How easily can a SWORD cut off a SPEARHEAD? | FUNCTIONAL FANDOM 

Just for everyone's reference, the wood of all shafts cut into in this video are Tasmanian Oak, a class three timber hardwood. Not the heaviest or densest, but it is tough and durable. My wacky stick, the one I test against nun chucks, is made of the same and I've broken many boards with it.

One thing to take into account is that if you cut through most of the shaft, but not all, a strong thrust from the spearman could break it off, especially if it hits a shield or strong armor. One or two of these cuts could be enough in that case.

I think this demonstration gives a good example of "possible" vs "practical" - it is *POSSIBLE* to cut through a spear/quarterstaff with a sword, but it requires multiple full-power strikes to the same position on the shaft, which may not be PRACTICAL in combat. Something nobody seems to be talking about, though: cutting the head off a spear doesn't disarm a spearman, it turns him into a quarterstaffman.

What I find really interesting here, is the implications for Zweihander combat in Pike Formations. Since we do have some accounts of Dopplesolder's cutting through pike shafts. So depending on the sharpness of the sword and the thickness of the wood, perhaps the landsknecht really could cut through pike shafts. That would be my suggestion for a future video, Zweihander vs Pike shaft.

I think spears were expected to break in due course, but one thing you mentioned at the beginning that is good to keep in mind, those strikes were with a willing opponent who was resisting the strike. Two strikes is I think a very optimistic perspective for real world situations. I was surprise at how few hit it took though. That first test with six or so hit I figured would be pretty standard.

a few points: 1: even if you don't cut the point off the shaft is still weaker. 2: even if you cut the point off the enemy still has a long pointy stick 3: I suspect that over a drawn out battle even without intentionally trying to break spear shafts some will stll get broken.

Definitely with some luck involved at some point in history someone ended up chopping a spear head off, but it’s far better to think about how to get close and build up an action (or better a series of actions) to get closer more or less safely. While trying to use shaft grabs, binding and every controlling mean possible.

Good video. I'm surprised cutting through a spear wasn't harder than this, though I imagine it would be harder to get such good solid strikes in on a spear while your enemy is trying to stab you with it.

I actually have been reading Brandon Sanderson work and I have noticed you’ve been put in the rhythms of war for helping with the combat description to have it be a lot more believable even with flying soldiers/flying ships I’m glad your getting recondition as both a author and a entertainer After I’m done with the stormlight archive I will be reading the shadow of the conqueror

When you hit the shaft diagonally you are cutting a lot more aligned with the grains in the wood. Striking the staff horizontally against the grain makes it a lot tougher.

"I knew that staff training would come in handy," says the Broken-Spearman.

"Aha! I just cut off the head of your spear! Surrender now!" "Fool! My spear was imbued with Hydra blood..." Suddently, the spear now have three spearheads.

This is something I had issues with D&D groups. Since I'm the crazy one who loves spears, they would always try to point out all the negative things in both the systems and "it doesn't make sense in real life" such things as: You can't use a shield with a spear, not even a small/light round one. And the other, they would always find a way to break the wood shaft of mys pears. "Enemy punch/slams/twist" and spear breaks, or enemy armor is so strong spear bends and breaks, they burn or acid the wood. All stupid reasons. I ended using "steel-wood" or "iron-wood" (depending on system) to make a weapon lighter and stronger with a single change I then argue: there is a good reason why spears were the predominant weapon in battlefields for the longest of time ALL over the world. Where swords (modern medieval swords) became relevant much much later, and other cultures still used spears and gave them a run for its value. My two personal favourite spear stiles come from Spartans and also Eastern martial arts with spears (these are more often "blade spears" but I stil really like it) and then in medieval we have the "polearm/poleaxe" Halbert (piercing, slashing, burgeoning damage all in 1 weapon)

Despite how different their channels are, it's kinda cool that you can tell him and Jazza are related with the words they use when they talk. And the inflections in their tone.

On axes though, I was at a Hema Event this week end, and my friend got his axe solid Ash Handle fractured after two parries against a blunt viking sword. It was still usable, but I was impressed at how fast solid strikes from a one handed sword could damage the weapon (Although the other dude was hitting really hard to the point where it was kind of bad sportsmanship IMO cause he could have made serious wounds)

I love spears! Would probably use another wood, also I wonder if adding leather or some material to the outside might help. At least with the splinters. Also, a iron/steel rod would probably make it significantly harder. I seen some examples of people doing it. Very enjoyable video.

Outstanding job testing this. The brace test is actually perfect to show what would happen if someone tried to block a sword strike with a spear. You'd die vs a properly weighted sword, or at least be somewhat disarmed. Good show Shad.

If all you've ever handled is a modern broom handle you might wonder why this is even a question. But go to a hardware store that carries construction grade tools and see what a a good quality shovel handle feels like. It's a lot denser and stronger. People back then knew what they were doing when it came to wood. They didn't just cut down some random sapling. They'd often have plantations were trees were pruned and grown for specific purposes. For example when there was shortage of yew for long bows they'd even plant elms in shaded areas so the trees grew slower and the rings in the woods grain would be tighter as a result. For spear and other tools shafts they'd take full sized tree trunks then split the dense heartwood into rough squares followed by using a draw knife and then a pole lathe to get them into round. Looking at the grain of the test shaft Shad was cutting at 7:10 this wood looks to have a good straight grain but the rings seem to be a bit larger than a top quality tool handle. But that's just judging from appearance so it may not be fair to criticize. I would say though that the test isn't realistic unless the guy with the spear is trying to stick it into the swordsmen. Makes winding up and taking aim a lot harder when you know you may die;).

Huh. I was honestly expecting it to be pretty much impossible while the spear was held aloft. Apparently it's not that silly a concept - though of course, in an actual fight it would be many times harder still.

Great video! Thanks, Shad, for answering our most burning questions about medieval life and warfare. :3

Speaking of swords cutting, can you make a video discussing the trope of how the "stronger" warrior in a fight so frequently wins by cutting through their opponent's weapon? It annoys me so much because unless that's what they were going for specifically it's just a matter of equipment is it not? The opponent was actually so strong that they maintained their poise even beyond their weapon's durability, but every time the general summation from both themselves and the victor is that the victor is simply stronger.

Skallagrim also made a video about exactly this a while ago, and showed a way in which the spear or pole arm would be able to not take any damage from the sword at all. Also with this test as the shaft gets shorter Nathan is able to hold against the strikes better because of less leverage. Effectively making it more like hitting the shaft on a solid object.

many medieval spears had a thin metal strip and rivits going from spear head towards the mid, to protect from being "chopped off to easliy".. .especially halberds

One thing you inadvertently showed when the spear head came off, is that when you see pole axes, halberds, and hammers with straps going down the shaft, they're more likely bracing to prevent the head coming off when the *user* is swinging. Also, I'm not sure what Tasmanian Oak is like, but straight-grained ash poles are basically springs. I'd expect ash to deflect 1-2 inches at that length with little effort. I wonder how the Tasmanian oak compares.

Your edge alignment is impeccable!

One thing that may be slightly skewing the results here is that each time you're cutting off pieces of the shaft, you're getting closer and closer to where Nathan is holding it, thus it's more sturdy and you're able to dig deeper into it. I'm not sure how much this matters, but it does matter some, and therefore, deserves mention

You should get a Guan Dao (Chinese Crescent Glaive) and do some tests with it. For how awesome of a historical weapon it is, almost no one online has ever even tried one out, let alone done some cool tests with it :) Plus it just fits in so damn well with fantasy settings and again, super under represented for how powerful of a weapon it is in most media.

I love the fact that they actually dress for the part, even the assistant!

Very interesting! I wouldn’t have thought of this as plausible.

Yeah but if you had MY katana that was folded 10,000,000 times and is harder than diamond but not brittle (because the soft spine of course) you could cut through it NO PROBLEM AT ALL (or other swords). You just need to be careful not to accidently cut through some atoms and create an atomic bomb-strike.

When attempting to cut through a shaft braced on the tables, one major factor you did not mention was the issue of the wood binding on the sides of the blades as they cut through. After getting some distance through the wood, the wood would start pressing in on the sides the blade proportional to the amount of downward force the blade was exerting on the shaft. That is why both did not cut as far in on the braced shaft VS when the shaft was being held.

I have often suspected that you would be able to cut through the wooden shafts of weapons especially spears and long pole arms if you had a weapon that was specifically designed to cut through wood. I never would have thought they do could be done as easily with a sword as shown here. Thank you for enlightening us Shad.

This makes me want to see a live demonstration of a greatsword against a spear or pike.

I worked in a Hardwood Lumber store selling lumber to Cabinet Makers and such, the lumber we had was dried to between 7-10% moisture content. However when using lumber in construction purposes, you would normally be using Pine with a higher moisture content as it is both cheaper, and with the higher moisture content it is sturdier, just not as great looking and doesn't hold a stain as well. The "hardwood" and "softwood" are actually broad terms used in place of Deciduous vs Coniferous, where a Balsa is a Hardwood, but much softer than a Pine which is a Softwood.

Something i just thought about: I did notice more give when the spearhead was on. I know you kept it off for safety's sake but i feel like less damage would be done to the haft because the center of mass is further from the weilder's hands, so it would give more rendering less damage overall.

Awesome video. I can't tell you how many times I've heard this in fantasy books.

That's the theory about Greatswords and pikes, although I guess longer shaft and more hefty sword might actually cut it but you can always have langets (if funds allow)

I sometimes see wooden spears depicted with cloth wrapped around the shaft near the head. I had always just assumed that was done to prevent the handler from getting splinters, but as I was watching this video, it finally occurred to me the REAL reason why they would do that; it's to make the wooden shaft more difficult for enemy blades to cut through.

What about greatsword on a pike shaft? They've been called pike formation "breakers" or something for a reason. Wonder if that's it? A beefier blade with more mass and larger swing on a longer, overall heavier shaft(would cause it to sway less, and thus transfer more energy) but not necessarily much thicker, might give more validity to the term, perhaps?🤔

Still even if you slice off the metal end, if you're not armored, they still have a potentially very pointy stick that could still stab you, or they listen to Shad during his nun-chuck videos and take up the noble art of "The Big Stick", and that very noble art can still do damage, even through some types of armor.

Removing the spearhead for testing would massively effect the spear's total inertia especially towards the end you're hitting. Get a blunt spearhead for safety if you must but removing it outright interferes with the test as much as testing armor against a static board

I never even realized until now looking back and reflecting on HOW MANY BOOK SERIES are full of characters chopping the head of spears off

Honestly surprises me how effective the sword was able to cut through. I would love to see a similar test with a full pike against a zweihander done, as I always took breaking a pike with one as more just using the leverage to easily knock aside or even pin the pike on the ground, creating an opening. However, seeing this makes me wonder if there's some truth to it in a literal sense, or if a longer pole would have enough give to lessen the damage done, even by a larger sword.

Honestly, I wouldn't say it's the most viable. It doesn't particularly work when they're moving it (the spot to cut is still constantly moving around & all) but also, depending on the angle of the cut, you're just downgrading their metal spear to a wooden spear which still hurts to be poked at with. Granted it's not *as* effective but it'd still hurt.

This makes skalls video on great swords vs pikes alot more interesting, skal being so skeptical of great swords chopping pike heads and all

The short worked, I'm interested now

Something to keep in mind is being in formations such as the Greeks and the Romans where you don’t have room to just move the spear or pike out of the way. I can see the Romans pushing their shields into the spear tips and having guys go between and whacking at the spear shafts

This really shows just the base cutting power of a sword too! You would not want that going into your arm.

Who else took pride in knowing that the second they saw that sword they knew it was Boromir's sword?

Physics matters here shad. Without the spear head on you make it even less resistance to allow cutting at the area of strike. It also changes how the spearman is holding onto it which again affects the cut potential.

The stories promo'ing your videos are such a good idea haha

I was playing some Bayonetta 3, and I was almost on the last level, and I saw this video and I had to stop everything and watch it completely. That's how good your content is. Never stop doing this. I love to see this kind of stuff. It helps a lot to learn in case we ever go back in time. Hahahaha. Great content Shad. Hail the Fellowship! :D

Fun video! What comes to mind is that when you are doing these long vertical power swings, you are exposing your torso for a big poke on two occasions. Cool demonstration though. You do acknowledge that you have a compliant opponent though.

Wonderful video. I had no idea it could be done that easy with optimal settings. Now we know that the spear guard is really needed. No doubt no real spearman would hold it steady for the oponent, but one can see in a bigger battle it is needed.

Would the pike holder not give and not hold firm so it wasn't as hard a hit? Also the spikes been chopped off but its still a big spiky stick 😊

Shad: "HA! I Cut Off Your Spearhead! Now Whatcha Gonna Do?" Spearman: *BONK*

Add a formation into equation, and with enough attempts there are regularly going to be times when spears get broken and cut through. Get some spearmen to carelessly get their spears stuck for just a moment in your shields, land a few lucky hits. That's quite enough to possibly turn a stalemate fight, into your formation making and breaking a weak point in the enemy line.

Shadiversity

Your short about this video is hilarious. Subbed

That Oakeshott type 14 is gorgeous. I want one of those blades really badly haha. Boromir's sword has always been my favorite.

Nathan nodding as Shad is explaining is the funniest thing to me.

Just so you know... got interested in this video after seeing your shorts one

You know, suddenly the theory of greatswords cutting through pike shafts sounds a lot more plausible. Due to the extra weight and blade length you would certainly get some stronger cuts, but then again pike shafts wer extrodinarily sturdy. I don't think it would be possible in one try, but it certainly sounds more possible to pull off than I thought it was.

Here is how you do it: slam down your sword on the spear than you step on it so the handle breaks or the opponent drops it or it stays and you have free time to slice the shit out of the handle

I’ve seen the whole cut the end of a spear off in movies more times than I can count and of course it’s always a one shot thing since they’re either scored or made ultra light wood. But this is nuts.

I'm no weapon expert but I basically chop wood on a daily basis, I know that an axe is different from a sword, but about considering that the staff's diameter is of about 3/4 centimeters, 1/2 good hits on the same surface (and if it was on the ground) would break it easily, but in a spar (especially with an axe) you won't be possibly able to hit the preferred spot 2 times in a row, won't have a surface against which you could press the staff, if its head is stuck into the ground (or a shield possibly) hitting the Spear shaft would not even be that optimal as instead attacking the one who's now unarmed, you already deflected his weapon and can go straight for him, hitting the Spear would not be an advantage, you could try and hit his hands even to be more effective.

This feels like a trope that I haven't really seen in movies but seems to be a common trope. I can see it being a viable strategy to in a duel to disarm/take away an opponent's main weapon by compromising the shaft with a solid strike and then breaking it later.

It's nice shad got an assistant to help him work with his word here

came in from the short, it's working shad!

Really love the way you use shorts to act like sneak peaks to new videos Also loved the video shad

i got a notification 😱 that short you mentioned was awesome aswell 🤣 love your content! stay awesome

After the first strike, the structural weakness now near the spearhead would cause it to break if struck against the surface, or parried to where the thrust is redirected into the ground. Once it's in the ground, you could always follow up with a stomp to ensure breakage.

Always love how passionate you are as it truly shows through in your work

It's been well over a decade since I've done this. You've inspired me to do it again with my HEMA students.

I love your videos Shad. I did a bit of HEMA in my day so here is my experience: To get a solid strike at a spear in battle is really hard. Spearmen never leave the spear just pointed at you, rather they constantly move it in circles, up down, in and out, looking for an opening while holding it super lightly and upon sensing slightest contact or intent to strike the spear, the spearmen move the spear away in circular motion or pull it back real quickly. Basically spearman do everything to avoid the spear bing struck for that is a way for opponents to create an opening in their defence and rush them. The only time you could get a solid strike is when it is stabbed as that is when the grip is tightened and you can predict where the spear is going to go. Keep in mind that the spear can almost be as fast as a rapier, so realistically trying to cut the spear in the heat of combat is as realistic as trying to bend a rapier by hitting it with a beefier sword. It is hard to get an in the position to be able to do a solid enough swing without getting skewered first. Also, there is never just one spear coming at you. You always have to worry about 3 or 4 , for they are FAST and can switch between oponents a lot fastwer that you wielding a sword, and spearmen tend to work on one target together simultaneously: i.e., one tries to push you shield the other get in through the opening while you are distracted. Mind you, it does happened that spears break or get cut off, but that is mostly luck rather that a viable tactic. The only realistic way one could chop a spear in combat is if you were decked out in full plate amour and basically near invulnerable to spear attacks, then you could grab the spear with your off hand and strike it with a sword in the other, or something like that.

A few strategies come to mind (assuming disarmament/destruction is the goal - IE capturing, not killing): Downward chopping and pinning the spear could allow stomping on the weak point to break it. Pinning the spearhead on the ground could brace it enough to allow a full cut. It may be possible to brace the spear against a shield when catching a missed thrust, then cut (though that would be one handed). Falchion or falcata might be best swords.

It's nice to see neat tactics given validity.

a lots of your results seemed quite logical and common knowledge

My boar spear shaft is slightly thicker that your quarter staff and 7 ft. In length and i wouldn't be holding still if you were attempting to hack on me with an arming sword and you did point this out before you started this testing, so very good video IMHO

Thanks for the video. I've been curious about this for a while.

LOL. I've always loved that nonsensical idea. Polearm shafts were generally made of ash, an fairly hard hardwood that's also fairly light...because the humans alive when these weapons were commonly used weren't idiots. I'm not certain what species of wood you were using, though it looks like red oak, which is softer than ash. I think it's also worth noting that many polearms had metal sheathing or langets to prevent this kind of damage to the polearm's shaft.

Interesting results indeed. Love the shorter format!

You should do a video on flaming swords! Like Flame Tongues in D&D or Hiccup’s sword from How to Train Your Dragon

from someone outside of the medieval weapons fandom, from my knowledge of "the fine arts of hitting things with sticks very fast", where the contact point is would also be quite important, for example, striking with the base of the sword would result in less speed and less effectiveness and striking near the tip would probably be optimal, another thing is that the spearhead would also be quite heavy so it would act as a "bracing" for the strike, and following up that idea, it would be better to strike farther from the speartip as it could make the hit more solid.

I noticed you are using that "Odd Broadsword" with the near perfect balance. This makes me consider ordering one...

surprising results! thank you for the video Shad, well-done!

It seems that it is inertia of the thicker shaft that makes it easier to chop off - while the lighter shaft is swung away easily, the heavier one stays in place a little bit longer and thus makes the cut deeper

That moment wear the spear shaft cuts your sword

Funny thing is that even chopped a spear remain a spear...to some extend, and still a weapon. Very nice video as always :)

I would like to remind everyone that this is a fairly strong man standing in place and putting all his ass behind each strike.

Didnt get notified, the video didnt even show in my subscription feed. Onlynreason im here is the youtube short

A proper defensive/disarm move against a spear is to first knock it aside and down with the sword, then, if the spear tip hits the ground, jump to put a foot against the shaft behind the tip before the spearman can recover, and then immediately strike down on the shaft. There is another thing, though, in that the spearman still has a long enough shaft for it to be an effective blunt weapon that can disarm and knock down.

I love practical tests. You just never know! If a polearm of any kind got locked up in shields or just grabbed, a swordsman might well take a couple quick shots at it. It might even act like the braced test, and pop in one good strike. Shadiversity has pretty good form, but imagine a full landsknecht pumped up on adrenaline with something like a gross messer or a halberd... It could work!

Shad one mistake you made with the clamped down test with the machete is that while it appeared to be clamped on both ends because the amount on one side was so little you were effectively hitting a very stout piece of wood clamped on only one end.

Not to mention that most soldiers at the time were simple pikemen where yes cutting one pike or spear would be good in a one on one situation, however one vs five or one vs ten, is a completely different story, which is why you see large block formations of spear or pikemen simply because it was both more efficient as well as safer to keep the enemy at a distance and if anyone was so inclined to get too close, either your friend or the person next to you might be able to get them, or the person behind them,

Always learning! I love this channel

Awesome demonstration. I appreciate the field work, Shad!

that went far better than imagined

9:32 Shad shot a sword beam like Link!

Mass in the blade is less important than speed of the blade. As i have pointed out on quite a number of your videos, the formula to calculate kinetic energy is 1/2*Mass*Velocity^2 (E(kin)=m/2*v^2). Which means that doubling the mass will double the kinetic energy, while doubling velocity will quadruple the kinetic energy. So its much more likely that the sword worked better against the braced shaft because a.) the velocity of the strike is higher due to the use of both hands and b.) i think the edge of the sword is finer, as machetes tend to have rather broad edges.