02-07-2011, 05:07 AM
Matt wrote:
It split a 2" (50mm) x 4" (100mm)post?? AFTER penetrating a shield??
hock: hock: That's an awesome demonstration of the penetration and power potential of the pila!!
Did it bend on impact, or after jamming in the wood, or after falling out following splitting the wood?? In any event, no surprise that it should bend in those circumstances!
One very important reason to not want the shank to bend or buckle on impact, is the simple physics - bending/buckling absorbs some of the force ( expended in deforming, instead of acting hammer-like in penetrating - think of trying to hammer a bent nail, or the force absorbing 'crumple zones' on a modern car).
Quote:And I don't think their shanks are any thinner than the cross-sections we've found in JRMES and other sources. On one memorable occasion, I threw my pilum at a repro Roman shield (made of layered strips of thin birch plywood, faced with thin leather), and it pierced the shield, *split* the 2x4 post that the shield was leaning against, and bent. It was a little scary.
It split a 2" (50mm) x 4" (100mm)post?? AFTER penetrating a shield??
hock: hock: That's an awesome demonstration of the penetration and power potential of the pila!!Did it bend on impact, or after jamming in the wood, or after falling out following splitting the wood?? In any event, no surprise that it should bend in those circumstances!
One very important reason to not want the shank to bend or buckle on impact, is the simple physics - bending/buckling absorbs some of the force ( expended in deforming, instead of acting hammer-like in penetrating - think of trying to hammer a bent nail, or the force absorbing 'crumple zones' on a modern car).
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
