Will we ever see a revival of the use of Sabers and Swords for combat or never again?

[SpyderEdgeForever]

For centuries and even millenia, the human race uses swords and sabers, which are ofcourse a type of sword, for combat. The saber seemed to have peaked with the British and American (Patton and other) sabers that were the apex of saber design. Ironically, that came right around the time that human technology enabled mechanized warfare, and the horse and cavalry became at the very most a niche-use.

Some military experts have said that under certain limited conditions with very bad terrain, a well trained horse and rider with sword and firearm would be better suited than even mechanized tanks and wheeled vehicles. I found that to be interesting.

But all of that being said, if you were to estimate, do you think the human race will ever see a return or revival of serious saber and sword combat in some form , beyond mere ceremonial uses, or with advancing technology, those days are gone?

Some science fiction authors like to speculate that even in centuries to come, advanced forms of swords, such as energy blades or smart metals or other things would be used to make combat worthy swords for actual field combat.

[ChrisinHove]

Remember Dune? Shielding technology protected the wearer from ballistic projectiles, but not from slow moving blades, necessitating blade based combat. It was really well imagined.

[Crux]

This type of combat happens in almost every conflict even today. It's just that it's small operations, usually classified and everyone cares more about the big shiny objects.

[TomAiello]

Definitely light sabers.

[Mad Mac]

Supposedly Albert Einstein said that the fourth war would be fought with sticks and stones. It should not be necessary to go back to the stone age after the nuclear holocaust of WW III. That and EMP bombs may wipe out everything that uses electricity, but the human race was fairly adept at making firearms and edged weapons without the benefit of electronics. Yes, in such a dystopian world, swords would definitely make a come back. Silent, never jam, never run out of ammo and handy, swords have a future.

[Evil D]

I think in a long enough timeline, man to man combat will slowly fade in favor of machine vs man combat. We already have drone strikes doing a lot of work for us. If there's a way to kill the enemy without the risk of killing your own troops they'll find it. Consider the cost of training and arming soldiers vs the cost of flying in a drone for an air strike.

[JD Spydo]

Supposedly Albert Einstein said that the fourth war would be fought with sticks and stones. It should not be necessary to go back to the stone age after the nuclear holocaust of WW III. That and EMP bombs may wipe out everything that uses electricity, but the human race was fairly adept at making firearms and edged weapons without the benefit of electronics. Yes, in such a dystopian world, swords would definitely make a come back. Silent, never jam, never run out of ammo and handy, swords have a future.

I totally and completely agree with everything that "Mad Mac" just said. Edged weapons will always have a value in the sector of self defense. I personally doubt if we ever see the elimination of such weapons in our lifetimes.

There are so many 3rd World countries that are still basically living in the stone age for all intent and purposes and they will always have some type of weapon handy even if it is just swords and machetes. Even Archery ( compound bows especially) still has a lot of stealth fighting advantages and I'm sure it will also be around for some time to come. I feel at this time we might just be on the verge of WW III the way things are developing and it will be interesting to see how all of that will play out if it indeed comes to fruition> ( GOD help us )

[Crux]

I'm with you fellers.

[Daveho]

I suspect there are plenty of loincloth clad folk running around in the bush konking other loincloth clad folk with sticks-
Why not blades of some variation.

[Doc Dan]

If we suddenly develop super powers like the Force, then perhaps swords will make a comeback. However, gunpowder, a rock, and a tube made such implements obsolete and would do so even if the world collapsed. Gunpowder is too easy to make, and cheap. As a kid, I have killed birds with nothing more than home made black powder, a smooth rock, a small pipe, and some string and a match. Flint would have been even better. What would be more likely would be a slim long bladed bayonet or dagger for hand to hand fighting or for taking out sentries. Even the lowly entrenching tool is better up close. When well sharpened it can lop off a hand or chop a skull.

However, more useful than all of those is the tomahawk. Paired with a good knife it has no equal in close quarters combat. The original Rangers used them to good effect and it was still good in Vietnam. Give me a tomahawk any day.

[Mad Mac]

At what length does a knife become a sword?

[Evil D]

I suspect there are plenty of loincloth clad folk running around in the bush konking other loincloth clad folk with sticks-
Why not blades of some variation.

Apparently there's one group of lads out there in loincloths defending their island so well with bow and arrow that the whole planet has basically said ALRIGHT ALREADY and is leaving them alone.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

I have two sub questions to this:

1 Can we be reasonably confident that since Fiberglass Reinforced Nylon and advanced stainless steel such as VG10 is now well-anchored into modern industrial society, that no matter what happens, people will be able to produce knives and edged tools made from these stainless steel alloys and handle materials, or, is it possible that such knowledge could be lost through a world catastrophe and have to be rediscovered again in the future?

2 As Mad Mac asked, when does a knife become a sword? Can a knife be considered a small sword and a sword a big knife?

[MichaelScott]

When in the Palace Museum in Madrid I walked a long hallway flanked on both sides with complete suits of armor. One of them had a large round hole punched through the breastplate, about .60 caliber it seemed.

So, no.

[James Y]

I suspect there are plenty of loincloth clad folk running around in the bush konking other loincloth clad folk with sticks-
Why not blades of some variation.

Apparently there's one group of lads out there in loincloths defending their island so well with bow and arrow that the whole planet has basically said ALRIGHT ALREADY and is leaving them alone.

That sounds like the natives on (IIRC) one of the Andaman Islands off of India, where that American idiot who insisted on trying to convert the islanders to Christianity ended up killed by arrows. Even though they'd already shot arrows at him previously, he insisted on sneaking back to the island, in spite of it being illegal to do so, not only because the natives are hostile to outsiders, but especially because they have no resistance to diseases common in the outside world.

As far as sword fighting, there are many places right now where machetes are used, whether in fights or in outright massacres. Machetes are close enough to swords in that regard. Sword fighting as a common part of warfare, I seriously doubt it. Actual swords, require some degree of skill to use. And the types of skill will depend on the sword design. I don't ever see sword fighting becoming an important part of military warfare again. Yes, a sword can kill a man just as dead as a machine gun or a bomb. But with all the gear soldiers carry around, I don't see where carrying a sword and adding sword fight training would add any advantages in modern warfare.

I know there are people who fantasize about a post-apocalyptic scenario. Years ago, some guy in a martial arts forum was saying if that ever happened, he would join a community of survivors and just train full-out, full contact combat every day as part of some security force for the community. I pointed out that in a real post-apocalyptic world, doing so would be less than intelligent, and shorten his life considerably. Because in such a scenario, there would be little to no access to modern medicine or other health care. He would become more of a liability than an asset, unable to contribute to his community or even care for himself due to injuries sustained in his 'training'. I realize this last paragraph is OT from sword fighting, but regarding a post-apocalyptic world, it really isn't. Without modern medicines, in the past, even things we think of as minor or easy to treat, such as simple cuts or fractures, often resulted in serious infections, disability and even death.

Jim

[Mad Mac]

This is such macabre fun, but to swerve back on topic, as an old short guy in poor physical condition, a sword appeals to me because it give me the chance to ward off or impale an attacker who is my physical master before I am within his arm's length. A knife fight is out of the question for me.

[The Meat man]

I suspect there are plenty of loincloth clad folk running around in the bush konking other loincloth clad folk with sticks-
Why not blades of some variation.

Apparently there's one group of lads out there in loincloths defending their island so well with bow and arrow that the whole planet has basically said ALRIGHT ALREADY and is leaving them alone.

I remember reading about that. Interesting story!

In reality though those natives would not have a candle's chance in a hurricane if some modern country decided to forcibly take over their island. The sheer novelty of it, plus a lack of valuable resources, are probably the two biggest reasons no one has bothered yet.

[Evil D]

I suspect there are plenty of loincloth clad folk running around in the bush konking other loincloth clad folk with sticks-
Why not blades of some variation.

Apparently there's one group of lads out there in loincloths defending their island so well with bow and arrow that the whole planet has basically said ALRIGHT ALREADY and is leaving them alone.

I remember reading about that. Interesting story!

In reality though those natives would not have a candle's chance in a hurricane if some modern country decided to forcibly take over their island. The sheer novelty of it, plus a lack of valuable resources, are probably the two biggest reasons no one has bothered yet.

Well yeah, they exist only because people are respecting their borders. I don't think it's a stretch to say that one single Navy Seal could swim up on that island and put them all into extinction.

[SpyderEdgeForever]

David, could Spyderco make a combat saber if there was a market for it, with a great blade and grip and scabbard?

[Naperville]

For centuries and even millenia, the human race uses swords and sabers, which are ofcourse a type of sword, for combat. The saber seemed to have peaked with the British and American (Patton and other) sabers that were the apex of saber design. Ironically, that came right around the time that human technology enabled mechanized warfare, and the horse and cavalry became at the very most a niche-use.

Some military experts have said that under certain limited conditions with very bad terrain, a well trained horse and rider with sword and firearm would be better suited than even mechanized tanks and wheeled vehicles. I found that to be interesting.

But all of that being said, if you were to estimate, do you think the human race will ever see a return or revival of serious saber and sword combat in some form , beyond mere ceremonial uses, or with advancing technology, those days are gone?

Some science fiction authors like to speculate that even in centuries to come, advanced forms of swords, such as energy blades or smart metals or other things would be used to make combat worthy swords for actual field combat.

This really gets in to prepping, survivalism and surviving the great coming apocalypse(EMP, Disease X, TEOTWAWKI). If you've done any research on either you will see that there are a whole range of issues that could bring back bladed weapons. I've studied 5 Filipino martial arts, am no expert, but there do exist experts and edged weapons take time (1yr to 5yrs depending on your goal) to learn. Start studying now if you think you will need to make use of a bladed weapon in the future.

There is no "best" Filipino school, because each may study/specialize in one area/range/method, and the arts in this range are called Escrima, Arnis and to a lesser extent Kali. Two schools that I can recommend are Cabales and Bahala Na (or Stockton Escrima), located in Stockton, California.

Unless you have an armory and the team to defend it you eventually run out of bullets in an apocalyptic scenario.

I have seen a number of movies on the subject, the best being by the History Channel on Armageddon. The entire video is available on YouTube.

There are a number of books on the subject, and there are reports from THE US GOVERNMENT. YES. The US Govt has studied Armageddon and apocalyptic scenarios, and they are likely in WW III. One small EMP weapon (a nuclear weapon exploding in the upper atmosphere) fired off over the US would cover more than 30% of the US land mass...rendering 100% of all electrical devices/autos DEFUNCT.