Halberd. :cool:

I love knifes, Small and fast,

for the asian vs. european comparison, couldnt you put a Samurai up to a Knight, or a comparison like that?

You left out 'Shriukens' :(

someone needs to make these kinds of weapons on graal and have them have cool graphics, and then script them and put them as a prize for a really hard quest :)

I remember this post, its old.

Since when was that a melee weapon?

Well, Sisok, if say, a Japanese samurai and an English knight fought each other, depending upon their accoutrements, I think it would matter much more which of them were better fighters. Back then, warriors from all countries were extremely strong, very disciplined, and usually quite skilled. I guess the samurai would probably have better armour, but the knight's weapon might be better for piercing armour.

Then again, actually, I guess the samurai would have the advantage there. The average european warrior was skilled in one particular type of weapon, which the Japanese warrior would know how to use a spear, a bow, or a sword well- which means he could use the spear to pierce the knight's armour.

But, I'm mostly just guessing. Like I said, what would matter most is which of them were better. :)

werent the europeans much larger and stronger, though?

No, not really. They were bigger, sure, but not stronger on the whole. Although we might not imagine it, the warriors from either place were probably real "macho" men.

well, I guess the only way to figure this out is to go back in time and get a soldier from then, and have them fight.

Huh? I just read 'Weapon' in the title and poll name...

Projectile weapons, hehehe

At first I loved swords, but now I've started to lean away from them. They seem impersonal and, sadly, perhaps a little too popular for my liking. Now I'm into knives, and other such small-bladed weapons. It seems more... deadly to cut a person's throat than to just lop their head off.

running through > all

I couldn't imagine a sword being impersonal. I don't really care about weapon popularity. I want to appreciate the fine aspects of melee weapons, and I'll say I've done a damned good job of it.

But, every tool has its own romance. If you like the knife more, that's completely understandable. How about the kukri? The ghurka were said to take them and dive straight into trenches, running through the soldiers and cutting straight through them like berserkers.

I dunno, it's just the way that you don't really have to worry about where you hit them. Chop a dude anywhere with a sword and he'll be pretty much finish (assuming they don't have armour, which nowadays is generally the case). You kill them from too far away and without necessarily putting enough thought into the process.

Yeah, I appreciate that the popularity thing is just me being shallow in a way. But I can't just tell my brain "Stop being shallow!" so it's probably gonna stay that way :(

One of these babies? They're not bad, but I've never liked the curved knife idea. I like something fairly small and concealable. And throwing knives are excellent too. I really, really want a couple of these.

Unless your a homocide, you really wouldnt have any use for weapons besides:

1. Protection

2. To look at them

3. To collect them

4. They're antiques.

5. You could scare the crap out of someone with them.

My reasons:

Self-defence.
Fun. Like, throwing knives at a dartboard. That kind of thing.

But mainly self-defense. And those knives I showed would be great for stitching to the inside of a coat sleeve for maximum concealment but easy access.

A person with somethin that shoots would just whoop ya if you had a sword, that is, if they didnt run out of ammo, which is a reason swords could be better

Throwing knives are potentially better than guns, though it depends on the situation. I reckon someone could take out and throw a knife faster than someone could do the equivalent with a gun.

not really :)

a throwing knife requires a considerable amount of aim for one throw, and you have to make a rather large motion to throw it. by the time someone could get one throwing knife off a person with a gun could have shot them a few times. throwings knives would be better as a silent weapons, I dont see much self defense in them.

No way, dude. A guy's got a gun in a holster, he has to take it out (which takes longer because guns are bigger and clumsier), possibly take the safety catch off, aim and fire. Just aiming alone takes a while, since you have to bring the gun to shoulder level. A skilled knife guy could just throw the knife on the upswing.

the key word there is skilled.

if you took a skilled gunman verus him, put them at a distance of about 5 meters, the gunman would do more damage.

*shrugs*

I dunno, maybe. But you surely can't deny that throwing knives are cooler ;)

yeah, I'd think it would be best to carry some throwing knives and a gun, just so that you could be the epitome of cool.

Perhaps if combat were guaranteed, but I think that walking around with a gun on the streets (especially in England) is hazardous. Knives are much more easily hidden.

yeah, for just walking around, a knife would be better.

Indeed. People would be unlikely to notice a well-hidden small throwing knife even if they searched you.

the only downfall is that you have one chance with it :(

Wow, this is an old thread

That's why you have one in each sleeve.

two throwing knives wouldnt knock someone down, I dont think, it would just piss them off alot, and give them pain for a while.

Shurikenjutsu is cool, but the damage is quite superficial. A bullet can kill you, but I've never heard of a throwing knife being able to kill someone. Well, unless you threw a big honkin' bowie knife.

But, what Kaimetsu said was accurate. The average time necessary to take a gun out of a holster is much longer than the amount of time necessary to grab a knife- depending upon where you keep them. I've had a few friends who were into knives (I never was myself), and they liked to keep them on the shins. You could see that it would take a while to fetch a knife down there. But, with a nice strap around the forearm holding some shuriken darts, you could throw a dart before a policeman could could budge his 9mm. Still, if you threw it at the policeman, there's no way you'd be alive in the end. A dart can't kill him.

A sword, on the other hand... I read a weapons study once, done by a fellow who was both a practicing student of iaido and a former member of some military branch... can't remember now, but, anyway: he timed his draw for several types of guns in holsters and a sword, and, surprisingly, the sword was number one in all cases. The thing is, of course, the sword only had that time within a range of 6 feet.

But, if you hit someone with a fast iaido draw, it's sure to kill them. If you think about it, the faster a sword draw is, the more effective it is, while the faster a gun draw and shot is, the less effective it is. And, a bullet wound is comparatively insignificant to a strong cut.

Finally, a sword can stab, and sometimes cut, through a bulletproof vest. But, at 6 feet, you're average bullet can also. :p

though guns are less accurate, you have a bigger margin for error. You can throw a dagger once, while a gun can unload anywhere from 6 to 18 shots from a pistol.

Get one of those laser-pointer guns.

Didnt your mother tell you weapons are dangerous?

after she shot me, she did :9

Asian swords

If you were really good with the throwing knife, you could get him in the throat or the eye. He's not gonna do much after that.

Yeah... maybe. I guess you could kill someone if you hit them in the throat. Overall, a handknife is much more reliable than a throwing knife, though. In fact, nothing is better for piercing the most common modern armour- bulletproof vests.