Billhooks vs Halberd

[Henrick]

Was the billhook a commonly used weapon in medieval Germany? I've always thought it's an English weapon. One would think the halberd would have been more common on the continent during that time period.

[UR|Dialetheia]

First and foremost, unlike the halberd(or most kinds of halberds, no one can keep up with all of those "stick with different bits on one end" kinds) , it's kind of a peasant weapon, easy and cheap to produce.

[Vensalir]

The Halberd is a refined military weapon, designed to be a jack of all trades for infantry. The billhook is a modified farming tool, as were a great many weapons used in the middle ages. Also keep in mind that there never was a "standard" billhook, every farmer/soldier had its own and they all some differences in size, weight and shape. So it is probable that a certain type of billhook was the norm in England whereas another type of instrument that was virtually identical but with a different name was more common in Germany. There was very little standardization of weapons at the time : "sword" could have meant a dozen different types of weapons depending on where you asked.

[Elhazzared]

Actually the halberd was by no means a complicated weapon with so many diffrent bits on the end. It has an axe like blade on one side so it could be used as a two handed axe. It has a spear point in the tip to put up a spear wall the same way spears did and it had a hook on the back side to try and pull knights out of the horses.

[UR|Dialetheia]

So... three bits. Three functionally separate bits on one stick. That's alot. You forced my hand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92_TKngfYFQ&list=PLCA860ECD7F894424&index=83

[Elhazzared]

I am still pretty much correct in what i said. I didn't say that a polearm is coprised of always the same 3 bits. I said that a halberd in specific is comprised of the exact 3 bits. Axeblade on the front for your two handed axe needs. Hook on the back to pull knights off the horse and spike/spear point on top to be used as a spear and general stabbing.

To further illustrate my point i could have said that a spear is a very simple weapon meant to put up a spear wall that was both effective agaisnt infantry and cavalry though more intended against cavalry. It is a long wooden shaft (insert obvious joke here) with a metalic tip in form of a spike or a small pointed blade... You could have then pointed me to this same vid which talks about polearms as a spear is a polearm, but I was speaking of a particular weapon and not of polearms in general.

[WadeStar]

Always just a matter of time before Lindy Biege makes an appearance. I love his channel.