Ricasso

Ricasso

A ricasso is a part of some sword and knife blades. It is an unsharpened and unbevelled section just above the guard or handle.

The first ricassos (or first labelled as such) were found on larger Western swords beginning in the Late Middle Ages. In use, this allowed the swordsman to choke up, shorten his grip, or half-sword, enabling better control and manipulation of the blade and allowing the weapon to be more effective in thrusting against both armoured and unarmoured opponents. Later longswords, claymores, rapiers and other large blades often had this feature. Many modern knives also include an unbeveled section referred to as a ricasso.

Ricasso in swords (contrary to knives) sometimes terminate with quillons or flukes, which is to the ricasso what the guard is to the hilt.In some swords or weapons the ricasso was used to reflect and block attacks. Having no edge, it's less prone to damage.The ricasso on a knife usually serves the purpose of allowing a user to choke up above the guard and work more carefully or with more direct pressure. Some knives have notches cut into the portion of the ricasso at the back of the blade just past the guard, so it may be used to choke up with less risk of the thumb sliding.


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ricasso — d une épée Le ricasso est une partie de la lame d une épée. C est une partie relativement courte, ne dépassant pas plus d un quart de la lame, et se trouve juste après la garde. Le ricasso est non affûté, et sert soit à parer, soit à pouvoir… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ricasso — Claymore mit blanker Fehlschärfe oberhalb der Parierstangen Die Fehlschärfe (oder das Ricasso) ist bei einigen Schwertern und Fechtwaffen ein nichtgeschliffener Teil der Klinge. Häufig befindet sich eine Fehlschärfe direkt oberhalb der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ricasso — The dull portion of a blade just above the hilt. It is intended for wrapping the index finger around to give greater tip control (called fingering ). Not all sword forms had ricasso. They can be found on many Bastard swords, most cut & thrust… …   Medieval glossary

  • ricasso — noun The blunt area of a sword just above the hilt, used for grip and maneuverability …   Wiktionary

  • ricasso — ri·càs·so s.m. TS sport nella scherma, parte dell impugnatura della spada e del fioretto italiani, compresa tra la coccia e il gavigliano e tenuta dalle prime tre dita {{line}} {{/line}} DATA: 1891. ETIMO: etim. incerta, forse connesso con 2casso …   Dizionario italiano

  • ricasso — {{hw}}{{ricasso}}{{/hw}}s. m. Parte più larga della lama del fioretto o della spada italiana …   Enciclopedia di italiano

  • ricasso — pl.m. ricassi …   Dizionario dei sinonimi e contrari

  • ricasso — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Rapière — Garde de rapière damasquinée en argent, entre 1580 et 1600. Lame factice …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Sword — For other uses, see Sword (disambiguation) and Swords (disambiguation). Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century A sword is a bladed weapon (edged weapon) used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the… …   Wikipedia

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