Polish Hussar Lance/Spear examples?

[Jim McDougall]

Originally Posted by Philip

It may have been more of a contingency factor, but why else would these steel flanges have stood proud of the shaft's circumference and have bevelled edges? If their sole purpose was to guard against enemy saber cuts, wouldn't normal langets have done that job with less cost and production time?

Exactly, and it seems that to have the usual langets at length for three screws on two sides as per the standard practice would be sufficient to prevent through and through cutting of the shaft. The bladed appendages would be against the grabbing of the lance business end to push it away.

Getting back to this being a pike, given the manner in which they were used as you describe, how would this added blade feature be feasible? As noted, the horse and rider would not rush into a sharp pole ahead, but if these were brought up as the riders reached them it would be hard to avoid.