ANTI-ARMOUR DAGGERS: Different solutions in EUROPE vs INDIA 

A video about off hand katar with a sword would be a nice one: Techniques and advantages vs a dagger as an offhand etc

Would be great to see a video tour of the Easton collection once in a while. Seems like you've got a lot of cool stuff that can't all be the stars of their own videos.

in the Lincoln cathedral archives, there are some old manuscripts showing archers using wooden mallets, hammering daggers through plate armour.

15:40 so glad 2 hear him say he will continue to be Matt Easton what a relief😅

Let's see some bollocks! Also, it would be great if you could talk about the Japanese equivalent of rondel and bollock daggers: the yoroi doshi tantos.

Speaking of katars, here are a few things I would like to see a video on. 1. Durability, it looks like the ultimate no tang design. 2. Hooded Katars. 3. The tri bladed katars. Were the all just for show? And great vid!

Hmm, maybe Tod will one day make a replica of the first katar, the wider and shorter one, so you can test it as you did the rondel dagger. P.S. the second katar, the one narrow and slim, is gorgeous to my eyes! I like the first one too, but the second one is my favorite.

"ma(il)le penetrating point"

I would enjoy seeing Todd making both styles of Katar and then you guys testing them.

Wonderful comparison. I have a question about the Katar: most examples I have seen have a two bar construction at the grip - could you speak to why that was the common choice as opposed to say, some sort of pistol grip or something akin to a wood saw? My assumption is to add lateral stability and rigidity to the langets that run the length of the forearm, but I'd like to hear your insights.

That southern indian piece reminds me so much of a bronze age "rapier"! Down to the riveted construction!! Besides of course that bronze age blades likely didnt have a punch-grip.

I think that Matt needs to loan those 2 katars(sp?) to Todd for him to replicate then run a series of test with them alongside the rondel dagger. I think that it would be interesting to see how well they penetrate things compared to the rondel.

I've been really fascinated by the katar since I learned about it in high school. I'd love a deeper dive into the katar and it's development and use.

I was gonna ask for information on 3 bladed Katars too... some kind of sword trapper?

Any additional context on the length of the blade of the second katar? Seems maybe a bit long for a punching weapon (at least to my untrained eye)?

matt has a new dagger, show me, show me, show me

Was there a case where katars were used against knights in full plate armor during the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510?

In an interesting parallel, there were ways to exploit the vulnerabilities to Japan's samurai armor (yoroi)!

Didn't think the Rondel daggers were that long. Practically short swords.

Ah yes. The "can opener". Matt Damon's character kills his opponent with one in the movie "The Last Duel".

12:13 To be fair, I don't know anyone who could say "bulbous knobs" without chuckling a little

Punching dagger may ne better from biotechnicall point of view - you can hit with more force then with standard dagger.

Thanks for the video & information ⚔️

Your armor had to pass tests against weapons??? IT'S HEALTH AND SAFETY GONE MAD

Did my ears deceive me or did you not mention 'context' even once? :grinning_face: Anyway, that was a most interesting video. ISTM the southern Indian dagger would be more difficult to use given its length. Especially at close quarters. Have you done any practice sparring to test?

Nice video. I see the same need with modern body armor. The famous fighting knives of the World Wars can’t pierce thru IOTVs with ceramic plates and neck protection, UHMWPE helmets, and even a lot of common soldier equipment. Targeting the gaps makes sense, but the vitals are really far away. A long spike-like dagger makes sense.

armour is less likely to have been used in southern India than in the north

What are katars like to punch hard with? Almost every one I've seen has thin grip bars that look like they'd be rather painful with a hard strike. Also they look as if they'd be unstable laterally because the bars are close together.

I love Katars! I wish Katars and sword and buckler were in some movies. Have not seen either one.

Very interesting!

The patar I purchased in an antique shop for my father-in-law had a fixed gauntlet to protect the hand of the wielder. The shop told me it was genuine Indian of the 16th Century, but I had no way to check that claim. The grip itself was absent, but there was a curved metal counterpiece to the gauntlet that had a small range of motion/adjustment. I'm big (6'5", 250lbs at that time and I could barely get my fist into the gauntlet.

Need to do the Todd tests with the Indian weapons.

I've always figured that the reason why katar became prevalent in India is that unlike late medeval and renaissance European armor Indian armor largely consisted of chain mail some padding and a limited amount of plate covering the body assuming if plate was there at all and that you didn't really need so much precision or dexterity to aim the point of the katar into an area which wasn't covered in plate when fighting against Indian soldiers wearing Indian style armor.(Not saying that a good quality Rondel or even a good quality Katar couldn't get through a full suit of European plate armor which was made of crappy or mediocre plate though.)

Thank you for talking about katars, I have replica one.

I'm to lazy to look up the exact quote, but Fiore say something along the lines of " I will turn you an test the strength of the back of your coat"

My years of traveling in the virtual world has taught me that an ice pick is the best anti-armour dagger.

Please show us the comparison Between a talwar and a shamshir. Which one was better in war? I wanted to know about it but there are almost no videos about it.

Can you punch deeper with a punch dagger vs a dagger meant to be used in a downward arc? Which method of movement is more effective at penetrating armor?

Fascinating stuff! I wonder why the Katar has a triangular blade instead of a spike though. I'm wondering if it was also intended to be used to sever straps and fastenings? Maybe slash sideways while grappling to sever the strap holding some armour in place, then stab into the revealed gap?

I just watched both your videos on animal defense knives and the anti-armour blades. It would seem the leaf shaped katar would meet the criteria of stout and controlled depth penetration mentioned for boars, tigers etc. Perhaps a hybrid design would be optimum: cross a colichemarde with a large bowie or medium length katar

Everyone knows that the best way to defeat armor is to use fire. Also best way to defeat unarmored opponents. I forgot who it was who said this, but “War without fire is like sausage without mustard.” You probably know.

Hey Matt it would be cool if you could make a video on the halberd and the huge number of variations in design across time and geography. You see some with very simple square heads and some very ornate ones with crescent blades, etc. I don't think you've done much content on the halberd.

There are often different technological solutions to the same problem. An example older viewers will remember is video tape systems where there were two main video systems Betamax and VHS competing along with the Phillips Video 2000 system.

The side-profile of the 1st Indian dagger is quite impressive, indeed! ⚔

I'd wonder how many Katars were custom made for a particular user? They seem to have very snug fits, was that a general quality of a mass produced item, or because there were only really designed to fit one person?

i always wonder if that whole wrestle them to the ground and knife the gaps technique doesnt date back to ancient or even mycenaen greece. i cant see it as a coincidence that the same place that bronze plate was invented also invented wrestling

Would be nice to see a video testing a katar (thicker one) against maille over padding.

That makes sense.

Matt, like to see you doing some penetration tests with a katar. Specifically I'd like to see what happens when a strike is slightly "off" or the target resists and deflects the blade. Any deflection away from the line of thrust will produce torque around a line intermediate and parallel to the two closely situated grips. Clearly, as you're trying to punch through armour, there is a considerable amount of force in the thrust. The only thing holding the dagger straight is the grip of your soft, sweaty, hand on a pair of metal bars an inch or two apart. Physics tells me that in use the kata should rotate in your hand whenever the line of the blade deviates from the line of thrust, common sense tells me that things that don't work don't last. Does it spin? If not, why not?

imho, the katar is less secure grip-wise, than a rondel dagger, since it's subjected to lateral (relative to the straight punch position) deflection. The langets don't help there unless the katar is tied to the forearm (which historically did happen a lot).

A test I would like to see is weapons vs moving armor or objects that have some flexibility.

You need a ballistic gel torso

I have always been fascinated by katars, but have never been able to find a good book about them. any recommendations?

Poor medieval knight's eye holes.

So how common were war pick/hammers? (One handed sidearm version).

I'd like you to test it against a CURVED piece of plate. 70% of plate armor's efficiency is from its shape, causing deflections

Hey Matt, i keep seeing that pointy thing in the corner of the room, what is it?

I would recommend a light coloured shirt without pattern. That make easier to see the object shown. Like always, very interesting.

In terms of how narrow the grip is on that second one, how unconfortable is it to hold from the middle finger to the pinky? Im curious. Do we think their hands were that small?

Why were they so long? Wouldn’t it be harder to wield and hard to put power behind?

I wish katar weren't illegal in Canada. 😢

Very interesting - I've said it before and I'll say it again, Rondel daggers are plain nasty things!

Did these Indian daggers have fabric wrapped around the grip?

Am I the only one seeing the Halo sword? If someone had an offhanded Katar it would be extremely intimidating to close with that fellow.

The Katar has one use: what do you do with this awkward thing when you are not stabbing people?

Not exactly the same problem according to the images shown: plate in Europe, mail in India.

Where is pesh kabz?

Ok so we need comparison tests of what are most accurate and most powerful. Get cracking!

But would it cut through FEMALE armor 🤔

Bulbous knobs...

Pokemon?

That thumbnail art piece is horrifyingly disgusting.

what about rotaion of the katar dagger in the fist? I would guess that the 2 prtruding pieces of steel towards the arm would fit in 2 sort of small sleeves in a wristband or jacket to prevent rotation, making it truly effective.

🗿👍

One has many uses, one is strong at exactly one angle.

Why are the British so obsessed with India?

Mail penetrating tip 😂😂😂😂😂

And the 9a91?

what does Indian armor look like? don't believe I ever saw some.

A bec de corbin would be far more effective than a rondel dagger against armour plate, being closely related, much more momentum for the same swing really, plate armour doesn't stand a chance really. Have you tested that on video already?

I used to own an Indian Katar and I gotta tell ya the gripping is horrible. You're better off using a traditional tanto or dagger. Whoever came up with that design needs to be fired! 😤 Such a design would work better as part of a gauntlet/back wrist attachment. The way it is now tends to bend backwards. I was never confident holding one. It looks neat and intimidating but it's almost guaranteed to fail. I wouldn't recommend it. Stick with the traditional stuff that works! 👍

Either Matt has very large hands or Indians of that time period very small ones. 🤔

classic car

Either RU-vid hates my comments, or Matt Easton fancies a New British Caliphate under the leadership of Caliph Starmer. I wonder which it is.