Please do not forget to implement this important detail.
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I doubt they would pretend that isn’t important, like some RPGs I know… SKYRIM!!!
Because i’m not sure that’s historically correct:
Haha, awesomeXD
…
As long swords don’t just stick to your back like in many RPGs. It looks stupid.
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A sword on your back is incredibly impracticle anyway, I own a couple of swords, and believe me, in the middle of a fight you wouldn’t want to try and unsheathe a sword on your back, you simply don’t have enough arm length…
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Well, can’t you simply lift it with your other arm up a bit and then quickly grab the sword out with the other?
What? I can’t imagine what you’re talking about. You mean, half lift it out with one arm, and the rest with the other? You still couldn’t get it out, you would have to take it off of your back, or actually grab the blade itself, and I don’t think I have to tell you why that’s not a good idea… This all depends on the length of the sword, anything longer than a gladius and your screwed, even then it would be awkward…
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That is unrealistic and lot more Lord of the rings fantasy to me. Like the quiver on the back and the Hollywoodian jumping attacks.
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You know, lift the whole thing over your shoulder, take out the sword and then slide it back. I don’t have anything to test it, so I don’t know. 
the best way i have heard is when your traveling, you hitch it up on your back and when you think there might be a fight, you pull the belt or sash or whatever down till its riding at your waist. the other way i have heard it done is your longsword is strapped to your saddle, and your arming sword is the one you walk around with
I would assume since they are including armour degradation and clothes getting dirty the same would apply to swords. Perhaps scabbards could play a part in this. Maybe a well made scabbard could slow down sword degradation. Sword oil would be nice to, like the sword gets rusty if not oiled regularly and if the sword could get blunt. A lot of work, but it would really give the feeling of “This is my sword, I am attached to this item I want to keep it clean” rather than it being another object to be thrown around. Same thing could apply to swords you forge if there was maybe a forgers signet or even small variation between weapons would give it some personality.
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@camshron Why on earth would you do that? Their is a lot of time their for you to be killed if they have ambushed you. Just keep it on your waist, their is no reason why not, unless you are carrying more than one for some reason.
True! While I saw some western depictions of arrow quivers worn on the back (personally I never use this method), I only ever confronted two main methods as of swords:
- wearing it on the hip (the exact method can wildly vary, and in some cases, like with the seax / scramasax i have seen sometimes weapons attached to the waist-side of the belt) or
- if it is too large and you are traveling with an army, then you put it on the cart; or if you are traveling alone, then you hold it on your shoulder, unsheathed.
Of course, this doesn’t prove anything, but I still like to think that there is a reason that while checking all those sources, I never encountered a single fine example of wearing a sword on the back in the “classic” diagonal style.
pretty much why it was a bad idea, its just the only time iv really heard of it being back mounted. as far as moving around with a longsword, it can be very awkward, depending on how tall you are and whose measurements you use. factoring in that it would appear that the average medival man ranged from barely taller to several inches shorter than I am, i can see where it would be awkward to manuever with a longsword on the hip
What about a Zweihänder or a claymore? I mean those are pretty large and I would imagine, having one strapped around your waist would be pretty uncomfortable I would imagine. And I mean, if you Strip it on your back, you can just take it off and take out the sword. You’ll be probably walking in full armour anyway.
No. Just… no. As far as I understood, you either keep your weapon ready to strike (so on your hip), or you dont keep it by your hands at all. Landsknecht Doppelsoldners are always depicted with the Katzbalger on the belt and the two-handed sword on the shoulder.
So, in cases you are “in full armor”, you might want your sword be in your hand anyways. When you are traveling, you can just throw the stuff into the pack, onto the cart. After all, pikes were not strapped to the pikemen’s backs either.
Everything smaller (like the longsword itself!) goes onto the hip, to somewhere on the belt. It is uncomfortable, sure (that might be one reasons for the advent of the rapier), but better be uncomfortable than dead. 
As of me, I am basically unable to pull out a little longer, later-type one-handed sword out of it’s scabbard on my back, you can imagine the dance moves, if I would try the same trick with my 1,80 meters long ceremonial two-handed sword. I would probably gain a pretty good popularity on YouTube, but not much else. It’s similar to strapping a modern anti-material rifle to your back. You could do that, sure, but why would? It’s impractical and not much more comfortable than the other options, and also if you go somewhere where you need such a weapon, then it’s probably a bad idea to keep it on your back.
I have absolutely no idea from where this “sword-on-the-back” thing came from; but the reason game developers love to put all kinds of stuff to their characters back is probably that when they sit down, the clipping looks a little bit better. In reality, I would probably not keep three different kinds of pole weapons on me (“in my inventory”), and I could put the one in the corner if I feel the need to sit down in a random tavern I go to with military weapons for some reason.
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But what if you’re just traveling and your cart/horse has no space? I mean, it would be kind of like a backpack. But I’m not expert.
i imagine its the same as when solderers tie their rifles on their backs so they can use both hands and move about easier but still have it at the ready if its needed
Exactly sounds legit