Pirates preferred boarding and fighting in hand to hand combat as apposed to bombarding their prey with ship's cannon.. Some of the favorite pirate weapons are discussed below.

Cutlass: This short bladed sword was the weapon of choice for seamen on boarding parties and pirates in particular.  The main advantage of the cutlass over the normal long bladed saber, rapier, and other swords is that  it's short blade worked well in close quarters while the longer blades often hit rigging lines and other normal on deck obstructions. The Cutlass was used as a slashing weapon similar to the saber .

Dirk: A small sword, slightly larger than a dagger. The dirk was the common weapon of the naval midshipmen. It was shorter than the cutlass and made a handy stabbing and cutting weapon. The dirk was often used in conjunction with the main fighting sword. It was difficult to protect oneself against a pirate wielding a weapon in each hand. Most naval dirks carried one sharp edge others were commonly made with double-edged blades.

Dagger: The Dagger was a small multi-purpose blade. The dagger had a straight blade, and was used thrusting and puncturing as opposed the slashing and gashing like the cutlass. The dagger had a cross bar or hilt to protect the hand from cuts from swords and other cutting blades in battle.

Pike: A pike was a long spear with a wooden handle and metal point. Pikes could be thrown at a target or used spear-like while fighting. Because of their length they were  very effective against swords and knives in boarding actions.

Boarding Axe: The boarding axe was used as a deadly fighting weapon similar as the American Indian used the Tommy hawk.  pirates would use the boarding axe to assist in climbing the sides of a ship and also to cut through the rigging lines.

  More cutting weapons will be added as the course develops.

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