Cold Steel: the Pirate?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s Choice

A pirate?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s life for me

Pirates have been called a lot of things and many of those things were not so complementary. One thing that pirates have not been is inefficient. Because they lived constantly on a ship, they had to practice not only cleanliness, but also efficiency. Anything done on shipboard had to take into consideration all of the rigging and other materials involved in running a sailing ship. For this reason, when it came to fighting, pirates had their favorite weapons and they were not the long impressive swords you often see in the movies.

Weapon of choice

Their weapons of choice were shorter, easier to control, but just as deadly, if not more so. The weapon of choice was known as a cutlass, this weapon was made from folded steel and it served as both sword and shield. On the one end was a somewhat short, but very vicious blade and the other end had a basket hilt. The blade was short enough that even swung recklessly, it wasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t likely to get caught up in the rigging or masts. It was also wide enough to do mortal damage should it strike the opponent. The basket hilt provided protection for the hand and could also be used as a small shield. The blade was curved and it allowed for efficient cutting. The curve of the blade also made the weapon look quite intimidating.

Nomadic pirates

Pirates were the nomads of the sea, they ranged throughout the world and because of this they often came into possession of some unique weapons. The Barbary Pirates of North Africa often carried scimitars in place of the cutlass and this was a weapon that caught on as other pirates came into possession of them. These pirates found the scimitar to be exotic and they appeared to have the ability to instill even more dread into the enemy simply by their appearance.