Give me a polearm or a spear. Way better than a sword.
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oh…can i get the laser cutter equipped repair spider from nightflyers? you can wield that from a very safe distance and cut through several inch plate steel.
crossbows were pretty dope for a short bit of history. i kinda like those.
But they don’t scream “aristo” the way a sword does, and they’re harder to lug around when you’re in town.
Doesn’t even need to be “real” in the sense of being traditionally forged differential tempered blade. Any sharpened sword is a seriously dangerous weapon - easily capable of disfigurement, critical injury or death. Nothing remotely funny about a person attacking others with a sharp sword of any kind. Playing this incident for the supposed generational divide yuks is highly disagreeable. Sharpened sword attacks are massively nasty and really hard to defend against with anything other than a longer range weapon, such as a gun, and advance warning.
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It’s really not. It’s not really any more or less lethal than any properly sharpened two handed sword. The curve is pretty good for cutting tests, but the differential temper is a work around because the the Japanese couldn’t make proper spring steel. Differentially tempered katanas are actually a bit delicate in some ways, and when used in cutting practice they can get bent - and stay that way - if they don’t angle into the target at just the right angle.
I think katana’s are fascinating, largely because of the great artistry and care with which the best models are made, but there is a certain un-deserved mystique about them that continues to this day. Research in European historical martial arts has shown that European swords were not all the clunkers that people imagine. But it is pretty easy to see how some of the mystique arose since katana’s were finely crafted swords of the elite, whereas in Europe there is a huge range of sword craftsmanship, including a great many lesser, munitions grade swords. One needs to compare like models to like in terms of cost and application.
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Nobody wants to hear that.
The internet is full of fanbois, it doesn’t make what they say true. But by all means share some of this commentary.
Top ten for what? Swords are just tools, it’s the use case that matters. Are your opponents armoured? Do they have longer swords? Are they even using swords? Do you need to fight in formation (hint: pick the gladius over the whip sword every time)? How much time do you have to train? What’s the prevailing style (hint: easier to find people to train you)? Etc,etc,etc.
The use case for a katana is ‘make a decent sword despite having piss-poor steel’, but it’s kinda short for a 2 handed weapon and the guard leaves the hand exposed. However, there are lots of improvements that could be made. Off the top of my head:
- A bigger guard would allow more options for parrying/capturing your opponent’s blade;
- a longer blade would allow more force to be exerted;
- a shorter handle would make the blade quicker
- straighter blade and a one handed grip would allow better point work (useful for attacking weak points in armour)
Of course, if your style of combat hasn’t changed much in 900 years then…well, actually you’ll lose heavily to anyone who has been involved in an arms race over the same period (c.f. actual history).
If you want my vote for the most efficient /effective sword of the last 3000 years, it’s probably the gladius, the utilitarian workhorse of the Roman army.
Edit:
I ought to point out that he’s not an anglophile, just an anglo.
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thanks! that is helpful.
anglophile seemed an appropriate term for the types of statements he consistently makes. racism seems a bit harsh, maybe colonialism? i’ve shown his videos to a few people now, i wouldn’t have even mentioned it if it wasn’t a bit startling. maybe i’m using the wrong word.
I would use anglophile to describe someone who isn’t English and who is enamoured of Englishness. Lindybeige however, is just English. TV Tropes refers to him as “preposterously British and ostentatiously English” and I see no reason to disagree with this, in fact you may find his TV Tropes entry useful in understanding his performative Englishness. You may also find this educational video helpful.
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ah i wasn’t aware of that linguistic qualifier, thanks for explaining the word better.
I was not aware he was a character who was known for his ultra-englishness, that explanation gives me the missing context i needed to understand what i was seeing.
It should be inferred from his style of delivery, but it’s also a satire of Englishness as well. He is, at the same time being extremely English, mocking himself for being so English, mocking (in a different way) people who take Englishness too seriously, and also suggesting that the correct response in any situation is to attack the French.
So, back to the katana - what use case are you considering for it?
me? decoration. 
as far as personal interest, I’m more fascinated by their historical contexts, the ones that were daily drivers during their heyday as a primary weapon, than how they’d fair against each other.
I’m not on the “katanas are special” train (they’re not, nor or their creation methods unique), but lindybeige is a famously anglo-centric amateur historian. I’d rather listen to Skallagrim or someone like that.
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Yup. My point was more “real sword vs relatively dull wallhanger” not “Japanese sword specifically vs other kind of sword” (which is what I thought I said originally…)
Nicely walked back there.
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should have worn my fancy boots if i was being watched. 
i did try and step lightly but still managed to step in a few steaming piles of opinions from sword polishers that have been left on this trail alas. I think i can get most of it off the bottom of my shoe if i scrape hard enough…what are their mom’s feeding them?
What, specifically, do you claim is false a matter of fact rather than opinion?
either you misread me or i’m misreading you? what facts? I’m not claiming any of the opinions are facts false or otherwise. i’ve stepped in a few people’s opinions. oops.
i didn’t know anyone cared enough about swords to have hate boners for the katana. when you don’t really care at all and you step into other people’s strong opinions it can make quite a stinky mess. i’m still trying to back out and scrape it off my shoes. being the fourth or fifth person to step into the same stink, i should have seen it and turned around and left right away. this was fully my mistake.
