saudi executioners sword

[fenlander]

First appologies for another morbid question by me. Has anyone got any pics of a real modern saudi executioner's sword (this would be classed as ethnogenic right) ? I don't want pics of executions (seriously). I just want to know what the sword looks like and the steel used for the blade. I guess it would be very high carbon steel that keeps a great edge. I am also interested to know if they are decorated with jewels etc as the Saudi government alledgedly pays thousands of dollars for them. Also are they the same swords used now as used in the past. A picture and details of steel would be very interesting to see. Picture pleaseeee

Thank you

Fenlander

[ariel]

As ordered:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ht=executioner

[fenlander]

Thanks for the clip. Interesting looking sword. He mentioned the handle broke once. Perhaps it didn't have a full tang.

Anyway thanks for the clip

[Lew]

I have one problem with the sword. After cutting off so many heads the blade would show signs of wear such as nicks or the the blade itself would be worn down from constant resharpening. I remember reading that in Europe the swords used in beheadings were a big hassle to maintain due to the fact that they had to be resharpened after every use.

Lew

[Bill]

Originally Posted by LOUIEBLADES

I have one problem with the sword. After cutting off so many heads the blade would show signs of wear such as nicks or the the blade itself would be worn down from constant resharpening. I remember reading that in Europe the swords used in beheadings were a big hassle to maintain due to the fact that they had to be resharpened after every use.

Lew

Would a well made blade nick on bone? I don't think the Saudi's have a perfect history of one cut. The proper technique may be more important then a razor sharp blade. Don't forget that there were a number of headhunting groups that didn't use swords but used sharpened shell & split bamboo. There was a PBS show on Romans executed by Romans in England; the remains showed some had several whacks while others showed one clean cut. Bad executions or ordered that way?

[Lew]

[QUOTE=Bill]Would a well made blade nick on bone?


Yes it would.

Lew

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Bill

Would a well made blade nick on bone?

Sometimes, but not always. Skill helps but nature of blade is critical.

Human heads come off easily to a skilled heads man.

At Nanking Japanese officers held competitions to see who could behead the most people without stopping for rest. These were published in Japanese papers.

It was usual to get over 100 beheadings done.

Some of the contempary Japanese reports mention bent or nicked blades, but many katana {both old & new.} came through unscathed.

I have a kukri used for beheading buffalo in a Nepali village every year since 1918 or 1919 at Dashien in Nepal up untill 2 years ago.

No nicks on it.

Thats because The idea is to hit between the vertebrae, not smack in the middle of one! thats whats seperates the experts from the amatuers.

Spiral