What "edged" weapon has the greatest "Fear Factor" for you...

Any double-edged sword, double-edged is second only to a bullet in stopping a man.

I've eliminated:
Trident: too precision to use, easily deflected/broken.
Scimitar: Good xiphos/bastard sword and shield would beat this.
katana: see scimitar.
Survival knife: easily defeated by thick clothing.

those gay blades have me worried at times....LOL

Fairbairn - Sykes commando knife.
http://www.esa-swords.com/WebImages/WsImage/FSP2/DSCF0001.JPG

Just screams LETHAL to me.

There is no question in my mind as to the kind of blades that have the greatest fear factor. A sword in the hands of someone who knows how to use one is the substance of nightmares and nightsweats. That's why I recently bought one. It scares me (maybe "awe" is a better description) to even pick it up. There is this little twinkle in someone's eyes when you pick one up and you know it will easily sever arms, legs, and necks. I guess I read too much S.M. Stirling.

When the "Atlantean Sword" is wielded by this guy:

The subject of infection was brought up by a few previous posters. limbs are lost by infection these days, this is true. However, what the docs purposely refrain from telling you is that most such infections are contracted WHILE IN A HOSPITAL!

ie: hospitals cause amputations. Hospitals cause infections. You are safer at home than you are at a hospital.

Here's another intersting factoid...anesthesia is often the most dangerous part of any operation. More people die from their anesthesia than die from their surgery...not to mention the ailment that they sought surgery for in the first place.

More people are killed by doctors each year than are killed by guns.

Now, this brings me back to my original post in this thread...the scariest edged weapon imo is a scapel wielding surgeon.

I still stand by that statement.

An Axe if any type . . .

Instinctively makes me reach for my FIREPOWER. cliffy

Loomis, you are so right it is scarey....Staph infections are more commonly caught while in the hospital and kill more people in hospitals than any other infection.

along with the anestisiaologist(sp?) who can give you too much gas and kill you before the first major cut is made.....

I guess your solution to anesthesia is a couple of shots of Jim Beam.

Staph infectins happen at home too. They are often not caught in time because the infected person downplays the symptoms... just a swelling.... I think I'll take the hospital.

Baseball bat with nails driven into it. Not sure if that falls into "edged" weapon though.

Kukri shaped blade machete. The broad end of it that can sever a limb like nothing... would freak me out fer sher if someone were coming after me with one!!!

Getting cut or stabbed by knives and swords and the like doesn't hold any greater fear for me than any other manner of violent death (meaning that I'm equally scared of getting hit by a bus or a lead pipe).

However, razors bug me. Mostly, it's because of the pain/damage separation. Your don't always feel a razor cut right away, and that bugs me way more than just getting cut with a knife. It's like some sort of phantom cut. You can't really tell how bad it is from how bad it hurts. And the anticipation of the eventual pain is, in a way, just as bad as the pain.

While I'm on the subject... saws. Saws bother me. I've cut myself with a handsaw, but never with a powered saw (not a tool guy, so I don't have cause to use them). The thought, though, of mangling my hand in a saw freaks me out a bit. It's kinda like the razor thing, in a way: It happens so fast that you can't really process what's happened right away.

"Ouch, cut myself. Wonder how bad it is. Say... didn't I used to have more fingers?"

Hey mp7

some call it a kyhber blade i call it a sling blade mmmmmmhhhhhhmmmmm!!!!

For me it's a Shark (see the teeth). Not fond of Hungry Bears either...um also the claws on those Wild Boars....I'm not hunting any with a short spear in the very near future anytime!...Doc

The most dangerous edged weapon IMHO is the Mind...specially if it's sharp.....Doc

any politicians tongue

My favorite chainsaw.

man how big's that blade? a rusty straight razor 0.o

ax---especially in the hands of Ed Ames

To be brutally honest, when I saw the thread title I though less about the blade and more about who might wield it. "Fear Factor"? The thought of being violently beheaded scares me to my core.


-T.

Had to laugh about Dr Snubnose's comments re. sharks.

We were holidaying at Hervey Bay a few weeks ago, and noticed a Dugong swimming, whilst going for our morning walk. Probably about a dozen people stopped to watch this thing swim past. One fellow, a german tourist from his accent was swimming and noticed everybody looking out to sea. He immediately swum in fearing we had seen a shark.

My reply to his question didn't seem to please him much.

"No mate, just a Dugong, there's no sharks around here, the crocodiles ate them all."

I just remembered an old friend of mine has one of these, a "Klingon Batleth", from Star Trek. It's a heavy chunk of steel, and I tell ya what...if that thing was sharpened properly, it would be damn fearsome! If you look closely, you can see cutting edges all along the thing. Man, if those were really sharpened.........

Not really portable, of course. Just a "fantasy sword", but it has real potential. I damn sure wouldn't want to go up against someone with anything similar.

Tomahawk

It can cut and crush, not a clean quick kill.

My favorite edged weapon to date that I have is called a Coustille, by Windlass Steelcrafts. It's like the Cinquedea for most practical purposes, but a bit lighter and swifter looking. http://www.theknightshop.co.uk/catalog/images/501014.jpg
The guy who mentioned spears/halberds, polearms in general would actually be the deadliest thing to stand against in close combat, just swords have more of a romanticism about them. If I had to be in a firearms-free world, the bow would be my best friend. Keep it at a distance, then have something like my coustille and a swift 2 1/2 lb war hammer if close combat was ever necessary. Aside from my deep fascination with historical martial fighting, and love of the Tolkien brand of fantasy in books and movies, I do realize being assaulted by a skilled assailant with any sharp object would actually be terrifying and unpleasant.

Richard Marcinco convinced me best in one of his novels explaining why he hates knife fighting because even when you win, you receive cuts.

A knife hell no

Ok I own several civilians and have training By James Keating have video comtech for this weapon and its scary i would run take a abullet before going against this. So i learned to use it. this is the knife and actual pictures of what it will do to someone. ouch.

THis guy will remember next time he isnt so bad and to carry a gun to a knife fight.

^^^ I saw those picture out on the net a long time ago (year or two). I don't remember any particular knife being connected to them.

Do we know that this is the knife that did it? I don't think those wounds are untypical for any knife of decent sharpness. A 2" keychain knife could do that in the right hands.


-T.