Weird Weapons - 'Bike' chain flail

Weird Weapons with Matt Easton returns with a 1530's German chain flail that appears to have a modern bike chain connecting it together......But it isn't a modern fake, it is a real 16thC weapon.
Why use a 'bike' chain rather than a conventional chain? Let's find out whilst Tod and Matt talk about it, Matt uses it and his students spar with it.
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[@scholagladiatoria]

Such fun - having this flail sitting here at the moment (for future videos) makes me giggle every time I see it. Thanks for putting this one together Tod!

[@Kradlum]

Your laugh when you first got to play with it says it all!

[@Blandge]

Love these collaborations. It's how I heard of you, and now I've watched dozens of your videos. They're so much fun!

[@kavemanthewoodbutcher]

Always fun playing with new toys and old friends!

[@dharmabird1]

I would like to see it used with a shield. Not sure it’s historically accurate. Seems like it would be fun though.

[@tods_workshop]

Thanks Matt and always a pleasure hanging out with you. Can I also say that I love coming down to your fight camp events. Really well organised, continually interesting and full of willing guinea pigs! What's not to like.

[@ModernKnight]

Great to see this sort of experiment. Fascinating discussion and demonstration, and as usual, great weapons made by Todd!

[@Zelmel]

I love how often I see you and Tod and scholagladiatoria and others in the community posting in each other's comment sections!

[@romgl4513]

@@Zelmel Because they are good honest people with nothing to hide or be ashamed of. And no superiority complex, despite quite real uncommon abilities. True kings among men.

[@kavemanthewoodbutcher]

Agreed, and with every experiment, our knowledge grows. Funny to think that some of our best connections to the past, may be yet to come. This community is an invaluable collection of living archeology!

[@tods_workshop]

Thanks Jason, always appreciate hearing from you and I have a Weird Weapon that is right up your street........

[@ModernKnight]

@@tods_workshop ooo, let'e email or chat!

[@Omegaures]

Yooo, that's mint!

[@Plymouth888]

A chainsaw blade flail would be an interesting post-apocalypse experiment.

[@whyjay9959]

Very interesting. With the limited directions it might even work with a warhammer head.

[@CapnPicard]

Well that video was AWESOME!

[@sealo97]

Love the concept and the video and Can0t wait for the inevitable reaction to this from Shad 🤣🤣

[@azvazch]

You can have directional heads now.

[@dutchboy9273]

Wrap around a shield and break the arm behind it.

[@dennishein2812]

So how can you carry a belt knife in the UK?

[@tods_workshop]

It all depends on context and how it is viewed by the Police on public land, but this was private land, so you can wear and carry what you like in the context of this event. Although a pop festival is on private land, it would be viewed rather differently

[@DavidCollinsRivera]

"It would be fun to go at someone's kneecap with that!" Matt Easton channels his inner loanshark.

[@tods_workshop]

Yes, that comment out of context could sink a mans career

[@weaselwolf]

​@@tods_workshopalways comes back to context with Matt lol

[@SamBrownBaudot]

Matt: I was expecting this to have a thick shaft inside! Tod: Matt: I can see... it's got a knob at the end. Tod: Tod, when your costar sets you up with lines like that, you don't leave them hanging.

[@tods_workshop]

I respect Matt greatly, and it would just not be reasonable to infringe on his territory

[@rasaecnai]

Matt being a comedian lol. I laughed at the unintentional innuendo of it all

[@AnotherDuck]

@@rasaecnai With Matt it's always questionable whether it's unintentional...

[@rabeaudet]

He was waiting for Matt to give it the proper context!

[@krazedkoi]

Phrasing!

[@Khadgadhara]

Pairing it with a buckler or shield would be interesting to see

[@couchpotatoe91]

Yeah, or with a parrying dagger in the other hand. It felt weird to have the off-hand completely free.

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

@@couchpotatoe91 it was useful to have a free hand and arm against the spear i think. Against a blade a shield would enable you to do the same thing while being protected against cuts you couldnt block or derail with your bare arm like you can do against a spear.

[@michaelrn]

Yeah! That's what I was expecting to see.

[@tods_workshop]

Yes I would agree, it was an oversight of mine to not bring a shield

[@squarewheels2491]

@@tods_workshop Would be interesting to see if you can hide the angles behind your shield. Or even purposely hit the top of your shield with the shaft to make the ball whip around faster.

[@scarletcroc3821]

This seems to fix one of the biggest issues with these chain weapons, which is the chain itself. Once it hits a target, god knows where it will bounce to but a chain like this it only has one way to bounce back. All while still keeping its core attributes the same

[@tods_workshop]

A very good point and well put

[@wasabij]

Also it allows, in my mind at least, to serve a formation fighting role. Use this to deal damage and REALLY bring the shields down to make openings for the spears and such.

[@bobdrenan4402]

Fighting with just a flail seems kind of silly, a shield or at least a buckler seems almost mandatory to make up the lack of defence compared with something rigid like a sword or a longer pole.

[@IsaacKuo]

It depends on the armor situation, of course. If you're wearing plate, then having a free hand would be a lot better than holding a shield.

[@piotrjeske4599]

We used them from horseback

[@Danik0301987]

Imo, fighting with a flail would be only a fully armored thing. No reason to do it unarmored, a sword would be much better for that. But if you are in a full plate and can take a hit, you can just go with it and bypass some of the opponent's defenses with it.

[@killerkraut9179]

@@Danik0301987 Maybe you could conceal a flail better then a sword .

[@romgl4513]

@@piotrjeske4599 Good reach and combined force, great way to bash your enemy. I pity the peasant fools who opposed you.

[@pendantblade6361]

There must be something wrong with the video, Todd is talking to someone but no one is there?? Some sort of invisible man?? The voice sounds like Matt Easton.

[@13thcentury]

I have the same problem. 🤣🤣🤣

[@Hin_Håle]

Took me a while but I got it in the end. 😆

[@Rinocapz]

I saw a baseball cap floating. Weird...

[@lyndonmarquis414]

Depends on the context…

[@tods_workshop]

All OK now?

[@daroth7127]

You guys have really struck gold with this series, thease are just so entertaining, For all parties involved i might add.

[@Hin_Håle]

Matt's fit of giggles when he's bashing that tree stump is just pure joy!

[@romgl4513]

Doing basically the same thing all through my childhood, 45 years and counting!

[@leoscheibelhut940]

I think pairing the flail with a shield would make a really strong combo.

[@skoatros]

5:45 "it's almost accelerating it", well, it IS accelerating it my friend. when something is rotating with a center of mass that moves inwards the speed of rotation increase, and decrease when center of mass goes out. ice skate dansers have used this for a long time, they spin with their arms out and pull the arms in and they spin faster. you can easily test this by gently using a rope as a whip on your arm, let the end of the rope strike your arm and it's not so bad, strike at the same speed but at the middle and let the rope wrap around your arm and the end of it will strike harder. this might be where ppl get the idea that chained/roped weapons have more striking power, they do but only when striking at the middle and letting it wrap around something.

[@dejmanhonsu6930]

Well, though what you are saying is correct, it's not completely true. The effects you're talking about involve conservation of angular momentum, but here, angular momentum of the neither the weight nor the rope is conserved. The process here involves conservation of energy ( the tension of the rope acts perpendicular to motion of the weight) and thus the speed of the ball remains constant. The reason you have a very large force applied on target is because the tension in the rope is very high during the final stage of wrap(when very less rope is free) and the free ends of the rope make an angle other than 180 degrees. Even if the angle is 180 degrees, there will be a large normal force acting at each point(the sum of this force is 0 though). The ball is accelerating though as the direction of velocity is changing. Sorry if this sounds like some looser collage student's rant, but I just wanted to point out that both phenomenon are different

[@beezo2560]

The way it accelerated around the tree for a rear strike is mad. Well done Todd.

[@tods_workshop]

Thanks

[@martinfrancis1950]

Presumably a little like orbital mechanics; if you want a faster orbit you reduce the radius, (shorten the chain). Increase the radius, (lengthen the chain) and the radial velocity slows. So wrapping around the tree produces a reducing curve and an increasing velocity….

[@tods_workshop]

You have the words where it failed Matt and I. Are you THE Martin Francis?

[@martinfrancis1950]

@@tods_workshop it is indeed; not quite sure which bit of the brain that popped up from given that my academic training was in geology and my professional qualification was in surveying. I think it might have been a lifetime reading science fiction and being 13 at the time of the moon landing, greedily absorbing everything I could get my hands on about it.

[@IsaacKuo]

Wow, the gleeful laugh at bashing a tree and not feeling it "hit back" with handle shock! This thing is so nuts ... I would never have thought it was a good idea, but what do I know?

[@theghosthero6173]

This is probably why it was mainly used as cavarly weapon by turks, persians ,koreans and manchus. I would assume the "hit back" from stricking a helmet with a mace at a gallop could make you drop your weapon. With a flail? No biggy. You also have less of an issue of parrying on horseback.

[@benevolentworldexploder5395]

I think, as well, these weapons seem to take advantage of the idea that your are wearing armor. Trading a light sword strike for the full momentum of the flail does not seem a fair trade. Even if you catch the flail, that wrapping motion let's it carry the weight around the edge for a lovely strike on someone's exposed hands. I am speculating. I have always figured flails made good sense in horseback, but I am thinking about the overall scenario. If you have this weapon, something tells me you have good armor to accompany it. What a deadly device. I would have never thought about these applications before seeing it in action.

[@tods_workshop]

It is a truly nasty thing

[@lrdstrahd1]

Wow, can hardly believe they has compound chains and other ideas like that back then. Goes to show the imagination and engineering skills of peoples of the past. Very interesting concept.

[@euansmith3699]

They had compound chains, and treadles, and yet, without the pneumatic tire, it took a few hundred years to create the bicycle. Technological progress is such a complex business. 🤩👍

[@tods_workshop]

very true, some great leaps happen and then tiny details stop progress

[@garethvila5108]

@@euansmith3699 The pneumatic tire wasn't needed to create the bicycle, though. In fact, we could argue that it was one of the last parts added to the modern design of bicycles. The oldest bicycle predecessor known was created in 1817 by Karl von Drais, it had wooden wheels without tires (although some had iron bands to protect the wheel) and it didn't even have pedals (those were invented in the 1850s), but it already had a seat, a handlebar, and even a brake. In the 1860s the term "bicycle" was created (after quite a lot of versions of these vehicles had been made), and in the year 1879 the first chain-driven bicycle was made, although it would still take a couple of years for this invention to gain popularity. The tire itself was made in 1887, being, as I've said, probably the last part to create the modern bicycle. So, yeah, as you said, technological progress is a complex buisness.

[@TalRohan]

compound chain is somewhat easier to produce than linked chain because you don't need to forgeweld, it will take longer but its technically easier because all you need to be able to produce are two shapes, the "figure 8's" for the links and the rivets to hold the bits together.

[@willyvereb]

@@euansmith3699 Simply put the reason is the nature of roads vs the state of a bycicle they could get in that period. The first bicycles had wooden wheels and used wooden frame. But those were quickly replaced by more advanced variants because they just didn't work at anything but the flattest roads. It is also worth noting that the industrial revolution made these contraptions cheaper while the cost of horse transportation continued to rise. Ultimately these factors likely lead to the invention of the bike, not lack of technical skill to accomplish them.

[@tbladesmith]

I’ve suddenly realized I have everything I need for one of these in my shed

[@tods_workshop]

Go make!

[@pendantblade6361]

Now we need another exercise with the flail user with a shield!

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

DUAL WIELD THE FLAILS

[@ulrichkalber9039]

@@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis Dual wield caps lock.

[@Saberwulfy]

Do only i want to see Chain flail + shield against other weapons+shield?

[@upcyclemichael]

I love how in one small session with the flail an understanding of the weapon was evolving. Holding the head and using the whole weapon to guard, whilst still being primed to strike was great to see. Fantastic video, thanks for sharing.

[@tods_workshop]

A pleasure and yes the guys were really learning on the job, but of course in reality they would have been dead during the 'experimental' phase

[@wierdalien1]

@@tods_workshop I mean, isn't that what doing training is for?

[@upcyclemichael]

@@wierdalien1 it is but as we saw even someone as well schooled in weaponry as Matt Easton can be confronted with something he has never seen before. Luckily the world has Tod Cutler to bring us weird and wonderful killing sticks to entertain us with.

[@balazsjakabffy2556]

Nunchucks have the same guard

[@bassemb]

I feel like the roundness of the grip makes it more difficult to maintain "edge alignment", so to speak. A flatter grip would probably work better in that regard. I would be interested to see how much sideways pressure the directional chain can withstand before a link snaps, as that weight at the end is quite heavy.

[@garretisla5282]

That with a shield of some sort would be a pretty devastating combo, I'd think. It offers surprising range, and the compound chain, if experimented with, might be able to catch an unwary opponent off guard, given that it's movement range is different than a typical chain or wire.

[@ballehakan]

I wonder if you could push up your shield against the opponent and then use the acceleration flick around it to strike.

[@tods_workshop]

Yes a shield would have been a very interesting addition; apologies for not bringing one.

[@garretisla5282]

@@tods_workshop is the pommel on that hollow, or solid? Curious about that, and how it affects performance and balance! Great work by the way!

[@tods_workshop]

Solid

[@garretisla5282]

@@tods_workshop cool! Thanks for the response!

[@blackchallis]

One would not want that connecting to ones head

[@RaspK]

Fun fact: the shape of the head is a cuboctahedron, i.e. what you get by truncating the vertices of either an octahedron or hexahedron until you get to this midpoint, making it an Archimedean solid. D&D dice are Platonic solids, with the exception of d10s and d100s, and some of the more obscure ones, such as the d30. (Notably, the original d10 was actually an icosahedron that had 1..10 printed twice on its faces.)

[@wompa70]

These are always so fun to watch. Seems like flails just need more training than swords or spears.

[@johnhammond4214]

I so enjoy these weird weapon video's and having actual combatants use them the weapons and comment adds so much to the video.

[@tods_workshop]

Great and thanks

[@Adam_okaay]

that is one of the coolest most interesting "weird weapons" I've ever seen. I mean all of them have been cool but this one is just extra neat.

[@tods_workshop]

Thanks

[@velbehage]

playing LARP as a youngster, I found that I was utterly lethal using shield and flail in combo. Try it...

[@jasonr4518]

Matt was really bringing out his inner child with how much fun he was having hitting that tree. Lots of fun to watch!

[@autumnrain7626]

Sounds dangerous, as all fun things are! 😁 Also, first!

[@chrisanderson2368]

"Difficult to feint with" might indicate this type of weapon was used from the defensive, stronger position of a battle. Maybe a single blow to disable a shield, then switch to other melee wep.

[@ButterBallTheOpossum]

You should get somone who is an expert at using Nunchucks to fight with the flail. A lot of nunchuck techniques would be perfect for this weapon

[@UselessEdit5]

I'm wondering if you could pair this with a buckler or perhaps a dagger in the left hand, and if that pairing would help mitigate the problem of having "spent" the flail's momentum and then being open to attack. The attempt to "snipe" the knee would probably have worked out better if our flail man was able to use something to cover his head during the attack.

[@tando6266]

Some physics. As the chain wraps around the distance between the end mass and the pivot point gets shorter, conservation of momentum requires the velocity to get higher. The energy is the velocity squared resulting in a much higher energy impact.

[@Matt_Alaric]

This seems like it should be used like other top heavy weapons (war hammers, 1 handed axes, etc) and paired with a shield. That way you can make full use of its offensive abilities while mitigating its defensive weaknesses.

[@farcenter]

Love it! Please more destructive tests with it! Flexible weapons are greatly misunderstood/ highly contested in terms of their power vs ridges impact weapons. Would love to see it tested vs a mace of the same head design and length! The main question is do they hit harder? If so is it that the speed of the head accelerates faster then tip of ridged weapon of same length, or is it because they can dump more of their kinetic energy into the target. Or potentially they are weaker due to the lack of added follow through power that can be added to the mace?

[@tods_workshop]

They are certainly interesting in how the flexibility changes so many aspects of their use and the energy imparted. Thanks for the compliments

[@skogstjuven]

I can be wrong but you have armor gloves and arms why not use them to block the sword and move in a hit? that's me assuming the chain flail is for armed combat?

[@mistahanansi2264]

"If Mad Max had a mace, that would've been it." Oh, don't I quite agree 😆

[@ButterBallTheOpossum]

You should do a collaboration with the witch king of Angmar and let him show you how it's done!

[@dallenhumpherys7911]

What?! No pommel jokes yet?! This looks like it could be great for ending someone rightly.

[@adamsbja]

I really like the humility in these sorts of videos. The stereotypical show of this type would be hyped up about "is this junk, what's the best weapon" but the approach of "this was used, can we figure out why" reveals a lot more. It reminds me of when a college friend got a kukri and as soon as I picked it up I could feel how it was supposed to be used and where the weight was. I'd thought of it from pictures as a stylishly bent flat blade but holding it was like holding an axe, I found it interesting the reaction I had compared to his (granted, much cheaper and poorly-made) longsword. Weapons are tools, and unless there's other factors most tools have a design that guides their use.

[@tods_workshop]

Thanks for the compliments and this statement is exactly the words that I have never quite found - thank you "Weapons are tools, and unless there's other factors most tools have a design that guides their use."

[@ArniesTech]

Next: Car engine timing chain flail 💪😅

[@motaman8074]

I read it as " fail" , and was waiting for it to break. Duh

[@tods_workshop]

Quite!

[@promiscuous5761]

Thank you.

[@LuxisAlukard]

Second British collaboration video today! Awesome!

[@forfreefuture7705]

I was thinking, why not equip a one hand sword or dagger in the other hand of the flail? When the flail gets entangled you could easily stab someone who has a two handed weapon like the long sword. What do you think? It seems like the other hand away from the flail is not needed and free to be weaponized. Or a small shield?

[@tods_workshop]

The problem with this kind of theorising is that on one level I agree with you so that makes this weapon largely useless, but on the other hand they used them, so what do they know that we don't?

[@sliceofbread2611]

it might not have the thick shaft you expected, but at least it has a knob on the end.

[@kahn04]

Am I the only one who took one look at that beautiful thing and thought “both ends look like they’d hurt” ? 🤪

[@puntellipuna1061]

“Thick shaft inside” and “its got a knob on the end” man I can’t be the only one who heard that poorly

[@tods_workshop]

You heard it right, I have just been trained to not react

[@ShagadelicBY]

Lord Flashheart next to Matt 11:02

[@lyzbrown7964]

That's my boyfriend. I'm dying laughing, I'm never going to be able to unsee it now 🤣🤣🤣

[@theromanorder]

Tod... can u make a video on what gose on in that BEAUTIFUL BRAIN of yours....

[@tods_workshop]

Much things

[@theromanorder]

@@tods_workshop well whatever happens in there please keep doing your great work you've taught me more then school can lol

[@tullochgorum6323]

So Tod is showing us "a shaft with a knob at the end". Seems like he's aiming at a whole new audience...

[@tods_workshop]

Yes, yes

[@joesikkspac7904]

You should really be aiming to smash your opponents hands with the weight on the flail. Chip away. You don't fell a tree in one swing. The tiring problem is compensated by allowing its momentum to move it. I worked knock-out/shake-out at Neenah Foundry and you will NEVER last an hour, let alone a 10 hour day swinging a 10lb maul the way the vast majority of people swing. We usually used the 6lb heads because we got more energy from speed than weight. Swing it like a baseball bat. Once it's moving, your core pulls it through the strike. We were cracking 40mm x 40mm square riser contacts like nobody's business. The only time we really used 10lb ones or even 20lb were to smash through tangled gating or to break up cores.

[@couchpotatoe91]

Can you elaborate on what exactly you were doing? Maybe it's because I'm not a native, but it's not engorely clear to me just from reading you comment. It sounds interesting though.

[@ShagShaggio]

That has to be my favorite mace that I've seen. Beautiful weapon! Great video! Thanks for sharing! Cheers!

[@tods_workshop]

Mine too! It looks so odd and menacing

[@romgl4513]

Got here early. No regrets.

[@dan_the_dj]

Can we get the source of those pictures/documents? Id very much like to see the thing in more detail. Thanks.

[@tods_workshop]

They were from an archive sale of Herman Historica

[@dan_the_dj]

@@tods_workshop Thanks. Too bad there arent higher quality pics though.

[@JeffBilkins]

The mock fight tests are really interesting, maybe a slow-motion of the hits would be nice to better understand what is going on.

[@tods_workshop]

Yes, I agree, next time around

[@fryeday]

I find the weird weapons series of videos very fascinating, and look forward to them.

[@themomaw]

There's almost a sort of equalizing weirdness and uncertainty with flails. Even experienced fighters are reluctant to really get stuck in, because it's so wildly unpredictable what's going to happen when the head starts bouncing or wrapping. It's like fighting with axes except the axes can just go haywire when you try to parry them I would really love to see sparring with flails PLUS SHIELDS. With the utmost of caution because I expect this combination of tools would be exceedingly deadly.

[@carlredbird3054]

Really nice recreation, definitely extremely powerful for it's size and weight. Most important part of the chain is that it absorbs the shock of the strike. A good way to tell the difference in hand shock pain from vibration, is to hold a metal pole very tightly and slam it onto a rock or concrete ground. then do it with a chain weapon. The chain weapon will be painless after absorbing all vibrations, the metal pole will hurt after one strike

[@Jutte777]

They handled the flail exactly like sword guys- big stiff arm movements. You have to think of it more like nun-chuku or a short flail. Have to think/use in terms of angles and different size circles. Small movements at the wrist create different speeds - while linear movements of the fore arm/ wrist can create an almost straight linear strike. The next problem is the handling the strike and the different angles that can take. The chained mace/flail can be seen from an illustration from "The Travels of Marco Polo", circa 1410, showing an armored "Mamluk" with a short, spiked flail tucked into his belt. For some reason this weapon was the favourite for the metal work shop High School boys back in the day - the teachers never seemed to mind. Different times for sure..

[@LostBeetle]

I think you guys should stop even counting the tiny insignificant sword strikes as they wouldn't have done anything with any kind of protection.

[@Locksden]

A "chain whip" (jiu jie bian) can do the "big circles / defensive weave" they mentioned, and could get around the saber (NB: not necessarily without a counter cut :) I can't see it being much use against armor though - the distribution of weight is completely different. They do that "accelerate if blocked in the center" thing too (see "three dumbbells"), but again, the net effect is less because there's so much less weight at the end.

[@oneshotme]

Nice Tod! Another close call with your camera LOL Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up for the support of your channel

[@alexanderlapp5048]

Now what if the chain had little blades? Think chainsaw blade but not quite like that. The chain could do some devastating damage. Also I wonder if the chain links were semi fixed close to the handle and gradually becoming more free flexing towards the tip. This video somehow inspired me to think of improvements to historical weapons that have little use today. I suppose it could be used for demonstrations. Possibly be used for cutting brush but it would take lots of engineering, craftsmanship, and trial and error to produce an obsolete tool that is dangerous but cool looking.

[@SicMetalMaggot4life]

Feels like the single-hand flail presents some unique defensive and offensive elements, but not sure I’d want to go into a battle with this as my main weapon. Chasing down fleeing, exhausted knights and peasants? Sure! Tournament with wacky weapons? Definitely! 1 v 1 deadly combat? Eh. Straight-up battlefield? Ehhhhh…

[@loganhonors4154]

Curious if this was inspired by the chain flail replica from tod's workshop. Kinda crazy that people were using this idea for a weapon 600 years ago.

[@johmyh14]

Can it end someone rightly?

[@perniciouspete4986]

Certainly could if you swing it upward between the legs.

[@tods_workshop]

yes

[@leppeppel]

It seems like a bit of a missed opportunity to put a rotationally symmetric head on a directional chain. I'd like to see a hatchet head with a hammerface on the back side mounted to one of these.

[@CyberJellos]

Wow the different chain design really seems to be a big improvement for the one handed flail. It looks so much more controllable.

[@tods_workshop]

Yes it really did change it from regular chain

[@skyvenrazgriz8226]

Clearly you have to dual the flail

[@lysander3262]

A novel weapon for a knight to bludgeon unskilled peasants with, for sure. "Caddy! I mean, squire! This blade's gone dull. I think I'll use the Platonic solid flail for the rest of the day's work" "Excellent taste, m'lud"

[@frotz661]

How strong is the chain part? It seems that if struck from the side, the chain would easily break. I've seen something similar in video games and paper-and-pencil role-playing games: the sword-whip. Think longer 1-plane links with blades on them. I dismissed such weapons as unworkable fantasies because of that side-to-side weakness. Now seeing this flail in action makes me think a sword-whipe could possibly work.

[@muninrob]

RE: Similar techniques to nunchaku. Well, they ARE both weaponized versions of the grain flail. neat trivia: the chain reduces hand-shock & fatigue a LOT compared to the mace like threshing devices that preceded the flail.

[@freedomisntfreeffs]

This is really interesting, since local groups in the Congo during the early 1960s congo Crisis commonly used clubs that had bike chains attached to them as weapons (without a ball/weight at the end of it). There is one event in particular where a Swedish UN soldier was attacked by a group wielding these in a refugee camp. Luckily he survived, but the injuries looked nightmarish. google at you own risk.

[@enamaguilar3548]

Me dio mucha ternura cuando el señor Tod preguntó "a simple question, do you like it?" nuevo subscriptor greetings from Venezuela

[@warpdriveby]

If that isn't a demonstration/display piece, can you imagine the arms and shoulders on it's wielder? Their wrists alone would be staggeringly strong! I've trained with a couple different one handed swords, even my first lightest one, about 1.75K had me hoping my arm would just fall off already after 10 minutes, maybe 5! I worked as a smith/artist for years, and did a lot of hand forging. Even with that, the swords engage muscles differently and use others entirely! My wrists were up to it, and elbows too, but my shoulders (both actually when holding a shield) were totally fried out!

[@wiremonkeyelectric]

Try the mace as a two handed weapon, only not as you’d think.. Shaft in one hand ball in the other. Target the opponent’s hand. (I’ve had a very successful D&D character, so I’m something of an expert.) 🍻

[@bernardputersznit64]

the ENTS SHALL be marching upon you two shortly - tree murdering nerdettes!!! ;-) JK - loved this

[@13thcentury]

Love it. Mad Max meets Medieval. And in previous years, never really liked Matt. But... now? He's pretty cool. 👍

[@derstoffausdemderjoghurtis]

interesting.. what didnt you like about him?

[@tods_workshop]

Harsh - lovely bloke! Also laughs when he uses a flail; what's not to like?

[@RamadaArtist]

Of course a German engineered flail would include parts from a car engine, 300 years before car engines were invented.

[@WrongParadox]

cube (6 sides 8 corners) trim corners gives 14 sides - that's not a standard gaming dice (4,6,8,10,12,20)

[@vukizbeograda7977]

I suppose what was original chain look like. Chane was not made from rings, it's made from oval plates with two wholes, conect to each others, logicly every plate is in angle of 90' to next plate. Segment of the chane is look like number "8" with smaller wholes. Snape of the plate like number 8, but wholes was on some distance to each other. Sorry because my poor english.

[@TheHellSpawn000]

There really isn't any historical documentation of how a flail was used on the battlefield. I Have been practicing Bart Cham Dao ( Butterfly short swords) hu tou gou ( Hook Swords ) and Waxwood staff since i was 8 and i picked up Iaido when i was 16. For the past 8 years i have been messing with the flail wondering how it was used and to be completely honest i believe it was a weapon that was given to Prisoners that were sent to war and that is because it is equally as dangerous to its user as it is to their enemy, I personally use it with a shield and the shield i constructed has a steel ring around it (which i made to look like scales), I armor up the left side of my body but keep my right hand free of any armor and one thing i found out is you never swing it wildly, it really is more of a counter weapon so i would imagine blocking, parrying or bashing with a shield was common then a follow up blow with the flail because once you swing it, it is very hard to keep that ball moving if it impacts something, spikes were POSSIBLY put on the ball to help with armored oponents but i believe that the flail really was a weapon much like the Falchion where it was primarily used by knights to combat a peasant uprising and wasn't used in full scale combat because of its construction. Now a friendly warning: For people thinking of messing around with a flail: Don't. I cant stress enough how dangerous a flail is, a 1 pound steel ball alone on the end of a chain is more than enough to break bone and do serious damage. Don't mess around with one of them and if you don't take my advice, at least take extra care to protect your torso, neck and head. When i decide to swing mine around i wear full armor on my torso, head and neck because i have gotten some serious injuries from a flail, one of which was 2 broken ribs and that was from a 2 pound ball.

[@AGermanFencer]

Hnh. Hermann Historica sells ... dubious stuff too though. Most is described well, but still. Not saying there is bad intent or anything. The antiques market as a whole is just so riddeled with fakes its a shame... HH is still a good house. Always been a content customer myself. :)

[@erniemathews5085]

A directional flail, focused. A very damaging and useful weapon, it seems. Thanks for showing us this winner..

[@EmergencyChannel]

If they both were wearing full plate armor, a sword would be very ineffective unless hitting a weak spot in the armor. A full mace hit, even on plate is going to have some effect.

[@mace8873]

Damn, that thing looks absolutely _brutal!_ It reminds me a bit of a German WWI spring-type trench club, on steroids.

[@ibrahimshokry4084]

Great Video, But how about adding a ball bearing - on top of the stick - where the chain meets the stick?. That would allow the flail to twist and turn in all possible directions

[@adambulmash6880]

Idea for another Weird Weapon: The trident dagger/gauche. I would love to see it in a comparison video with the sword breaker. Which is more effective at catching blades? How exactly does it work? Would make an interesting video.

[@jaysbob]

This strikes me as something that could be used from horseback. Seems like it would lend itself to laying about you with downward strokes on the tops of people's heads and shoulders, like a flexible horseman's hammer. The extra control could prevent you from accidentally injuring your animal while a regular flail could be more difficult. No idea if that's period correct for it or not but it's just what occurred to me seeing it used in this video.

[@nathanielbrill1523]

I think the format for the testing wasn't the best, I don't have a better suggestion though. A flail would be for fighting a heavily armored opponent, preferrably with heavy armor yourself.

[@mrnapop]

At the last skirmish dual the the guy sort of 'half swords' it, cocking it as the blond oxford dude said, but while holding the tip. it seemed alot more controlable and and fast striking, answering to the grey haired dude "firing it straight ahead" disadvantage, and also for parrrying. having a buckler would make the disadvantage of the 'reloading' needed quite diminished, as one could shield themselves from counter attacks. awesome