reason for ridges in sword grip

[Anonymous]

Grip slip is always a problem with any thrusting weapon and not having handled a Gladius I cant comment on the grip configuration or ergonomics but it strikes me that the finger groves were also included on cavalry Spathas ? Why was this ?<br>
<br>
Later cut & thrust weapons as found in the Danich bogs had smooth grips in the main so the groves must have been to aid grip on thrusting.<br>
<br>
What I cant work out is the pommel ... designed to get in teh way ?<br>
<br>
Conal<br>
<br>
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[richsc]

Now there's a thought; a stained grip, which of course is out there for everyone to see, would be a real mark of a veteran; new recruits would have white bone. No way of telling as the 2000 years in the dirt no doubt bleaches any blood away.<br>
<br>
If they cleaned their grips, sanding them down, that would account for smaller grips over time, especially if they were peened in place and hard to remove. If you removed them, cutting the pommel off, it would shorten the tang, leading to smaller grips.....<br>
<br>
Anyone want to try this out? <p>Legio XX<br>
Caput dolet, pedes fetent, Iesum non amo<br>
<br>
</p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p200.ezboard.com/bromanarmytalk.showUserPublicProfile?gid=richsc@romanarmytalk>RichSC</A> at: 5/12/04 12:32 pm<br></i>

[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

<br>
Right, the spatha grip is the same of the gladius, so, something does not work...<br>
<br>
Veterans stained grips? Yes maybe, but I also suspect they often changed grip, as soon as it showed any little flaw, since they could not risk hand injuries during the combat, due to a damned suddenly broken grip. The deformations of the iron core could prime the flaws.<br>
<br>
I guess that the new recruits hastened to stain their brand new bone grips ASAP, seen that the grip is evident to see at a certain distance too and none loves to be immediately recognized as a rookie...<br>
<br>
I always considered the pugio grip too not so confortable, or better, I consider it masochistic: hard edgy metal, and that knob in the middle... The pugio design grip always fascinated me..., if you should have to design such a weapon, should you have ever designed it so?<br>
<br>
Valete,<br>
Titus<br>
<br>
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[TITVS SABATINVS AQVILIVS]

<br>
It could be interesting to know how was the ring pommel gladius added grip...<br>
<br>
<img src="http://users.libero.it/sabsab/titus/ring pommel.jpg" style="border:0;"/> <p></p><i></i>

[ambrosius]

I'd agree with Rich's original point. The guard & pommel<br>
on Mainz & Pompeii gladii are so large in order to stop<br>
the hand slipping over them during first the thrusting,<br>
& then the withdrawing phase of the sword strike. The<br>
hexagonal finger grooves in the grip also help to spread<br>
the load over all four fingers, so that not all of the<br>
force is directed against either the front or back of the<br>
hand during pushing or pulling. If the grip was entirely<br>
smooth, you would get more bruising on the hand. It's<br>
a very ergonomic shape overall, for minimising both<br>
slippage and discomfort.<br>
<br>
For the spatha, the finger grooves (with or without<br>
such large guards and pommels) also prevent slippage.<br>
For although the spatha was not meant primarily for<br>
thrusting (in use with the cavalry) the same principles<br>
apply. When swinging a spatha both violently and repeatedly, the tendency is going to be for it to fly<br>
out of your hand from centrifugal force. So the better<br>
your grip (spread over all four fingers) the less chance<br>
of losing your weapon in battle.<br>
<br>
The smooth bone grip with the spiral-grooves carved<br>
into it is another option. This might give less actual grip for each finger, but would, I guess, help in a slightly<br>
different way. The grooves would function to channel<br>
away the sweat that builds up between the fingers and<br>
the grip, thus also preventing slippage.<br>
<br>
The Ring-Pommel gladius/spatha question is another<br>
very interesting one. From most I've seen (without<br>
their grips surviving) there are rivets (or rivet-holes)<br>
remaining in the tang. These were either the means of<br>
attaching the 'ring' to the tang or the grip to the tang;<br>
or, in some cases, both. Thus the sequence of assembly<br>
might be first to slide the hollow grip (with pre-drilled holes, matching the tang) over the tang, adding the<br>
'ring' pommel (also with pre-drilled holes, matching the<br>
tang) into the top of the hollow grip. Then you just<br>
pass one or two rivets through all three, when the<br>
holes match up. The only problem would be for the<br>
original ring-pommel swords used by steppe-nomads,<br>
which seem to be forged from one piece of solid iron or<br>
steel. Here, the grip must have been formed from bands<br>
of leather (or some suitable fabric) wound around the<br>
tang, as the whole grip assembly was already in place.<br>
<br>
Ambrosius<br>
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