I would think an attacker trying to grab the thorn side of that stick to take it away from you, would be very discouraged when the defender pulled the stick straight away and the thorns ripped up the attacker's hand. Let's hope nobody needs to find out.
It seems to me that those thorns are almost certainly bound to snag on your opponent's clothes if you're attempting to use the stick in a martial context, which might result in some slight embarrassment for them at the cost of losing the fight altogether. Since as far as I am aware Irish folk, faction fighters included, were not inclined towards going barechested that would leave only the face and hands as safe striking targets. Were that the case that's another nail in the coffin for the idea of thorned shillelaghs as weapons.
Thanks for the video. I agree that the thorns would not be that practical. If someone were wearing a thick, sturdy, leather jacket, he could probably just take a hit to the side and then squeeze down on the stick with his arm. Being hit that way would hurt, but the damage wouldn't be very much. At that point, the shillelagh would be caught against the opponent's body and the person wielding the shillelagh would be disarmed. I could see the thorns being good on a walking stick if one needed to discourage a dog. The thorns would cause pain to the dog and could result in minor cuts. The dog might decide in the future not to mess with someone who was carrying one of these as a walking stick.
Great video. I noticed your Japanese sword display, I just found out that traditionally the smaller sword would be arranged above the larger one, a bit counter intuitive, to me at least. Just thought I would share that tid bit of trivia, (not saying your doing it wrong, maybe your swords are approximately the same size, tough to tell from the camera angle) Cheers, I enjoy your channel!
Yes, it just did not fit that way on the desk! It makes sense when you consider that the wakizashi is the last blade to leave your belt and the first to go back.