I do apologize for being stupid. With the benefit of hindsight, I did contribute to 2015's list of stupidest posts.
HOWEVER, I don't stand corrected.
Boom, disposable back scabbard, and all you have to do is replace the cloth after you draw it. Not exactly ideal, and you might need to experiment a bit with types of cloth to find one that cuts smoothly but the concept would work. Now whether or not it would be practical enough to actually bother doing is another question, but you could definitely make one.
Excuse me, while I might be condescending, at least I am not wrong, thank you.
Scabbards are not for just carrying your shit around. It's also for protecting your sword. Numerous longswords had this thing called rainguard attached to their crossguards, which in my opinion looks hideous as shit, but they were used for about 3 centuries constantly, and most swords with excellent preservation have them. You know why? Because
steel rusts. Rainguard protects the sword against moisture, and saw most frequent use in England(it does rain a lot over there, yes?).
I do know what I am talking about. Your set up is quite perfect for ruining your sword. Fighting with a half rusted sword was probably the second fastest way to get killed in medieval combat, with the fastest way being using a back scabbard.
Dadao:
Dadao:
Odachi:
Odachi:
Obviously, drawings/woodcuts have to be taken with a grain of salt (came from wikipedia). The Kuneyoshi woodcut )1st) is from 1800's, 200 years after the odachi's prime use. 2nd woodcut is from 1735, a 100 years afterwards.
You'd have to read my comment in context. I am firmly against fast drawing two handed swords, and you'll see why in those images provided. They have no way of drawing their weapons in those pictures, let alone fast drawing. If you don't believe me, just grab a broom, sling it on your back, and try to draw it.
I don't see why a sword on your back can't simply be unslung, and then drawn, the same way a soldier unslings a rifle off their shoulder before using it. If you're looking for a "quick draw", you should be looking for a shorter weapon.
This is what I think of Cataclysm's back scabbards are like. They already function like this, they take stupid amount of time to draw and sheath, which they totally should!
A long sword, bastard sword, kriegsmesser, nodachi, or whatever - essentially two handed swords that are designed for
heavy duty combat, not
self defense, had no means of 'fast drawing'. If you are in such a situation where you face an army and you don't even have your weapon ready, you don't have much of a hope anyway.
Though, weapons that are not long enough to be considered solely for battlefield use, such as longswords could be worn on the side. Most weapons that are shorter than the length between your feet to your armpits could, in fact.
Fast drawing a two-handed sword like that is the equivalent of fast drawing a bazooka in modern combat. Surely you don't stand in front of a tank and go, 'Okay, it's just you and me. Draw.'
History speaks for itself, hundreds of thousands of people who lived before us were not idiots. They used what worked for them. The thing is, we see no evidence back scabbards ever were a thing in battlefield combat or saw civilian use. I've never seen back sheaths or back scabbards in archaeological finds. If they were actually useful, we'd... have found a couple, don't you think?
I'll end this on a less arguing tone. There is nothing wrong with liking back scabbards, nor using one in real life. If you are a LARPer, a back scabbard that looks cool and you can actually use would be considered a tremendous advantage over other setups, and considering you'd only use it a couple times a month, you wouldn't have to worry about environment damage. Though it's seriously doubtful that it'll be of much use anywhere else.