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#1 |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Port Richey, Florida
Posts: 20
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Is it just me but does it seem African swords arent even used? "Throwing knives" were apparently only used for curency, and all these other swords appear to be either ceremonial religious or badges of rank.
So where are the actual weapons here, cuz I really cant find myself to have any interest in them if their not weapons. |
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#2 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: What is still UK
Posts: 5,773
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Right Steven you asked for it! African brigade attention. I will start with this one. With a bit of luck you will be buried under a mountain of wonderful shaped deadly weapons. The back of this weapon is 5mm the beak part is 26cm. It weighs 700g much like a good large Kukri. There's more
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#3 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Italia
Posts: 1,243
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Hi Steven! I suppose you are talking of Central Africa arms, because there is no doubt that the kaskara, sudanese arms dagger or even nimcha or some tokuba are for real use. Anyway I'm with you that a lot of congolese weapons are for ritual-ceremonial use but there are that were used for war. Here is an example of real stuff:
1- Kuba Ilwoon (mid rib 1cm) 2- Salampasu sword 3- Yaka sword 4- Shi sword (mid rib 1cm) 5- Songye sword 6- Bandja curved sword (spine 0,7 cm) Well, I have no doubts that all these are for real use, and at the moment I haven't good pictures of the spears that are really impressive!! Another thing is if you ask me: do you prefer to go in war with this salampasu sword or a moro kris? the technological level is a entirely different world... |
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#4 |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 3,191
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Hi Steve
Yes some of the Congolese knives and swords are strictly ceremonial and others were real or derived from actual weapons of war. You don't really wear too much clothing in the Congo so any sharp or long pointy weapon can be used with devastating effect. Today in the Congo one of the most feared weapons is the machete which is 18" long and only .125" thick which in comparison is not much different in size and shape and weight than the knives and swords we are speaking of. Lew |
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#5 |
Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the banks of Cut Bank Creek, Montana
Posts: 189
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Lew, it's a panga...
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#6 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: What is still UK
Posts: 5,773
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Many weapons with this shape or versions similar are status weapons, the use of may indeed be questioned. Not this one. The blade is 33.5cm long and 10cm at the widest point. The blade is the flat z section often seen with African weapons to add strength to blades rather than making then bigger and heavier. This one it is more for decoration as the centre seam is 4mm thick.
![]() ![]() Last edited by Tim Simmons; 6th May 2007 at 06:37 PM. |
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#7 | |
Member
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: France
Posts: 472
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To use a gun you need bullets, and bullets are not cheap ! You need to buy it. Hunting with a throwing knife just cost the ...throwing knife, and you can use it many time. Luc |
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#8 |
(deceased)
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast USA
Posts: 3,191
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Here are some Boa tribe swords and I would not want to be on the pointy end of them. Also this Zande dagger with ivory hilt the blade is stout and deadly
Lew |
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#9 |
Arms Historian
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Route 66
Posts: 9,884
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Hi Steven,
To answer a broadly worded question...it depends. I think Christopher Spring addressed this well in his "African Arms & Armour" when he noted the desperate tendancy of those in the 'west' to always try to explain or understand the practical use of every weapon. As Tim has noted, many of the weapons of Africa were actually parade or ceremonial. It should be further noted that African tribal warfare was often carried out much differently than that of many other cultures, and there was a great deal of showmanship involved, with the bearing weapon of the chiefs trying to look more intimidating than the next etc. The use of the throwing knives has received wide speculation, but it is known that they were in degree actually used, many of course werent. The 'hwi' of Dahomey and many of the bearing swords of west African regions were so elaborate they would have useless at best in battle. North Africa, they are still wearing takoubas and kaskaras...and yes, they were most definitely used, very effectively. In Central Africa, many forms were intended for use, but remember that they were typically intended as secondary to bows and spears. This may explain lack of wear on many of the existing examples. All the best, Jim |
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#10 | |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2021
Location: Leiden, NL
Posts: 473
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The one that is overcompensating for my mediocre sized genitalia (92.5 cm long 9.4 cm at the widest point - the sword, not the genitalia) is either non-functional - ironic, I know - or alternatively, must have been made not for an average Congolese man but rather for either a giant or a large silverback gorilla on steroids (riding a bull bush elephant no doubt), because it is very heavy to wield due to its forward weight, in spite of only weighing 883 grams. The blade is thin enough to sag under its own weight (although it is stiffer than I would have guessed based on the 4mm width). Still, it is fairly sharp and could probably cleave an unarmored person in half vertically. If it was made to intimidate the opponent without bloodshed as suggested on this forum, then mission accomplished! The pictures don't quite do it justice. I have named it Titanoboa. ![]() EDIT: Added a picture of the distal taper on the smaller one since it suggests that this one was intended for use. Titanoboa has no such complex distal taper and was IMO purely ceremonial, or, as suggested on the forums, possibly intended as money - in which case I'm presumably quite wealthy now. ![]() Last edited by werecow; 9th October 2023 at 05:44 PM. |
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#11 | |
Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: musorian territory
Posts: 415
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