Beautiful dagger! Everything I've seen from Tod is absolutely gorgeous and it's really awesome to see him offer more affordable options with the same attention to detail and master craftsmanship!
*You can get the Rondel Dagger in Kingdom Come: Deliverance.* In-game it's called the "Ornamented Dagger" for some reason. You find it stashed under a floor tile in the Dormitory on the 2nd floor of the Monastery in Sasau. It looks really cool during stealth kills.
That's a fantastic product for only 88 GBP (if that screenshot is still accurate). I know some people that would charge twice that for the scabbard alone.
I may order one myself, been wanting to add a rondel dagger ti my kit. I'm happy to hear he's featuring some more affordable options, I've also wanted to buy from Tod's stuff for awhile and support his craft.
See, I'm glad you addressed the practice(or lack thereof) of civilian sword wearing prior to 1500. I've read so many people stating that swords were worn by the knightly class at all times. Even the Wiktenauer website, which I love very much, states in their entry for the arming sword... "The arming sword was worn by a knight even when not in armor, and he would be considered 'undressed' for public if he were without it." But in all the writings and, especially the illustrations I've seen, I've encountered hardly any examples of nobles in civilian dress wearing anything other than a dagger. So, it's hard for me to know what to believe sometimes! 😃
Knights carry a sword and dagger. When out of armor knights typically carried just a sword as a status symbol and ditch the dagger, as the dagger is only better than a sword when stabbing weak points in armor. (Something only useful in war)
Here is a knight's common aresenal during the 15th century: Polearm (typically Spear or poleaxe) Sword Dagger The knight will usually have a servant that carries his lance or his polearm, so he can switch between a lance on horseback or a spear/poleaxe on foot. In some instances knights even prefered to continue using his lance once he dismounts on foot! There were also demi-lances which were a lance spear hybrid that can be used for both purposes...
6:50 THAAAANK YOU, Matt. I don't know how many times I have to reiterate to some uninformed/opinionated (some of whom are friends of mine)* people who watch your videos, that while not impervious, and progressively less capable of withstanding assault (by itself) from later and later period weapons, mail STILL does protect you from a lot of stuff. Even stabs. EDIT*, for clarity. 99.999% all discussions taken from this channel are amazing.
If you're in the U.S., some of Tod's work can be found at Cult of Athena and cheaper than you can get it shipped from Britain. I have 3 of Tod's daggers from there and one more on the way.
Beautiful weapon Matt. Thanks for showing us. I should have bought some stuff when i was in Spain studying law last year. Here in Brazil we are crap out of good stuff like that.
I would have thought that a relatively unarmoured person going up against a fully armoured knight was basically suicide. While you're forced to target the small gaps in his armour he can wound you anywhere on your body
So, you left out one of the primary purposes of the rondel pommel: when fighting in armor, often while grappling wherein a proper strike is more difficult, the point often ends up placed in a gap against mail and gambeson behind it and the pommel is rounded to better facilitate pounding on it with your other hand to drive the point through the layers of armor... as you said earlier "like a chisel". So weird that this was left out, especially since you got so close.
try CIVIL WAR CAVALRY AND ARTILLERY SABERS by john h. thillman, book type tech info with photos by maker/retailer. haven't seen a website like this one on U.S. stuff. this post refers to your one below on info.
I wonder: with the reverse grip, if the weapon is straight like yours, is there any biomechanical difference between stabbing something with the edge facing outside and inside?
When looking at rondel daggers I find that their grip lengths are usually charitable and your hand isn't kind of squeezed like on a tulwar's hilt. Baselard daggers seem to have a relatively tight grip compared to them. Any ideas as to why this is?
Are you going to review other daggers from Tod's Tod Cutler site? they are a very interesting option if you want to buy something "medieval-weaponish" but don't have much money
Hey matt, do you know where I can find information about American military sabres? I would like to find some antiques and I'm likely to only find that kind here in America.
Ian Miller I don’t know where you live but in Gettysburg there is a antique store almost entirely of American swords and guns. Many smallsword type blades, amazing place to handle a multitude of antique weapons.
And now the daggers are only available per backorder with an 8-10 waiting time. :( I wanted to get one for my girlfriend's birthday. Hopefully it will arrive on time.
Matt, could you please do a video relative to the footwork involved in HEMA? I've watch countless of hours of footage from HEMA instructors on here, your self, Metatron, Skall Shadiversity, London Longsword etc... But no 1 ever mentions what the feet do. Does footwork play a big part in HEMA training??
7:15 I heard some people saying that the disk also allows the person to slap the back (with the unarmed hand) when stabbing for additional force. Is it true?
It's a giant thumbtack, for sticking into armored persons. I imagine it's there for bashing on, and for putting both hands on it with all your weight behind it. Especially for a downed opponent.
That disc is easy to press with anything, knee, forearm, chest etc. Huge forces may be necessary, not just hand muscles, and the other hand can be occupied in other function. Of course this raises a question ; Had that disc really so many disadvantages, that it wasn't much used after middle ages?
Twirlip Of The Mists I love the thumbtack bit. Never thought of it that way but that totally makes sense and now I can't seem to stop thinking of it. lol
It's probably not the disadvantages, just that you didn't need to apply such force after full armor went out of style. So as with any weapon made for real use features that aren't needed will eventually be left out to save on materials and work.
Michael Anderson 1 second ago Greetings, I luv Scholagladiatoria. You do an outstanding job of explaining things. Not trying to be an "Expert", however I would like to point out a few things. It is not the Martial Art or Mixed Martial Arts, rather, what the Practioner does with the Training. At the end of the fight, are you : Vertical or Horizontal? Traditional and also in my opinion the best all around Martial Art(s) are : Kali / Silat. Go spend a week Training with Dan Inosanto who has Authored Co-Authored a few books. The U.S. Army used Kalistas / Escrimador's as : Guides and Guerilla Warriors. Those are the Fighters who actual learned and put into Practical Use in a Kill or be Killed arena called WAR. Kali / Silat covers all the bases. There are Punches, Kicks, Submissions, etc Many of the Arts now have lost the true meaning and values, and most are for Sport. Everything has become : Sport because the blasted sissies/criminals get hurt and go cry to a Lawyer. grgggrgrgr Ever heard about getting the Black Belt in Karate and having to get Registered with the Local Police Station. hhmm If the sissies/criminals didn't go out attacking people. Especially those trained in Self Defense. They wouldn't have gotten hurt. Since you mentioned Wing Chun, it was a Style developed for Women or weaker People to handle Multiple or stronger Opponent(s). Grand Master Ip Man taught many students, the most infamous was Bruce Lee. The context that Wing Chun is losing in is : Sport. Actually step into the cage with a true Master Level Wing Chun Practioner, and say : No Holds Barred. I think that Wing Chun would manage much better. There are people who say. Ip Man was a Grand Master and his 1st Generation Students were excellent Fighters. People who learned from Ip Man's Students were very Technically Competent( better Teacher instead of Fighters). The next Generations are just riding the coattails of the previous Generations. hhmm Have a great day and keep up the good work with putting out very informative Videos. Thanx :) P.S. I originally put this as a comment on a previous Video from 2015. Also, don't waste time with the negative comments. You do a good job, and if people can't comprehend what you are putting out. They should just keep the negative comments to themselves.
How well of a edge can that type of blade get . I know paulus kal shows cutting to the hand in his treaties, would that type of blade be able to do enough damage to possibly injury or incapacitate the attacker hand.
The thick blade would not make for a great slicer but as long as it is sharp - human flesh and skin is soft and easy to cut. It would certainly do some serious damage.
Beautiful piece. But then I made the mistake of looking at his site - oh, my that Langseax of his is gorgeous. L109 sharpened & shipped to the states isn't that bad really presuming the quality you say his stuff has. My wallet is most unhappy with you Mr Matt Easton! :D
Is a double layer leather sheath 100% double? On which side is the fold, or are they completely seperate pieces? Do they have any kind of wooden piece inside?
Thanks for the video, this rondel dagger is really tempting to buy, but the almost thirty dollar shipping charge to the US is a downer. I wonder if Tod could could send a big bundle of his wares to a North American based store like Kult of Athena to sell?
I have asked this before and I will do so again. Isn't it more difficult to stab with such a long blade? Because you have to bring your arm back so much. Isn't it easier to generate more force with a shorter blade? With a long blade like this it seems more like pushing the point into the opponent instead of stabbing him/her.
No expert, but if you're grappling an armoured opponent he may be holding your blade to try to avoid penetration & there may be an inch or two space between where the gap in the armour is, padding to get through, before you're actually into the poor unfortunates' fleash. Hence you need some length to achieve a deep enough cut to make him bleed out. As a fighting dagger some length is usefull even with unarmoured foes.
And with a blade length of > 30cm it should be legal in Switzerland. Just in case somebody asks. Since the blade is not actually symmetrical it should be no problem anway, though.
It's a beautiful little piece of work, it's just too bad it's only really good for spindling people with mostly? I mean, it's got a blade, you can cut with it, I assume, but that's not really what it's best at. Still though, it's a gorgeous poker.
Would rondel daggers, Scottish dirks and irish scians, of this blade type originate from the bollock dagger, and could they have been spread in the viking age through Norse influence .
I'm not certain, but from what I've gathered the rondel dagger was used when plate armor became widespread, so it's likely that they came into fashion after the Viking Age.
Joseph Doyle I think that Scottish Dirks where mostly repurporsed sword tips whilst Rondels seem more built to shape and what really resemble them today are oyster knifes.
Yeah I'd heard that one about Scottish Dirks being repurposed from sword tips, but only swords which have a flaw or failure during manufacture will require repurposing. Thats my only issue with that, like repurposed dagger blades would only take up a portion of what you could call the dagger market at the time, and a larger number of blades would of been purpose built rather then repurposed.
Why are all the rondel daggers you show so oversized? All the museum pcs I've seen were about 30 cm long. This looks over 40. Could it be due to the English specifics? (I have experiences mostly from Germany, Austria and Czech republic) Or is it due to the reneacment?
Vojtěch Nosek I usually see a lot of blades (rusted) in museums and usually assume that the blade was bigger and the handle added a few extra centimetres to what survived the past centurys)
Yet I've seen ones, that didn't rusted at all, still in the 30-35 cm range. The issue here is, if you actually try to use a dagger in combat (safe one, of course) if the blade is significantly longer than you forearm, it gets difficult to use it...
Vojtěch Nosek I have forearms barely that long and no intention of trying but suspect that an item, later replaced with a sword will profit of extra length.
Imagine how weird and distressing it ha to feel to try to get one of these into someone's armor gaps o through their clothes to kill them. At the time you're grappling with them and they're fighting for their life and you press against their gamberson and it slowly goes through, and they obviously react to the blade going in them, screaming and cursing. That's the kind of thing that leaves a memory that assaults you with torment at random moments while you're doing whatever, for the rest of your life.
Want! , I'll have the perfect reach to poke and retrieve apple's from the bowl on the table, in a knightly fashion, to boot, anything with four knobs on it can't fail.
I suppose the pommel rondel doubles as a 'Bitch silencer' ... a gentle whack or two usually settles em down nicely (totally kidding BTW). Think of it as a 15th century analog of a 'hush puppy' silencer on a pistol. 😉
Oh please, by "without politics", what you really mean is without politics you don't like. Man, it's so hard to try and put myself into the mindset of someone who takes their own political supremacy for granted to the point that they actually see themselves and their values as apolitical.
