Got a Real-World Weapon, Armor or Tactics Question? Mk. XXIV

[Mike_G]

It'll certainly be easier... What I was wondering is... How much easier?

Ummm.. a lot.

Depends on the blade and the pommel, but even a slightly heavier pommel makes a more easily controlled tip.

I used an epee pommel on my foil when I was competing, and while it's only a tiny bit heavier, it made my point work much more precise, and even though the weapon was technically heavier, it was quicker to get back to defend after making an attack. It would have lost momentum in a swing, but that's irrelevant for the type of weapon it was. Even taking the sport element out of it and pretending it's a smallsword, you aren't going to try to bash or chop with it.

"How much?" isn't a question we can answer without defining a specific sword.

Uh... Kinda of... If the weight is on the same side of the pivot, then yes, it does nothing but hamper you... But it is on the opposite side of pivot, it'll allow other end to apply more force (e.g.: swinging an axe by gripping at the center of a 40cm-long shaft is more effective than swinging an axe by gripping at the every end of a 20cm-long shaft). But if you have a counter weight on the opposite side of the pivot, it means you're aren't holding the "business end" from as far as you can, which means you have a shorter moment arm (which is the whole point of a counterweight. No one wants a building crane whose operator is miles away from whatever it's lifting!). But for a slashing/chopping weapon, it's easier to just hold it from as far as you can from the blade increase the arm of the moment and therefore the force applied to the blade. That way, you not only make your weapon lighter (no counterweight = less mass on the handle = you can add more mass to the impact end), but also gives you extra reach.

Again, nobody's arguing that.

But the extra momentum you get, which makes it hit harder, also makes the weapon harder to control. It's harder to change angles to feint here and attack there with a forward weighted weapon, and if you miss it's much slower to get back into a guard to defend yourself.

There's a reason battle axes are lighter than splitting axes.