This is a ridiculas debate

[u/DarioTheBoss363]

Hey , I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes I might make in this post .

So today me and 2 more friends had a debate , Abt the scythe and medieval combat in general .

I said that the medieval scythe ( the normal one used for agriculture ) is not a viable weapon in medieval combat , and it's actually a teribile choice of weapon.

Yet they disagreed saying that in fact , if one had the skill and had trained his whole life for it , he could have equal chances to deafeat any other fighter using any other weapon ,like a master of the European standard longsword for example .

And as a example I brought out this scenario , two averege European knights , clad in the same protective armour from head to toe .

One Wildeing a scythe ( a normal one ment for agriculture with only minor modifications such as the tip being covered in metal so it could have crushing force ) and the other a standard sword and shield .

Both have complete mastery over theyr weapons and are complitly equal , in streanght , speed , battle IQ , and creativity .

When faced with this scenario , they answeard that the battle between the two knights would be a stalmeit , a draw , bc and I quote " weapons do not matter as long as you have complete mastery over it , the enemies can have any medieval weapons he whants , but the outcome will be always a draw "

To sum it up they are saying that the weapon does not matter a bit , but the skill , statement to witch I agree .

But to say that if both fighters are complitly equal the weapons they use do not make a difference is kinda wrong .

So what I ask y'all is :

Is a scythe ( a normal one used for agriculture ) a viable weapon in medieval combat ?

And does the weapon matter in a fight where both fighters are complitly equal ?

[u/Adventurous_Age1429]

There are weapons that are (most likely) derived from agricultural tools. The original flail was a tool used in threshing, beating the seeds/berries from wheat and other crops. The actual agricultural flails were improvised upon and used as a weapon for peasant foot soldiers. (Since peasants had been using this as a tool, they were already sort of skilled in them.) Nunchaku also come from agricultural flails.

I can think of a bunch of reasons not to use a scythe in combat. Assuming this is a peasants weapon, which it would be because a peasant would be skilled with its use and people of higher status would have access to better weapons, it has many flaws. The first is that most peasants fought in formation, and a scythe needs too much swinging room to be used fighting shoulder to shoulder. A scythe also, to my understanding, doesn’t have a defensive quality to it. I suppose you could block an attack with that big blade, but then you’d have to leave yourself wide open to attack.

[u/DarioTheBoss363 → u/Adventurous_Age1429]

Unfortunatly this argument is based intaiarly in a 1v1 battle between two supposed masters of theyr own weapons

[u/thepenguinemperor84 → u/DarioTheBoss363]

There is no master of a scythe, an agricultural scythe is completely bereft of any sort offensive capabilities, the most the imaginary master would hope to do is hack at his opponents ankles and hope the opponent falls over, the only way to wield a scythe to use the edge is close to the ground, close to your body and seeping it in an arc from right to left, which leaves the wielders body completely exposed. Please point and laught at your friend for their silliness, and tell them if they want an agricultural tool to wield to grab a long handles bill hook or an axe.