Short Sword?

[armoredman]

That is a nice price.

 

[Black Butte]

Check out Albion's line of Roman swords. Here's an example:

http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/nextgen/sword-roman-tiberius-fulham.htm

http://www.albion-swords.com/swords/albion/swords-albion-mark-nextgen.htm

 

[armoredman]

Nice, and the prices are a wee bit out of my range.

 

[kBob]

Just another voice in the wilderness crying out about the value of the machete. I rather liked the old style cane knifes used in Florida and Central America as well, guess you folks might think of them as a bush ax rather than a sword though. Kept one in a car back in the 1970's with a go pack. One never knew then when the Russkies or Chinese were gonna nuke us!

And what J Shirly said about other tools and water and blankies as well. I still keep my ames folding e-tool sharp on the end and left side just like Uncle Sugar taught me and I can still dig with it do some light brush clearing or maybe some CQC with it.

I will say this topic made me think of the traditional Confederate D handled Bowie right off the bat and then the Marine Raider Bowie. In short (sword) big honking knives.

-kBob

 

[hso]

I'm fortunate enough to live where Knife World is published and to have attended many hammer-ins and gatherings where historical blades are discussed and seminars are presented and have actually had the chance to handle real Confederate bowies.

Confederate bowies got dumped along the march because they were too big and heavy to tote around.

 

[Spec ops Grunt]

Dang! Looked up the Confederate Bowie, what would posses someone to make a knife that big and give it to a soldier already carrying a whole bunch of stuff?

 

[Cosmoline]

Speaking of that era, I remember John Brown and his group used broadswords and spears during the Kansas wars, as well as the well known Sharps.

http://randomthoughtsonhistory.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html

It was a world that still had one foot firmly in the earlier age of sharp steel.

 

[kBob]

Yep and ACW troops were also know to throw away overcoats.....and US troops "Lose" even spare ammo in more recent times.

I was a light Infantryman and am very familiar with carrying everything I am going to have for the foreseeable future on my person. Still the short sword thread made me think of Big Honking Knives. And I am not sure that given a muzzle loading smoothbore musket (which is what MOST CSA and Southern states troops had in the beginning) and a spike bayonet that I would not have made the effort to carry a big honking knife such as the Dhandle CSA bowie until something better came along.

One the other hand a machete makes more sense as to being useful. As a kid from 11 to18 I carried a machete a lot in my "play ground" the Florida woods and swamps. I won many fights to the death with trees and bushes. It was one of the prewar Belgium made ones used by the US Navy rather than the more common Collins. A bit shorter and broader than a Collins and its USN marked sheath was too short for a Collins. It was given to me by one of my Grandfathers friends a war time USN Aviator along with some other stuff I wish I had taken care of. Kids. What do they know?

-kBob

 

[Gordon]

I guess this 13" bladed "Confederate Bowie" as Stephan Fowler calls it is a short sword. It actually has enough girth to the pointy blade to chop things somewhat as shown in the build threads he posted here. I wear it on my Sporran belt when wearing me Kilts at Celtic fairs. A fearsome and gorgous tool I just had to show after all this machete talk!

 

[armoredman]

Now that's what i like right there.

 

[hso]

that I would not have made the effort to carry a big honking knife such as the Dhandle CSA bowie until something better came along.

That's what a lot of folks think, but the historical and archaeological evidence is that the big D-guard bowies and dirks got tossed into roadside ditches after days of marching. There's also little historical evidence of use in combat. As romantic as they seem, and I'm a sword fan, they don't appear to have been used or even carried much. Some of the best surviving examples were never carried and simply abandoned at the depots.

I do admit that the data probably biased by how knives are found during road improvement/construction and how Civil War letters complaining of the things and how they were tossed aside along the march themselves represent a bias in the data since troops who carried them without tossing them probably didn't complain about them to folks at home in their letters.

 

[JShirley]

Confederate bowies got dumped along the march because they were too big and heavy to tote around

The Stone Mountain museum has several on display, with the note that they littered the sides of the paths the Confederate troops marched.

After marching just a wee bit, I can easily agree.

OTOH, if you didn't have far to go, they'd be fearsome in hand-to-hand combat. One of the beauties of the machete is its relatively light weight for length.

John

 

[SOUTHPAW]

Back to the Brush Axe. I think its severely underrated and overlooked as a survival tool. The blade effortlessly hacks through thick branches, and I dont think bone would be an issue. Even the blunt side could easily crack skull. The brush axe can also be effectively thrown with practice. Its versatile, deadly, and lightweight. Oh and it's cheap. I think I paid $25 at Walmart for one without a sheath... and I think I'll be buying another one too...



http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Yard-and-Garden/Axes-and-Striking/Brush-Axe

 

[Owen Sparks]

My grandfather ran the local water and light department in the 1930's and his crew found an old Civil War sword while repairing a water line on (you guessed it) the side of the road. He bought it from the man who found it for a dime and gave it to my Dad to play with when he was about 10.

 

[Cosmoline]

Back to the Brush Axe.

It's pretty similar to the bill, which was itself an agricultural tool.

Some folks calls it a sling blade ;-)

 

[AStone]

Far behind reading here. In organizational dev mode.
(Translation: the future of many depend on my work here.)

Will read tomorrow or Wednesday, and report back.

Scanning tells me this: interesting discussion. Please continue.

<Best Schwarzenegger voice>

I'll be back.

 

[AStone]

I guess this 13" bladed "Confederate Bowie" as Stephan Fowler calls it is a short sword. It actually has enough girth to the pointy blade to chop things somewhat as shown in the build threads he posted here. I wear it on my Sporran belt when wearing me Kilts at Celtic fairs. A fearsome and gorgous tool I just had to show after all this machete talk!

Gordon, that's exactly what I'm looking for.

Contact info? PM if you wish.

 

[armoredman]

Or are there good repros available?

 

[hso]

Cosmo,

You're thinking bush axe.

This is a sling blade when you go digging around the garden department.

 

[blindhari]

hso,
hate to correct a moderator, but brush hook is proper usage. It is a modern adaption of a bill or bill hook used throughout Europe as a weapon and agricultural tool. Sometimes known in Britain as a "Bill" It was the way you cleared hedge by taking out the base of the plant.

blindhari

 

[Owen Sparks]

Or for taking a mounted knight off his horse.

 

[JShirley]

blindhari,

I'd hate to correct a member, but hso was referring to the "sling blade" quote.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // My choice years ago was the Buckmaster Lite 185.

Folks called it my Rambo knife but it is very versatile and became the M9 Bayonet.

At 12 11/16" it barely qualifies as a "sword" but functionally the 185 has been spectacular.

I wove para cord along the spine of the hilt to aid my grip and give a little more padding when chopping. With the cut outs in the hilt it is easily turned in to a spear.

The plastic sheath ( no way this knife is poking me through the sheath in a fall) has a retention spring clip inside and safely contains the knife. The sheath has a wet stone imbedded in the back too.

Hope you find what works for you.

 

[blindhari]

hso, JShirley;
Please accept my apoligies. reread this morning and I was absolutely wrong. New rule for living I have just adopted, "Always read it three times late at nigh and again in the morning before posting reply".
Again my apologies,

blindhari

 

[JShirley]

Hey, no problem. It happens.

John