A short sword or saber could conceivably be designed to contract completely into a 5 or 6 inch hilt by collapsing in on itself in three sheet-metal type pieces per length and in a telescoping form like an extendable antenna. When the blade was retracted the individual segments would retract in on each other in a T type formation with the back, dull side of the blade being one thin, flat, trapezoidal/ triangular piece, one curved piece angled to join with the other two would serve as a support piece, and another similarly shaped piece, slightly broader than the support piece, would be edged for use as the cutting edge. There would be from three to five segments of these three pieces, each as long as the hilt, to form the entire blade. Each of the segments could be individually spring loaded and attached to the segment that preceded it, the last one being attached to the hilt. In order to lock into place by was or interlocking c-cuts or bends or perhaps another mechanism I have not thought of. The release of the blade could be a two part lock to ensure security. One would have to squeeze the grip or hand guard tight onto the hilt and flip some sort of switch in order to deploy the blade. Though this would not be so useful for the military in combat it could perhaps be used like a machete, as a utility blade instead of a weapon. It would reduce the space needed to pack it and would ensure safety until it was deployed.
-- Twist, Mar 18 2006

Compact Sword Compact_20Sword_20Blade
Similar, but not equal. [Zimmy, Mar 18 2006]

Sounds great, but I don't believe it is physically possible to build a working extensible blade that long.
-- DrCurry, Mar 18 2006



random, halfbakery