War Hammers?

[Carl M]

I have a friend who is claiming that "real" war hammers have heads that weigh in at almost 10 lbs. and that seems way out of range to me.

David,

Your friend is confused with fantasy warhammers. The head of a medieval or Renaissance warhammer is well less than a couple of pounds. A ten pound head on a warhammer would be the same as a sledgehammer that you would buy at Home Depot. Great for driving stationary spikes, horrible for combat.

Tell your friend that fyunctionality and physics are at play here. One can do deadly damage with more speed and accuracy with a standard carpenter's hammer against a moving oponent than they can trying to weild a ten lb sledge hammer.

[fernando]

Hi Carl M
Have you already handled a war hammer ... short or/and long shafted?

[Carl M]

Originally Posted by fernando

Hi Carl M
Have you already handled a war hammer ... short or/and long shafted?

Hi Fernando,

As a collector, I have handled countless repros and numerous originals, both short and long hafted.

Having swung a hammer for most of my years in construction I can tell you that a 32 ounce framing hammer given a longer handle would be quite enough to do serious damage to an armored opponent .

A picture of 'Old Faithful' .

Rick,

Haha! Definitely. Put a spike on the back and four raised points on the square head in the front and you will do even more! It is amazing how much force these can generate in the hands of someone who is used to swinging them. Add the fact that soldier carrying it has significant practice with it and you have a very dangerous individual.

[Rick]

That hammer saved me from sliding off an unshingled frosty roof some 2 decades ago .

I turned it around and drove the claw through the half inch plywood to hang on .
It saved me from many broken bones, or worse .
Good old hammer ......

[Rick]

Originally Posted by Carl M

David,

Your friend is confused with fantasy warhammers. The head of a medieval or Renaissance warhammer is well less than a couple of pounds. A ten pound head on a warhammer would be the same as a sledgehammer that you would buy at Home Depot. Great for driving stationary spikes, horrible for combat.

Tell your friend that fyunctionality and physics are at play here. One can do deadly damage with more speed and accuracy with a standard carpenter's hammer against a moving oponent than they can trying to weild a ten lb sledge hammer.

Having swung a hammer for most of my years in construction I can tell you that a 32 ounce framing hammer given a longer handle would be quite enough to do serious damage to an armored opponent .

A picture of 'Old Faithful' .