"Against her neighbor" Joke or not, it NEVER crossed my mind that people probably used crossbows and short bows as home defense, alongside melee weapons

The loading process is so much faster than the heavyweight crossbow. Significantly less powerful I would imagine, but you can definitely see the advantage of the light weight version

The great advantage of these crossbows was that they were very easy to use and required minimal training. They also put less strain on the body both in the long term and for your short term stamina.

This man is the hickock45 of old weapons

That zip as the bolt flies past the camera is very satisfying. Granted, I only feel that way because the bolt isnt being shot at me lol

The sound of that bolt flying towards you is terrifying. Imagine laying siege to a well defended castle and hearing those land around you.

Kevin Hicks - he’s a legend. Love his videos.

I'm playing a crossbow user in Dungeons and Dragons. A light crossbow has the Loading property, which means that even if you're a character who can attack more than once in a turn, you can't do so with a crossbow. Now I know why!

"Oh, help me mummy!" 🤣😂🤣😂 Love your content brother!

I like this guy, I have seen him in things like this for years. He encompasses everything I think of when I think of a professional Medieval soldier like a Sargent at arms.

The flying bolt certainly does have a triumphant "WWWWiiiZZZZ" sound...!

You must have some terrible neighbors if you have to batten down the hatches and start letting loose with a light crossbow. Thank you for sharing this.

Thank you for any great video Mr. Hicks . Did you see the crossbow bolt featured in the Castle building series the point was iron installed through a hole in the nose. And then the other end is split and a single piece of leather is installed for the fletching.

1:00 that's a really nice detail! thank you Kevin and History Squad

most medieval crossbows in europe are not made of steel, but composite and wood prods. so a 200lb @ 20" wood prod would be about as powerful as a 500lb@10" steel crossbow approximately. the earliest steel prods are from the burgundian army of 15th century

Are we going to ignore that this lad hit a bullseye in the last shot?

Excellent explanation and demonstration.

Wow the sound it makes as it comes in!!

I was so happy to see a proper crossbow with a roller nut instead of the thumb release used by the sca.

Long Live Kevin Hicks!

A very handy looking crossbow. Two points if I may; what would be the effective range of a bow like this against opposing troops and do you need rail lube as you do with modern xbows? Excellent video as always. Thanks for posting.

Well presented and very entertaining. Would like to see a video demonstrating the impact and penetration of arrows/bolts at maximum range on armour and various materials as we read of armies attacking at maximum range many times, Towton etc. I guess you will need to be a good shot at maximum distance !!

Excellent insight into the weapons of the past. Amazing how a weapon that old is still working, although I guess it’s had some servicing. I’ve been thinking about trying archery for a while - this has made me more keen; thanks 👍

Great channel, I don't know how it hasn't appeared in my recommendations or searches for me til recently.

Love the cheeky smile after he said he got the man behind him. Great vid as always!

Its as simple as that. Thanks for sharing Kevin.

enjoyed the demonstration thank yew

The crossbows that really impressed me were the Chinese Repeating Crossbows. From the way they worked, I'm guessing they were considered light crossbows. They kind of remind me of the modern Czech Skorpion Machine Pistol. Not the most accurate at a distance, but able to put out enough fire to keep an enemy's head down.

very helpful for modeling, ty (:

Just came across your videos, really interesting

Wow - beautiful.

Love it last shot almost dead center

Omg i just love this man

really cool!

Ah, so crossbow bolts do whistle! I always thought that was a hollywood thing. It must be terrifying to hear that sound whizzing by during the war of the roses.

In terms of firearms, I would consider the speed of loading of a heavyweight crossbow similar to a flintlock, this lightweight bow somewhat like a percussion muzzleloader and the long or short bow somewhere around that of a bolt-action repeater. This is not a claim about combat effectiveness.

Great channel. Really interesting.

Very well !

This guy is amazing

I love these. Keep them coming Kevin

20 seconds per shot! And Kev wasn't even in too much of a hurry either.

Love these. Could you do a demonstration on first world war trench raids?

This is nice

kev, nice to see your going strong, once met you on the moat of Warwick castle, when you were doing one of your excellent, demonstrations, full of dark humor lol, you inspired me then, back in 2004 i think it was. I now produce my own range of bolts, cheers kev. shame i missed you at chepstow castle, im only down the road at Raglan castle.

I have an 80 lb crossbow from 1970, and ten point crossbow at 150 lb from 1999. I used a crossbow for a few years after a back injury on the job in 1997. In 2005 I was back to my longbow after much physical therapy three times a week for years 🎯

Wow, a simple and effective system!

"I got the bloke behind 'em"

delightful lesson! how were these carried tho? in the back?

Fantastic

This man living the dream

Awesome! We need more of these.

Hi Kevin, new subscriber here. can you tell me what the circular tab at the end of the 'goats foot lever' is for? it's hinged and looks like it has a purpose rather than just for decoration.

Kevin, this was a great demonstration. What is the poundage of this particular crossbow?

Looks a lot better to use that the big one you showed with the two hand crank. I image that one might have been used in hunting as well.

One of the benefits of these is that when you shoot, you don't risk Tinnitus.

Wow these are cool videos. Sorry if this is a stupid question. What has more range, the cross bow or the long now?

"Oh! I got the blok behind him." :D

"Help me Mummy!!!!" LOL 😂👍👍

You are spanning it wrong. Check the hinged upper plates on 15 c goat foots - they have a hook. This hook is used not only for transportation but also to keep plate in place while spanning. Reverse the plate so it is under the belt and pressed to the the lower belly over the leg, hook goes over the belt. Now you can span the crossbow using both hands and (which is even more important in battle) without removing the goat foot from the belt. 150-200 kilos bow could be spanned with ease this way. And there is no need to disfigure the stock ;) If you check photos of pre-WWI crossbow societies members they even have special belts with additional padding under the plate, allowing them to span even heavier bows with goat foots.

“Help me, mummy!” 😂

God’s breath! I can’t quit watching this channel‼️ 😦

Fun fact: in Skyrim, the Dawnguard crossbow has built-in goat foot lever on it.

"Bullseye!" 🎯 "like Robin Hood, 🏹 little John, blink in, Achoo, will scarlet O'Hara, and the merry men." 🚹

I'm considering using one for deer/hog hunting

I could spend weeks on end listening to his stories, and asking him stupid questions. (OH, the multitude of stupid questions I’d have for him…probably wouldn’t take’em long to start looking for the front door) 😂

Would be cool to see what kinda range that thing has

Thank you very much for a great demonstration. What is the range for this particular crossbow?

What a simple, fine-looking Crossbow. The goat-fot is one of the simplest reloads Ive ever seen for a crossbow. Does this type of crossbow "have a name"? Or is it just a crossbow reloaded with a Goat foot?

A fearsome weapon even for today. Lolol.

thx to you understood how crossbows work, need it info 'couse my job (3d artist) :D

So what is the loop on the end used for on this crossbow? Usually I see people put their foot in it while drawing the string back like he does with the heavy crossbow, but he doesn't use it here.

That was a really great testing, but what do you think whats actually better: a Crossbow or a regular Bow?

Hello Kevin! Do you have any idea how many pounds of force it takes to draw this Crossbow? Also, have you ever shot any of these Bolts through a Chronograph to measure its' speed? Please let me know Mate!! BTW...Nice video!!

I remember some crossbows here in Spain shoot metal or stone balls. It's a special kind of crossbow of it is something that you can do with every kind of xbow?

“oh i missed him, i got the bloke behind him” 😭😭😭

What was the distance roughly? And how would a strong wind affect the weapon?

you should get Quick Charge III

Where can I buy one of these nice crossbows though? I’m a huge crossbow fan and would love to have this or similar exemplary in my collection

Hey! Awesome video! I'd like to ask something, tho. Would these light crossbows be an effective weapon in the battlefield? Because despite their poundage, the lack of drawlengh tends to make them lose a lot of force.

What's the range of these things? How did they do against different types of armour? Tod's workshop showed what a windlass crossbow can do, but those seemed rare and relagated to more elite units. What about lighter ones?

I like this lightweight crossbow; easier to load, lighter, faster. The white rose inset surely makes it more accurate 😉🐗

Was there a mechanism for keeping the bolt from falling off when shooting down -- like from a castle?

@thehistorysquad Sorry, i know this is an old video but Im curious why the bow has a foot stirrup if its main method of loading is a lever, crannequin or a windlass? It seems all crossbows have a stirrup so im a little confused

How much punch would a light crossbow have? Would it be able to punch through armor or was that only the heavy crossbows?

where did you buy this I have been searching for ages for a low is draw weight crossbow but I haven't found any that aren't intended for display only?

"I certainly go" I love English wit.

Handy to know incase I end up back in 1461 but all joking that’s cool, I wish games would depict this properly

Why does the lightweight crossbow still keep the iron hoop (enclosed stirrup shape piece) at the forepart while the lever device is applied for loading? To fit different circumstances for mounted and on foot combats?

Honestly, this makes me really want to try to build one myself. The mechanical system is simple, but I'm *fairly* sure I'd manage to make something that explodes in my face and fills me with bits of wood. xD

Can you reload a long draw length wooden crossbow with a lever? How large should that lever be?

I see the stirrup at the front of the weapon. Could these be cocked by hand? If not, why the stirrup? Thanks.

I always wondered : how the bolt was not falling off when the crossbow men were shooting down from a castle wall ?

does the roller knut have a spring to lock it into place ?

It is a light crossbow and the bolt went half way thru the target. Imagine what it would do to a human body, and what could a heavy duty or strong bow do.

How much protection does the chainmail suite give you during the madness of battle? I see it in films a lot. Can it stop an arrow?

It's easy to see why these were so popular. The training time for a crossbow would be less than that for a longbow, correct?

Where would I be able to get something like this?

I noticed a circly bit of metal on top of the goatsfoot lever,. Is that another tool?

what is the draw weight of this bow my bow is 370 lbs harder to span than this must be low weight

It seems that the cross bow here has a high velocity rather than shooting a heavy bolt.