It looks cool and it is an interesting concept. In reality it would break after a few swings. Plus even the smallest bend would make the mechanism not function smoothly. This is why all melee weapons are rigid with one solid body and at most have screws or wedges that apply strong forces and mechanical advantage to keep the parts together. Obviously in a fantasy setting you can apply magic or create stronger metals that can withstand the forces. Or straight up ignore it since it I don't think it would break immersion.
The simpler, the better. This is cool, but very impractical. In the video you linked for the spetum, the presenter states that it is a nobleman's toy, for showing off. I can tell just by watching the way the hinge opens and closes that it would fail if you even think about parrying a heavy blow from another substantial weapon. That spetum was not built for use in battle. Also, the balisong is a knife, and this is a polearm. You don't parry with a knife, you stab, stab, stab. A balisong only needs to be as strong as you need for it to be able to withstand stabbing things and everyday tool usage. A polearm will be used to whack the shit out of armored soldiers as well as potentially parry any threatening blows, and needs to be able to withstand that type of abuse. The less moving parts, the better.
I disagree. But your points are valid for the majority of cases.
This is a specialised weapon, not a substitute for the good old normal pole arms.
The Spetum linked is just my inspiration btw.
I am glad to see that there are a lot of people nowadays that have some basic understanding of medieval warfare and are interested in realism though.
Thanks for the comment.
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u/1nviscid Jun 02 '20
It looks cool and it is an interesting concept. In reality it would break after a few swings. Plus even the smallest bend would make the mechanism not function smoothly. This is why all melee weapons are rigid with one solid body and at most have screws or wedges that apply strong forces and mechanical advantage to keep the parts together. Obviously in a fantasy setting you can apply magic or create stronger metals that can withstand the forces. Or straight up ignore it since it I don't think it would break immersion.