[Changdao]

Beautiful swords.

Can I ask how thick is it near the tip? And those measurements for the bigger ones?

I would not discount their use in combat. Keep in mind that the Fang lived in an environment with no armour, and by the time these swords we are actually collecting were made and carried shields were a thing of the past (originally they used square or rectangular elephant hide shields). If their swords were slightly thicker when they had to face shields more commonly, we don't know. Besides, according to Tessmann the warfare practiced by the Fang was low scale and sporadic, based on feuding and ambushes, and small but explosive bursts of violence.

With this in mind, a thin sharp sword excellent for slicing flesh would be useful in this context. And this type of very thin cutting sword is found elsewhere: European medieval falchions of the XIII century were likewise very thin and sharp. The Thorpe falchion is 2.5 mm at its thickest and around 1-1.2 mm near the tip. Another falchion (108,9 cm in total length) starts at 7 mm, tapers to 4 mm, then 3 mm, and it is 1.1 mm for the last 20 cm. The Conyers falchion starts at 6 mm thick, but tapers quite rapidly and it is 1.2 mm in the widest part of the blade. Various Chinese niuweidao also follow that pattern.