28-12-2003 14:18									#1
	Hmm ... Can You Throw a Sword? Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Let's say a swordsman is a huge, honkin' muscular guy. Would he have enough strength to use the sword as a sort of missile, throwing it at a target within 20 feet of his position? Or would the sword simply be too unwieldly even for limited, straight-line flight?

Gatekeeper

P.S. Please hurry with any advice. The guy is chasing me right now.
















Oh, fine, then. I was joking about the last part.

	28-12-2003 14:18									#2
	Re: Hmm ... Can You Throw a Sword? Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

quote: Originally posted by Gatekeeper Oh, fine, then. I was joking about the last part.

	28-12-2003 14:21									#3
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If it had a straight blade it could probably function as a sort of crude javelin.

	28-12-2003 14:25									#4
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Oh, good. I'm writing a short story of sorts and don't want to make it too unbelievable.

	28-12-2003 14:25									#5
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For a fiction writing contest, not a newspaper article.

	28-12-2003 14:28									#6
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Are you on something?

	28-12-2003 14:55									#7
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Nope. 'Twas a serious question ... but I suppose it seemed strange coming from me since I'm usually a straight-laced kind of guy.

Anyway, time for bed. Ah ... seven hours of glorious sleep await!

Gatekeeper

	28-12-2003 15:09									#8
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If you saw the end of Diablo2 expansion, you know it is completely realistic to throw a sword up to ~7 metres or so (well, at least, if you are an angel and your sword is made of light)

	28-12-2003 16:34									#9
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I used to a bit of knife and axe throwing as a hobby. You can throw just about any sword or knife so that it turns end over end through the air (not javelin style). The difficult bit is getting it to stick in the target.

Essentially the point of balance needs to be in the middle third of the length. If not it is almost impossible to control the speed of rotation. Also, obviously, the bigger and heavier the weapon the harder it is to control.

For a sword it would be reasonably possible to bring it back over your shoulder to the point is behind you (opposite shoulder to the hand holding the sword), swing forward and let go so the sword describes a half rotation and the point goes into the target. More than a half rotation would be very difficult to control. That should work if the target is around 8-12 feet away.

I'd believe this in a fictional story. Howard used it in several Conan stories.

	28-12-2003 18:29									#10
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More recently (recent=eighties), the knight in LadyHawke had a habit of throwing his greatsword javelin-style, so it's certainly not unheard of in the genre.

	28-12-2003 18:37									#11
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Depends on the size of the sword.

You might have a scramasax or a two-handed great sword. It is believable to throw a short sword 7 metres as some types weigh as little as 5 kilograms.

Of course if you're trying to throw a great sword I'd be a little skeptial.

	28-12-2003 18:43									#12
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Oh, that movie needed a hefty suspension of skepticism.

	28-12-2003 18:49									#13
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Lone Wolf threw his sword at the time. Very accurately, too.

	28-12-2003 18:52									#14
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I doubt I could throw my swords. But then again, I have obviously never tried. Nor will I.

	28-12-2003 20:37									#15
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Sure you can. The question is, what is it going to do?

	28-12-2003 21:01									#16
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They did it in Pirates of the Carribean