Which close combat weapon would you use and why?

[Athenian200]

Originally Posted by EJCC

But... do those really exist? I mean, I've seen them in video games, but never irl.

I think I've seen one. It wouldn't be hard to make one with added points or some kind of small added blade. I'm pretty sure it could be made, so it probably has been.

[runvardh]

Ha! Your top two EJCC, katana and wakazashi. I get this weird feeling when I pick them up, almost like they fit in my hands a little too well. I'd add a tanto to the list though, just in case. I wouldn't need the brass knuckles though, apparently I hit hard already...

[BlackCat]

Pretty much exactly what EJCC put. Brass knuckles hurt... a lot.

[Matthew_Z]

Katana. It'd be my blade of choice. Very good at slicing limbs and whatnot.

[professor goodstain]

Right before my limbs were cut off by swords n stuff, i managed to toss a pouch of mercury in my foes eyes. Sure, i'm dead but so are they sometime in the future

What, are we playing scissors paper rock here?

[Halla74]

I am going to have to go with Katana:


I would feel more comfortable having the reach to keep my enemy at bay, than to let them get close and rely on a shield for additional defense.

This is also why it's good to learn to use your feet when fighting. A sidekick or a nice roundhouse both can be very effective if delivered properly.

[d@v3]

Definitely a sword , but if firearms were allowed, and I had an abundance of ammunition, I would pick a 870 tactical.

[LucrativeSid]

I don't know. A battle axe might be kind of fun, but unless I'm exceptionally experienced with it, people with swords would tear me to shreds. If I was trying to actually survive, I wouldn't want to use anything but a sword. They are faster, they can block, they can slice, and they can stab.

[Athenian200]

Originally Posted by Halla74

I am going to have to go with Katana:


I would feel more comfortable having the reach to keep my enemy at bay, than to let them get close and rely on a shield for additional defense.

This is also why it's good to learn to use your feet when fighting. A sidekick or a nice roundhouse both can be very effective if delivered properly.

Interesting... those are good reasons for choosing a weapon.

You should really read about Quarterstaves. You'd be surprised. Here's one of my favorite stories about them:

. Peeke is then offered a duel with a Spaniard at rapier and dagger:

After we had played some reasonable good time, I disarmed him, as thus. I caught his rapier betwixt the bars of my poniard and there held it, till I closed with him; and tripping up his heels, I took his weapons out of his hands.

Camillo Aggrippa: Trattato di Scientia d’Arme (1553)
After that display, he is asked if he dares fight another, and initially begs off, concerned about the easily offended Spanish nature. However, upon being pushed to bout, he acknowledges that he'll fight all comers if allowed the use of a quarterstaff.

Ever practical in the 17th century, a Spaniard removed the screw holding the head on a halberd and Peeke was armed with the quarterstaff substitute. To Peeke’s advantage, the butt end had either an iron spike or metal ferrule.

A first Spaniard steps up for the challenge, says Peeke, “then a second, armed as before, presents himself. I demanded, ‘If there would come no more?’ The Dukes asked, ‘How many I desired?’ I told them, ‘Any number under six.’”

After some brief exchanges (”the rapier men traversed their ground; I, mine. Dangerous thrusts were put in, and with dangerous hazard avoided. Shouts echoed to heaven to encourage the Spaniards”) Peeke landed a blow to the head of one of the swordsmen with the metal butt end of his staff. The woodcut from the cover (see below) shows the status at that point, with the fallen swordsman at bottom right, and Peeke at center facing the two remaining Spaniards with rapier and daggers.

Peeke made short work of the remaining two swordsmen: “within a few bouts after, to disarm the other two; causing the one of them to fly into the army of soldiers then present, and the other for refuge fled behind the bench” and awaited his fate from the nobles.

Rather than being killed, Peeke was rewarded for his bravery, being freed and eventually presented to the king. Upon his return to England, Peeke published the tract below that contains the account of his adventures. Shortly after, the play Dick of Devonshire was penned based on Peeke’s exploits.

The thing is, most people look back on that time and remember swords, because those were the most elegant weapons. In reality, they weren't the ideal hand weapon for an individual (though they probably were for large units). Just the most common in major battles.

Quarterstaves were superior to swords in the right hands. One of the reasons, was because depending on how it was used, it could be twirled to serve as a barrier (like a shield), be used in a spear-like manner, or in a sword-like manner. It could even be used (as in a pole-vaulting contest) to move in unexpected ways. And you'd never know which one to expect, because it could change at any time.

That's one of the reasons I always play as a mage in RPGs... they wield a staff. And there's a good reason, too. Some sword-wielders actually claimed that quarterstaff users must have been magicians/sorcerers in order to perform so well with a weapon like that. They weren't, but the idea stuck.

If I were going to be a fighter in that era (which I wouldn't really want to be)... that's the kind of weapon I'd have liked to wield. I wouldn't want to be just another sword fighter clad in armor. I'd want to be the strange fighter with a deceptively simple-looking weapon that was, because of my skill, far more dangerous than a sword.

Hope this wasn't boring, I just felt like writing this somewhere.

[Oberon]

I've always wanted to try one of these:





Your standard GI entrenching tool.