My first bigger colaboration is mayby something for you too. The HEMA equipment shop "Dominus Gladius" build a save flanged mace for my sparring and training. dominusgladius.com/flanged-mace-ver.1/

I used to be an adventurer like you. Then I took a mace to the knee, kept adventuring for another five years, met my wife and finally settled on a farm.

This show why pietro monte recommanded an ~ 90 cm "mace" with a head like a pollaxe, hand protection, and a grip long enough to allow two handed use (mostly used on horseback IIRC). He recommanded targeting the head and the hands. The only two techniques he describes are: "hold his weapon with your left hand and hit him hard" and "use your weapon with two hands and overpower the enemy".

Dequitem is single-handedly carrying the sword community beyond the realms of theory and skill into the realms of realistic rehearsal, and it's really unbelievable how much useful information we can get out of this... So thank you very much Dequitem. I wish I was rich to pay you for the effort, but for now make no mistake; your value on KZfaq for people who love fighting, historical fighting, everything armors, and weapons, cannot be praised enough. Thank you. Also thank you to your friend/comrade/sparring partner for all the sparring he does, as it is a very important part of all the testing and such. Cheers from Spain! 🗡️🙏

This is so unexpected that such weapond doesn't deal much damage to the armor at all. thank you for sharing!

This is such a cool channel

This seems safe

4:28 bro just straight up steals his opponent's dagger lmao

My day is made better whenever I see you have a new video. Thank you for the great content! You are inspiring this buhurt fighter to get into Harnischfechten!

It's meant to give concussion. A vomiting knight is easier to catch. That mace is however very effective against mail.

Loving these videos testing out different weapons and armor

Huh, I never really considered the idea of using a mace in mounted combat, but you make a some really good arguments for its use as such. I always learn something new, or get a different perspective on a topic from these weapon analysis videos. Great job once again.

Awesom job. Putting your body to the hazard in the name of research

Great content as usual Ser Dequitem

Thank you! This was a very interesting test and a surprising (to me) result

Ah the weapon of a cleric. If we don't convince you to follow our lord. Our trusty mace will.

Those armours are really fascinating

Your videos are so awesome! Love watching these :)

Only discovered your channel not that long ago but man your vids are incredible, this channel is a hidden gem

Loved this video man, well done

Great video brother as always👍👍👍

A new Dequitem video, my week is complete and its only Thursday. (Also we need some 'Dequitem' merch).

yeah, against hardened steel it's gonna do nothing, you need spring or carbon steel to simulate medieval plate realistically, hardened is too strong...

Thanks for the research

Another outstanding video 👍...When the leather strap tore from the rivet it answered a question i was going to say...in that straps and rivets are more vunerable than the armour itself and could, if damaged impact mobility etc...But good job you make your armour well 😁

More of this please!!

hell yeah new Dequitem drop

It really makes sense that a one handed weapon wouldn't be the best choice to fight armor. But the question is, what about being hit with the blunt side of a poleaxe? Has to be even more unpleasant, no? another thing that I don't know about. During such periods, plate armor was something from the elite. But how common was chainmail? or any other kind of armor, that wasn't as expensive. Because a mace would definitely make sense against such. I'm just wondering if the purpose of weapons was based on which enemy they would find the most.

Found the video. Pretty good test. I do worry the armour is not fixed in place, however, so you'll get far less damage. You also ought to try sharpening those flanges, so they really bite in. Not safe for sparring, of course, but if you want to make a hideous dent, it'll help a lot. Have to keep in mind that a one handed weapon against the best armour like trying to stop a tank with a hand-grenade--you can, but it's tricky. Same with daggers and swords--maile is not easy to pierce. Like Matt said in his response, maces are good against intermediate armour, as it's obvious to everyone that warhammers and picks are more dedicated anti-armour weapons.

"Bash 'em, lads!"

underrated channel

Your armor is OP...

Good job 👍

epic.

good, thank you

I always thought a mace would be a good side weapon for heavy cavalry as their height would give them access to the head, but I never realized how short maces were.

Reminds me of the failures of baton and club in unarmored defense. 4:08

Never used it vs mail or plate but i have a replica of a 16th century italian mace and i broke with every swing a rip on a pork carcass. I love my mace x)

Hey Dequitem, I really enjoy your videos they are visualy very interresting and informativ. Wich steel did you use for the mace and Armor?

I thought the mace head would be bigger like fist size. Also thought they are at least 2KG and function like a pick with multiple edges. Guess it's used for chain mail?

Another great video. Thanks for sharing. Will you be at the Way of Honour Buhurt competition in August?

I love those spaulders of yours. Are they based off of any particular example?

I wish each strike was followed by a close up still of each strike in succession. Also, an overhead mapview of each place of battle would be great as well

I wounder who would get the better advantage from helmet design, that gave better all round vision. So you no what your enemy is trying to do.

Someone else noticed the ruin of Burg Regenstein in the background? 😄

the principale difference is taht attached on your boduly this piece of metal can't flip and deflect.part of the energy recieved

I’ve always been fascinated by this type of dueling/warfare. I realize movies don’t constitute the most legitimate source for understanding how they really fought back then. WHAT REALLY INTERESTS ME; -What characteristics shaped and effectuated the most formidable and successful fighters???? Characteristics similar to what comprises a modern day professional athlete?? -What constituted the look of an authentic fight? Was it a dance of skill??? A bull rush of brutal strength??? Or more like a brawl, that ended up more a wrestling match? -Did skill or strength dictate, or a combination of both?? What other traits made the best the best??? Thanks for any info. A video dedicated specifically these concepts would be absolutely enthralling. The QUESTION BEING, Have we ever really seen what a truly authentic fight resembled from the Mid-evil times/Dark Ages????

Great video! I know you say it's intuitive but I think you should use it more as if you are going for a knockout punch i.e plant your feet, torque from the legs and hips and strike through the target rather than using more upper body and arms hitting at the target. (This is all conjecture as I've never used a mace just going off boxing experience and not meaning any offence!).

About safety in general, have you had any injuries from being hit in training or fights?

Awesome video! What about a similar video but for the Bec de corbin or a pollaxe?

I've watched this video like 9 times

Try that with a 36 inch 8 lb head sledge hammer. I would find a longer handle if they exist Just test it on a shield where someone holds the shield and for the rest test on armor that is on a stand where you test downward shoulder upper shots near the helmet and one with maybe an old helmet on a stand. You can block with a sledge hammer since most of the mass is in the head. You just move the handle around. Also see if you can knock a shield out of someones hands if a swing of the hammer goes over the top and you immediatly try to graple the shield off with the hammer. Also try hitting someones hand through the shield and build up until they feel the shield is at the limit.

Aqua sent me here!

What's something that you'd want to try, but can't for safety reasons?

A mace hit might not outright destroy armor, but it's gotta hurt a lot.

Are there any maces with spikes or dagger-like blades on the other end (grip end)? Though it might take away some of the striking mass on the mace end, I could see closing and using it to stab gaps in the armor could have worked.

Also, it seems like a mace is a very good, less-then-lethal weapon against unarmored people? For example being the medieval version of the local police would be interested in maces I think? Cheap, easy to use, and wont instantly kill anyone that its used against.

very interesting video, and well done. congrats of gaining 98.4k subscribers, your channel is growing fast. videos like this make me love history more, God bless you, Jesus loves you.

You said you made your own weapon, did you make your own armor as well? If so how did you learn to make such incredible armor and if not where could one purchase similar armor?

Just wondering where you do your fighting, I always think the locations look great.

It would be really cool to give you horse riding lessons. Im curious what you could learn if you'd practice on horseback.

💜

Have you thought of simulating skirmishes or bigger battles ? I assume that wrestling on the ground will be less usefull if someone can strike your back while you try to stab with your dagger. I know there are 5v5 Battles but it seems more like MMA in Armor 😅

Are you from Saxony? It looks like the type of forrest we have on our hills in North Bohemia... you know, Děčín region, Czech Schweiss next to Sachsische Schweiss....

💖

from what i seen in buhurt only the two handed axes/poleaxe are able too that

Just wondering about the exhaustion factor when fighting in full plate. How long do you think a fit and well trained knight or man at arms could maintain an assault for, before having to retreat to recover?

Can you do a video on the different types of helmet? I'm interested in your opinion and I wanna know what has the best visibility

Mace is for joints and head not shoulderpads or gauntlets. there is literally nothing we have to pierce or dmg proper armor until gunpowder. but if a cav hits you with mace on gallop to head you be sure to instant brain smush. Also why jennissaries learned how to wrestle and slap is coz of european armor usage in warfare. i work on steelworks i did try many steels with heavy machinery on amazing forces couldnt even properly damage it at that point i realized fully clad armored soldiers are tanks of the era and there is no way to kill them properly. thats also why gunpower changed whole concept of using armor not just coz of range advance downs sides were so much more then using close quarter weapons but armor was ineffective on certain parts yes you can deflect arquebus bullet with proper thick breastplate but your limbs and head are no humanly way to be thick to deflect it. if you ask me in my head ofc most battles looks like wrestling in the mud and zerging down enemy with pointy sticks or daggers thats also why its amazingly brutal. in a way this conculusion explains how roman soldiers won or stand days in a circle without budging against poor opponents even scale type armors they wear hold so good against weapon of the era they literally can stand in formations it looks like armor is godlike against anyweapon man can wield until gunpowder. then all man become equal as samuel colt says.

I permanently have one question about the sizes of weapon reproductions. People were smaller in the middle ages than we are today. Shouldn't those reproductions be bigger and heavier as we grew up? Thank you for the excellent video and for sharing your experiences!

Some would say fist is an ineffective weapon too, and it's mostly true. Most men don't know how to throw a punch, even when one do, human hand is too fragile to last in almost any combative scenario. But then we got certain people who can end a fight within seconds with punches when certain conditons met, but it's not because their hand are different from other human, they're just flesh and bone, it's the body mechanic they're used to, and the timing, angles and such. This experiment is useful to show the limitations of a tool. But remember it's not just about the weapon, but also the person using the weapon. Iow, we need more sample before we can make conclusion of mace's effectiveness against armor.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the most common material still iron or even low grade steel even in the 15th to 16th century? Couldn't that have had an effect on the effectiveness of maces compared to modern steel?

Would the test maybe be more accurate if the armor piece is actually attached to a dummy or something that is more firmly in place? The fact that the stand does not have a lot of mass and can even fall over, and that the armor is able to bounce and flop around on that stand, means that a great deal more energy and damage potential from the mace is dissipated. Does that sound about right?

I would love to see some 2v1s or 3v1s having poorly equipped individuals versus a full plate knight to compare various weapons vs weaker armor not sure if it would be safe to do though

Super interesting, where does the idea that mace is good against armor comes from if it is not true (at least in context of plate armour)? It is anti armour weapon in pretty much every video game, I myself am guilty of presenting it like this.

Is staff mace weapon a good idea? bludgeoning DMG+longer range.

Do you think a mace might be more effective against armour that was hardened in less consistent historical methods? Modern forging is almost close to perfect compared to in the middle ages.

So if maces aren't powerful enough to be good at armored fighting and aren't long enough to be good at unarmored fighting, what are they for?

may i ask where your armor is from its beautiful id like to buy a set eventually

I have not read any mentions of using a mace during a battle or a small skirmish or I have seen some really few depictions of late medieval art depicting maces in battle, (if anyone knows various depictions feel free to recommend me), but I personally believe for such a weapon to still exist during these specific eras (mid 14th century - the entirety of the 15th and beyond ), it must have been used by people both in battle and sometimes, possibly in duels and not just on horseback. I believe (this is just my opinion, as I, again, say have not read any real life historical mentions of maces during battle), that they were used to knock armoured people off be it knights, men at arms or average civilians and peasants who could afford some plate armor , if they could knock them off at least and then either killing them with daggers or taking them for ransom, just as you said. It least that's my opinion for observing how the mace works and worked in mostly armored people.

Before i finish the video... Yes, but terms & conditions applied.

i wonder about, in a duel, being able to strike the back of the knee. there is no armour behind the knee, so how difficult is it to hook a swing to land behind the knee, to a resisting armoured opponent, to damage the knee and possibly immobilize with a single or just a couple blows

*bonk*

would a morningstar be much different than a flanged mace, the morningstar appears to have better spikes for piercing

so.. given the maces of the 12-1300s had smaller shafts and even lighter heads.. in the early ages of plate.. what do you forsee those even ligfhter maces doing.. yknow, when the head is like 300g of bronze.. even if its mostly mail with some plate..

what titanium alloy do you use for your armor Sir.?

The mace doing not that much makes more sense to me when I realize the armor is made of the same metal and is hardened similarly.

Hello, can you test a godendag please?

Huh. Well, so full plate does make you a medieval tank after all. A question arises, how do you even kill a knight in a pitched battle, where you're supposed to fight in ranks and thus cannot go for the grapple+dagger where it hurts combo?

How does it feel to get hit with one-handed swords, one-handed blunts, two-handed swords and polearms when in full armor?

what kind of armor are you using while talking to the camera?

yo you need someone to be in the armor and test it on him that will be amazing (btw im down to become a test dummy )

How would it feel to take a crossbow shot in such armor?

🗿👍

Pretty handy for mob control I would think. If you aren't armoured then who would pick an argument against a fully armoured knight with one?

Maybe they used it against weakly armoured opponents, peasantry or such, I don't know 😅

These maces seem like administrative weapons for baliffs. They didnt want to kill criminals without trial.

Why not use the big Flanged Mace that can be wielded with 2 hands???? Those seem more effective. More weight, more damage.

What about the Ottoman mace?

Two things other than unarmord persons that are effective things to hit. Swords. Horses. Neither do I recommend testing.