Backsword

A backsword is a type of sword characterised by having a single-edged blade and a hilt with a single-handed grip.

From around the early 14th century, the backsword became the first type of European sword to be fitted with a knuckle guard.

[3] Backswording was an alternative term for singlesticking tournaments in England.

[4][5] Being easier and cheaper to make than double-edged swords, backswords became the favored sidearm of common infantry,[2] including irregulars such as the Highland Scots, which in Scottish Gaelic were called the claidheamh cuil (back sword), after one of several terms for the distinct types of weapons they used.

Backswords were often the secondary weapons of European cavalrymen beginning in the 17th century.