Poll: How much do you think Medievil swords weigh?
- Thread starter Pennyy9
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It really depends on what kind of sword.... but every single weight on there is nonsense.
Some swords that weighed up to 8 or 10 (4.5 kg) pounds probably existed, but they would have been mostly gold and strictly for decoration.
A late medieval longsword weighed at most 5-6 pounds, with 2-3 pounds (1.8 kg for the conversion challenged) being the far more common weight.
Cutlasses and rapiers weighed far less.
It would be wise to also remember that the average height of a medieval man was probably about 5"4 or 5"5 (164cm).
For you Londoners, the Museum of London's Wallace collection has only 6 or so specimens weighing more than 4 pounds out of a collection of several hundred (if memory serves).
History degree comes in handy yet again... now if only I was employable.
Some swords that weighed up to 8 or 10 (4.5 kg) pounds probably existed, but they would have been mostly gold and strictly for decoration.
A late medieval longsword weighed at most 5-6 pounds, with 2-3 pounds (1.8 kg for the conversion challenged) being the far more common weight.
Cutlasses and rapiers weighed far less.
It would be wise to also remember that the average height of a medieval man was probably about 5"4 or 5"5 (164cm).
For you Londoners, the Museum of London's Wallace collection has only 6 or so specimens weighing more than 4 pounds out of a collection of several hundred (if memory serves).
History degree comes in handy yet again... now if only I was employable.
a lot...?
i guess you could ask at a museum or something, but yeah im pretty sure they weighed a lot, thats why they had to wear gauntlets, to protect their hands and wrists
i guess you could ask at a museum or something, but yeah im pretty sure they weighed a lot, thats why they had to wear gauntlets, to protect their hands and wrists
http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm
Wikipedia is a total joke. Tabloids are more accurate than that rag.
Wikipedia is a total joke. Tabloids are more accurate than that rag.
You could post a picture of a sword. A sword made out of steel (or iron) that weighed fifty pounds would be twenty metres long, this is simple physics.Angus Young said:
This thread is pretty pointless but oh well. I went to a castle once and held a sword (I'm not sure if it was real or recreation.) and it weighed a LOT.
For starters, you can't spell medieval.
And I'm fairly certain that it is less than 15lbs. Use your head, no one is going to go swinging around a sword that weighs 50lbs and be able to use it effectively.
And I'm fairly certain that it is less than 15lbs. Use your head, no one is going to go swinging around a sword that weighs 50lbs and be able to use it effectively.
Most of you who think sword weigh a lot forget that hold a sword is off balancing. Lets say a sword and a dagger both weighing 10lbs. each the dagger will always feel like it weighs less even thou it doesn't. The longer something is the heaver it will feel.
The amount of stupidity, ignorance, and parroting of myths in this thread is absolutely astounding. Read that link from TheARMA and understand that if you're going to be swinging something around for the better part of a day's battle, it sure as hell better not weigh more than a couple of kilograms. Grab a 50-pound dumbbell (if you can lift it) and swing it around (best to do this in an open field). Now do the same thing with a 3-pound aluminum baseball bat and tell me which one you'd still be able to lift in the heat of battle especially considering you'd also be weighed down by your armor.
Common sense, people.
Common sense, people.
this poll is actually quite hilarious.. I even voted, even though I don't normally vote on horrible polls, just to see how many idiots had voted.
Swords that were used by real men who wanted to cut and disembowel one another were generally light enough to be used to block other weapons, and find opportune places to strike.
Steel isn't really heavier then iron.. So look at an sword shaped piece of iron.. about 2 feet long, half-quarter inch wide.. It'd weigh about 6-7 lbs. Turning it into a sword would probably make it LIGHTER.. any sword that was over 15lbs would be ridiculously large, unwieldy, and would tire out the wielder after only a few, largely uncontrollable swings. A "Buster Sword" like Clouds would be infeasible for him to wield, even if he had the muscle mass of Barret. There are certain biomechanical limits to what is feasible. I'll agree that a Buster Sword, made of solid iron/steel would weigh a fucking ton, but any real swordsmith would look at it like a joke "Yeah, you're going to use that 50lb monster.. I'm going to use this 3lb.. I'm not particularly scared of you.. I could cut/stab you probably 6-7 times in the time it would take for you to lift your sword off the ground."
So real swords were lighter then 15 lbs, and all the other multitude of answers are just hilarious jokes.
Swords that were used by real men who wanted to cut and disembowel one another were generally light enough to be used to block other weapons, and find opportune places to strike.
Steel isn't really heavier then iron.. So look at an sword shaped piece of iron.. about 2 feet long, half-quarter inch wide.. It'd weigh about 6-7 lbs. Turning it into a sword would probably make it LIGHTER.. any sword that was over 15lbs would be ridiculously large, unwieldy, and would tire out the wielder after only a few, largely uncontrollable swings. A "Buster Sword" like Clouds would be infeasible for him to wield, even if he had the muscle mass of Barret. There are certain biomechanical limits to what is feasible. I'll agree that a Buster Sword, made of solid iron/steel would weigh a fucking ton, but any real swordsmith would look at it like a joke "Yeah, you're going to use that 50lb monster.. I'm going to use this 3lb.. I'm not particularly scared of you.. I could cut/stab you probably 6-7 times in the time it would take for you to lift your sword off the ground."
So real swords were lighter then 15 lbs, and all the other multitude of answers are just hilarious jokes.
I think the basic misunderstanding that people have problems with is they rarely have to lift anything of any clearly defined weight.
If they consider themselves strong, anything heavy has to be some ridiculous weight, even if it isn't. They lift a giant bag of potatoes and they think "Holy shit, this weighs like 100lbs" when in actuality it's a 20lb bag. You're not as strong as you think you are, and small numbers can be pretty heavy.. you could easily kill someone with one or two swings (correctly aimed) of a blunt object that weighs a pound and a half.
If they consider themselves strong, anything heavy has to be some ridiculous weight, even if it isn't. They lift a giant bag of potatoes and they think "Holy shit, this weighs like 100lbs" when in actuality it's a 20lb bag. You're not as strong as you think you are, and small numbers can be pretty heavy.. you could easily kill someone with one or two swings (correctly aimed) of a blunt object that weighs a pound and a half.
70lbs, jesus christ.
Are we talking Viking God battles with solid gold bladed war mauls?
I mean seriously now, combat rifles are designed with a <10lb goal in mind, because just trying to hold that up and shoot during combat is exhausting.
I would never try to do melee battle with a 15lb or more piece of shit, unless I want to die exhausted.
Are we talking Viking God battles with solid gold bladed war mauls?
I mean seriously now, combat rifles are designed with a <10lb goal in mind, because just trying to hold that up and shoot during combat is exhausting.
I would never try to do melee battle with a 15lb or more piece of shit, unless I want to die exhausted.