my hunting knife handle is a little to big for my hand, perfect or a little small for my dad, and massive for my mom. it's to bad we didn't see the Hobbits holding full sized swords in the movie. that would have been fun to see
Can't believe he really chopped of his thumb for a little joke, then waited a few month for it to grow back to make the rest of the video. That's what I call determination.
This is strangely one of those topics where we work better with ambiguity rather than clear definitions. We have a general but more or less accurate sense of when a weapon is a sword or a dagger, but the minute you lay down parameters then it breaks apart.
Strange that when it's about a tiny pocket knife or a large camp chopper, we comfortably call both of them "knife", despite the size and way of usage difference.
I second this notion concerning firearms. Any time they start trying to lay down hard rules, it just ends up more ridiculous and confusing, not to mention causing legal trouble for everyone EXCEPT criminals who don't care how anyone defines anything.
actually, the distinction between a dagger and a short sword is that a dagger deals 1d4 base damage, while a short sword deals 1d6 base damage (great vid btw, been binging your back catalogue and the increase in quality is amazing!)
@@Skallagrimyour face is long when your hair is down. A good way to classify an implement is to work as, what is its intended function. For example a sword is a weapon and not a tool to where a dagger is a tool that can be used as a weapon.
@alexanderwhite298 I really like that, but I have to add as long as it's a standard dagger and not specialized. a rondel dagger would be pretty bad to use as a knife. maybe it could be used for punching holes in leather or wood.
@@kyle18934 maybe it's a difference in the words that are used, because knife and dagger are used interchangeable and have the same definition. We could as a community petition to Webster to have more of a separation between what is a dagger and what is a knife, as well as the difference between a dagger and a sword.
@alexanderwhite298 I havnt thought about that. but I could see it. when I think of a dagger I think double edged, when a knife is single bladded. but there is a whole lot of grey area. like is a Kbar a knife or a dagger? thanks for the responce
id say length isn't the differentiator. its all about its functionality and design, intended/actual useage etc! im glad you mentioned it yourself! i think some knifes are also swords.
It really does sort of come down to whether the customer who commissioned the blade asked for a knife or a sword, and how they explained what they meant by that, doesn't it? Across over 5,000 years of history of swords as a concept, we've seen everything from a gladius to an estoc identified as a sword. It's such an abstract term, like defining a Lamborghini Countach and a Ford F-150 both as "automobiles." Or, heck, callling both a Nissan Leaf and a railroad dining car "cars." Nevermind what's a sword vs a dagger because there's always a more correct term one could use -- rondel dagger, main gauche, messer, smallsword, etc.
@@SingularityOrbit fundamental defintion seems to be 'pointy bit of metal, held by one end in the normal course of events, particularly optimised for combat against other humans, with no significant other use' all else seems variable.
@@laurencefraser Sorry, I'm confused -- is that a definition for a stiletto dagger? (Excuse the not-quite-serious tone. It's just that actually trying to come up with a definition in cases like these is going to bring out the Diogenes in me every time.) Any sufficiently well-built sword or knife will have other use cases, ranging from trimming branches for firewood to poking holes in materials as part of constructing something. I really think it's not a matter of whether it has other uses. I think a sword is something intended to be used in a sword fighting system, regardless of which system or whether it has other possible uses. So the only functional definition is, "A blade designed to be used as the primary tool in a system of fencing." I'm not sure what else can be said -- but I'm sure there are plenty more Diogenes* out there to break my definition in short order. *Anybody know the plural form of Diogenes? Not that more than one at a time is a good idea for civil order.
@@jlan7844 yes, and this joke was used in a silly little sketch that a friend showed me once and it had a poor peasant with an oversized box cutter trying to persuade an actual knight to duel him, much to the knight's amusement
You actually got the the heart of how i define sword vs a dagger. A dagger is a utility blade good at a lot of different things. A sword is a blade specialized for combat.
something I've always liked and hope never changes is that you never seemed to play into the rage game that youtube tends to promote (because it doesn't see any differance in what kind of engagement people get) for as long as I've followed you've been reasinable, well spoken and nuanced in your descussions of swords and how they are used.
Dude... I'm loving your newest vids. I think it's great you just keep up with discussing everything related to swords and medieval martial arts as it interests you and others. We are just curious people that want to learn something cool or obscure, think about new ideas or old ones in different ways, and hopefully be entertained along the way. Trust yourself to be good at what you are doing... because you are. Show us your interests, show us a mirror to our own curiosity. You are good at what you are doing, and you know a lot and are curious for more. It's all wonderfully entertaining. My main bit of advice or whatever: think of you channel as having different shows and make formats that fit your channel. There should be the history show, the sword show, the battles show, the Hema show, the medieval martial arts show... Split your interests and their parts into "shows" and then cut or bolster the shows that do better. I think breaking things down like that could really help organize your thoughts and get away of considering EVERYTHING failed.
I totally agree. I watch every video of yours because you are good at what you do. The themes are interesting. The science is solid. Your sense of humor is top-notch. The editing is great. Overall, for me, all your videos have a lot of value!
I think you had a moment some time back that you struggled with something. But lately the videos are bouncing back with that skallagrim charm and entertaining editing that brought me in from the beginning. Have fun making these! We can tell. If I could see you make any video that I'd be interested in it would anything you think is fun, catches your real interest and enjoy making.
I wish it worked like that, but there have been so many videos about something I found fun and interesting that I made with a lot of enthusiasm but that totally underperformed and were left in the dust by the algorithm. I appreciate the sentiment though.
I think the algorithm is designed to move people around to different topics and creators. I often go from seeing long term subscriptions like yours to folks I have never seen before with 98 views, sports I have no interest in, and more, then eventually seeing my main interests again. We need to hit our “subscriptions” pages more, but YT makes it so easy to skip over those.
The more joking nature of your newer intros is fun to watch. That thumb joke was a good one. Keep it to about that level and amount, it´s really nice and gives your otherwise well informed vidoes a bit of lightheartednes and leavity.
One of the things I miss seeing in your videos are the outtakes and various "silly-fun" incidents/interactions at the end of the video. I know it might not be a big/important/universally interesting thing, but I liked seeing those every now and again. Even if they are a reminder that "yes, videos are not made in a single cut".
Ive been watching your content for so long. You and your videos have been a part of my life since I believe before I was even a teenager. Now I am an adult with a job that kinda sucks and doing all the BS adults have to do and still your content is top notch. You are a fantastic individual Skallagrim. Thank you so much for the literal decade of entertainment.
I think the intended use is propably a better criterium. If it's meant for fighting (duelling, battle), it's propably a sword (Messer and Kriegsmesser would then fall into the sword category too). If it's utilitarian, it's a knife. If it's a personal defense and/or murder weapon (propably mainly for stabbing too) it's a dagger. That also makes it clear why the early medieval Seax is usually categorized both as a sword and a knife (although the hilt construction - in most cases, not all - is like a sword): the longer versions especially could be used in battle, but they were also quite handy as an everyday tool, even for chopping wood. We should also remember that many of these categorizations are a modern invention. "Back in the day", people had rather different views on at least some of these categories - and some words switched in meaning, too. In some nothern languages, the word "sax" (both old and modern German for "Seax", sometimes used for all manners of swords and knives) now means "scissors". EDIT: Spelling.
Educational content is always #1. How weapons are used, where they come from, fantasy misconceptions, that sort of thing. That was the height of the channel for me. The cutting tests were nice, but only when they were informative and not just reviews. This video was like a breath of fresh air (especially since you added some edits and seem more enthusiastic).
I've often thought about how to differentiate between knife/dagger and sword. So far I've only come up with one *possibility* that I'd like to float here: The ease of use in an ice-pick grip. Oddly specific, you might think, but in most knife/dagger designs the weapon can be used very effectively and efficiently in an ice-pick grip. Even more strongly curved daggers work well in that grip provided they have a sufficiently short blade. So then, theoretically, if a blade is not especially easy to use with the ice-pick grip, it becomes clissified as a sword. That's my thinking, at least. I don't expect anyone to agree with that, it's just something that came to mind when thinking about how swords and knives/daggers can be used. I mean it's pretty rare you'll ever see someone holding a Rapier or something like that in an ice-pick grip except in maybe anime or budget movies. At some point the blade design becomes too sub-optimal for that grip, and need to be used in hammer or handshake grip instead. Anyway, that's just my "two cents" that I wanted to float across.
You make good videos, Skally. I know that's not helpful but all I can say is, keep doing what you're doing and take it easy. Don't be too hard on yourself. We'll keep an eye out for some areas for constructive criticism.
"It depends" and "context" are two things I'd love to hear in the same video if you take my meaning. That aside, I'm thoroughly enjoying the little bits of madness you put into your videos and your editing is looking great. Not so long ago, I was in a discussion about what is or isn't a dagger and somebody was saying a main gauche was a sword. I ultimately boiled it down to "intended use is the main criteria" with length and mass being strong weights toward one end of the scale or the other.
Yeah, do some sort of colab. I know they are hard to do. But they also help to explore the topic more so .... Live stream where you discuss a topic? Maybe one of those silly ones where you look at and judge some abominations?
I think you need to give yourself a break. Look how much better your videos are now than when you first started. What has always attracted us is your sincerity, passion and humility. Stay blessed Skall
The end bit reminded me of something from Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions: "...understand that there is no order in the world around us, that we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead." That version loses the context (look it up), but it turns it into a succinctly Stoic bit of advice for general life.
I really appreciate it that when you say "it depends" you give further context that allows us to make our own opinions on where we might draw the line. A lot of the times when I look up questions like this, especially on like quora for example, the "experts" just say it depends, and they leave you with absolutely nothing to hang your hat on; so you're no better off than if you didn't ask the question.
I like what The Dark Eye roleplaying system did for those gray areas. It has quite a number of different weapon skills that determine how well you fight with a certain type of weapon - but most weapons can be used with two or more skills. A particularly large knife will allow you to wield it either like a knife/dagger or like a one-handed sword. Same for a very short sword. Or halberds with either spear or polearm - short specimens may allow you to use the skill for two-handed axes as well... And you can always attempt using an adjacent skill at a small penalty, like how you typically default to longsword techniques for any two-handed sword types you're unfamiliar with.
I have no idea what I'm talking about, but this is the thought that came to my mind: I would say that daggers and swords generally have different use cases. This applies especially when a dagger has a specialized blade that is unique from swords, and less so for knives which can be scaled up into swords. *What could classify is a sword from a knife is how its structure influences its use.* Knives are one handed and can be used to stab, and/or slash in close quarters. Before and during wrestling it is still used in roughly the same way. Swords are one or two handed weapons that can be used to slash and/or stab in mid to close quarters. Before wrestling and during wresting its efficacy and usage changes. *The easiest cases to eliminate:* - Any blade that supports two handed use is a sword, no matter blade length. - Any bladed weapon that has a blade design that is not seen in a sword form is a knife. Now we are on to the harder cases. Some knives and swords have identical (or highly similar) designs to one another. Parrying daggers to Smallswords and Rapiers. Messers and Sæxes to... bigger ones, lol. Etc. So, in these cases length is an unreliable metric. *How the usage concept addresses these:* - Any blade that that can be used effectively with little change to technique while wrestling is a knife - Any blade that is stabbing oriented that can be used in icepick grip reliably is a knife Am I on to something here or am I a goober? Please let me know of you can think of any exceptions to these rules :)!
I rewatched the beginning of this video several times where you quite deftly transitioned between weapons. I've been watching your content on and off for a decade or more now, and the quality has honestly never been better. I know you're working hard, and it shows. A lot of us are struggling in this wild era, but I promise that I will support you on patreon when I'm in a better spot. You've earned it. So much of your advice has translated into real life purchases for me. Thanks, Skal. Love ya, man. Keep up the good work.
Some more blur for the lines: a tulwar has disks that force a hammer grip, an estoc has a triangular blade and Wilkinson patent tang is the full width of the grip. So basically call anything whatever you want. Nice view-thing, Skal.
I usually go by intended use and what techniques work with it. Generally speaking you can use montante techniques with a longsword but it's not designed for them and are less practical and the same can be said in reverse. P.S I really like the editing youve been doing recently!
i came across this same definition problem when i wanted to make my own LARPing system, having ti define catagories of weapons precisely, but the only logical difference i could think of is... Kives/Daggers: while able to stab and slash like a sword, swords also have enough length, weight or heft to also chop into a body like target, and i mean chop not slice, just a flat in to blade edge straight strike as most knives/daggers seem poor at this type of attack. but after that i never gave it too much more thought.
A thought crossed my mind that looking what the balancing lends itself to could be an indicator. Swords, even rapiers will lend themself much more to chopping into something compared to a dagger, which will be more nimble and allow better point control.
The discussion is overall rather simple: it depends. However, having visuals of examples (both in pictures and IRL) helps a lot with the perspective. That's cool.
I think it depends on the intended use. We are trying to apply definitions after the fact, when we all know weapons were made the way they were made to fit a purpose.
The definition is akshully quite simple, and it all comes down to usage: a sword is a bladed weapon used as a sword, whereas a dagger (or knife) is used as a dagger. Happy to help clear that up!
personally i wouldn't use size to determine category but technique instead if you use it like a dagger it's a dagger if you use it like a sword it's a sword
Thanks for this video, good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that people tend to overclassify, or want to define things too precisely, when in reality not everything is crystal clear, especially in history.
I enjoy your channel, especially your sense of humor. Deadly weapons can lead to strictly serious lectures. You make things fun and interesting and I learn from that. Carry on!
I love the content u put out for us @skallagrim ! The editing has been spot on lately and I always enjoy ur sense of realism and humor. There are times when my life gets crazy and I can't consume every video u make, but every time I come back, ur videos make me smile and I get an different perspective on things. Thanks for being awesome and I will continue trying to watch more regularly.
Long time subscriber, but fell off regularly watching vids. Today was the first time a video of yours popped up on the top of my feed in a long time. Enjoyed it thanks
Oh, I would LOVE to see Matt Easton answer this same question! He'd probably give the same answers, honestly. Just longer, and with the word "context" showing up more. :)
I had this argument on a stream for Mortal Kombat 1. The character Ashrah has a Kris which is usually considered a dagger, but I argue its a sword because of the extreme length of hers and the way she fights with it is how you would use a sword.
I really appreciate your videos! Hopefully this UA-cam situation will improve because your videos have always been insightful, entertaining even the simple ones, where you just talk about stuff.
I know how difficult it can be to set up, but my favourite videos are sparring videos. Maybe even analyzing other sparring videos, talking about the techniques used there and what could have been done to prevent loosing or what could be done to hit the opponent. It's all hypothethical, yes, but still, could be fun
I think you're doing a good job. Keep the videos diverse. Tackle recent Pop culture and movies whenever possible to attract the more random crowd. And obviously, the thumbnails are really important for attracting viewers. I noticed a few times, that i was overlooking a video at first, because the thumbnail didn't stick out as much. That's not to say that there was anything wrong with it, but when scrolling through ... I guess bright colors and flashy pictures help when competing with other thumbnails. That may not be important for regular viewers who are interested in these topics anyway, however random viewers may notice your videos more, i guess?
Challenge accepted! To me, REACH is the relevant property of a sword, (instead of length) so a dagger/knife _becomes_ a sword when: (1) You can repeatedly and reliably strike your opponent OUTSIDE of grapple/clinch range. (2) Reverse grip is disadvantageous (due to losing reach, less power via leverage, inferior balance etc.) Some other possible ways to distinguish a sword (from a dagger/knife): - You can make effective cuts and thrusts using a handshake (vs a dagger) grip - You can use it effectively with a shield
"It depends." Exactly! There's also things like the messer, which is mentioned in the video, as well as "dao", which is interchangeably used to mean either knife or sword.
My rule of limb: - Forearm length: Dagger - Whole arm length: Short sword - Whole leg length: Arming sword - Floor to waist length: Bastard sword - Floor to chest length: Two hander - Taller than the user: Great sword
I see where you're coming from, but I'd suggest reading up on all those terms Some of them aren't academic terms at all, most don't relate to overall weapon length, and those that do are pretty far from the actual sizes. For example, greatswords are mentioned in spanish, italian and german treatise as reaching the wielders chin rather than taller than themselves, and bastard swords are well accepted to be those with handles designed for both single and two handed use.
Been awhile since a sword review, maybe its just me that forgot about recent ones. I do appreciate all the content that comes from this amazing channel. I actually have no idea how to improve this channel just that you keep it coming and maybe something will click and the algorithm will promote the hell out of this channel. Looking forward to the next one as always.
You mentioned that the cavalry sabre, cut down, would not turn into a knife. But that made me think of the TV series Branded starring Chuck Connors. Kicked out of the army, his sabre cut in half, he regrinds it as a knife, leaving the hilt in place. Fictional, yes, but if you see an image of it, you'd probably call it a knife.
As far as recommendations, it's a bit hard. I like all the stuff you do. Maybe a few more just standard weapon reviews. That's how I found you, and ive been here ever since. Thanks for all the years of fun btw ❤ it's like "come for the reviews, stay for the you"
I'd define the difference as "when the blade is too long to comfortably prepare food/vegetables" Not because all knives are kitchen knives, but because if it's too long to cut a potato (like a normal person, not a freaking target, and you know it) it's no longer a "small" knife
The best I can think of is understanding them relative to how the individual tends to wield them. If something is more comfortable relative to my body to wield 'in the ways one wields a dagger/knife', it's that for me. The same with a sword. In other words, while the only difference linguistically between sword and dagger is that a dagger specifically has a 'short' blade, the blade only becomes significantly 'short' or 'long' for the wielder when their style of wielding it would change on account of the length. That's going to be highly relative to the body of the wielder, and that's fine; we don't need an 'objective' measure.
I would say the way the weapon is used could be a categorizing factor. When you think about how a sword is used, a dagger most often than not will not be wielded as such. Maybe someone could try to slash with a dagger/only stab with a sword (in icepick grip no less) but that’s kinda redundant imo.
This might seem like a dumb click baity idea, but I think a compolation video of test cuts, especially in slow motion, would be cool. Might just be me though and there's probably a proper educational way to do it. But seeing things get sliced up or blown up in slow motion is always fun to watched.
This is my favourite style of video that you do. I also like your more hypothetical ones (e.g. arming fantasy dwarves) but I know Shad has kind of monopolised that genre. General extrapolation is good though, I like when you make points that I wouldn't have otherwise considered like comparing strategies for killing monsters to how we used to hunt mammoths.
I generally enjoy all of your videos but something i haven't seen from you in a while is an updated sword/knife/ whatever buying guide. In particular i remember you reviewing three different hunting style knives and not only enjoying the video but having it be useful when I picked up a new knife. My personal preference is towards the budget style category but anything comparing blades could/would be interesting to me. Keep up the food work
Thank you for what you do. I'm sorry that UA-cam sucks but your content is enjoyable and important. Again thank you for what you do and I appreciate your contribution to this medium.
I had a tai chi instructor say once that to be a teacher, all you had to do was answer all questions regarding a technique was “yes and no” and “more or less”. Sounds like the discussion on length of pointy things
Your videos have been great as always. I especially like rants and other videos like this one, but I do miss the videos where you took fantasy weapons and make them "realistic". Well, I guess there were only few of those, but I really enjoyed them.
I love topics like this. It reminds me of the fire arms conundrum of smg, pdw, or carbine. I personally think that something qualifies as a sword for a person if it's an edged weapon that is elongated such that it provides significant reach for the user (you know if it doesn't qualify as a pole arm lol). Whereas a knife is something designed for use in small spaces, or where less cutting area or mechanical advantage is required. As the for the machete style implements the focus seems to be on having robust cutting power and a larger cutting area but offensive/defensive reach is not a strong emphasis of its design.
This strangely reminds me of the coastline paradox, and how the more accurately you try to measure the exact distance of any given coastline, the closer to infinity the resulting number is.
Hi Skall, I’ve been watching your content for a few years now and think what you do is great. Your channel is a perfect blend of historical learning practical fun and in general an all round good channel. Thank you for all the work you put in for us lot to enjoy. I would subscribe to your patreon but regrettably my financial situation won’t allow me at the moment. Thanks again 👍
I think it is time for Skall to offer some merch that isn't just shirts. I think he should team up with some crafts-people and offer a signature blade made to his preferred specifications or such. I am sure people would love that and it would be a great financial help to provide more stability to the channel.
Well I'll drop here the same criteria I dropped under the Metatrons video on this topic, The most important distinction is the primary purpose intended for the blade, if the bade is designed to be a tool, it's a knife, if it's designed for combat it's either sword or dagger
Love your videos Skal. You present things in an enjoyable way with a common sense approach. WRT the current topic, I believe another commentor stated it, but I reiterate, I think functionally may be a better way to distinguish between knife/dagger and sword. There will still be overlap though.
A knife becomes a sword when you hand it to a hobbit
👆
my hunting knife handle is a little to big for my hand, perfect or a little small for my dad, and massive for my mom.
it's to bad we didn't see the Hobbits holding full sized swords in the movie. that would have been fun to see
You really had that one locked and loaded
And he uses it like a sword
Based
Can't believe he really chopped of his thumb for a little joke, then waited a few month for it to grow back to make the rest of the video. That's what I call determination.
He actually filmed the whole video first, then filmed the intro and cut off the thumb afterwards.
The magic of editing.
@@garethlamb6923 So what you're saying is that the thumb ended on... the cutting room floor? ;)
@@garethlamb6923 ah yes, editing software... such cutting edge technology
I actually jumped and went like "Jeez!!" The moment I saw that. Then again that was my first reaction for a second lol
This is strangely one of those topics where we work better with ambiguity rather than clear definitions. We have a general but more or less accurate sense of when a weapon is a sword or a dagger, but the minute you lay down parameters then it breaks apart.
Strange that when it's about a tiny pocket knife or a large camp chopper, we comfortably call both of them "knife", despite the size and way of usage difference.
@@mrkiky "That's not a knoife. T h a t ' s a knoife."
To Skallagrim:
Is the castles and fortresses in Elder Scrolls online historically accurate against battering rams?
I second this notion concerning firearms. Any time they start trying to lay down hard rules, it just ends up more ridiculous and confusing, not to mention causing legal trouble for everyone EXCEPT criminals who don't care how anyone defines anything.
"I know it when I see it."
actually, the distinction between a dagger and a short sword is that a dagger deals 1d4 base damage, while a short sword deals 1d6 base damage
(great vid btw, been binging your back catalogue and the increase in quality is amazing!)
You cannot throw a short sword. And depending on what version you are playing there are more differences as well.
Everybody wants an extra inch or two,
but beyond a certain point,
(different, depending on application)
extra size is...
counterproductive.
Heard
It's all fun and games until you trip over it...
Here before someone makes a Type XVIIIc joke.
I can't help myself, I Just love a Zweihänder. 😅
It's not how long, but where you can poke it that matters
Gotta say, that transition at the beginning was smooth AF! Honestly the editing in the whole video is really on point!
Thanks!
@@Skallagrimyour face is long when your hair is down. A good way to classify an implement is to work as, what is its intended function. For example a sword is a weapon and not a tool to where a dagger is a tool that can be used as a weapon.
@alexanderwhite298 I really like that, but I have to add as long as it's a standard dagger and not specialized.
a rondel dagger would be pretty bad to use as a knife. maybe it could be used for punching holes in leather or wood.
@@kyle18934 maybe it's a difference in the words that are used, because knife and dagger are used interchangeable and have the same definition. We could as a community petition to Webster to have more of a separation between what is a dagger and what is a knife, as well as the difference between a dagger and a sword.
@alexanderwhite298 I havnt thought about that. but I could see it. when I think of a dagger I think double edged, when a knife is single bladded. but there is a whole lot of grey area. like is a Kbar a knife or a dagger?
thanks for the responce
id say length isn't the differentiator. its all about its functionality and design, intended/actual useage etc! im glad you mentioned it yourself! i think some knifes are also swords.
Yes, i always defined them by designed use case.
It really does sort of come down to whether the customer who commissioned the blade asked for a knife or a sword, and how they explained what they meant by that, doesn't it?
Across over 5,000 years of history of swords as a concept, we've seen everything from a gladius to an estoc identified as a sword. It's such an abstract term, like defining a Lamborghini Countach and a Ford F-150 both as "automobiles." Or, heck, callling both a Nissan Leaf and a railroad dining car "cars." Nevermind what's a sword vs a dagger because there's always a more correct term one could use -- rondel dagger, main gauche, messer, smallsword, etc.
@@SingularityOrbit fundamental defintion seems to be 'pointy bit of metal, held by one end in the normal course of events, particularly optimised for combat against other humans, with no significant other use' all else seems variable.
@@laurencefraser Sorry, I'm confused -- is that a definition for a stiletto dagger?
(Excuse the not-quite-serious tone. It's just that actually trying to come up with a definition in cases like these is going to bring out the Diogenes in me every time.)
Any sufficiently well-built sword or knife will have other use cases, ranging from trimming branches for firewood to poking holes in materials as part of constructing something. I really think it's not a matter of whether it has other uses. I think a sword is something intended to be used in a sword fighting system, regardless of which system or whether it has other possible uses. So the only functional definition is, "A blade designed to be used as the primary tool in a system of fencing." I'm not sure what else can be said -- but I'm sure there are plenty more Diogenes* out there to break my definition in short order.
*Anybody know the plural form of Diogenes? Not that more than one at a time is a good idea for civil order.
Clearly, Diogenusses.@@SingularityOrbit
Me modifying a boxcutter to have the guard of a saber: "Behold! A Sword!"
-You call that a sword? It doesn't even have a name!
-It's name is Stanley!
@@P3x310I don't know what you're referencing but I'd name my one the throngler
@@jonsku6662 Stanley is a brand of boxcutter.
@@jlan7844 yes, and this joke was used in a silly little sketch that a friend showed me once and it had a poor peasant with an oversized box cutter trying to persuade an actual knight to duel him, much to the knight's amusement
You actually got the the heart of how i define sword vs a dagger.
A dagger is a utility blade good at a lot of different things.
A sword is a blade specialized for combat.
I didn't forget to do all the stuff. Thanks for the reminder.
I never forget to do the stuff.
But the reminder style got a LOL out of me, so well done, thanks and cheers. ❤
something I've always liked and hope never changes is that you never seemed to play into the rage game that youtube tends to promote (because it doesn't see any differance in what kind of engagement people get) for as long as I've followed you've been reasinable, well spoken and nuanced in your descussions of swords and how they are used.
Dude... I'm loving your newest vids. I think it's great you just keep up with discussing everything related to swords and medieval martial arts as it interests you and others. We are just curious people that want to learn something cool or obscure, think about new ideas or old ones in different ways, and hopefully be entertained along the way.
Trust yourself to be good at what you are doing... because you are. Show us your interests, show us a mirror to our own curiosity. You are good at what you are doing, and you know a lot and are curious for more. It's all wonderfully entertaining.
My main bit of advice or whatever: think of you channel as having different shows and make formats that fit your channel. There should be the history show, the sword show, the battles show, the Hema show, the medieval martial arts show... Split your interests and their parts into "shows" and then cut or bolster the shows that do better.
I think breaking things down like that could really help organize your thoughts and get away of considering EVERYTHING failed.
I totally agree. I watch every video of yours because you are good at what you do.
The themes are interesting. The science is solid. Your sense of humor is top-notch. The editing is great. Overall, for me, all your videos have a lot of value!
Just like with polearms, daggers and swords are arbitrary names for sharp and/or pointy pieces of metal, attached to a hilt.
nothing arbitrary about it if you are in the know, its hollywood and the general clueless public who devalue originally well defined terms.
I've never seen a polearm with a hilt, but I see your point
I think you had a moment some time back that you struggled with something.
But lately the videos are bouncing back with that skallagrim charm and entertaining editing that brought me in from the beginning.
Have fun making these!
We can tell.
If I could see you make any video that I'd be interested in it would anything you think is fun, catches your real interest and enjoy making.
I wish it worked like that, but there have been so many videos about something I found fun and interesting that I made with a lot of enthusiasm but that totally underperformed and were left in the dust by the algorithm. I appreciate the sentiment though.
Gotta second this fellow's comment and say you're on a roll lately with really good content.
I think the algorithm is designed to move people around to different topics and creators.
I often go from seeing long term subscriptions like yours to folks I have never seen before with 98 views, sports I have no interest in, and more, then eventually seeing my main interests again.
We need to hit our “subscriptions” pages more, but YT makes it so easy to skip over those.
I watch your videos very often and never have been turned away from any creative choices!
The more joking nature of your newer intros is fun to watch. That thumb joke was a good one. Keep it to about that level and amount, it´s really nice and gives your otherwise well informed vidoes a bit of lightheartednes and leavity.
Tod's Workshop built a sword sized dirk (swirk) for his video on this same topic. Highly recommend.
One of the things I miss seeing in your videos are the outtakes and various "silly-fun" incidents/interactions at the end of the video.
I know it might not be a big/important/universally interesting thing, but I liked seeing those every now and again. Even if they are a reminder that "yes, videos are not made in a single cut".
Yeah, I really crave more silly Skal shenanigans and miss those outtakes
Ive been watching your content for so long. You and your videos have been a part of my life since I believe before I was even a teenager. Now I am an adult with a job that kinda sucks and doing all the BS adults have to do and still your content is top notch. You are a fantastic individual Skallagrim. Thank you so much for the literal decade of entertainment.
I think the intended use is propably a better criterium. If it's meant for fighting (duelling, battle), it's propably a sword (Messer and Kriegsmesser would then fall into the sword category too). If it's utilitarian, it's a knife. If it's a personal defense and/or murder weapon (propably mainly for stabbing too) it's a dagger.
That also makes it clear why the early medieval Seax is usually categorized both as a sword and a knife (although the hilt construction - in most cases, not all - is like a sword): the longer versions especially could be used in battle, but they were also quite handy as an everyday tool, even for chopping wood.
We should also remember that many of these categorizations are a modern invention. "Back in the day", people had rather different views on at least some of these categories - and some words switched in meaning, too. In some nothern languages, the word "sax" (both old and modern German for "Seax", sometimes used for all manners of swords and knives) now means "scissors".
EDIT: Spelling.
Educational content is always #1. How weapons are used, where they come from, fantasy misconceptions, that sort of thing. That was the height of the channel for me. The cutting tests were nice, but only when they were informative and not just reviews. This video was like a breath of fresh air (especially since you added some edits and seem more enthusiastic).
Keep doing what you think is fun Skall , it shows through when your enjoying yourself and getting your geek on .
I've often thought about how to differentiate between knife/dagger and sword. So far I've only come up with one *possibility* that I'd like to float here: The ease of use in an ice-pick grip. Oddly specific, you might think, but in most knife/dagger designs the weapon can be used very effectively and efficiently in an ice-pick grip. Even more strongly curved daggers work well in that grip provided they have a sufficiently short blade. So then, theoretically, if a blade is not especially easy to use with the ice-pick grip, it becomes clissified as a sword.
That's my thinking, at least. I don't expect anyone to agree with that, it's just something that came to mind when thinking about how swords and knives/daggers can be used. I mean it's pretty rare you'll ever see someone holding a Rapier or something like that in an ice-pick grip except in maybe anime or budget movies. At some point the blade design becomes too sub-optimal for that grip, and need to be used in hammer or handshake grip instead. Anyway, that's just my "two cents" that I wanted to float across.
that is not a bad principle.
that is not a bad principle.
You make good videos, Skally. I know that's not helpful but all I can say is, keep doing what you're doing and take it easy. Don't be too hard on yourself.
We'll keep an eye out for some areas for constructive criticism.
Really difficult to grow a channel without a team of editors. Praise to Skall for also staying consistent with his content.
"It depends" and "context" are two things I'd love to hear in the same video if you take my meaning.
That aside, I'm thoroughly enjoying the little bits of madness you put into your videos and your editing is looking great. Not so long ago, I was in a discussion about what is or isn't a dagger and somebody was saying a main gauche was a sword. I ultimately boiled it down to "intended use is the main criteria" with length and mass being strong weights toward one end of the scale or the other.
Second that!!!! Everything depends on context, historically ;)
Yeah, do some sort of colab.
I know they are hard to do.
But they also help to explore the topic more so ....
Live stream where you discuss a topic?
Maybe one of those silly ones where you look at and judge some abominations?
I've always loved the handles on the Swiss one.
I think you need to give yourself a break. Look how much better your videos are now than when you first started.
What has always attracted us is your sincerity, passion and humility. Stay blessed Skall
I legitimately jumped when your thumb went flying holy crap
The end bit reminded me of something from Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions: "...understand that there is no order in the world around us, that we must adapt ourselves to the requirements of chaos instead."
That version loses the context (look it up), but it turns it into a succinctly Stoic bit of advice for general life.
Always good to see a new video from ya!!!
I really appreciate it that when you say "it depends" you give further context that allows us to make our own opinions on where we might draw the line. A lot of the times when I look up questions like this, especially on like quora for example, the "experts" just say it depends, and they leave you with absolutely nothing to hang your hat on; so you're no better off than if you didn't ask the question.
I like what The Dark Eye roleplaying system did for those gray areas. It has quite a number of different weapon skills that determine how well you fight with a certain type of weapon - but most weapons can be used with two or more skills. A particularly large knife will allow you to wield it either like a knife/dagger or like a one-handed sword. Same for a very short sword. Or halberds with either spear or polearm - short specimens may allow you to use the skill for two-handed axes as well...
And you can always attempt using an adjacent skill at a small penalty, like how you typically default to longsword techniques for any two-handed sword types you're unfamiliar with.
I have no idea what I'm talking about, but this is the thought that came to my mind:
I would say that daggers and swords generally have different use cases. This applies especially when a dagger has a specialized blade that is unique from swords, and less so for knives which can be scaled up into swords.
*What could classify is a sword from a knife is how its structure influences its use.*
Knives are one handed and can be used to stab, and/or slash in close quarters. Before and during wrestling it is still used in roughly the same way.
Swords are one or two handed weapons that can be used to slash and/or stab in mid to close quarters. Before wrestling and during wresting its efficacy and usage changes.
*The easiest cases to eliminate:*
- Any blade that supports two handed use is a sword, no matter blade length.
- Any bladed weapon that has a blade design that is not seen in a sword form is a knife.
Now we are on to the harder cases.
Some knives and swords have identical (or highly similar) designs to one another.
Parrying daggers to Smallswords and Rapiers. Messers and Sæxes to... bigger ones, lol. Etc.
So, in these cases length is an unreliable metric.
*How the usage concept addresses these:*
- Any blade that that can be used effectively with little change to technique while wrestling is a knife
- Any blade that is stabbing oriented that can be used in icepick grip reliably is a knife
Am I on to something here or am I a goober? Please let me know of you can think of any exceptions to these rules :)!
This whole question gives me a lot of "Large boulder the size of a small boulder" vibes. I just think there's overlaps, and that's fine.
that thumb slice gag was hilarious. legit caught me off guard haha
9 seconds ago? Hell yeah. Lookin forward to it, Skal
You're doing a great Job Skall, so glad to still see you after all these years as you are the one you got me into the hobby.
That's a lot of stuff I never thought of before - thanks!
I like your content. I think you've been nailing it lately more times than not.
I rewatched the beginning of this video several times where you quite deftly transitioned between weapons. I've been watching your content on and off for a decade or more now, and the quality has honestly never been better. I know you're working hard, and it shows. A lot of us are struggling in this wild era, but I promise that I will support you on patreon when I'm in a better spot. You've earned it. So much of your advice has translated into real life purchases for me. Thanks, Skal. Love ya, man. Keep up the good work.
Great editing on this one. Love the little musical bit at the end. Reminds me of that glorious short you did that track.
Some more blur for the lines: a tulwar has disks that force a hammer grip, an estoc has a triangular blade and Wilkinson patent tang is the full width of the grip. So basically call anything whatever you want. Nice view-thing, Skal.
I really like how the lighting gives you an Excalibur style green effect on the blades at times.
Loved it! "Reality doesn't conform to your preconceived notions!" That is a bit of actual wisdom!
I’ve been watching you for at least 10 yrs, and this is your best video so far.
Feels very sincere and loved the “It Depends” segment
Keep it up
I usually go by intended use and what techniques work with it. Generally speaking you can use montante techniques with a longsword but it's not designed for them and are less practical and the same can be said in reverse.
P.S I really like the editing youve been doing recently!
i came across this same definition problem when i wanted to make my own LARPing system,
having ti define catagories of weapons precisely,
but the only logical difference i could think of is...
Kives/Daggers:
while able to stab and slash like a sword,
swords also have enough length, weight or heft to also chop into a body like target,
and i mean chop not slice,
just a flat in to blade edge straight strike as most knives/daggers seem poor at this type of attack.
but after that i never gave it too much more thought.
A thought crossed my mind that looking what the balancing lends itself to could be an indicator. Swords, even rapiers will lend themself much more to chopping into something compared to a dagger, which will be more nimble and allow better point control.
You'd have a hard time chopping with an estoc.
And I think that there are swords that are more nimble than a heavy kukri.
Bro, your channel is perfect. Old school UA-cam, when UA-cam was good. Just keep doing what you are doing.
The discussion is overall rather simple: it depends. However, having visuals of examples (both in pictures and IRL) helps a lot with the perspective. That's cool.
I think it depends on the intended use. We are trying to apply definitions after the fact, when we all know weapons were made the way they were made to fit a purpose.
"That's not a knife, this is a knife."
"No, actually it's a sword!"
"...but THIS is a knife!" *proceeds to pull out an even bigger Kriegsmesser.*
The definition is akshully quite simple, and it all comes down to usage: a sword is a bladed weapon used as a sword, whereas a dagger (or knife) is used as a dagger. Happy to help clear that up!
We’re always here for you Skall, I’d love to see unboxing videos and sword reviews,again, and maybe perhaps content akin to 2013-2015 you
personally i wouldn't use size to determine category but technique instead if you use it like a dagger it's a dagger if you use it like a sword it's a sword
Thanks for this video, good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that people tend to overclassify, or want to define things too precisely, when in reality not everything is crystal clear, especially in history.
I enjoy your channel, especially your sense of humor. Deadly weapons can lead to strictly serious lectures. You make things fun and interesting and I learn from that. Carry on!
I agree, it's more of the feeling when you wield it
I love the content u put out for us @skallagrim ! The editing has been spot on lately and I always enjoy ur sense of realism and humor. There are times when my life gets crazy and I can't consume every video u make, but every time I come back, ur videos make me smile and I get an different perspective on things. Thanks for being awesome and I will continue trying to watch more regularly.
Long time subscriber, but fell off regularly watching vids. Today was the first time a video of yours popped up on the top of my feed in a long time. Enjoyed it thanks
Oh, I would LOVE to see Matt Easton answer this same question! He'd probably give the same answers, honestly. Just longer, and with the word "context" showing up more. :)
I always like these Sword/dagger length size. It's easier to conceal and carry. It defiantly has it's place among swords.
Started watching you recently when my husband introduced me to your videos. The content is really interesting and I've really enjoyed watching!
I had this argument on a stream for Mortal Kombat 1. The character Ashrah has a Kris which is usually considered a dagger, but I argue its a sword because of the extreme length of hers and the way she fights with it is how you would use a sword.
I really appreciate your videos! Hopefully this UA-cam situation will improve because your videos have always been insightful, entertaining even the simple ones, where you just talk about stuff.
“Parrying sword” needs to be a thing. Would like to see some concept drawings.
I know how difficult it can be to set up, but my favourite videos are sparring videos. Maybe even analyzing other sparring videos, talking about the techniques used there and what could have been done to prevent loosing or what could be done to hit the opponent. It's all hypothethical, yes, but still, could be fun
Need more of these videos, feels like it's been awhile since you posted a genuine mixture of facts and unhinged entertainment lol
I think you're doing a good job. Keep the videos diverse. Tackle recent Pop culture and movies whenever possible to attract the more random crowd. And obviously, the thumbnails are really important for attracting viewers. I noticed a few times, that i was overlooking a video at first, because the thumbnail didn't stick out as much. That's not to say that there was anything wrong with it, but when scrolling through ... I guess bright colors and flashy pictures help when competing with other thumbnails. That may not be important for regular viewers who are interested in these topics anyway, however random viewers may notice your videos more, i guess?
Challenge accepted!
To me, REACH is the relevant property of a sword, (instead of length) so a dagger/knife _becomes_ a sword when:
(1) You can repeatedly and reliably strike your opponent OUTSIDE of grapple/clinch range.
(2) Reverse grip is disadvantageous (due to losing reach, less power via leverage, inferior balance etc.)
Some other possible ways to distinguish a sword (from a dagger/knife):
- You can make effective cuts and thrusts using a handshake (vs a dagger) grip
- You can use it effectively with a shield
"It depends."
Exactly!
There's also things like the messer, which is mentioned in the video, as well as "dao", which is interchangeably used to mean either knife or sword.
Love you Skall, I'm about to buy my first sword and you are definitely a large part of the reason why
You are getting better mate, keeping the comedy in it is great, facts and laughs are a good combo
I really enjoy your videos. They are informative and easy to understand. It's such a shame that you aren't getting the view numbers you deserve, man.
This is a question that always fascinated me. Thank you for discussing it
My rule of limb:
- Forearm length: Dagger
- Whole arm length: Short sword
- Whole leg length: Arming sword
- Floor to waist length: Bastard sword
- Floor to chest length: Two hander
- Taller than the user: Great sword
What about dwarves ?
same way. its just that a longsword for a human is a greatsword for a dwarf.@@levymawakani1257
I see where you're coming from, but I'd suggest reading up on all those terms
Some of them aren't academic terms at all, most don't relate to overall weapon length, and those that do are pretty far from the actual sizes.
For example, greatswords are mentioned in spanish, italian and german treatise as reaching the wielders chin rather than taller than themselves, and bastard swords are well accepted to be those with handles designed for both single and two handed use.
I’m 6’7”. Taller than the user: ridiculous
@@skilletborne Just a personal opinion, I have done little to no research on it.
Been awhile since a sword review, maybe its just me that forgot about recent ones. I do appreciate all the content that comes from this amazing channel. I actually have no idea how to improve this channel just that you keep it coming and maybe something will click and the algorithm will promote the hell out of this channel. Looking forward to the next one as always.
You mentioned that the cavalry sabre, cut down, would not turn into a knife. But that made me think of the TV series Branded starring Chuck Connors. Kicked out of the army, his sabre cut in half, he regrinds it as a knife, leaving the hilt in place. Fictional, yes, but if you see an image of it, you'd probably call it a knife.
Loved this video. Edits made it more engaging, and they weren't over the top or abnoxious
Very interesting video, I've often thought about this topic. Thank you Skall 😊
IIRC, Metatron did a similar video a whole back and landed in the forearm length heuristic. Reasonable, even if there are edge cases.
I really love your videos lately! The editing is one thing, as well as the pacing. Keep it up brother
Excellent points in this presentation. Thanks again Skal
As far as recommendations, it's a bit hard. I like all the stuff you do. Maybe a few more just standard weapon reviews. That's how I found you, and ive been here ever since. Thanks for all the years of fun btw ❤ it's like "come for the reviews, stay for the you"
I'd define the difference as "when the blade is too long to comfortably prepare food/vegetables"
Not because all knives are kitchen knives, but because if it's too long to cut a potato (like a normal person, not a freaking target, and you know it) it's no longer a "small" knife
The best I can think of is understanding them relative to how the individual tends to wield them. If something is more comfortable relative to my body to wield 'in the ways one wields a dagger/knife', it's that for me. The same with a sword.
In other words, while the only difference linguistically between sword and dagger is that a dagger specifically has a 'short' blade, the blade only becomes significantly 'short' or 'long' for the wielder when their style of wielding it would change on account of the length. That's going to be highly relative to the body of the wielder, and that's fine; we don't need an 'objective' measure.
I would say the way the weapon is used could be a categorizing factor. When you think about how a sword is used, a dagger most often than not will not be wielded as such. Maybe someone could try to slash with a dagger/only stab with a sword (in icepick grip no less) but that’s kinda redundant imo.
This might seem like a dumb click baity idea, but I think a compolation video of test cuts, especially in slow motion, would be cool. Might just be me though and there's probably a proper educational way to do it.
But seeing things get sliced up or blown up in slow motion is always fun to watched.
This is my favourite style of video that you do. I also like your more hypothetical ones (e.g. arming fantasy dwarves) but I know Shad has kind of monopolised that genre. General extrapolation is good though, I like when you make points that I wouldn't have otherwise considered like comparing strategies for killing monsters to how we used to hunt mammoths.
I generally enjoy all of your videos but something i haven't seen from you in a while is an updated sword/knife/ whatever buying guide. In particular i remember you reviewing three different hunting style knives and not only enjoying the video but having it be useful when I picked up a new knife. My personal preference is towards the budget style category but anything comparing blades could/would be interesting to me. Keep up the food work
Thank you for what you do. I'm sorry that UA-cam sucks but your content is enjoyable and important. Again thank you for what you do and I appreciate your contribution to this medium.
I had a tai chi instructor say once that to be a teacher, all you had to do was answer all questions regarding a technique was “yes and no” and “more or less”. Sounds like the discussion on length of pointy things
Your videos have been great as always. I especially like rants and other videos like this one, but I do miss the videos where you took fantasy weapons and make them "realistic". Well, I guess there were only few of those, but I really enjoyed them.
I love topics like this. It reminds me of the fire arms conundrum of smg, pdw, or carbine. I personally think that something qualifies as a sword for a person if it's an edged weapon that is elongated such that it provides significant reach for the user (you know if it doesn't qualify as a pole arm lol). Whereas a knife is something designed for use in small spaces, or where less cutting area or mechanical advantage is required. As the for the machete style implements the focus seems to be on having robust cutting power and a larger cutting area but offensive/defensive reach is not a strong emphasis of its design.
This strangely reminds me of the coastline paradox, and how the more accurately you try to measure the exact distance of any given coastline, the closer to infinity the resulting number is.
Hi Skall, I’ve been watching your content for a few years now and think what you do is great. Your channel is a perfect blend of historical learning practical fun and in general an all round good channel. Thank you for all the work you put in for us lot to enjoy. I would subscribe to your patreon but regrettably my financial situation won’t allow me at the moment. Thanks again 👍
I think it is time for Skall to offer some merch that isn't just shirts. I think he should team up with some crafts-people and offer a signature blade made to his preferred specifications or such. I am sure people would love that and it would be a great financial help to provide more stability to the channel.
Well I'll drop here the same criteria I dropped under the Metatrons video on this topic, The most important distinction is the primary purpose intended for the blade, if the bade is designed to be a tool, it's a knife, if it's designed for combat it's either sword or dagger
Love your videos Skal. You present things in an enjoyable way with a common sense approach. WRT the current topic, I believe another commentor stated it, but I reiterate, I think functionally may be a better way to distinguish between knife/dagger and sword. There will still be overlap though.