Hank Reinhardt's Book of Knives: A Practical and Illustrated Guide to Knife Fighting Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Hank Reinhardt
fire. Those were dire consequences all right, but even a slashing sword wouldn’t have helped and there was no point to further experiments with the design of the saber.
There was another fact that played an important role in the argument, however. The British always used steel scabbards for their swords. The slashing swords rarely had a sharp edge. Consequently, the damage inflicted was never as severe as it could have been. Steel scabbards are just not conducive to helping a sword maintain any sort of edge.
The British, however, encountered sharp slashing weapons on occasion and the damage was awesome. This was particularly true in India, where the results were far more lopped-off arms and legs than the British were prepared for.
Granted, there is a big difference between a cavalry saber and a three- or four-inch knife, but the lesson here is that all edges work better when they are sharp.
Medically speaking, a puncture wound is always considered more dangerous than a cut or open wound. The reason is that in a puncture, the damage cannot be examined easily, while with a cut or open wound the damage is easily visible. But a doctor isn’t interested in inflicting damage. He wants to cure it. There’s a big difference.
There’s an old adage attributed to the Romans, who relied mainly on the thrust: “Two inches of steel in the right place will kill any man.” It’s pretty much true, but it does have a built-in fallacy: “. . . in the right place.” Stabs in the throat, eye, heart, solar plexus, and a few other such places are frequently fatal and very quickly so. But the human body is large and these spots are small. What happens when you miss?
Many years ago, I was at a local bar with a close friend. I was paying the tab and my friend went on outside. I heard a lot of yelling and cursing and ran out to see what was happening. My friend was getting up off the ground and he still had a knife sticking in his stomach. Two brothers with whom he had been feuding had jumped him and stabbed him three times in the stomach. I got him to the hospital, and the doctors sewed him up. When the cops came, we told them we didn’t know who the guys were and then left. Don had six stitches, two in each wound. The cops kept the knife, one of the Italian stilettos, but we didn’t want it anyway. It seems the blade was dull and when it entered, it had merely pushed aside the entrails and whatever other organs it encountered. All my friend had was three small punctures of the skin and muscle. No big deal.
During the reign of Henri IV of France, a well-recorded duel occurred between the Sire La Garde and Sire Bazanez. As was the custom, the two principals met accompanied by their seconds. After the usual formalities, the four went at it, the principals engaging one another and the seconds doing the same. La Garde seems to have been the superior swordsman, as he soon landed a thrust on the forehead of Bazanez. The blade failed to penetrate the skull and the fight continued. La Garde then landed a thrust through the body and shortly thereafter, another. There was a momentary break and, when the action resumed, again La Garde sent the point of his sword through Bazanez’s body.
At this point, Bazanez threw away his own sword and drew his dagger. “Look to it as you are a dead man!” he shouted and, dodging yet another thrust, leapt on his enemy. He stabbed him fourteen times in the neck and body. La Garde, while dying, managed to bite off half of Bazanez’s chin.
Meanwhile, the seconds were finishing off their play. Mirabel, the brother of La Garde, landed a thrust through the body of Fermontez, the cousin of Bazanez. Fermontez managed to close with Mirabel, but was held and stabbed again, and so died. Mirabel offered to continue the fight with Bazanez, who declined on the grounds that he really needed to see a doctor, and rides away.
It would seem that not once did a stab land in the right place.
What all of this boils down to
There was another fact that played an important role in the argument, however. The British always used steel scabbards for their swords. The slashing swords rarely had a sharp edge. Consequently, the damage inflicted was never as severe as it could have been. Steel scabbards are just not conducive to helping a sword maintain any sort of edge.
The British, however, encountered sharp slashing weapons on occasion and the damage was awesome. This was particularly true in India, where the results were far more lopped-off arms and legs than the British were prepared for.
Granted, there is a big difference between a cavalry saber and a three- or four-inch knife, but the lesson here is that all edges work better when they are sharp.
Medically speaking, a puncture wound is always considered more dangerous than a cut or open wound. The reason is that in a puncture, the damage cannot be examined easily, while with a cut or open wound the damage is easily visible. But a doctor isn’t interested in inflicting damage. He wants to cure it. There’s a big difference.
There’s an old adage attributed to the Romans, who relied mainly on the thrust: “Two inches of steel in the right place will kill any man.” It’s pretty much true, but it does have a built-in fallacy: “. . . in the right place.” Stabs in the throat, eye, heart, solar plexus, and a few other such places are frequently fatal and very quickly so. But the human body is large and these spots are small. What happens when you miss?
Many years ago, I was at a local bar with a close friend. I was paying the tab and my friend went on outside. I heard a lot of yelling and cursing and ran out to see what was happening. My friend was getting up off the ground and he still had a knife sticking in his stomach. Two brothers with whom he had been feuding had jumped him and stabbed him three times in the stomach. I got him to the hospital, and the doctors sewed him up. When the cops came, we told them we didn’t know who the guys were and then left. Don had six stitches, two in each wound. The cops kept the knife, one of the Italian stilettos, but we didn’t want it anyway. It seems the blade was dull and when it entered, it had merely pushed aside the entrails and whatever other organs it encountered. All my friend had was three small punctures of the skin and muscle. No big deal.
During the reign of Henri IV of France, a well-recorded duel occurred between the Sire La Garde and Sire Bazanez. As was the custom, the two principals met accompanied by their seconds. After the usual formalities, the four went at it, the principals engaging one another and the seconds doing the same. La Garde seems to have been the superior swordsman, as he soon landed a thrust on the forehead of Bazanez. The blade failed to penetrate the skull and the fight continued. La Garde then landed a thrust through the body and shortly thereafter, another. There was a momentary break and, when the action resumed, again La Garde sent the point of his sword through Bazanez’s body.
At this point, Bazanez threw away his own sword and drew his dagger. “Look to it as you are a dead man!” he shouted and, dodging yet another thrust, leapt on his enemy. He stabbed him fourteen times in the neck and body. La Garde, while dying, managed to bite off half of Bazanez’s chin.
Meanwhile, the seconds were finishing off their play. Mirabel, the brother of La Garde, landed a thrust through the body of Fermontez, the cousin of Bazanez. Fermontez managed to close with Mirabel, but was held and stabbed again, and so died. Mirabel offered to continue the fight with Bazanez, who declined on the grounds that he really needed to see a doctor, and rides away.
It would seem that not once did a stab land in the right place.
What all of this boils down to