Weapon weight handling
I've made a few custom weapons. In order of pictures you have 2.5kg pollaxe with axe heads. 1.7kg longsword with a thin blade. 5kg longsword with a thick blade and heavy pommel. Finally, the 5kg hammer-ended pollaxe. Funnily, in the pictures you can see how each weapon felled the opponent, either through cutting or blunt force, or a mix of the two.
A few quick google searches show longswords were about 1-1.7kgs, and pollaxes were about 2-4kgs.
My question is, how unwieldy would these weapons be at their heavier weights? I'm familiar with how these feel in the form of dumbbells, but in the form of medieval weapons, with weight being distributed at various points, how would this affect handling?
Especially when my willie is 100kgs of pure muscle, should a 5kg longsword be impossible to swing accurately. Yeah, his forearms and shoulders would have to be massive, but I don't think it would be impossible.
Any medieval weapon experts or modern HEMA enthusiasts have a take on this? How do other HS players design their weapons ergonomically? Or do people just smash their balls with a rock instead.
Posted Feb 26, 2026, 1:58 PM UTC