Sean: We really need to start a thread that combines our project ideas of a Bauernwehr / fighting Bowie design! I started kicking around my project with Tod a while back; I'm pretty snowed under at the moment, but will try to start a thread that explores the relevant issues soon. In the meantime, below is just one image of a long Bauernwehr / short messer with pronounced clip point. (Yes, proportionality is out-of-whack in this image; it's one in my small collection of images of clip-pointed knives in battle contexts, not just images associated with St. Bartholemew - useful though they are!)
Ben: Here's one of the better examples from period artwork of that particular kind of pommel found on 'your' Bauernwehr. (And interesting how it finds resonance in the 'birds beak' pommels of some later fighting Bowies...)
Eric: Well, form follows function ... my personal guess is that most Bauernwehr were designed and used as 'general purpose' knives for everyday use with defence as a secondary consideration; others have features that would be more relevant for something used primarily as a weapon (eg downturned quillons, sharpened false edges, good
distal taper). A little like the distinction made by some modern writers between 'combat' vs 'fighting' knives ...
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