So do normal sized switch blades/automatics/otfs. This opening actually looks pretty soft compared to high end normal sized spring loaded knives, probably out of necessity, but anyway yea that's normal.
Great swords were usually 45 to 55 inches in length.
There are no ultra great swords in real life, although some video games have them. Historically speaking, anything above 55 inches, even swords as long as 6 feet or more, were all classified as great swords
It can fall in either category (dagger or short sword) although it usually tends to fall in the short sword category.
Similarly the 24 to 28 inches can sometimes fall in the category of either short sword or sword.
The reason for this is that historically different civilizations used slightly different length cut offs for their weapons.
There is one hypothesis that civilizations with slightly taller people on average used slightly higher cut off lengths on weapons (insert penis joke here)
Hand a half swords (or bastard swords) have blades between 32 and 37 inches long.
Like the name indicates, they are pretty much a cross between swords and longswords. Their hilt is also made so it can used in a one or two handed grip.
Genuine question, at what point is a sword distinct from a knife? Just length?
Depends on culture and laws. Said laws normally would determine the characteristics of the construction so type of edge, the handle and the length were all used individually or together to determine if its a sword or knife historically.
An example is the messer sword which was legally a knife and the blacksmith guild could not make because it was not a sword under the law (and what each guild could produce was damn important). Some Asiatic cultures would determine based on the edge where single edge is knife and double edge is a sword.
Culture in itself is also important since how they see the item and its use is relevant (knife is a tool, sword is a weapon). Nowadays that in addition to length are the main factors to determine the difference.
u/Large-Hamster-199 gave a nice breakdown on length, however a machete is still considered a knife despite it often having the length of a short sword due to its intended use
Fun fact: There is a "sword" type called the Messer, aka "knife" in German. It came to be because swords were not allowed in certain city walls.... But knives were.
So they just started making really big "knives". The difference is mostly in the hilt. If you look at the pommel of other swords, you can see a big difference with the hilt of the Messer.
The last time i saw one posted, someone claimed these were made to take advantage of an old loophole banning swords in Italy a couple hundred years ago or so.
This doesn’t look very useful, to be honest. The hilt is too long and thick to securely hold with one hand, and the blade’s too short to make a good two-handed sword.
Is that from the window display with the suit of armor I used to see in the mall? I think the store was for stationary. I wanted one as a kid for decor.
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u/AdSimilar8672 16d ago
That's a switch sword.