Is any exotic weapon actually usable?

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I'm referring to any weapons you see in Shaolin/Japanese films that aren't just a version of a sword/spear (though Katanas are also there due to being trash at cutting anything that isn't malnourished peasants).

It's inspired by seeing a video on a hook sword and thinking "wow, that's completely unusable piece of shit for incredibly specific circumstances and looking cool".

 

[awoo]

Does this count?

 

[Schwarzwald]

When we were kids, my older brother cracked me on the head pretty good with my uncle's flea market nunchucks while pretending to be Bruce Lee.

My permanent drain bamage is truly a testament to the fearsome elegant lethality of the nunchaku.

 

[JohnnyG]

I guess it depends on what you consider "exotic", as there are lots of ways to remix a stick/knife/sword. But a lot of martial arts weapons are just improvised farm tools: nunchucks, escrima sticks, bo staffs, kamas, etc.

They're practical in the sense that if you can beat or cut grain with them, you can do the same to a person. But maybe not as ergonomic as a dedicated weapon.

 

[We Are The Witches]

I remember that TV series where they tested weapons, performed some tests on them, and then run through their obscure algorithm to determine the winner. I think it was "History's deadliest weapons".

One time I think they tested Chakrams, and a flexible indian sword (which wasn't very good, I think it was the Urumi), to be honest, they only look usable against unsuspecting targets while unarmored (the Chakram). If it hits you in the unprotected neck though, that's your head flying off (when launched, they also use in close range).
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLszDUngAaPFYEu_hhB-tdMzFUVPZMlBuj

There is also "Forged in fire", check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akjv1DxUnlc

 

[HowlingChasm]

I’m fairly confident I could maim any man with anything from hook swords to a piece of rebar. The only thing I would say is almost useless as a weapon is shuriken and even then I wouldn’t want one thrown at me.

 

[Meat Target]

I think they tested the Flying Guillotine on Mythbusters, and found it plausible for something like assassination but not open combat.

 

[JULAY]

Obsidian swords the Aztecs used would fuck your shit up good, but they weren't very durable:

 

[Historical Strelkov]

Most of those non-bladed varieties or what have you are weapons for people not allowed to have weapons. In the european sense, most of the exotic weapons exist because of specific defenses like armor. No one would take a morning star over a sword if armor didn't exist for example. No one would use a bo staff if they had a spear or polearm.

 

[Lemmingwiser]

I'm referring to any weapons you see in Shaolin/Japanese films that aren't just a version of a sword/spear (though Katanas are also there due to being trash at cutting anything that isn't malnourished peasants).

It's inspired by seeing a video on a hook sword and thinking "wow, that's completely unusable piece of shit for incredibly specific circumstances and looking cool".

The best weapon is also a weapon that you are experienced with handling. There is a reason longbows were great for the british even after the development of crossbows, and that's because the church had told people that it's christian to do longbow practice on sunday after church. This meant peasants were a valuable war conscript to form an army of longbowmen. And why brits considered a crossbow an unchristian weapon (it wasn't a longbow).

When you look at some of the exotic weapons, many have their their roots in farming implements, like nunchaku and the threshing flail. Both of these were used to thresh.



This was also adopted into warfare as a way to hit behind shields for the flail. And if some farm young man had spent half the year threshing grain, his muscles would be very developed and his aim very precise. Though the spear is the ideal weapon for combat almost universally historically for it's versatility, that also means defenses and shields are made exactly to combat it. But a good blow from a flail will cause you internal bleeding even if you've got good armor, for example.

 

[Your Starter for 10]

Kukris are really good for cutting through some kinds of brush. They are better than machetes for blackberries, false acacia and rhododendrons.

Seem like they'd be less useful than a machete in combat though. Then again I can count the number of machete fights I've been in on the remaining fingers of one hand, so I might not be the best judge.

 

[VF-1J Armored Valkyrie]

Kukris are really good for cutting through some kinds of brush. They are better than machetes for blackberries, false acacia and rhododendrons.

Seem like they'd be less useful than a machete in combat though. Then again I can count the number of machete fights I've been in on the remaining fingers of one hand, so I might not be the best judge.

Kukris, especially the ones proportioned to be somewhat wieldy fighting blades instead of just a prybar with an edge, are actually surprisingly good on the thrust. The bend in the blade puts the force of the thrust off the angle of the handle, meaning less tendency for the handle to slip out of your hand.

It's still a long knife with delusions of grandeur, but there's a lot worse in the world of machetes and machete-like objects.

 

[Sneaky lurker]

How about a lethal menorah?

 

[Grub]

When we were kids, my older brother cracked me on the head pretty good with my uncle's flea market nunchucks while pretending to be Bruce Lee.

My permanent drain bamage is truly a testament to the fearsome elegant lethality of the nunchaku.

I know someone who used to practice pretty regularly with a homemade set of nunchucks stuffed with lead cores. I would never want to fuck with someone that knows how to use them properly. When you see in person just how fast and accurate they can be with them that's a whole lot of nope from me.

 

[Duane Dibbley]

Watch Forged In Fire, brother. Witness the magnificence that is ancient weaponry. The Afrikaans have some messed up multi-purpose weapons that served several purposes.

 

[donksmanSupreme42]

I’m fairly confident I could maim any man with anything from hook swords to a piece of rebar. The only thing I would say is almost useless as a weapon is shuriken and even then I wouldn’t want one thrown at me.

iirc shuriken aren't meant to be a weapon, theyre a distraction u throw at the other guy as youre either running away or approaching him with ur actual weapon

Though the spear is the ideal weapon for combat almost universally historically for it's versatility, that also means defenses and shields are made exactly to combat it. But a good blow from a flail will cause you internal bleeding even if you've got good armor, for example.

shields won't do shit if the spear user is any good, doubly so if he's on horseback

spears, and polearms in general, are a lot more nimble than people think, u can easily hit under or around the shield and if ur opponent isnt heavily armored, you can inflict some nasty wounds

also u dont need much training, cuz its already wired into your brain, its been 400000 years ever since its invention, and knowing how to use a spear (or most other polearms) is already inside ur brain, it was already a thing before anatomically-modern h. sapiens

if u don't know how to use a spear effectively, you should unironically castrate yourself with a rusty switchblade

 

[Lemmingwiser]

iirc shuriken aren't meant to be a weapon, theyre a distraction u throw at the other guy as youre either running away or approaching him with ur actual weapon


shields won't do shit if the spear user is any good, doubly so if he's on horseback

spears, and polearms in general, are a lot more nimble than people think, u can easily hit under or around the shield and if ur opponent isnt heavily armored, you can inflict some nasty wounds

also u dont need much training, cuz its already wired into your brain, its been 400000 years ever since its invention, and knowing how to use a spear (or most other polearms) is already inside ur brain, it was already a thing before anatomically-modern h. sapiens

if u don't know how to use a spear effectively, you should unironically castrate yourself with a rusty switchblade

Small variations in precision can make a big difference.
It's not just how you imagine you wield it, it's also whether your body is used to the activity.

 

[The Dude]

My Steyr AUG and Heckler & Koch Mark 23 are both fairly exotic, but VERY usable.

 

[Male Idiot]

How about a lethal menorah?

That is some advanced jewjistsu weapon.

Anything can be useful. Humans are fragile. A brick, a big stone, a big log of wood.

Britain is finding this out the hard way.

 

[Core Theorist]

I know this is about swords and shit but I want to see what a microwave weapon with arbitrarily high output actually does to people irl. Like, I know they're supposed to heat up and eventually "pop", but still, in what way? Exactly like a water balloon? How gnarly would that look?