Punch

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Battle hammer with punch

The punch is a thorn-like protrusion on striking objects, devices or weapons.

Weapons technology

The hammer is located on the projection of the weapon head of some cutting weapons , such as the battle ax , the halberd or the battle hammer. In (some) axes and halberds it is located opposite the blade, and in the case of a battle hammer it is opposite the surface of the hammer.

The punch concentrates the force of the blow on one point, so that a heavy weapon with a punch can penetrate even massive armor without any problems . In the halberd, for example, the hammer increasingly replaced the ax blade as the most important element of the weapon, as the blade could easily slip off, especially with rounded armor parts such as helmets and shoulder pieces . The raven's beak became particularly well known among the brawlers . This owes its name to the beak-shaped, bent punch. Curved hammer pins offered the additional advantage that they would cause further damage when the weapon was pulled back. As a result, they were often sharp-edged on the inside or underside, even if they were rarely sanded. In later versions of the murder ax , the ax blade is replaced by a punch.

Further use

Emergency hammer with hammer

There are also emergency hammers hanging on buses and trains . They have a punch at the top so that you can destroy the window with one targeted blow.

In geologist's hammers (pick hammers), the hammer is used to split thin-clad rocks and to pick out mineral steps or fossils.

literature

  • Wendelin Boeheim : Handbook of the armory. The historical development of the weapon system from the beginning of the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century. Seemann, Leipzig 1890 ( Seemanns Kunstgewerbliche Handbücher 7, ZDB -ID 53757-3 ), (reprint. Fourier Verlag, Wiesbaden 1985, ISBN 3-201-00257-7 ).
  • George Cameron Stone, Donald J. LaRocca, A Glossary of the Construction, Decoration and Use of Arms and Armor: in All Countries and in All Times , Courier Dover Publications, 1999, page 526, ISBN 978-0-486-40726- 5 .
  • André Schulze (Hrsg.): Medieval ways of fighting. Volume 2: The War Hammer, Shield and Piston. Talhoffers Fechtbuch anno domini 1467. von Zabern, Mainz 2007, ISBN 978-3-8053-3736-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Swiss National Museum, Association of Swiss Antiquities Collections, Society for Swiss Art History: Journal of Swiss archeology and art history , Volume 6, Verlag Birkhäuser, 1944, page 39
  2. ↑ Wendelin Boeheim: Handbook of Armament. The historical development of the weapon system from the beginning of the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century.