Benjamin H. Abbott wrote: | ||
For 16th/17th-century European pikes, the optimum configuration appears to have involved iron/steel langets, as Lord Orrery and others recommended, and as you see on extant pikes. |
Which means langets offer better protection against cutting off the head for a given added weight than making the haft thicker.
The basic point still stands. You make the weapon strong enough for most purposes, not strong enough to make it indestructible. Weight matters. With langets, a key choice is how long you make them. You should still expect to see some head-cutting-off or head-breaking, even with langets.
I have seen spears with "langets" (spiral reinforcing straps, rather than normal langets) all the way from head to butt. Sometimes, somebody thinks the added weight is OK. They were shorter than pikes, though.
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/26605