Best SELF DEFENCE DAGGER Against Swords in HISTORY 

"Weird like walking around town with a 50 cal barrett slung over your shoulder" Clearly Matt has never been to Arizona.

Coat or cloak wrapped around the left arm with a long dagger in the right hand is a formidable combination.

If you’re up for doing more testing, I would like to see cloak and dagger vs rapier!

The dagger that allows you to run like hell.

It's interesting to see all the Medieval dagger fighting manuscripts and techniques, when most modern martial artists seem to think every knife fight will end up with two dead combatants. I wonder whether it's due to differences in historical vs. modern knives and daggers, the loss of tradition, or just because the circumstances on the battle field have changed too much.

The gauntlet dagger combo reminds me of the Scottish Highlanders with a Targe + Dirk in one hand.

Hi Matt, in my experience a cloak helps you a lot against a thrusting sword, if you only have a dagger. Against a backsword, you should try to cover your retreat and run out of the fight; however, being a country fellow my question would be: if the only steel weapon you're allowed to wear or can efford is a dagger, what's your excuse for not having a good walking stick along with the dagger? I'm not aware of any law of the past that forbade sticks where daggers were allowed and if it is solid, a stick is better for parrying and riposting against a cutting sword, until it snaps, but by that time you could have put the swordsman KO or stabbed him with the dagger.

Its so cool how Matt uses the saber at 2:45

Alehouse daggers do appear to have briefly been popular in England, perhaps 1580-1630. A few references are earlier or later. For that place & period, wearing an alehouse dagger wouldn't have been weird. They were primarily civilian weapons. Sir John Smythe considered them unsuited to war.

To balance the weight, wearing the gauntlet on your free hand could be a compelling "dual wield" combo with a dagger.

another thing to think about in a realistic setting is how is an injury itself going to affect someone in that situation a thrust might be very deadly but it's not going to be instant whereas a big slice might be more survivable but would a large gaping wound affect someones abilities to keep fighting more immediately than a lethal thrust would

My choice would be the PSA Dagger, obviously.

A sword catcher/breaker, that could work on its own i think.

This swordfighting business seems dangerous with this proximity thing. What if instead of delivering the blade itself directly we took the blade and delivered it either with some support from a sturdy material or under a flight trajectory, from a distance?

Look forward to your testing 👍

Thanks for the information ⚔️

Thanks for the video, Matt. Question: Do the forward curved quillions have a defense cost from not being in line with the blade (as with a straight cross guard)?

Great video as always, we need NEED a reaction to the Shogun pistol scenes in Episode 9. All i could think was Matt’s gonna have a field day.😂

I like the same solution as for a Fluorine Metal fire. A good pair of running shoes

I'd love to see a video testing the possible utility of using a gauntlet instead of a side arm.

Ah, the theoretical side of the practical last last time. Looking forward to this!

Great channel! I love how you test and investigate things with a critical mind! But one question: In your previous video, you tested rapier v. dagger in sparring. Here you say saber would do better against dagger, but have you tested that in sparring as well?

A someone who has tested Merelo system and advice with dagger vs sabre i would say that there seems to be points you are missing when comparing to rapier. Sabre allows better use of free hand from the dagger wielding guy. While it is easy to be nimble with the cuts, there is always one side of the blade which is dull... and you can put your hand / forehand there even from longer reach. This allows the hand to go more into play. Not by much, but still an possibility that as a "sabre man" you should take into account, making rising cuts better option than if facing other sabre. Very short sabres allow also use of legs and kicks more due to range. And you can be pushed into situation where you need to know how to adress them with the weapon combination you wield. Generarly lower range of the weapon, the more limbs become problem.

In my club we sometimes put on hove gloves and use only those against swords, as if they where steel mittel gauntlets. The most usefull thing with that is, in my experience, getting into a bind with the back of the hand/hands, run in and grab at the hilt. I especially like holding my hands over each other, like a cross, because that way you can kinda lock the blade in and restrict the ability, of the enemy, to disengage.

I'd honestly want something as big and robust as feasible with a complex hilt of some sort to protect against hand sniping.

thanks

Having spent a lot of time on daggers, if you can have two daggers you have a moderate chance of survival against a cut and thrust sword. Ive even done double dagger vs sword and buckler

With gauntlet and dagger would it be better to have the gauntlet on your off hand and the dagger in your dominent hand? You could bind the rapier then punch.

When someone says dagger what comes to mind for me is something small. The sort of daggers from something like rapier and dagger fighting are practically short swords.

Like a coathook you say? There's a question: you're in a medieval tavern when someone pulls a weapon to attack you; what mundane nearby object would you grab to defend yourself?

Great content as usual, now to watch it. :)

Very interesting - I suppose if you're out with a tavern dagger and a gauntlet, you're pretty much asking for trouble.

Modern day overseas travel in poverse countries. You might run into an individual with like a machete and perhaps all you'll have for defense is a kitchen paring knife from the supermarket. Narcos in Mexico or gangs in Haiti. Both Somalian and Hootie Pirates. It's all so extraordinarily common in Africa.

So I know this wasn't quite where the video went, but I do think ease of wear and ease of draw are bigger factors for a self defense dagger than the shape and weight of the guard and blade. I find a little 6-8 inch bollocks dagger worn at my side when sparring spear and longsword is much easier to deploy then the longer daggers that my other sparring partners have.

I want that dagger so bad

Honestly it's a weird reference but there's a scene that I remember watching The Animated Peter Pan as a kid. And Pete's just fighting Captain Hook with a dagger and Captain Hook's got this big old honking Rapier looking thing. 😅 For some reason I had a flashback of that scene.

We need to see you walk around and sit down with such a dagger sheathed for storage. How much does such a handguard get in the way? Add a basket hilted saber/sabre to the other side, and test the same.

If you have gauntlet and dagger ther you can try out having in idefferent hands, like dagger + buckler stíle. you got protetction and speed.

On gauntlet, it is likely some used a maille paryying gauntlet with a dagger. I've also heard in some LVD (or vulgar) sources about wrapping the cloak on the dagger hand.

If you're doing follow-up tests, I'd love to see two daggers vs. single rapier. I'm sure you'd have two daggers laying around, so it's easy to test. Having two offensive hands to close with, plus being able to bolster the defensive capacity of either with the other while only really losing the ability to fully control the rapier/sword arm (rapier cutting edges are still ouchy with bare or gloved hands) seems like a net benefit. Maybe time to crack out your Wing Chun skills, Matt ;)

The rapier guy makes himself vulnerable when his swordhand is lifted and/or overextended. And you want a crossguard that has a realistic chance of "catching" the enemy blade, and not to break or trap the blade as stated, but for enough control (your winden will be strong, his will be weak) for you to run in and close distance. Any other way you cant fucking win unless you use a dirty trick.

This almost sounds like a paper rock scissors game. Against a dark alley strong arm with a dagger, the hanger is the best weapon. against the hanger, a rapier is the best weapon. against the rapier, the dagger and surprise/speed is the best weapon (vs a hanger). Seems like the individual chose the armament based on what he expected to encounter, and I imagine most people expected the strong arm unless you expected your honor to be insulted.

I'd also be curious to see if offhand gauntlet + dagger fares as well or better than main hand.

3:58 bought this as my first cold Steel product in 2020...i now have probably 30 products...

Thundercats!

1:10 “or something like this” (said while gesturing towards own nose) Next fencing video could be interesting.

I dueled double dagger vs double rapier. Superior skill and speed can overcome the reach advantage.

When dagger blades get long enough, they basically become Hobbit swords.

I think a dagger in one hand and a buckler in the other is quite portable and a decent option against a rapier.

How about a dagger in the on hand and a gauntlet over the off hand?

Thoughts on the Bruewahr(sp) it think it is a dagger with a nagel in this case?

How about dagger & buckler? Was that combo in any historical manuals?

Is there any historical references to bare hand Vs. Sword, specifically redirecting the blade by pressing against the flat with your palm like a parry? Have you ever tried this is sparring, it seems like it would be really hard, I wonder if it would be practical to grab onto the tip of a missed rapier thrust with your bare hand, or perhaps while wearing some leather gloves.

It's a good idea to use riding gloves, the will protect the hand and forearm and allow for grabbing the blade, without getting looks!

are there contemporaneous accounts of alehouse daggers being seen as a bit odd

Keep in mind if you're carrying only a dagger for self defence, it's likely you are in a fairly safe place and not expecting a fight. Like less than 1% chance of trouble. So convenience and comfort is a high priority. If you actually thought you could be in real danger you'd arm yourself better or avoid the situation.

The best self-defence dagger against swords in history is the one you have with you when attacked by someone wielding a sword.

if you were at a tournament and had two plate gauntlets, would that mean that hits to your hands would not count towards the opponents points (meaning you could parry their weapon with your hand, maybe even control it)?

Any opinions on using a large Bowie knife of the type sometimes described as a "Civil War Bowie" with a "D" guard instead of the large dagger?

I wonder how a katar would compare. It seems less suited to wear and not as ideal for binding, but Im still curious

Whats the biggest dagger you would carry in the modern era Ive tried carrying a commando dagger but its quite long.

What about the sword breaker matt🤔

I thought you said Hema was dead Scholagladiatoria?

I was 100 percent sure something flew off of that sabre at 2:43

Would katar be a good choice? It has protective sides. Kind of.

I think two of those daggers would be petty potent, lol. I wanna design a basket hilt with quillons

And you CAN half-sword a rapier (or any sword for that matter)

how about sai or butterfly knives

Would you be willing to try cloak and dagger v rapier I have to imagine that would give you a bigger advantage than just dagger

Maybe Dagger in one hand and gauntlet on the other?

ok. so I've read that Irish preferred a dagger/gauntlet instead of a buckler. there's even art that shows it. for dagger, it supposed to go along your elbow in an icepick grip and I imagine that you would do a round motion to displace the incoming attack. so... how viable is it? have anyone tested it in sparring?

I might disagree with the concept. A parrying dagger is a great accompaniment to a rapier, but it seems historically, if one is using a dagger against a sword of other big weapon, defense is done more with body displacement, and the dagger is used more aggressively for striking, not as a parrying weapon. You just never saw depictions of quillion daggers worn without the sword, while a lot of long Rondels, poigniards, baselards and whatnot exist that were carried singly. And the more the blade hand moves around, the less important hand protections are.

How effective would sticks and canes be against swords? I'd assume swords having the upperhand for sure, just interesting to me because of how much fiction shows the villain with any particular sort of "gentlemanly" sword and the hero only has a stick or cane and they fence.

What about gauntlet plus dagger

Seems like the ultimate would be a gauntlet on your off hand and the dagger you were showing. Many of his hits were to your hand.

Answer: the biggest dagger you can get...say about 30"....Oh, you mean that's a sword?

Cinquedea!

I bought me a dagger with a 14 inch blade and a standard crossguard from a seller in a middle-age fair. It was called something, but I forget what. Any help?

Sword and buckler are famously effective. How about testing dagger and buckler vs. a cut-and-thrust opponent?

Why not treat your rapier like a cut-and-thrust sword in defence and, when given the chance, end the duel with a proper thrust?

The optimum dagger against a rapier is a.......rapier!

What about swordbreaker?

@5:23~~further proof that *Unicorns* were carnivores. That's why cattle horns are shaped to defend from _rapier horned ponies._ ;^} & what does Matt Easton look like with a proper twirly mustache?

What about the Japanese Police Sword Breakers?

Sounds like the Spyderco Emerson wave opener isn't gonna work.

F-102 Delta Dagger would be decent, I think. PITA to carry around though.

👍

A Sai or Hachiwari, mayby a Jitte.

How about a Katar?

have you seen vinland saga ?i think you may like that anime

Wouldn't it be better to have the gauntlet in your opposite hand? So dagger in one hand and gauntlet on the other.

Everyone knows the best dagger to defend against a sword, is the KH-47M2 'dagger' hypersonic ballistic missile. It gives you the extra range needed to really cinch those close, melee sword fights.

A question and a comment. Instead of gauntlets, why not wear mail mittens or even reinforced (with plates, mail or hide) gloves? I don't see why carrying a basket hilted dagger on your person would be frowned upon if basket hilted swords were socially acceptable...

0:25 You ARE very offensive, Mr Easton! 😏

Rouge class explained in detail

The pistol in your pocket?

I just grab a.... hey i have all kind weapon to hand... :)

The best sidearm to defend against swords would obviously be the pistol.

So carry a small throwing knife and a good dagger

Wouldn't a sword-catcher be even better?