[Eric S]

Does anyone know of a heavier one, what hand held weapon was heavier than this if any?


Indian sonta (a long club like mace), a very massive and heavy solid steel weapon at 37 inches in length and 8 lbs in weight, the entire shaft is carved with a spiral twist for its length and bands at intervals originally inlaid with brass, each face of the eight faceted head carved with repeating tendril and leaf design, a loop at the opposite end for attaching a strap, weapons such as this were used in India from medieval times, showing great age, 16th to 17th c?.

[Kai Lawson]

Is there evidence that it was used in combat or was meant to be functional? I've heard of heavier pieces, but I doubt they were made to be swung at someone...

[Eric S]

[Timo Nieminen]

They say that tetsubo/kanabo could far exceed that weight.

This Indian mace is usable in combat IMO, as a two-handed weapon for in-close armoured fighting. About the weight of a heavy two-handed sword (battle, not processional), and more compact so would be faster. I've seen such weapons used in SCA fighting - very elegant but requiring a high degree of skill.

Still, it is entirely reasonable to ask whether it is a battle weapon or processional or execution or regalia.

[Don Stanko]

I don't have the specs on this mace, but I saw it at the Walter Museum in Baltimore. It was the largest mace I've ever seen.

[Jean Thibodeau]

As far as the heaviest mace or weapon in history it isn't.

There is the Chinese GUAN DAO which can be extremely heavy: A hard to believe 100 pounds + in some instances.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_dao

Getting back to this mace: At 8 pounds it should be manageable in handling as the weight is not concentrated in only a heavy head but distributed over the entire length of the all in one piece steel weapon.

It would be devastating getting hit with it and probably difficult to deflect or parry: Best moving out of it's way rather than trying to stop it cold with a hard block that would probably seriously damage or break a sword.

I have a 4' long steel rebar that weighs almost 8 pounds and it's too heavy to use one handed but would be usable using short staff techniques ..... it would still take a lot of stamina to use it for any extended time.

Makes me now think that I could use it for short staff " JO " training ......

By the way the steel rebar is useful in Winter to break ice on the sidewalk in front of the staircase up to my front door. ( Just in case someone is wondering why I have a rebar ..... ).

So too heavy for one handed use in my opinion.

[Bennison N]

I've heard of Chinese Bian/Jian maces being somewhere around 15 to 17 pounds. In general they are much lighter than this, but still very heavy, so possibly not too different to this Indian one. I think it's safe to assume that these massive ones are the single mace/whip, not the dual maces.

These heavier ones were used by elites, specifically to destroy weapons and armour.

[Kai Lawson]

Is there any literary evidence or physical signs on the OP's mace (or any of the other oversized pieces listed) of actual combat use? Not just for training?

[Eric S]

[Sam Gordon Campbell]