Medieval swords of some periods were very large and heavy.  Soldiers during the middle ages had to deal with both the weight of the large weapons and the weight of there shields and great suits of armor.   The heavily muscled knights of this time period could lift a great amount, but they could not do battle with the heavy weight of their battle gear without some changes in their fighting style.   This article will go over some of the tactics medieval soldiers used to win a battle with a medieval weapon in hand.

The horse riding medieval fighter was not troubled by the great weight of his gear like his foot bound comrade.   These fighters had strong horses to move them and their heavy armor around and could afford to expend some energy doing violent slashing movements with their medieval fighting sword.  Unfortunately, it was rare that medieval soldiers had horses to fight on and most soldiers could not expend all of their energy on powerful battle movements in combat.

Soldiers without horses needed to conserve energy.  Wild slashing movements with a large medieval sword can waste a lot of energy and quickly tire the fully armored soldier.   Why would  a soldier use all of his energy to slash his opponent down knowing that he wouldn’t have any left to fight his next opponent with?

Foot soldiers developed techniques that allowed them to vanquish their enemies while conserving energy at the same time.  They would primarily block their opponents attacks with their large shields and armor and kept their sword arm fresh for attacking movements.  Attacking movements consisted mostly of short jabs used to impale the enemy.  These jabs could be used right away as a fierce and aggressive offense or they could come after a successful block has been made and while the enemies body is exposed.

Heavily armored soldiers could also afford to grapple with their enemies without fear of getting sliced easily.  They would use the weight of their armored bodies to throw their opponents off balance.  Following this they would bash their enemies with their shields or stab them with their swords.  Warriors dressed in large sets of armor could easily scare a less equipped army into surrendering without blood shed.

The weight of the medieval sword, set of armor and large shield was a big inconvenience.   Improved fighting styles were great, but many forces with less armor were able to defeat their more armored but less mobile combatants.   Although tiring, I know that I would have much rather been in a suit of armor when doing battle in the medieval ages, how about you?

Ever heard of engine flushing?  You aren’t alone if you haven’t.  It’s important to be knowledgeable about and here’s why.  If we could have it our way, the innards of our engines would be spotless, letting the lubricating oil film on the cylinder walls, the valve train, in the bearings, etc. do its job effortlessly.  But, we all know this world is far from perfect and our engines are fighting a constant battle against dust and debris, sludge, and metallic particlulate that occur naturally when an engine is operating.  To get a good idea of the destruction that can be done from high velocity grit and dust in the air, imagine doing some serious sandblasting (I suggest you have a really good air filter).

The other problem inside engines is the tendency for oils to varnish and sludge as they are aged in your engines environment.  The sludge and varnish cause hot spots to develop over time from restricted oil flow.  Component failure and excessive wear inside your engine are imminent when oil flow is restricted.  Hot spots will rob an engine of performance and cause even more oil breakdown.

To counteract the hot spot problem and get rid of all that varnish, sludge and particulate that’s accumulated (causing your engine to lose performance and unnecessary wear) you can run an engine flush through your engine.  It is a similar concept to turpentine where a strong solvent is introduced to the engine hot.  The sludgy deposits dissolve as the solvent circulates through the engine with the oil.

Depending on which product you use, the process is going to differ.  I usually do a 20 minute flush right before I change my oil and that’s a pretty common method.  With the engine hot  I add about 12 fl oz of solution.  Then, I restart the engine and let it idle for the next 20 minutes.  It is very important that you do not drive the vehicle around and actually the load the engine. You’re likely to cause engine damage if you drive while the solvent is in your engine because your oil isn’t going to be lubricating your engine like it would be any other time.

After 20 minutes of idle time I shut the engine down and drain the oil into the oil pan and perform a normal oil change using AMSOIL 5W-30 full synthetic.  My engines stay clean this way.

Keeping the sludge and varnish to a minimum in your engine will keep your valves operating and sealing well, they will keep the piston rings floating properly to minimize blow by and will promote lower operating temperatures.  When all these elements come together your engine is pumping out some killer horsepower and you’ll be getting excellent mileage.