Top 10 Unusual Weapons

Nowadays modern warfare only sees weapons such as mines and guns, and of course war-machines, but back when these modern weapons weren't around,
war was very different. The weapons of choice was very different, some being plain unusual. So focusing in the the unusual side of things, I thought it would be interesting to put together a list of thetop 10 unusual weapons - these are based no my opinions though. :)

1. The Tekko-Kagi Claws

Tekko-Kagi Claws are an ancient weapon made from aluminium, iron and steel. They were one of the many weapons ninjas liked to use, and could be used offensively or defensively. Offensive-wise they were sharp and could easily pierce human-flesh. Because of there size, they were able to be used as an extension of the hand making them easy to manoeuvre and non-cumbersome. 

Defensively, they could parry swords and disarm enemies using them, using the gaps of the claws to trap the sword in.  

2. Zhua

You can see from the picture that the Zhua is an incredibly unusual-looking weapon, yet was a weapon that was used. The Zhua was invented by the Chinese, and consisted of a long pole with an iron hand at the end. The iron hand had dagger-like metal spiked claws also allowing it to be used for the tearing of flesh. It was able to pull men off of horses, and could be used to pull a persons shield out of their hands.

The weapon doesn't really need the claws, they're just there to make it even deadlier, because the iron hand was heavy enough to easily kill a person.

3. Kpinga

The Kpinga was the long-range weapon of the Znade warriors who lived in Central Africa. The Kpinga was a throwing knife consisting of three sharp blades, and could be thrown overhead or from the sides (which could be when wanting to take someones legs out).

Because there are three blades, and because of how they are positioned, the Kpinga had a very successful hit-percentage.

The weapon also represented a man's masculinity and once married, would be presented to the family of his wife's.  

4. The Caltrop

The Caltrop is a weapon used for placing so people or animals will step on them. Because of the way they were designed, there will always be a spike sticking upwards, ready for someone to place a foot onto it. They were used to help slow the enemy horses, troops, and war elephants in the battlefield.

5. The Macuahuitl

The Macuahuitl was used by the Aztec's and is similar to a normal club. The Macuahuitl as you can see lacks a sharp point, so stabbing and the like could do with a normal sword couldn't be done. However, the Macuahuitl did have razor-sharp pieces of obsidian inserted into the sides, so it could quite easily have torn and ripped through flesh. They also, in some sources, are three to four feet in length and up to three inches thick.

They could be designed either with a grip for one hand, or a grip for two. The two-handed gripped Macuahuitl's are referred to having been as tall as a man!

6. The Man Catcher

The Man Catcher consists of a pole mounted with a two pronged head. Each prong had a spring-loaded door and could pass over a man-sized object and have the ability to keep it trapped. It was used for pulling men off of horseback and pinning them helplessly to the floor. Because of the spikes in the centre, restraint was often minimal. The weapon was used until as late as the 18th century.

7. Cho Ko Nu

The Cho Ko Nu was a repeating crossbow that allowed the user to quickly reload. This was achieved through a magazine containing a number of bolts on top of the bow, and the mechanism is worked by moving a rectangular lever forwards and backwards. Although this did allow the user to fire 10 arrows within 15 seconds, unfortunately the power,range and accuracy you would usually find in a normal crossbow was sacrificed slightly. However, this wasn't a main concern when comparing the reload times.

8. The Tessen

The Tessen is a Japanese war fan, several types of which were used predominantly by the Samurai and women. Although they were designed to look harmless, they are in fact a deadly weapon. They were made of iron and were sharp around the edges. Looking at it though, I think there must be a knack to using them, I don't think I'd be that good - a bit like using chopsticks, which I find to difficult to use. :)

9. The Lantern Shield

A number of specimens of the Lantern Shield have survived (like the one in the picture above), and is a type of buckler combined with a lantern. On this weapon is a small hook on which a person would hang a lantern off of, this was to blind or dazzle an opponent during a fight fought at night or early dawn. Later versions included a whole host of extra weapons to gain an advantage over the opponent...basically more sharp pointy things.

10. Chakram

The Chakram is an Indian throwing weapon and looks to me like it's more suited to TRON. It was designed to be a close melee weapon and a long-distance throwing weapon because of it's aerodynamic shape.

It was around a foot in diameter and was deadly sharp, able to slice through flesh with ease. A steel Chakram could be thrown a distance of 40-60 metres, but brass ones could be thrown in excess of 100 metres with the right technique.