Weird Weapons from History Flail 

I had the dubious pleasure of fighting against some Hussite reenactors armed with these while they were on top of an actual war wagon. Thankfully, they had foam flail heads without any spikes. One thing that didn't happen was the swings damaging our arms - once that wraparound happened, something else, usually your head, was in the way and got smacked first. But that's not the big problem, oh no. The big one is extremely sneaky and dangerous. You see, if your enemy is on war wagon, or just a higher ground, you raise your shield up to cover your head, obviously. And it is at this point that you find out that the flail, upon hitting a shield raised like that, is perfectly capable of wrapping around your shield and head, and hitting you in the back of the skull. Now, we got smacked with foam heads and had mail coifs there, so we were fine, if irate, but I've seen a solid hit from a foam head causing a grown man to sit down. WHat this thing would do to the back of your head with spikes and full weight... What we learned that day was that you have to block the flail head, not the flail shaft - putting that into practice was, however, rather tricky. The grappling did happen, but armor was kind of necessary for that, because getting jabbed in the bare ribs with a stick still isn't pleasant, a gambeson allows you to ignore it. A much better solution was to rush the flailman, if he was out alone, while covering the important bits of you with a shield. Unfortunately for us, those were experienced flailmen, and, well... they do move in herds.

fascinating stuff, particularly interesting to see how the fighters adapted quickly in sparring techniques.

I'd bet that the people that, historically, chose the flail were those that had spent thousands of hours flailing grain. Peasants or poor nobility that, of necessity, had more practice with the flail than with a halberd or mace.

Hi, this weapon was originally a tool for threshing grain, where you can produce effective impacts with a specific circular motion. Now imagine nailing iron nails to the top, climbing to an elevated spot such as a Hussite wagon, and starting beating the heads of enemies like grain.

Excellent idea and excellently executed. Best part is seeing people actual spar with them so we can get a real idea about their use in combat. So much medieval weapon talk is just that, talk & theory. Really looking forward to the continuation of this series.

Thanks for having me Tod! For anyone interested the flails are ash dowels with two thick eye bolts and a D shackle connecting them to a rattan head covered in pipe insulation I shrank with a heat gun and cable tied. They're probably too large and the head too light in the name of sparring safely, but you know about it when they hit you.

Tod tries every possible way to ask Matt to hook the shield for the first 10 minutes. XD

Flails become much more interesting weapons when you see how they're actually used rather then thinking they're just floppy maces. Quite fascinating

More like this please. The testing teams make a really positive contribution. What would be interesting is seeing what offensive and defensive moves and blows the lads adapt to after a few months practice. Nice one Tod keep them coming.

I love that so many of you guys in "the community" are doing collaborations. You're all pretty crazy on your own, but chaos squared is glorious to watch.

These things are really peasant weapons, adapted from grain flails (just drive a few spikes through and now you have a weapon). One thing to consider is that some peasants would have many hours of practice on the granary floor using these. Not as weapons, but you get a muscle memory of where the end is in relation to your hands.

The flail is a farmer's tool. So when the farmers turned soldiers, they knew how to use them very well.

As someone who's always been in the "flails are kinda a novelty and mostly look scary" camp, this was extremely interesting.

Man the ambiance of swords clashing in the background is so satisfying. Edit: Also definitely interested in more weapon tests and collabs between you two!

I like the idea of the blacksmith teaming up with the warrior to work on the weapons. return to basics. looking forward to the series of you two working together on a bunch of different & maybe unusual weapons

A lot of people dismiss flail weapons simply because they're difficult to learn and counterintuitive in some cases, so they miss all of the potential. Good job for giving the flail a fair shout.

yeah this is hype edit: Skallagrim did an excellent video on flails and mentioned how horseback and the lack of shock is probably where the flail shines the most

Few videos bring a genuine smile to my face, but the sight of a bunch of guys just having fun swinging around staves with flail ends wildly, well, flailing... it made my day just that bit better.

Incredibly cool, and informative. I especially appreciated the feedback from our demonstrators. Getting to see not just how a single person tests one of these items, but how an opponent reacts really gives a special insight into these unique tools of battle. Sorry to hear about the bumped knuckles, but as my old man would say in the workshop and around cars: "It doesn't count if you don't bleed on it!" Good on you all, and thank you for your contributions to history, education and fun.

"No 'fence against a flail" was an axiom written into some medieval treatises on combat.

Tod, you and Mat need to revisit the flail by testing against armor, Start some padding to simulate a gambeson and maybe some clay underneath to get an idea of the kind of kinetic force it imparts. Then add a piece of mail on top, like you do with your arrow tests, then a piece of curved steel/iron to simulate plate armor. It'd be interesting to see how that flail works against the different armor types and the kind of damage that it can do.

This was an amazing video! The sparring and the shield test were both amazing, thank you for this!

That second guy with the flail really knew what he was doing. Really interesting stuff

Great content! The thrill of having watch others perform with an unfamiliar weapon and having heard their insights are very exciting!

Tod, I think you've actually stumbled into a really brilliant video format here. The commentary over the sparring was very interesting and engaging. Something to think about should this series continue!

There's nothing like Matt and Tod talking about weapons with people in the background, beating the snot out of each other. :-)

I love the varied inputs from the different users you guys tested, please keep that as part of the format whenever possible.

Please make more videos like this. Your videos are always great, but this one was just a little extra fun to watch. Discussion of a historical weapon + showcasing a replica + testing + sparring + commentary = an excellent video. Well done.

Always excited to see Matt and Tod together. Fascinating stuff, as always. Cheers!

YES! Another collaboration video!

It's nice to see the two of you together

It always surprises me how many of these weird weapons having a farming back ground such as some pole arms like the bill hook and military forks adapted from pitch forks. Something that can be manufactured by the local blacksmith. Fascinating. Well done guys.

Are you kidding me!? You put flails and Matt in one video! How am I suppose to not like this!?

Shoutout to the testing team. It was really interesting to hear them talk about the flail. As someone not practicing HEMA it can be hard to see whats going on.

I would love to see more of these series with you two. Again, thank you again for the subtitles, your channel is the only one about medieval weapons with subs in all the videos and that is wonderful for people like me.

As I understood it the Hussites used flails in their war wagons. The HRE knights kept (pointlessly) charging them, and the men could strike at them from above or same height. If you're standing on a raised platform this weapon seems better than say, a long sword, spear, or even poleaxe. I'd doubt they'd be as effective used in infantry formations despite the interesting results of this duel. Very interesting video and thanks Tod.

One advantage of living in a small country; ease of collaboration.

Best use was probably on Hussite's wagon, where pessants were standing on wall made of reinforced wagons. They worked as a small units with spears, slings, crossbows and first guns. With that cheap and mobile defense, few pessants could defeat hundreds of fully armoured knights on horses. Czech it = Hussite's war / Jan Žižka / Battle of Sudoměř They used this bad boy a lot. ...and did with it A LOT of succes. -revolution in art of war with Jan Žižka's victories (one of few NEVER defeated leaders in the history +(he had one eye at the begining and none at the end ...still in lead))

Great video!!! I hope you continue the cooperation with Matt. I am looking forward to other videos.

Great idea! It was lovely to hear also the feedback from the fighters, and I'm very glad they tried to fight with the flail, against the flail and flail vs flail - a lot of valuable input :) I'm looking forward to some further collaborations like this one and I hope not only Matt but also some test-fighters will be involved again :)

"I'm a big guy".. Certainly not joking, bloody hell!

Aw man, this video was especially great! There was such an excellent combination of knowledge from both sides and their observations and hypotheses of how the weapon is used/counters

Weird Weapons Series? Count me in! We Germans LOVE weird Weapons Also ....... it allows me to maybe find something that can be redone for LARP weapons and used as an exotic weapon And may i add ..... the sparing with the Flail was AWESOME ... it's shocking to see how much this 'flailing' end can confuse and distract someone

I loved this!! It was so well done, your expertises complete eachother, then the sparring really shows so many aspects you cannot think about, plus the audio was really good, even if you were at the open. Pls pls pls make it a serie!!

That sky is *peak* British summer

LOVED this! Super interesting to see the actual physics of it in action. Imagining it is one thing, facing it, seem to be something else else. I'm not sure that I would call it the most effective weapon in medieval history, but definitely one of the scariest.

Great video! Can't wait to see more in this format. Very interesting and satisfying to see the thing put through its paces and get commentary from the users.

Great video! Really like the guys getting involved and showing how they learn what the weapon does. Can't wait to see more.

This is going to be a great series.

I think the second fencer really had the right feel for the weapon, feeling and using the point of rotation at the pivot to initiate blows, like a moulinet with extended arm, the arm being the shaft and sword being the flail head.

The best parts about Matt and other practitioners being included in Tod's videos is how the designer/engineer and end-user interactions show us way more.

Fantastic film! I loved the insights Matt could provide, and then see them tested / proved by the fighters. I also loved that you gave the fighters the chance to give an account of their experience as well! I would love to see this turn into a series! Very insightful, really interesting stuff

It's like flails exploit your trained reaction, turning your go-to defenses into disadvantages. I also have to wonder if they weren't taken up by people who were hopeless with swords.

Always love it when Tod and Matt collaborate. Also that fight demo was excellent. Looking forward to the whole weird weapon series!

The guy in red is a genuine giant

I'm TOTALLY looking forward to this series!

Loved this! So cool to see Matt test out such an iconic, though more widely unknown, weapon. Can't wait to see what you make for him to try out next!

"And one time, at Fight Camp..." --European Pie

Really liking this video. Great collaboration, great to watch the experimental sparring, and great to hear everyone's thoughts at the end. More, please.

Superb stuff, more of these collaborations please!

Boy, am I gonna enjoy this series of vids. A swivel rather than 2 interlocked rings could add a new dimension to how this evil bit of kit could be used, although that may not be historically accurate.

I’d just like to commend everyone for saying “shaft”multiple times without a single snigger.

I haven’t even finished the video yet but I already know I NEEEED you to make more of these.

Love watching the two of you have fun.

How prevalent was flail use? I can see it coming about as the weaponizing of a simple farm implement; cheaper to stick a few nails through your farm flail than pay for a sword. Did people take them in to battle, originally, simply because that was all they had and it became a specialist weapon used by small numbers working in cadres, or was it more widespread?

Great video! The sparring part added a much needed "real world" demonstration.

Great info and demonstration. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Amazing video. Definitely looking forward to more of the collabs. Must have been truly terrifying to face such weapons on the battlefield.

I want to see ROCK IN A SOCK next!!! Actually I would love to see shield with face to be more serious.

I was very skeptical at first, but the actual sparring opened my eyes! Very interesting weapon!

Fantastic video. Kudos to the fighters! More of them they are awesome

Now that was interesting. Especially seeing how they adapted to it. And what you could do with the things. More, please!

Quite the informative and “impactful” video, it must be said. And Captain Context’s impressive “scholar’s cradle” near the end of the video will no doubt meet Lindybeige’s approval. :)

This was so great! Hoping to see more of this series!!!

Loved this video, it opened my eyes as to how some of these weapons are used. Thank you

Loved seeing your creations in actual simulated combat, looking forward to the weird weapons series

ive been training with one of these since i have to come up with a fighting style for a character that uses a flail like this and ive found that just keeping the thing out in front was the best choice since pulling back to charge just left you to open and was slow and instead just go for flick shots to snipe arms and legs maybe a head the end of the shaft still give similar point control and the flail bit kinda offers a little bit of shield protection too which is a great way to fight more defensively but if you want to go hard at them you gotta keep it moving

This video while informative, was very fun to watch. Great work Tod and the boys. I can't wait to see further instalments.

More like this please! My wife is a history teacher and having the knowledge of this detailed type of information goes great lengths in opening the eyes of teenagers to the brutal realities of medieval battle. Bravo!

Really interesting video. To see these weapons being experimented with while Matt and Tod are commenting. Awesome concept. More of this please 😉

Love the idea of this! Especially if you can get people to try and fight with the weapons like this time, that added so much more to the understanding of what made this things dangerous.

Looooved this! It was especially great to see the guys adjust and learn as they went.

This was great, Todd ! Can't wait to see the future episodes in this series with Matt !

Would've also been interesting to have someone pickup that shield and maybe see how and if blocking with sword and shield works any better than having to make that split-second decision between blocking either the shaft or the head

This is one hell of an interesting vid.. the sparring really highlight what a flexible weapon it is and how little we really know of it-

This was fantastic .. would love to see more cheers Tod and all the HEMA guys

Absolutely fascinating! I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I'd love to see a series of "weird weapons" built by Tod and tested by Matt

Truly fascinating stuff guys! It's great seeing the actual mechanics of the flail in sparring matches. I had completely underestimated its potential for blowing past guards. I can't wait to see what's next in the series! Have you considered creating your own strange weapons and testing those out as well?

I'm late to the party, but I requested that exact collab between you two on several videos and am VERY happy to hear it may be happening. Keep up the great work, I am thankful for you.

i loved when he asked ''should we change the fighters?'' and the swordsman immediately says ''yeah'' as he massages his bruised head

It really shows this would be a great weapon for fighting someone with a shield and turning their arm to hamburger.

"The sexual end of it" Oi oi! For once it's not Matt getting cheeky.

Very interesting and entertaining video format! MORE PLEASE

This is my favorite video that either of you have done, and I think bringing in actual fighters had a lot to do with that.

Flail over the shield into a mailed arm. How well do the spikes pierce mail?

Cool stuff. If the trajectory starts off towards the head of the opponent, it's pretty hard to avoid exactly that from happening.

Wow! What a fantastic film showing these in action. Thanks for sharing

More of this PLEASE!!! lol. very cool to see how a flail might have been used.

It certainly appeared as though the flail swings were stripping the shield in a direction away from the wielder..