Executioner's Sword Cuts Everything I Throw at It

Added: 2026-04-29

[00:00:00]Hey guy. So, you know how you're always giving me grief about never using a bladed weapon? I don't think anyone thinks about you. Yeah, I I second that.

[00:00:07]I've never once thought about you at all. Well, I really I really took those words to heart and I finally found a sword worthy of my muscle and stature.

[00:00:17]You just having a conversation with yourself now?

[00:00:20]>> Hey, Ranger, you better show some respect. You're going to find out exactly what this executioner sword was used for. It's for executing people.

[00:00:32]I don't like you. And I don't like the fact that you probably got that looting a corpse. It's not It's not stealing if they're not not alive to resist.

[00:00:43]That may be the worst thing you've ever said.

[00:00:56]Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, nerd and deaths. Now today we have a very special swords. Now throughout history, swords were used and created for a multitude of different reasons. Some were meant for slashing, for cutting, others were meant for piercing. As armor evolved, so did swords. But this one was made for one very specific reason, to remove the head from a convicted criminal in the most merciful and efficient way possible.

[00:01:21]Today we're going over the executioner's sword. Now, this specific sword here is called the Mercy. This came from Romance of Men. And historically, most of these swords were heavy. So, think 5 lb. This one here is 6.5 lb. In addition to that, as opposed to other swords where they taper to a point where it could be more thrusting or better capability against certain types of armor. This got thicker as it went along to the head for more chopping power. It really was made with one function in mind and that's just that's lobbing off heads and census was used specifically for executions and many times it was for people who had influence or money not just comic criminals. There were etchings on them symbols of justice. There were phrases on them. One specific sword at the Cleveland Museum of Art in Germany had the phrasing when I raised this sword so I wish that this poor sinner will receive eternal life. So, it had a bit of that ceremonial aspect to it where this was a weapon used for a specific thing, a specific purpose. And those symbols and those carvings were just kind of a cool way to to show that to people or maybe just for the executioner. Not really sure if it's just personal preference, but there were little etchings of that and that's just, you know, it's a very human thing to do.

[00:02:34]They were primarily used in central Europe from the late 15th to the early 18th century. And decapitation by sword was reserved for noble or high status criminals. It was considered more honorable than hanging or breaking on the wheel. Naturally, England, they mostly use axin, but Anne Berlin famously requested that a French swordsman and sword back in 1536 because she wanted a cleaner, quicker end. The way it worked was the victim knelt sometimes with a block or often just on the ground. And the executioner used a two-handed overhead chop, aiming between the third and fourth vertebrae. The executioner's practice on animals first.

[00:03:09]The forward balance and blunt tip made it excel at chopping rather than stabbing. And after the job, the sword was sometimes clean, sharpened, and used in processions as a symbol of justice.

[00:03:18]By the 1700s though, they were fading.

[00:03:20]The guillotine was faster and cheaper and didn't require a highly skilled person. So naturally, that's going to be a much easier thing to do. The guillotine was just like boom boom boom.

[00:03:29]And then they really got pretty crazy chopping off heads there for a bit. So naturally, the goal for this is we want to start off slow. I'm going to use a watermelon here. Get a nice chop in there and we can pretend this is just some head. Obviously, he missed cuz that's not the vertebrae, but we we'll show what it can do.

[00:04:21]So you can see as opposed to this claymore here and naturally I've done videos about I know there's different types of claymores basket hilt etc etc claymore man etc. But anyways, moving on. This one here is a wider tip, much more mass heavier to help prevent binding when it comes down. This is lighter, could be used for thrusting.

[00:04:39]Easily could be wielded with one hand.

[00:04:40]This thing right here, you can feel it really start to put some pressure on that arm. As you come up here, as opposed to this is incredibly light, incredibly fast. So, functionality, I mean, this probably never saw warfare.

[00:04:52]It was never used as that. I don't know if someone ever used it once in self-defense, but not ideally suited for combat. Next up, we have this beef rib here. Obviously, substantially thicker than a human's neck, and they're trying to hit in between those vertebraes.

[00:05:07]We're going to put this on the chopping block as well, just to see how clean we can get through it.

[00:05:29]So you can see that was incredibly clean, incredibly smooth. No problems at all. The cuts right there were very clean. Also didn't really fracture. It just went through it very easily. Next thing I want to do is just because we have it here, I want to get a padded gambison. Do the same thing again and see if I can cut through it with that additional padding on there. So, I have this pretty thick padded gamas in here.

[00:05:50]I'm going to wrap this up, I think, this way. So, it's coming down on it. So, it' be like this. Just want to see if I this will obstruct it because when you get slashing tests and stuff like that, sometimes this can make quite a difference. I'm obviously using a chopping block for it, but I just want to see, you know, if that's going to provide any resistance at all.

[00:06:15]So with that, you can see the very clean cut through and through right here. No obstruction or problem. It did slow it down a bit. I got through basically 95% of it, but there was enough here where it cut through it, but I think there's just some tendons hanging on. The bones gone. Did mainly fracture that. I still put upside down so it wasn't cracking and it had to cut through. But you can see the cuts were here. very clean all the way through on that larger spot there and then through here. So, still very much a clean cut, I would say. So, that's going to be, you know, if you went to the execution table with some of your finer attire on, you would still probably get your head cut off. This is a sliced cow femur. So, this is basically just fullon bone. I have three stacked together here, and I want to check and see if I can get through all three of those. So that's about, you know, maybe 4 in of bone straight through there. So I'm going to push this thing to its absolute limit here. See how many I can get through, how well it holds up, and hopefully everything goes well.

[00:07:43]Well, that was actually far easier than I anticipated. You can see the cuts are very clean through and through. You can watch on the video also. Did not matter.

[00:07:52]Those which went through made a clean cut through all of that bone. And just know that like this entire thing, this is a femur sliced sideways. So, it's solid solid bone. Now, the thing about bone as well, if it's dead, tends to be harder or more brittle, but it wouldn't matter, I think, in this case at all.

[00:08:09]That is pretty savage right there. So, overall, that's that's pretty cool. I wonder if I can try and do six. Yeah, I think I could. Let's try it.

[00:08:43]Oh, shoot.

[00:08:46]Well, even with that strike going a little cattywampus, that still worked really well. It was loose and so when I hit it kind of wiggled and twisted the blade, so like kind of put me off center there. But even so with that, that was all of them through and through. So maybe seven, eight inches of bone just straight through. Um that is I mean obviously it's going to do its job well.

[00:09:10]Just end it quick, let's say. And for one final test, I just kind of wanted to do this and I apologize if it does break the sword cuz they're not meant for cutting wood. But I have this piece of wood out here. I have an incredibly large sword. It would seem negligent to me if I didn't try.

[00:09:54]Well, I'll tell you, they don't get much cleaner than that as far cuts goes, guys. And that buried itself in here about 3 in into this stump down here.

[00:10:02]But yeah, no, that is um that was really cool. I didn't feel off or anything sometimes when you do something that it's not meant for it feels super funky, but that just sliced through like like butter. It was that was really really quite impressive. And while it would be incredibly fun to smash this thing against some steel, there's just kind of a point where you're hitting steel against steel. It's not going to do too much with the heck is that noise?

[00:10:26]What's up you beta cringe cosplay nerds?

[00:10:30]Did you miss me? Oh my gosh. This this freaking guy.

[00:10:38]What the freak, bro? I come in peace this time.

[00:10:41]>> Sorry, man. For force of habit. That's that's that's not me. That's that's my bad. My bad. Well, as much as I hate all this soy boy dress up crap, the sword is actually pretty cool. And I may have something that is perfect to test it against. Okay, that's awfully generous of you. Well, I happen to have a ballistic Kevlar helmet here. Okay, that sounds like a really cool matchup for sure. Oh, that'll be super cool. But remind me, why does it look like a a Stormtrooper? Slinger Sam wanted to make a video that was Star Wars themed with the Sling Ewoks against Stormtroopers and naturally it it tanked. Hey, I thought it was a super fun video. One condition though, I get to swing the sword. Why would you want to do that?

[00:11:26]Well, personally, I think it'd be just hilarious, especially if people skip around without context and come to a giant tactical bro swinging a giant sword. Okay, I can I can respect the troll. That's That's good times. Now, the thing about Kevlar ballistic helmets as opposed to steel is they're not as rigid in the sense that steel is. I feel like bashing this thing in steel is not going to do much. I've put this helmet through the ringo versus war bows versus compound bows versus swords, but nothing quite as specialist as this for swinging. So, I want to take a couple strikes at it with full power. It may cause a little bit of a twist in the wrist, but I might do some chops at as well and see what we can do.

[00:12:30]Now, what you can clearly see even with this sword and the power that I'm giving it, not much more of a surface scratch on that helmet. It's able to make some pretty good dents in there, but not enough to go through. Can't quite seem to get it. Maybe I can cut an edge off or something. I'm going to try maybe one more strike just for a good measure.

[00:13:11]Oh, that's about as hard as I can get it. And even that wasn't enough to get through. I kind of had high hopes of like cut this thing in half, but unfortunately it's it's not to be.

[00:13:22]Dang. Sword held up well, though. It's not wiggling or loose, so that's that's promising. So from the scaffolds of 17th century Germany to museums today, we have this reminder of craftsmanship and justice, a blade literally meant for taking heads. And while these tests are fun, and it's always fun to do, I think it's always important to remember that in history, real people were attached to this. Some people convicted wrongly, some convicted rightly. But I think a big part of it is just a reminder of how far we've come today as people and how much more we've grown and learned.

[00:13:54]because while it's always fun to play medieval, I wouldn't want to live medieval. So, I hope you guys have an amazing day and enjoyed this sword. A very special thanks as well to Romance of Men who provided me this sword, Mercy. If you're interested in it, check out their website and see if that's going to be a good fit for you. But again, this is a very heavy sword, almost 7 lb. So, unless you're using it for specific things, it's not one you can really practice or duel with. It's just a great piece of history and really fun to cut up things with.