[Gabriele Becattini]

hello,
i was wondering about the best kind of fighting dagger (or knife) for unarmoured combat among the most common form
such as ballock dagger, rondel and quillon dagger; in your opinion it's possible to tell if one of that kind possesed
well definied fighting qualities in respect to the others ? any parallel can be traced with the modern fighting dagger?
what about the "ideal" measurements: blade lenght,handle lenght,form of the blade ? remenber that i was speaking about
a kind of weapon strictly for civilian use against unarmoured opponent. thanks

[Chad Arnow]

Since all the forms shared variations of the same blade forms--single-edged and double-edged blades (as well as more exotic cross-sections) were found an all three types of daggers--the difference will likely come down to overall length and how comfortable you find the grip.

For me, rondel daggers do a good job locking the hand in place. But I have owned ballock daggers and quillon daggers that are very comfortable to hold also.

For unarmoured combat, pick a blade with at least one sharp edge and a good point for stabbing through clothing.

[James Head]

The author of Medieval and Renaissance Dagger Combat seems to use the Ballock style dagger most of all. This doesn't prove that it was the most effective, best etc... but at least you can use it in conjunction with a published work on the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Medieval-Renaissance-Da...amp;sr=1-1