The Most Brutal Weapons Ever Designed for Close Combat

Most weapons give you at least a little distance from the person trying to kill you. The weapons in this article were built for the moment when that distance disappeared. They were made for cramped trenches, crowded ship decks, narrow castle corridors, chaotic streets, and brutal hand-to-hand fighti…

Weapons So Dangerous They Were Banned From the Battlefield

For centuries, armies searched for weapons that could give them even the slightest advantage on the battlefield. But occasionally, a weapon earned a reputation for being so cruel, indiscriminate, or terrifying that governments and military leaders tried to restrict it altogether. Some were targeted …

The Bizarre Weapons People Once Carried for Self Defense

Throughout history, people have carried some surprisingly bizarre objects for protection. Long before modern personal safety devices existed, a walk through a crowded city could mean sharing the street with people carrying sword canes, weighted saps, knuckle dusters, push daggers, disguised knives, …

The Strange History of the Blackjack

Small enough to disappear into a pocket and heavy enough to end a fight with a single swing, the blackjack became one of the most notorious weapons carried on American streets. For decades, these compact impact weapons were associated with everyone from police officers and private detectives to crim…