To make this thing even remotely effective, the first thing you’d have to do would be to put some sort of guard in front of the knuckles. That way, if you blocked a weapon, you’d still have your fingers attached afterwards. But even then, all you’ve done is (at best) disabled both your own weapon and your opponent’s, and he’ll have a lot easier time dropping his and switching to barehanded attacks.
The only conceivable purpose I can think of for that… thing… would be intimidation. It’s certainly ugly, which is valuable for a weapon. But a more conventional knife or sword is nearly as fearsome, and far more effective at actually putting holes in the other guy.
As for that “glaive” gizmo, I’ve always understood that a glaive was a long melee weapon, like a sort of polearm, but I’ve seen a lot of references in games and the like to an oversized throwing star sort of thing. At least one of these notions is clearly wrong; where did the wrong one originate?
First of all, this weapon was not meant to be used by mere mortals. This was designed for use by a T3400 terminator cyborg (limited edition). The superior upper body torque production of the cyborg more than compensates for the “clumsiness” imposed by the weapon on weaker users–much the same way an adult human can handle a steak knife with greater proficiency than say, a cat. Second, while you can’t tell from the photo, the blades are designed to “launch” from the main body of the weapon with an effective range of just under 300 feet under optimal conditions. In the grip of a properly programmed cyborg complemented by a FD 57gw plasma rifle, this is indeed a “FRIGHTENING” implement of destruction.
Mercifully the T3400-LE hasn’t been invented yet and this weapon is simply a fully functioning prototype. The actual standard issue “Critical Mass” (aka: “John-o-mizer” after its future late inventor) is constructed of an adamantium/copper alloy and boasts a “perpetual edge,” which never requires sharpening, and a downy weight of 74.3 kg.
A definition of glaive.
And a better descriotion confirming it as a pole arm. An excellent display of its use can be seen in *Fellowship of the Ring *as the last aliance cuts an orc advance into kibble.
*Krull *seems to be the only source depicting a “glaive” as a throwing star. But that doesn’t mean *Krull *is wrong, it could just be a linguistic anomally ala Douglas Adams’ “Gin and Tonic.”
In general, this fits into a category of weapon called a “pandybat”= which is a weapon which LOOKS scary but is about as dangerous to the user as to the intended victim.
I’m sure to the untrained eye this looks like a super futuristic weapon that only Arnold (T34 limited edition with side impact bags) could wield. However, if one looks closely, one can plainly see this is an old style oil can opener with built-in pour spout. Your honor, Matlock’s done it again! Mr. Sulu, you have the con.
Interestingly enough, Blizzard Entertainment has a weapon called a “glaive” in both Diablo II and in WarCraft III. In Diablo II, the glaive is a thrown javelin-like weapon with a large, knife-like tip/blade. In WarCraft III, it’s a large, 3-bladed “throwing star” weapon. Wierd.
And of course, in Diablo II the Assassin-class character uses weapons similar to the one in the OP. The basic weapon is a katar just like the one linked in another post; other Assassin weapons include the “scissors katar” which has 3 thrusting blades with the center blade longer than the other two, “claws” with three equally-sized hooked claws, and the “cestus” which appears to be a slashing weapon with lateral blades at the front and sides. See them here.
I belong to a mercenary band in the SCA. Most of my fighters sport warboards and swords, but we have one quick little f*$%er who fights glaive. It is a pole weapon, at least by SCA standards. The glaive is handy in reenactment combat because you are not limited to thrusting kills as you are with a pole - you can also cut and slash. It’s also shorter than a pole (between 5’ and 6’) so it’s more manueverable, and great for flanking around shield walls. I’ve seen our glaive guy take out big guys with full on swords and shields with relative ease. The only way to kill him is to get within close range (1’ - 3’) and pin up his pole with your shield so he has no room to kill you - problem is, little shit is fast and keeps running away! He waits till I get too tired from running after him and picks me off the moment I let my shield drop even slightly. A shield fighter and a glaive also make for a great two-man team - the shield fighter ties up the opponent while the glaive picks him off.
I love my hobby. Nothing like mutual-beating-on-people-with-sticks to relieve stress.
I could walk into a hardware store, buy a wrench off the wall, and use it to defeat anyone using that thing.
Along with the points everyone has brought up, consider the size. For it to be able to withstand serious impacts, such as one encounters when one sticks pointy things into bone-containing individuals, it would have to be made of very strong metal. For seventy bucks you’re not getting any kind of high-tech super-light diamond-hard non-brittle alloy, neither. I bet your average street punk wouldn’t have the forearm or bicep strength to even try to use it effectively.
Ha! My boyfriend is a historical fencer, I saw his group studying some pole-techniques at his last meeting. The perosn doign the instructing was having a hard time keeping the longswords at bay, but the effectiveness of the weapon was certainly demonstrated… it did invlve a lot of retreating though
Yeah, as a weapon that thing in the OP is fairly useless. Personally I’d take a short staff over it. The design of the knife doesn’t give you a lot of swinging power and the way the blades are set to limit how much you can manuver with it. It may look intimidating but you’ll have a lot more to worry about with a straight bladed knife.
