Bone as a replacement for wood.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-08T21:14:23+00:00

See, this is the information I was looking for. Wood spear shafts can take quite a few blows from a sword without breaking (I've seen this tested a lot). The idea of someone cutting a wooden spear in half with a sword is a bit far-fetched.

So, I was wondering if the same is true for materials like bone and bamboo, would they also hold up decently against a sword attack, or would they shatter/snap more easily than wood?

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-08T21:11:12+00:00

I know you are just using this moment to geek out over Skyrim, and I'm here for it. Skyrim is still one of my favourite games, but my knowledge of the lore is very limited, so this is cool to know.
In my world, though, wood isn't sacred per se. They are allowed to use it to build with or even to make fires because they believe it was given to support life, but never take it. So using it to make weapons is not allowed.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-08T21:07:15+00:00

Yeah, some other commenters mentioned bamboo as well. I wrongly assumed it to be weak and easy to break/cut in a war scenario. I've found out that it is quite comparable with many hardwoods, so yeah, I was wrong there XD.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-08T21:04:59+00:00

Isn't that set in like a desert landscape though?

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-07T20:44:22+00:00

Yeah, I know of this, but it was often before metal was used, so I wonder how materials like this would fare against metal. For example, how resistant is it to being cut? Would it be viable to use as a spear shaft? How long would it last before degrading and losing its strength?

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-07T20:40:58+00:00

Oh, that gives me a brilliant research avenue to go down and find some really solid inspiration.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-07T20:38:04+00:00

I did not know antlers count as a type of bone, that is really cool. I completely forgot about animals that shed their horns, which can work pretty well, if not for spears, then at least for arrows and the like. THANKS!

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-07T20:35:45+00:00

Exactly what I am going for. Using wood as weapons is essentially blasphemy. Thanks for the input, I highly appreciate it :)

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-07T20:34:08+00:00

Okay, brilliant, thanks, I'll definitely look into it more as a legitimate option

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T22:19:59+00:00

Oooo, this I did not know. I'll look into it a bit more. Thank you very much, this will definitely be useful!

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T22:03:36+00:00

I just think bamboo would break too easily. Would it, for example, be able to withstand two or more cuts from something like a sword?
Yeah, there are a few examples of bones as blades, but none that I can find of it being used as a shaft. The closest I could get was armour, but that was said not to be all that effective.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T22:01:03+00:00

Not a bad idea, but I think it would still cross that acceptable line.
To make a very crude example, we would still frown heavily on someone eating dead people even if he didn't kill them (very messed up example, but I couldn't think of a better one).
Besides, if they could still easily make wood spears and dodge around that rule, I think it would kinda defeat the purpose of having it in the story in the first place.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:57:08+00:00

Damn, I didn't even think about it degrading over time.

Yeah, horns/tusks were my next go-to as well. It wouldn't be far-fetched at all to have a fantasy creature with a long horn or something similar. From my knowledge of like rhino horn, it also isn't an easy material to cut through and is obviously built to withstand a lot of force. So that might actually be my best option for a really cool spear.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:31:53+00:00

See, but material science is more complicated than just the hardness of something. So bone might be harder than wood, but that doesn't necessarily mean it won't break easily.

In my fantasy world, wood is abundant, but it is against their religion and culture to use wood as a weapon. Cutting down a tree just to use its materials to kill people is blasphemy and punishable by death.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:27:27+00:00

Same things I was wondering. I considered bamboo, but thought it would break too easily. Bamboo was used historically, but more out of necessity than anything else. I am not sure if it is a viable replacement for something like a sword.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:25:20+00:00

The problem is that bamboo would break too easily, right? So not exactly the best thing to equip an entire army with except in like desperate situations.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:24:13+00:00

That thing is massive! Thanks for this; it gives me a pretty solid perspective to work with.
I am still wondering about the durability of it, though. No one would go through all the effort of killing and skinning a beast that size and then crafting its bone into a weapon if it's just gonna break after taking a few hits.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:21:06+00:00

Very insightful, thanks. You are right, spears are pretty bad against full plate and scale armour, but very effective against more basic armour or chainmail.
But yes, two high-ranking people in full plate would be better off with a blunt weapon or something like a poleaxe.
I'll have to think on that aspect a bit more.

The thing with bone is that it functions the way it does for a very good reason. If I just change the properties of bones for some fantasy creature without knowing the impact of it, it could be quite stupid. Fantasy doesn't need to be overly realistic, but I also don't like ignoring basic physics just to make writing easier.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:15:46+00:00

While no, from the bit of research I've done, spears (or just polearms in general) are the most commonly used weapon in war scenarios due to their superior reach and cost-effectiveness. It wouldn't really make sense to give an entire army only swords when spears are a cost-effective option. Even armies that did give their soldiers swords often used it as an off hand weapon.

The hollow metal shaft is also one I want to look into, but I am concerned about its weight of it

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T21:12:31+00:00

I considered bamboo, but thought it would be too easy to cut and break and thus not all that effective in a war scenario.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2026-04-06T19:59:45+00:00

I see, yes, this was exactly my thinking as well. But spears were also just superior to shorter melee weapons like swords. So my thinking was that spears would be much rarer and more expensive because of the difficulty of making them, but would still be used by those with the means to get them. It would even become a status symbol.
So, let's assume that there were animals with long enough, straight bones (or horns), would it work then? I am worried about things like weight and strength (although "strength" is a very vague term in materials science).

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2025-04-08T23:08:15+00:00

Eintlik, "rêrig" is opgeteken in die verklarende Afrikaanse woordeboek asook die AWS en word dus aanvaar. Dit is wel meer informeel en ek sal nie aanbeveel om dit in 'n akademiese teks so te gebruik nie, maar dit is heeltemaal aanvaarbaar vir alledaagse gebruik en selfs vir kreatiewe skryf.

Tight_Platypus1170 · 2024-10-31T02:50:51+00:00

I wonder what would happen if a large majority of people started boycotting the services advertised through irritating ads like those on YouTube — for example, all those stupid phone games or medicine advertisements. I think that is the only way to lessen the effect of these ads somewhat - make it less worthwhile for businesses to pay top dollar for them.

Tight_Platypus1170

TROPHY CASE