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Post by fayebarca on Dec 19, 2023 1:37:54 GMT
I'm well aware that the bauernwehr and messer carried in the medieval period were used as self-defense implements. The nagel and literature instructing their use as such is plenty of indication to this. I do wonder, though, was it the case that they were also used as utility blades? I'd think so, but I'm not certain. Would they be at all analogous to one carrying a large fixed-blade knife today? Pictures for eye candy. Bauernwehr from James Elmslie and the "Gustav" messer from Landsknecht Emporium.
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Post by mrstabby on Dec 19, 2023 11:25:02 GMT
Yeah, they would have used them for many things, but I think only the shorter blades. At a specific length it becomes unfavourable for everyday tasks. The Bauernwehr specifically was a cross between tool and weapon and was born from a normal knife. Akin to a fixed blade or machete. Cutting food, chopping brush, but also self defense. The point was commoners weren't allowed to carry swords many places, but knives being tools that were needed in life were OK. So EDC knives grew longer and thicker, got a guard of sorts (Nagel).
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Dec 19, 2023 13:08:22 GMT
I have the same question about bigger seaxes which are also said to be made for utility tasks and as weapons. Here in Central Europe I can't imagine a utility task for such big blades. Machetes don't work here in the woods very well, axes are better. All knife tasks are better to fulfill with a normal sized knife. Maybe centuries ago with more wilderness and wilder forests bigger knives made any sense, dunno? I assume those blades were always pure weapons and only shorter because made by less skilled village smiths or for easier carrying.
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Post by takitam on Dec 19, 2023 13:39:45 GMT
I imagine both seaxes and certain bauernwehr (the more pointy ones) might have been used for slaughtering (wild) pigs and medium sized game when hunting with dogs. Just a guess, but their pointy shape might be a hint here.
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Post by mrstabby on Dec 19, 2023 14:07:50 GMT
Yeah, I doubt any of the knives would be useful in a real wild forest, by which I mean a forest that has no maintenance being done (Many people in central europe who don't go hiking into the deepest wilderness will probably never have seen one, they are pretty rare now). A Saex being a heavier chopper probably more useful for trailblazing. The forest floor consisting mostly of dead, fallen tree limbs you need a more stout blade for a real wild forest than a Bauernwehr. A saw and an axe is more useful, but I can see a Saex doing in a pinch. I see them more being used for slaughter, food prep, as an impromtu awl, for carving a pointy stick, such things of daily life (most people back then didn't live in whitches huts in the black forest after all). I have seen depictions of a pointy knife being used as toothpick, I always cringe at this thought but they seem to have used it for this...
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Post by pellius on Dec 19, 2023 15:35:27 GMT
I always kinda assumed the bauernwehr filled the same niche as the Bowie in America - be the biggest fighting knife a civilian could reasonably every-day carry. Of course, that’s just mere speculation.
I know Mr. Elmslie is active on the facebook. Maybe ask him. He would certainly know.
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Post by takitam on Dec 19, 2023 15:56:46 GMT
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