Dagger Damage

[Derek Gulas]

I was just wondering how much material a dagger, say a rondel or the like, is capable of penetrating. Would it be probable to pierce a sallet or the like? If you stuck somebody hard enough, would it be probable to have an "exit wound" ? I ask this last question because I know that flesh compresses when it is thrust at, and rondels are long enough that... well... skewer.

Thoughts? Comments? Fragen?

[Casper Bradak]

If it's longer that its target is thick, it'll come out the other side if you stick it through. So yeah, there will be an exit wound. It's a very pointy, non-deforming sub-sonic weapon, so the exit wound will not likely leave a catastrophic blowout like a hollow point bullet, if that's what you're wondering. It's doubtful that it would deform the flesh at all. Most blade injuries cleanly pearce and part.

There are many blade forms on rondel hilts, so that will of course affect it's ability to penetrate various different thicknesses of various different substances. But, it's a moot point, as they're all pointy and very capable of putting holes in what they were designed to.

Who knows if they could penetrate a sallet? That depends on the sallet, the blade, and the attack. Why you would want to, I have no idea. They weren't designed to penetrate plate armour, not much was. They're quite good at stabbing around sallets though. Put it through the sights, or under the helmet.

[Derek Gulas]

Haha... Although the idea of an exploding exit wound with a dagger is amusing to me in a sort of morbid way, that wasn't what I was getting at. I didn't even realize I was implying, it actually.

As for the sallet thing, I guess I was just wondering how successful such an attack would be in a despirate situation. Battle isn't likely to be ideal after all, so maybe in the frenzy of it all, all you could get is a solid stab to the crown of the head. I dunno....

[Jaron Bernstein]

I took a police knife defense class a few months ago that showed cut and stab wounds (from knives) on dead victims of the same. The common pocketknife (3" or so blade) does terrible things to the body. I don't imagine a much larger rondel would be better.