth not just using a normal blade tho. Still waiting for that 40k chainsword to be built 🤙
i have wanted to make one with metal "teeth" maybe one day haha
There was no metal to make a 'normal' blade with in Hawaii. However there are records and remains of swordfish bill type 'swords' though they're more or less fishy rapiers.
Yep sharp but brittle... Think of katanas and hamon/differential tempering... This is a different take on it... I think you will like it !
This is basically chainsword mk 1, lol
@@Direwolf13PS3I once saw a weapon which I can only describe as a Polynesian trenchknife. Combined a swordfish (or sailfish or billfish) rostrum with a sharktooth studded wooden knuckleduster. Truly one of the evilest looking weapons I've ever seen.
I have a piece by this maker, Koa Studios, and it’s incredible
A thrusting/slashing attack option (based on the uniform curvature) would make stabs at inner thigh, throat, inner arms, & torso still dangerous with a twist of the wrist.
What a great weapon! Forging time is pretty short, materials are readily available with minimal processing, & creates a versatile set of attack options.
Dual wielding these would be respectably aggressive… 🤔
As a Hawaiian, I'm really glad he actually took a swing! I always wanted to see it. Wish he went full force but I understood why he didn't. Very cool!
I don't think it could have survived full force. At least not more than a handful of blows. There's too many weak parts, even the wood would break. I guess kinda handling it like a knife would give it the most durability. Quick stabs and slashes. It's a beautiful weapon, but not very practical outside of tribal warfare.
@@thenonexistinghero Completely agreed. Very hack and slash. The wood itself is actually very solid (and they do make weapons out of the wood itself) but those teeth were surprisingly/unsurprisingly fragile.
Now days, they're great wall pieces.👍 #BeautifulWeapons
I would love to see a "test version" widout the aesthetic finishing, just to see what would happen.
@@thomasfplm same. That would definitely be great to see.!
@@thenonexistinghero It's made of an incredibly strong tropical hardwood, that thing could probably drive short nails better than most mallets.
From what few demonstrations I've seen, lei o'mano weren't used so much for full force swings. Instead they were used in more of a cutting motion, like a knife, drawing the teeth across the flesh and letting the cutting power of the teeth do the work
Wonderfully crafted. It's amazing how much work we, as humans, have placed into beautifying our killing weapons. There are a number of craftsmen in Hawaii and around the Pacific who make this sort of traditional weaponry--I love that they're keeping the heritage alive.
If you like these check out my Chanel! I make pretty much exclusively Hawaiian and other Polynesian weapons 🤙
It's been a long time since I was there last, but the Glenbow museum in Calgary actually had a REALLY good display of non metal weapons and armour
I do not want to be cut by this.
It's a really beautiful piece, gotta say
Clever intro, caught me off guard lol. Would love to see similar styled weapons like the ones with Obsidian, cheers~
The craftsmanship on that weapon is beautiful
Mahalo(thank you)!
YES! Now THAT'S what I've been waiting for. Strange and unusual stuff, as we all love. Thank you Skall!
Thank you so much for making this video Skall! We Polynesians rarely get to see our culture explored by others (cough Captain Cook) and live to tell the tale. Joking aside, shark teeth were readily available not just from scouring the beach or the shallow waters, but ancient Hawaiians were proficient in all things they did. This includes shark hunting. One of many ways, they would create bails of rotten pig flesh and Awa root (Awa root is used to make a drink that has sedative, anesthetic, and euphoriant effects. The active ingredients of awa root are called kavalactones, which can help reduce anxiety and insomnia.). Once the shark was sleepy you could easily dispatch it by jumping on top of its and stabbing and tearing the gills of the shark. This technique was mainly done to show others how bad ass you were. Other ways were fishing spearing and netting.
There is a legend that Kamehameha killed a shark in the water when he was a young boy. According to the legend, Kamehameha was swimming in the ocean near his home in Kohala, when he saw a large shark approaching him. He grabbed a rock and threw it at the shark, hitting it on the head. The shark was stunned and turned away, but Kamehameha followed it and jumped on its back. He then used his teeth and nails to tear open the shark’s gills and kill it. He dragged the shark to the shore and offered it as a sacrifice to his family god, Kūkāʻilimoku.
Hawaiians also had fishponds, turtles' ponds, and whale ponds. These were walled off sections in the shallow water of the ocean where they would capture and keep the animals there for later eating similar to how we use a fridge today. As long as the animal is alive the meat won't spoil. Today we only have one or two active fishponds on Molokai. Although aquaculture is making a comeback on the islands, they are using modern inland techniques which are not nearly as sustainable as the old way.
One source says that they produced nearly 750,000 pounds of fish annually from 99 active fishponds in 1901. Another source says that they produced about 486,000 pounds of ʻamaʻama (striped mullet) and 194,000 pounds of awa (milkfish is NUMBA ONE BRADA) annually from the same number of active fishponds in 1901. A third source says that they produced upward of 2 million pounds of fish annually from more than 450 fishponds across the Hawaiian Islands. These numbers suggest that the Hawaiians had a very productive and sustainable aquaculture system that supported large communities.
Even with the teeth broken its still an impressive club.
It is not just Hawaiian, but has been common in various iterations throughout all of Polynesia, and is arguably even more iconic for the Māori people of New Zealand.
Nej inte Māori de hade inte tänder i sina klubbor da hade "iron wood" och Sten klubbor istället.
Nah maori never used those. Our clubs were made from green stone or whale bone or hard wood, no teeth involved
I call it the Arlong
@@fjalarhenrikssonIron wood?
@@tanegurnick5071 Not gonna lie, I thought the green stone was actually jade or some kind of obsidian myself.
thanks for your videos skall we love and appreciate your content!
A good tip is filling the hole with baking powder then use thin superglue it creates a bone like surface that can be sanded. Its an old guitar repair hack for repairing a bone nut.
Well, Shark teeth were MADE to be instantly replacable. Most sharks have rows of teeth that will replace whatever falls out of the first row. In germany we literally call this "Revolver Gebiss" or "Revolver Jaw" when translated.
Also, this weapon could be a really cool magic item. Fellow DnD nerds, i present:
*Coast-cutter*
A +X (X can be +1 to +3) Weapon that can be used as a Club or Shortsword.
When used as a shortsword, the target loses X hit point every turn until it uses an action to try to mend or cover the wound (medicine check DC 9 + your Proficiency bonus + Strength or dexterity). This effect stacks with itself, but a single successful medicine check negates all bleeding.
(If you want it more powerful, give it the ability to once per day cast Polymorph on you into a giant shark)
That sounds fun. I feel there should be a benefit to using it as a club too though (or else, just make it count as one type of weapon).
you might check out my channel, there are plenty of DnD/Monster hunter style weapons X)
@@DistractedChiroptera I would just say the Teeth break when used too often (maybe 1 attack per tooth, of which the weapon has 10, 20 or 30) and then the bleeding can't be used until the Weapon can be laid into Sea Water over a long rest (like a Barrel), where it then recharges 1D6 + 1 Tooth.
OR you give it this effect when used as a club:
On a hit, the target has to make a Constitution saving throw or start holding their breath as their lungs fill with sea water. At the start of their turn they can repeat the save to end the effect. (This effect also costs 1 tooth per use).
Some sort of water elemental synergy would be neat too. I don't play D&D, but if there's ever underwater combat I feel like this thing should have advantage during it.
I've stat'ed shark tooth warclubs for a couple different settings I've wrote 🤙
The first time I heard that Zelda noise was over 30yrs ago and has never not made me smile. It releases some kind of dopamine in my Link brain
Always loved these types of weapons. They remind me of proto-Chainswords from Warhammer 40k
I was thinking the same thing.
damn im curious now...
"I don't want to break it"
*breaks it immediately*
Seriously though, thanks for showing us the durability. Totally worth it to find out! I honestly thought the glue/string would break first.
Very clean repair job! Still nice and fit for display.
Very awesome! I love it!
5:00 NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! 😫
Always funny when the exact thing you don't want to happen happens. 😂
I instantly imagined one of these made from great white shark teeth. I think the teeth's triangular shape with serrated edges would make a difference.
On Hawaii, tiger shark teeth were the preferred resource.
I guess they were the largest available.
Availability and meaning. Tiger sharks where held with great reverence and esteem. So to wield a weapon made from their powerful teeth was also considered to strengthen the weirder.
Yeah, I remember watching something where a bunch of tiger sharks near Hawaii were eating a dead whale, but they cleared out when a great white showed up to eat it. The narrator said that it was unusual for great whites to be around there, but it happens on occasion. So they probably didn’t have access to enough of their teeth.
Thanks for covering Polynesian weapons. Thats a beautiful club!
Hello! Not an expert, but I wanted to give a book recommendation from when I did a paper on Hawaiian warfare in college. I did use the book you mentioned BUT a much better book is “LUA Art of the Hawaiian Warrior” by Richard Kelumuikawaiokeola Paglinawan. He is one of the few Lua left in Hawaii capable to teaching the art of Hawaiian warfare! Absolutely amazing book. Hope it helps, thanks so much for sharing a part of the culture of my homeland.
The "disposable hypothesis" is valid. The inconvenience of having to replace individual teeth is negligible when compared to the discomfort experienced by your opponent, who now has tooth shards embedded in their body. Even though they might seem unusual to you, shark teeth are extremely common in areas where shark populations are present. Sharks lose their old teeth and grow new ones all the time, just like someone does hair. Finding shark teeth on the beach probably gets more annoying than exciting after spending your entire life on an island.
I had a small one on a necklace as a pendant, broke a tooth and lost the fragment, it’s always unfortunate. I would say you might get more longevity/effectiveness with a thrusting slice as the teeth should slice one way and shred the other
Maybe resin, wax or something can be done to preserve & keep the look.
Loved the intro! (And the rest of the video as well, of course.)
Hope you're feeling as good and energetic as Skallagrim looks in this video!
It's so strange to me that a tiger shark can bite through a sea turtle's shell, but the teeth on the weapon break with a relatively weak strike.
Like dry wood or bone versus living. The root which fills the center of the tooth has dryed up and decayed leaving only the outer shell. Just as sharp but losing a lot of its structure. Still deadly but just not a strong.
Their teeth are basically designed to be disposable which is why they have lots of them. It’s kind of intended they break off and do even more damage to whatever they are biting, as their feeding style is basically rip something apart until it stops moving and then swallow. They often ingest their own teeth as well.
For anyone interested, there are similar weapons endemic to the Gilbert Islands/Kiribati. They use a similar technique of inlaid shark's teeth along the edge, but in overall shape and form, they more closely resemble arming swords, sabers, longswords, and spears. Some even have multiple branches/protrusions that give the impression of a central blade with a crossguard. Warriors of this island nation also fashioned and wore full-body suits of armor (cuirasses with raised neck guards, gambesons/shirts, trousers, etc.) fashioned from woven coconut fiber, shells, and human hair in tandem with badass helmets made from porcupine fish skin. Plenty of amazing pics of both the weapons and armor are accessible in a variety of places online. Cheers!
This weapon is an absolute delight of design and the combination of several of their important industries in period. It's genuinely amaing stuff! :)
This was a really beautiful piece you had in the video. Love your content, man! Keep it up!
That was honestly the funnest unboxing I've seen in a while. Awesome piece of history to look at too.
Skalligrim, I'm no expert but I have seen this weapon a few times. It was used in combat and they knew it would 'wear out' with use. However, shark teeth were quite ubiquitous so replacing them with newer ones was not really a problem that they had to deal with.
Hope that helps shed some light on it!
Indeed they kew they would be in permanent just like weapons in a similar style from South America.
I think one thing that is very loosely addressed as well is the fact that often times having scary spiky edge (like the one shown) often meant it was more of a ceremonial or decorative weapon of status. If you want a better cutting implement simply angle the teeth in the other direction and Boom! Smooth continuous cutting surface!
Fun fact: the teeths of these clubs have been used by scientists to track historical populations of sharks on different pacific islands!
@@kweeshaatekneepunam2507 so I was wrong?
@@michealdelaura1853 I apologize if I seemed to be insinuating this. I was just trying to add to your comment which has very good point! They were meant to break! But ones made with teeth of this shape can be angled to make a smooth knife instead of something that rips! 💗
@@kweeshaatekneepunam2507 oh no, you're perfectly fine! I was asking if I was in fact wrong because how you worded it made much more sense and I was (still am 😆) willing to admit if I was wrong.
I took no offense
Bro, the enthusiasm and energy youre giving off here is excellent, we love you and really appriciate the extra effort
I like these vids cause they take weapons we think shouldn't really be a thing; and shows why it really could have been a big deal. One of the problems with films and media is we have created an illusion to what weapons can or should be doing all the time with no real world issues, so when something like this challenges our ideas...it's nice to see it changing minds.
Long time lurker but I need to get this out: I love your content! Your sense of humour is just awesome and I learn something new every time! What more to ask for? Keep it up, you are awesome!
That is a beautiful thing. I'm glad you got it back together.
As a māori (a part of the Polynesian group) i know my little country is far from Hawaii but i was very excited to see this weppon and koa getting an advertisement
Mahalo Nui!
@@KoaStudio koa any chance you could make a video on all the different Polynesian weppons? Mabey some playlist at some point? Would help alot for reasurch
@@theromanorder not sure I could do all, my focus is Hawaiian weapons. I do have some knowledge on other pacific island nations but it’s very limited…
@@KoaStudio well i remember you did some tonga and samoa so for some reason thought you could but all well
Mabey in the future you could branch out
ya I have done some but I don’t know if I feel confident enough in their history to give a good description.. but I am always trying to learn new things so I definitely will keep at it.
Great paddle to spank and then tease with the feathers...LOL
Its a gorgeous weapon, imagine having fragments of shark bone stuck in you.
I have read they could rebuild them
here for the unboxing montage!
Always fun
Best unboxing on UA-cam
Love your energy man! Amazing video!
Always good to see some non-European and Asian weapons getting some attention
Quickly becoming one of my fav channels.
Skall: *prepares for unboxing video*
also Skall: *uses boxing skill to stop himself from going on a rant*
Honestly, that was the coolest unboxing I've ever seen. 👏👏
The Deadliest Warrior tv series did an episode that included a shark tooth club being used full force on a ballistics dummy. The " fragile" weapon did a lot of damage.
Shoalin Monk vs. Maori Warrior, season 1 episode 7.
As a Native Hawaiian who grew up there it's true: this weapon is GRUESOME if you aren't wearing mail or a more durable form of armor. It will slash through clothing and flesh, and while the teeth might break, it just turns it into a club, so still usable. A devastating first strike, and then a brutal second strike
Amazing Weapon !!!
Glad to see you're feeling better
I think one of the strongest aspects of this weapon is its intimidation / fear factor. In a culture without metal, and without armor, imagine the sheer amount of blood and horrific wounds this would produce compared to virtually any other weapon, (wooden or bone tip spears or clubs.) and 99% of the time whoever had this weapon probably just carried it around looking tough. Large scale or constant warfare wasn't really a thing either, and in the event this was used, you just have one of your subordinates replace all the teeth, assuming this was a higher status weapon to begin with. On top of it all even if all the tooth edges break off you still have jagged sharp broken bits that would still rip and tear, and even with all the teeth gone entirely it's still a club you can wallop people with. A very cool weapon.
Clubs are my second favorite type of bludgeoners and im glad you're using one
Yes finally a video on this.
Even without the teeth, a paddle shaped club can do a lot of damage, being more aerodynamic than a round club and focusing the force a bit more without being an actual blade. The teeth just make it look pretty and make that first blow extra devastating, but it would work even with the damage.
Great Video Skall, keep it up! Take care! :D
Thanks for showing it off!
5:30 Skall moment. This is one of the many reasons I love you.
Such a cool weapon. Such a cool video. Thanks for sharing more about these lesser known weapons!
Loved the happy and silly energy in this.
That's funny, I only a while ago watched a video from Traditional Hawaiian Culture what came into my Recommended, where they go through various Hawaiian weapons (including sharkteeth arms). It was very interesting and now it's good to see a "new" one up close. I also expected them to be "disposable" in the sense that you can always find more shark teeth, but I didn't expect it to need replenishing on a per-strike basis...
That weapon is gorgeous. So cool that people are still making traditional items.
Thanks for the very interesting video! I've made my own Leiomano myself (purely as a display piece), and I always wondered how a "real" one would hold up in actual use. About as well as I thought it might. Certainly the shark teeth would add to the intimidation factor, if faced with a group of huge Polynesian warriors brandishing them. Also, I'm sure they add an extra bit of "mana" or spiritual power to the wielder, as Shark are known as "amakua" or family ancestor-gods. The main use of it though, was probably simply as a bludgeon. Anyway, mahalo nui loa for highlighting a beautiful handcrafted piece of artwork (and then putting it to the test). 😅😂
It might be damaged, but that very gentle test was very informative. I appreciate it as I thought it was a little more durable. Thank you for your sacrifice.
Quite ingenious and resourceful of islander warriors to use the abundance of naturally-flotsaming shark teeth from the sea surrounding their islands. As far as the ecosystem and use of resources is concerned, it's an infinite supply of sharp and durable cutting material that's easily replaceable and doesn't require sharpening or excessive carving and preparation!
Now imagine needing to repair, deal with a chip in, or regrind a stone or metal tool with the nonexistent or extremely scarce resources available on an island, volcanic outgrowth, reefed atoll, or what have you in the remote areas of the Pacific. I'd rather pick up the shark teeth any day.
Love the "unboxing montage"! Great video!
It really is a beautiful weapon!
I'm honestly disappointed there isn't more material on the weapons of various indigenous peoples, they're extremely fascinating!
Love the beginning. We need more this (or should I say "I need more of this) and more montages.
Even though it seems flimsy at first glance, from a wound perspective this thing would be an absolute nightmare. This doesn't cut, it tears and pulls flesh, making jagged cuts and wounds that would be an absolute pain in the ass to stitch up and properly treat. Another aspect I'm curious about is if they actually bothered to clean or polish the teeth at all, or if they just took it right out of a Shark's mouth... because if its the latter, that would also exponentially increase the chance of infection, especially when parts of the teeth break off into your flesh.
This definitely feels like one of those things you get hit with once and then die a week later in agony.
Letting the intrusive thoughts win is always a gamble lol. Empathized with that hard-cut from attempted restraint to "and here we are" lol.
I googled "Hawaiian sharktooth weapons". There are a lot of them. All different shapes & sizes...& a lot of other weird(to me) weapons besides. A whole new(to me) weapons tradition to study. Thank you Skallagrim.
Yes, but from what I'm seeing they're all reproductions, not originals.
As Skal noted a lot of those are reproductions. There are, however, lots of colonial era photos from places like Kiribati in Micronesia that will show you originals--often in combination with the local armour tradition as well.
The leiomano and macuahuitl are both similar yet different, but both are so goddamn cool.
hah the monster hunter question is also what i had in my head. there are quite a few huge sowrds with shark teeth etc. IIRC you talked about that super big 2h sword once, i forgot whom it belonged to. but yes...yes this is probably what monster hunter weapons feel like :D
I recall that one. It was purely decorative though.
@@mrblack5145 lets be honest, most of the munster hunter weapons would be too. so i think its a nice comparison
Beautiful craftsmanship!
I've actually seen two versions of a Leiomano/Shark-Tooth Club when it comes to the spike at the bottom of the handle. Some versions are spikes carved from the wood like this one, but others I've seen use the bill of a Marlin or Swordfish for the spike.
Also, from what I understand, any shark teeth can be used, but the best teeth for a Leiomano are Tiger Shark teeth. And considering that Tiger Sharks can easily bite through something as hard as a turtle shell, that's really not a big surprise!
The design concept for this piece actually comes from an archive image. There were a lot of different styles among surviving weapons but I implement a very specific style in most of my work 🤙
I know the "cut" editing style and humor was a jab at shorter attention spans but I honestly think this is working! Keep it up!
I like the idea of replacing the teeth like ammo for a melee weapon. Makes me think of a fantasy club with a belt-feed of them.
Beautifully crafted piece.
Weapons like this are so cool
I make a lot of weapons like this if you check my channel out 🤙
You nailed the intro! Big shout out from Yellowknife MWT
Pacific Island cultures were masters of wooden and stone weapons. Their creations were as much art as they were effective implements of war.
They made advances optimizing the geometry of their weapons the same as any culture with metal ones, but did so with the materials they had available, and to great effect.
Quite a beautiful piece of work. Very nice!
I think, the Koa wood club it self is the weapon. And the shark teeth are just added damage. Like coating a dagger with poison. But, instead of a dagger, its a club, and instead added poison damage, its added bleeding and psychological damage.
So, one, probably, shouldn't use it as a "polynesian sword", but use it as a wooden club instead.
Just as and idea: How about replacing those teeth with splintered sea shells, like from pearl clams shell ? Those things can also make some nasty cuts.
Also, "From the Outer Dark we come, and into its depths we shall return. The black sea beyond the stars calls to us."- Carcharodons Astra
😁
i think this is the gentlest i've seen you be with a weapon
I've heard that this particular weapon was used mostly to end a fight by targeting soft areas like the gut or inner thigh or thigh in general to cause the most bleeding as possible to make the target bleed out. The shark teeth breaking off was an added plus and could cause even more trouble even after the fight while the other pointy end made of wood was meant to grappel with and hold in place, though clearly one can be creative and smack a skull with it too if need be. This is truely a really cool weapon and honestly one of my favorites in history