Ten weirdest blades on the planet?

fearn · 30th April 2009, 02:24 AM

In the Parang Pandit thread, I made an off-hand remark about the pandit being "definitely one of the 10 weirdest blades on the planet."

Migueldiaz asked what the other nine are.

This of course stopped me, because I was just making a rhetorical comment, and I don't actually have a list of 10 weirdest blades.

But why should that stop anyone?

So, here's the topic for this list: what do you consider the ten weirdest blades on the planet, and why?

Let's limit this a bit. First off, civility is important. This isn't about politics, and sometimes a sword is just a sword.

Second point: let's limit this to "standard" weapons, by which I mean that we should focus on blades associated with particular groups and built for particular reasons, rather than one-off pieces of art that are both goofy and non-functional.

That said, here are some candidates for the Ten Weirdest Blades list:

1. The parang pandit (link). Reason it's weird? Tip to grip: These are choppers, but where most blades have some sort of a functional tip, the pandit's tip is strictly ornamental. It's there as a weight to tune the placement of the sweet spot. Also, it's got that weird bend, and then the handle is square and metal. Makes my palms blister just thinking about it, and I wonder how tough the dayaks' hands were to use these things. Let's not forget the hair decorations on the blade. Then, rather than having a pommel to keep your hand from sliding off, it has this little, useless ivory ornament, and you're evidently supposed to hook a finger on the cross-piece to hold onto the blade.
Overall? Weird.

2. The garo milam (link, picture 7). This is another all-metal sword, and it's oddly similar to the Pandit, right down to being held by a cross-piece. Both are pretty distinctive. Why people go in for all-steel blades in the tropics is certainly puzzling.

3. The European estoc (wikipedia link). Okay, a 1.3 meter-long, triangular, sharpened prybar with a sword hilt? These swords were designed in an attempt to strengthen a sword to pierce plate armor. Didn't work that well. What's weird about the estoc is that no other culture went in for such super-heavy armor as did late medieval Europe. This led to some specialized, armor-piercing weapons that really haven't been seen anywhere else, most notably the estoc.

Who's next?

F

30th April 2009, 02:24 AM	#1
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Ten weirdest blades on the planet? In the Parang Pandit thread, I made an off-hand remark about the pandit being "definitely one of the 10 weirdest blades on the planet." Migueldiaz asked what the other nine are. This of course stopped me, because I was just making a rhetorical comment, and I don't actually have a list of 10 weirdest blades. But why should that stop anyone? So, here's the topic for this list: what do you consider the ten weirdest blades on the planet, and why? Let's limit this a bit. First off, civility is important. This isn't about politics, and sometimes a sword is just a sword. Second point: let's limit this to "standard" weapons, by which I mean that we should focus on blades associated with particular groups and built for particular reasons, rather than one-off pieces of art that are both goofy and non-functional. That said, here are some candidates for the Ten Weirdest Blades list: 1. The parang pandit (link). Reason it's weird? Tip to grip: These are choppers, but where most blades have some sort of a functional tip, the pandit's tip is strictly ornamental. It's there as a weight to tune the placement of the sweet spot. Also, it's got that weird bend, and then the handle is square and metal. Makes my palms blister just thinking about it, and I wonder how tough the dayaks' hands were to use these things. Let's not forget the hair decorations on the blade. Then, rather than having a pommel to keep your hand from sliding off, it has this little, useless ivory ornament, and you're evidently supposed to hook a finger on the cross-piece to hold onto the blade. Overall? Weird. 2. The garo milam (link, picture 7). This is another all-metal sword, and it's oddly similar to the Pandit, right down to being held by a cross-piece. Both are pretty distinctive. Why people go in for all-steel blades in the tropics is certainly puzzling. 3. The European estoc (wikipedia link). Okay, a 1.3 meter-long, triangular, sharpened prybar with a sword hilt? These swords were designed in an attempt to strengthen a sword to pierce plate armor. Didn't work that well. What's weird about the estoc is that no other culture went in for such super-heavy armor as did late medieval Europe. This led to some specialized, armor-piercing weapons that really haven't been seen anywhere else, most notably the estoc. Who's next? F Last edited by fearn; 30th April 2009 at 02:42 AM.