This is a notion I've kind-of wanted to have for some number of years, but there was a problem with it that I could not resolve before now. So...
A nice sharp blade needs a handle. For a quarterstaff, anywhere along the staff is a handle. If you want to manipulate a 2-meter blade like a quarterstaff, then you need a way to grip it safely and securely at multiple locations, *without* interfering much with the sharpness of the 2-meter blade. That's the conundrum to which I now offer this solution.
Since the blade should be expected to be uniform in shape all along its length, except for the very ends (sharp points, of course!), we could imagine a kind of sliding handle (two of them) that closely fits the shape of the blade.
Now we imagine that the blade has a set of shallow notches at perhaps 1-cm intervals all along its length. Each handle would contain a mechanism that by-default latches into at least one and possibly several of those notches. When latched, obviously the handle cannot slide along the BladeStaff.
At either end of each handle are two or three thumb- pushable buttons that can unlatch the mechanism. No matter how the BladeStaff is rotated or gripped, any time a hand is holding a handle, one of those multiple buttons can be accessed by a thumb. Any time both hands are holding the BladeStaff, you can unlatch either handle and move it to a different location along the BladeStaff, and relatch it. I won't recommend unlatching both at the same time without a lot of practice, as that might allow gravity or momentum to pull the BladeStaff out of both handles. Embarrassing, or worse!-- Vernon, Sep 25 2017 Bat'leth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat%27lethFixed grip [8th of 7, Sep 25 2017] Half-swording https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-swordPrior art: Doing basically this with a regular sword. Don't miss the "ricasso" link in the middle. [notexactly, Feb 11 2018] [8th of 7], a bat'leth is not as lengthy as a quarterstaff, and I think it would also be less versatile than a BladeStaff. The curve of a bat'leth would affect the symmetry of what we might call "range of effective motion", compared to a straight same-length version.
I should mention that the origin of this Idea can be traced to something I read many years ago, about how an expert quarterstaff user could almost always defeat an expert swordsman (especially if the wooden quarterstaff had some metal reinforcing). So, if the two weapons could somehow be combined, that should be better still. I can agree that a bat'leth is one approach to such a combination, but on one side it has far less "blade" (sharp edge) than on the other side, and I consider that to be a flaw.-- Vernon, Sep 26 2017 // a bat'leth is not as lengthy as a quarterstaff, and I think it would also be less versatile than a BladeStaff. //
We don't disagree, indeed we have bunned the idea. We were merely pointing out Prior Art.-- 8th of 7, Sep 26 2017 Bunned. But make mine with only one handle : the guys with two are all gonna be nicknamed "Lefty", "Frodo" and "Stumpy" in pretty short order.
(The starwars version of course is a bare blade: the wielder dawns variable-field magnetic gauntlets)-- FlyingToaster, Sep 26 2017 Dons-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 26 2017 <winces, wonders if the wazikashi is still in the shed>-- FlyingToaster, Sep 26 2017 Wakizashi-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 26 2017 <wonders if the brickbat is closer>-- FlyingToaster, Sep 26 2017 // Wakizashi //
Gesundheit !-- 8th of 7, Sep 26 2017 random, halfbakery