Mythbusters vs Swords

[Bob Hubbard]

Mythbusters did a thing tonight on Hollywood myths, and one of them was the "cutting a sword in half" myth.

Their conclusion is that real swords are not prone to being cut in half like one sees in the movies, though a stress fracture is possible.

Wall Hangers on the other hand, are easily cut through, and even shatter on impact.

Very impressive...looked like they used some BudK quality decorations, and some Paul Chen blades. Had a few experts come in and explain things...one guy got a 9" cut in some ballistics gel

 

[Swordlady]

Interesting. What kind of stress tests did they do on the swords? Did they deliberately bang sword blades together? And I'm not familiar with the ballistics gel tests.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

ballistics gel is usually used in firearms tests as it has the same/similar resistance as human flesh. They took an expert and measured the speed and force of his swing, as well as effect on BG, then designed a bot to simulate his swing.

They then tested swinging a live blade against both a wall hanger and another quality blade. Impacts were edge to flat and edge to edge. They also tested a few european swords.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Okay that sounds like a good mythbuster show. I am disapointed now that I missed it.

 

[JasonASmith]

I was glued to the T.V. for that last night(I usually am when MythBusters come on), and I thought that it was one of the best shows I have seen in a while from them...The Claymore against the Katana was COOL...I have never seen a sword "do the wave" like that...

 

[Kreth]

Why is it that whenever I catch Mythbusters, they're investigating something like the fat woman vs. airplane toilet urban legend? :idunno:

 

[SFC JeffJ]

Why is it that whenever I catch Mythbusters, they're investigating something like the fat woman vs. airplane toilet urban legend? :idunno:

'Cause those are the episodes you record Kreth.

 

[Cryozombie]

Overall it was just an awesome episode... not just the sword stuff, although that was some of the best stuff on there.
​

 

[Bob Hubbard]

It's on again tonight, 6pm EST.

 

[Risto Rautiainen]

The slo-mo videos were cool. But the european swords were nothing like real swords. Okay, the rapier was quite nice, but otherwise...

 

[Mcura]

If you mean "This thing is so heavy I can't even lift it," then yes, I agree. The claymore and viking swords look like they were overly weighted and improperly balanced. However, they were sturdy enough to participate in the tests.

I'm sure the Mythbusters team have been hounded by nit-pickers as to how their tests were inaccurate by (insert-hobby-here) enthusiasts. Truth be told, I'm rather impressed that they were as accurate as they were. Not bad for their "start-from-scratch" knowledge of swords in general.

On a completely unrelated note, Kari the Redheaded Babe looks cute holding the rapier.

 

[Swordlady]

Darn it! Missed it AGAIN.

The slo-mo videos were cool. But the european swords were nothing like real swords. Okay, the rapier was quite nice, but otherwise...

Can you please elaborate? What kind of European swords did they use, and how much did they weigh? A typical singlehander would weight between 2-3.5 lbs, a half-and-a-half (or bastard) about 3-4 lbs (though there are some that are lighter), and a two-hander between 4-6 lbs. Rapiers were actually quite heavy (around 3 lbs) for a singlehand weapon. Bear in mind that these are *estimated* weights, but swords were *light* weapons for the most part. An overly heavy sword would not be very effective, and would wear down a fighter quickly.

I'm sure the Mythbusters team have been hounded by nit-pickers as to how their tests were inaccurate by (insert-hobby-here) enthusiasts. Truth be told, I'm rather impressed that they were as accurate as they were. Not bad for their "start-from-scratch" knowledge of swords in general.

And I'm pretty sure that 90% of the nitpickers are from SFI. One of the guys from that forum is composing a list to send to Mythbusters. I didn't see the special, so I can't say anything. But from what I heard, most of the sword people (at least on SFI) were impressed by the Mythbusters' work.

 

[Risto Rautiainen]

Well, they didn't tell exact measurements, but comments like "This is so heavy, I can barely lift it" (about the viking sword) and "This weighs four times the katana" (about the claymore) tell enough. The claymore looked like a crowbar and the viking sword with it's parallel edges looked like a shovel. Even without those comments, just by their looks I could judge that they were nothing like historical weapons. And I've seen enough of those originals live to tell the difference (which in this case was huge).

PS. I do know a bit about the weights of the originals, so no education needed on that part. Thanks anyway.

 

[Swordlady]

Well, they didn't tell exact measurements, but comments like "This is so heavy, I can barely lift it" (about the viking sword) and "This weighs four times the katana" (about the claymore) tell enough. The claymore looked like a crowbar and the viking sword with it's parallel edges looked like a shovel. Even without those comments, just by their looks I could judge that they were nothing like historical weapons. And I've seen enough of those originals live to tell the difference (which in this case was huge).

So they may have been stage weapons, as opposed to historically accurate pieces. That would make a big difference...

PS. I do know a bit about the weights of the originals, so no education needed on that part. Thanks anyway.

Ah...okay. Though some other folks on this board may not have known that information.

 

[althaur]

I was hoping one of them would try the edge to spine cut. If the swords were differentially heat treated, this should have produced some better results.

 

[Cryozombie]

Well, they didn't tell exact measurements, but comments like "This is so heavy, I can barely lift it"

Yeah, but look who MADE those comments. Shes not exactly "Xena, Warrior Princess"

I bet my friends daughter would make similar comments if I handed her some of the stuff off my wall, and they are THIN wallhangers.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

One thing to remember is that they film alot of stuff that doesn't make the episode. They may have done additional tests but the results weren't exciting enough to warrant inclusion. They are also good about revisiting things if they get enough informed feedback to give them cause to. I love this show. Between it and Dirty Jobs, my evenings are robbed of productivity. LOL!

 

[Brian Jones]

It was a good episode. I like the fact that they made a difference beween wall -hangers and battle ready swords.
And I agree, you have to love "Dirty Jobs" my son and I still crack up over teh episode where the whole crew is being terrorized by a monkey.

Brian Jones

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Looks like they are doing a MB marathon today, including this episode. Check your local listings folks

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Thanks Bob!