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MACES AND WAR HAMMERS Favorites of European knights and soldiers from the 12th through the 16th centuries, maces and hammers were designed primarily to break through and crush heavy armor.* MACES Maces have been used literally for millenia and appear in many forms and in almost every culture. In general, the mace was a shaft (metal, wood or even bone) surmounted by a weighted head (normally of metal) ranging in length from 18 to 30 inches. The most common style of European mace had a flanged head and was roughly two feet overall (see photo at right, number 2). WAR HAMMERS War Hammers were a development of the late thirteenth century (based on the mundane workman's tool) created specifically to deal with heavy "plate style" armor. These weapons featured a hammer or claw-shaped head backed by a thick spike (both of steel) and had shafts similar to maces both in length and composition. An exceptionally long, two-handed war hammer that was often used by infantry to bring down mounted knights was called (mysteriously!) the footman's war hammer. *Keep in mind that our maces and hammers are made very much like the originals but lack sharp points, edges and projections. They also tend to be fairly light but they are still essentially weighted metal clubs whose original purpose was to bypass the protection offered by armor (in other words "they crush metal, wood, etc"). If struck against a shield they may dent, bend or crush even heavy steel. We recommend that they be used only in non-contact choreography and, as with any staged violence, they be used under the supervision of an experienced Fight Director such as those trained by The Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), Fight Directors Canada (FDC) and the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat (BASSC) .
"We will rent no weapon that we would not personally use ourselves."
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