What's your favorite close combat weapon, and why?

I like the battleaxe. A heavy two handed weapon, probably does more damadge than any other non - gunpowder weapon. And it is virtually impossible to turn against someone as you might be able to do with a knife.

pole hammer, or maybe warhammer and shield. Fast, can blow through armor, easy to make and cool looking ;D

most definately a spear or a rapier a close tie

anything fast and agile.

But if I had to choose. Axe with a hammer on the back.  Has many usese other than fighting

Non-primitive: Expandable baton, preferably with a middle section made from a spring
Primitive: Mace or two-handed flail

I would have to say Nodachi.

it's a long thin blade of tempered steel, like the katana, but slightly shorter. it's very versatile and you can use one one-handed, one two-handed, or one in each hand.

I agree with ben_banned with chosing a spear because you can keep the opposition at a range.  A scythe would also be good.

also with a spear if you could get some elevation on your opponent It would give you a major advantage

Nunchaku, fast, hard hitting, compact and versatile. Also simple.

Sticks of between 4-1 foot.

Taking legality and practicality out of the window....

Slightly curved guardless "tactical" knives based on Japanese designs.

Daggers...

And hey, if you tie a dagger to a stick you have a spear :D

Well for daggers, I would chose a cinquedea- leaves a 4 inch hole in someone.
Spears would be a very good choice. I would pick a bill, because it has stabbing, chopping, and hooking capabilities.
Axes are very neat. I like the one handed kind, but the big ones like the Bayeux Tapestry ones would also be great.
My sword would be any Viking sword, or the bronze cutting-style sword of the Hallstat culture. Broadswords rock!
And a nice armor killer is a hammer, or a pick. Anyone have any info on the pick/crowbill and why they weren't more common?

well think about it you have to hit them with that little pick they could  
1. sidestep
2. run towards you

so once the person gets close it useless not to mention you can not stab

http://tinypic.com/fdvi8p.jpg

Two edged, two handed battleaxe. 4 ft long, 25lbs, swords can't block it, sheilds will break under it's force, and even the best armor back then had no chance of stopping it! It combines a sword with a hammer. Nothing that existed back then could defend against it. A strong, well armored man weilding this weaopn could do untold amounts of destruction.

wrote on Nov 6^th, 2005 at 8:29pm:

http://tinypic.com/fdvi8p.jpg Two edged, two handed battleaxe. 4 ft long, 25lbs, swords can't block it, sheilds will break under it's force, and even the best armor back then had no chance of stopping it!

...and you cant swing it

Actually, you can. You don't need that much force, it's the momentum of the thing that keeps it going. Once it has started to swing, it's weight brings it down,  slicing the guy in half

ypur telling me that you yourself can put on 50 lbs. of aromor and swing around a 25 lb axe withought falling over?

no. More like a big strong guy, with 20lbs of boiled leather or scale mail. Usually axes weren't quite as heavy as 25lbs, a few were though. The normal weight would probably be in the 10 - 15 range

Wouldn't a person get tired very quickly swinging that thing?

Yeah, anything over about 5 lbs becomes cumbersome for anyone but an experienced or well conditioned fighter. I'm a big guy (about 1.8 metres and 230 lbs) but after swinging my claymore sword around for anymore than a couple minutes, and my forearms are feeling it something fierce! Most maces, flails, clubs etc. things to be used with one hand, didn't get much above about 2-3 lbs, because of stamina problems. This is also partly why so many ancient battles were so short in duration; nobody wants to be swinging a 15 lb axe around for 2 hours.
Anyhow, my favourite hand to hand weapon would be a kopis/falcata. It's got the lightness and manoeuverability of a sword, with the chopping power of a finely honed axe. In some tests, it actually outperformed a katana in cutting ability, and it fits my fighting style perfectly. Close up, hacking and slashing.

I could swing it :-) With the armour - there are certain advantages to being bear shaped and mostly muscle.
And bear in mind if it was your personal weapon you'd train with it till it felt light. But realistically that's too heavy. Not only that, it uses too much metal - wasteful.
I like the choice of weapon, but I'd got for a 3 foot handle with at most an 8lb head (6-7 should do it).
This I could use one handed if need be but very fast 2 handed.

 My favorite hand weapon (and I do have one) is my Celtic leaf blade sword. Just a little over 2 feet long, with a blade shaped like an elongated elm leaf. The extra weight at the end packs a punch. I've sank it into a stump without much effort.
 I also have a tool that I keep in my car for winter. Its a mini mattock. It has a curved blade, and two prongs on the other side. Its great for digging out the car from the snow. It comes in handy when I camp too. Would make a hell of a combat weapon.  

wrote on Nov 7^th, 2005 at 9:06am:

Yeah, anything over about 5 lbs becomes cumbersome for anyone but an experienced or well conditioned fighter. I'm a big guy (about 1.8 metres and 230 lbs) but after swinging my claymore sword around for anymore than a couple minutes, and my forearms are feeling it something fierce! Most maces, flails, clubs etc. things to be used with one hand, didn't get much above about 2-3 lbs, because of stamina problems. This is also partly why so many ancient battles were so short in duration; nobody wants to be swinging a 15 lb axe around for 2 hours. Anyhow, my favourite hand to hand weapon would be a kopis/falcata. It's got the lightness and manoeuverability of a sword, with the chopping power of a finely honed axe. In some tests, it actually outperformed a katana in cutting ability, and it fits my fighting style perfectly. Close up, hacking and slashing.

Fair enough. If i was fighting for several hours, i'd probably take this. A medium sized, one handed axe, with a spike on the back - not unlike those used for murdering hapless people on horror movies  :P

http://tinypic.com/fef5us.jpg

Hi all I'm new here but I would have tosay that my favourite  weapon is the one closest to hand when I need it rock stick knife axe gun etc.


longshot

Things like claymores and bastard swords. I love the sheer size and weight of the claymore, exaggeration of warrior valiance.

I would prefer something with 1076 pattern wielded steel and leather hilt. :D

swords, and i mean all swords where not very heavy at all. If you have a very heavy sword its ether badly made or just for show.  

http://www.thearma.org/essays/weights.htm


great site by the way, a little hard to read but still good.

http://www.thehaca.com/essays.htm

And the important thing to remember about a 2 handed weapons is that if you get injured you should always be able to use it one handed.
That's the real beauty of a mid weight long handled axe or a bastar* sword.

most swords fell into the 2-5lb range even two handers almost never topped out at more than that...sword fights did not last all day or even for hours generally a few minutes at most, my favorite close combat weapon is a good heavy walking stick. If you're talking swords the gladius is one of the best weapons ever made. Knife a kukri

three pound cross peam hammer and a sling. I but a simple man

I have heard tales of the gurkas in Nepal using a large, 2ft kukri to cut the heads off of cattle in one stroke.  I think that it is two handed and slightly less curvy than the knives, but this kukri-sword would really bring the pain to any one who got in the way of its momentum.

Hey Smudge. Yes this is true. On certain religious holiday the Gurkha Regiments do sacrifice a steer or ox. The act is done with an oversize kukri handled by a specially chosen man from the regiment. If  he takes the head off in one clean cut it means good fortune for the regiment for the coming year. If he messes up he is scorned and chased around by his comrade who throw the blood of the steer at him and generally make his life miserable.

My favorite hand to hand weapon would be Jackie Chan as my bodyguard. ;D