The Realm of the Dark Blade

Here is an interesting crossbow design:

Gun Crossbow

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Now as crossbows go, this is quite the looker. Melding design cues from the medieval hand held firearm with that of the venerable crossbow we get: The medieval gun crossbow. Sporting what looks like a medieval flint lock hand gun grip attached to a small cross bow. It’s just all kinds of style right there. The medieval warriors answer to the modern hand gun.

Anyway, one of the things I really like about this weapon is it’s simplicity. You can practically count the number of moving parts on this weapon with one hand. And yet it’s simplicity does not diminish it’s effectiveness one whit. Even though, compared to a full size cross bow, this would have been very weak. But don’t let the simplicity fool you. It could have been quite lethal at close range.

Yet another interesting thing about this weapon is that it is sporting a rather neat little feature that I don’t often see in medieval crossbows. Fore and aft adjustable sights!! If you look closely at the pic you’ll notice two posts with aiming apertures pinned to the right side of the crossbow. To be honest, I’m not positive about their adjustability, but the fact that they are pinned to the side, as opposed to being fixed to the latch plate, may suggest they were adjustable. Yep, this little beaut’s got all kinds of bells and whistles… Ok, so maybe one or two. But back then that was a lot.

And it would have been easy to conceal. At least compared to a full sized crossbow. There was even a little ring in the butt stock so you could hang it from your belt. Talk about shooting from the hip! And the beauty of it was, back then, no concealed carry license would have been required. Ah, the good old days… Gun control was all about “Robin Hood”ing your crossbow bolts…

Gun Crossbow – [Realm Collections]

I was originally going to call this next weapon a gunblade. For reasons that will soon be obvious. Except that it lacked one of the primary features that make a gunblade so: An actual firearm. This blade is simply shaped like a gun. Actually, more like a futuristic hand held laser, or phaser. Hence the name “Phaserblade”. I’m probably going to have to come up with a new name if I run across a combination blade/phaser, but for now it sticks. (Because I say so. Hrrmph.) Allow me to introduce:

The Photon by Paul Ehlers

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Wicked looking innit? It looks for all the world like some kind of futuristic sci-fi personal phaser. With a nasty point. It’s got a pistol grip handle, on which the back strap splits off from the rest of the grip, it’s got a trigger finger recess and even a trigger guard. It’s just hasta be a futuristic phaser. Just gotta.

Assuming however, that there is no super duper secret super laser shooter in this thing (Hey look at that! I can rhyme!!) From a practical standpoint, this isn’t the most versatile weapon I’ve ever come across. I suppose it would work well as a push dagger, but beyond that, your choices are limited. Of course I doubt the designer had practicality in mind when he came up with this.

Still, even without the ability to stun (or vaporize) unsuspecting peeps from afar, I must admit it’s a pretty cool design. Enough swooshy lines, curves fins and points to make my good graces. Actually just one or two too many. But it still looks cool. And to top it all off, it’s black. Can’t beat black with a baseball bat. (HAH! I’m on a roll! ) That’s what finally won me over…

Photon – [Collectors Edge]