In today's video we test the new hardened Arms and Armor Horseman's Axe against mild steel and hardened steel plate armor. This axe features a 4" long spike that was used historically against knightly armors during the high Gothic period, however, little is really known about what type of damage this type of weapon did to various forms of armor.
This axe is a replica of an original from around the year 1540 that is now housed in the Armeria Real in Madrid, Spain. It features a solid steel hexagonal shaft, leather grip, and hardened carbon steel blade and pick. Watch the video to see how this weapon fared against plate armor, and what we can learn from the results. In short, armor works pretty well and that's why you need to target articulations and other weak points.
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.