drawing a sword from a scabbard

From what I've seen, most back sheaths or baldrics only cover the tip and the bottom foot or so of the blade. Above that, the blade is exposed and lays against a back piece that runs to the shoulder. At the top of the sheath is a pair of hooks that holds the hilt. To draw you pull the sword off the hooks, raise it about 12 inches or so until the tip is out of the sheath part at the bottom and than just swing the blade over your shoulder with a twist to be sure it does not catch on the hilt hooks.

Historically, you don't. A back sheath was used only for transporting a weapon, and to actually use it in combat the warrior would take off the sheath (and possibly the backpack it was attached to) and then draw the weapon.

Of course, this is fantasy, so there's no reason that it ISN'T possible. You just need to have a method that overcomes the problem--such as a sheath with a 12-18 inch slit on the "top edge", the hooks that Thonir described, or a magical sheath that makes the blade fit in a smaller area.

Also remember that the sheath can be placed diagonally across the back, a 6-foot sword isn't necessarily several feet above one's head.

You slide the sheath off your shoulder, grab the sheath in one hand and the sword in the other. Unsheathe your sword, drop the sheath, and go kill stuff. After the battle, you hope you remember where you dropped your sheath.

Or at least that's what I do... minus the killing part

I can't remember what book it was in... some B-grade fantasy novel I read as a teen, I'm sure... but what I remember most from the novel was that the big fighter guy carried his two-handed sword in a back-sheath.

The scabbard was attached to a loose 'belt' effectively, that ran over his shoulder, across his chest and then up his back again, looped over like a courier bag or similar conveyance. (Or how a longbow is traditionally illustrated as being stowed).

To draw the sword, he would flip the belt over his head, and draw the sword with one hand while pushing the scabbard away with the other (and throwing it to the ground). He'd then go back and collect it after the battle.

AFGNCAAP said:

Here's one used for a two-handed Claymore.

Looks very nice. 2 questions

Isn't 2 handed Claymore redundant? I thought that Claymores were consistantly long enough to require 2 hands to use.

Isn't that weapon pictured, although in Claymore style, too short to be a historically accurate Claymore? I thought they were all plus or minus six feet.

I'm no expert, so don't take this as gospel.

Last edited: Jul 26, 2004

From what I've seen in some motion pictures, the greatsword can be worn across the back for transport. The greatword I use in particular is carried on the back. When my fighter prepares for battle, he pulls the scabbard down parallel across his waist and tightens a strap from which his sword will hang.
One of my players has a Jovar in the Eberron campaign we are running, unfortunately that particular weapon cannot be sheathed. I try to add some sort of realism to a fantasy campaign.

Last edited: Jul 26, 2004