Editing Pike (weapon) (section)

== Design ==
[[File:Pike square img 3655.jpg|thumb|Re-enactment during the 2009 Escalade in Geneva.]]
The pike was a long weapon, varying considerably in size, from {{convert|3|to|7|m|ft|abbr=on}} long. Generally, a spear becomes a pike when it is too long to be wielded with one hand in combat.{{Citation needed|date=June 2021}} It was approximately {{convert|2|to|6|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in weight, with the 16th-century military writer [[John Smith (High Sheriff of Kent)|Sir John Smythe]] recommending lighter rather than heavier pikes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everything you ever wanted to know about Pikes but were afraid to ask... |url=http://www.renaissancewarfare.com/1_4_Pike.html |access-date=4 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809220902/http://www.renaissancewarfare.com/1_4_Pike.html |archive-date=9 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It had a wooden shaft with an iron or steel spearhead affixed. The shaft near the head was often reinforced with metal strips called "cheeks" or [[wiktionary:langet|langets]]. When the troops of opposing armies both carried the pike, it often grew in a sort of [[arms race]], getting longer in both shaft and head length to give one side's pikemen an edge in combat.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} The extreme length of such weapons required a strong wood such as well-seasoned [[Fraxinus|ash]] for the pole, which was tapered towards the point to prevent the pike from sagging on the ends, although drooping or slight flection of the shaft was always a problem in pike handling. It is a common mistake to refer to a bladed polearm as a pike; such weapons are more generally known as [[halberd]]s, [[glaive]]s, [[ranseur]]s, [[Bill (weapon)|bill]]s, or [[voulge]]s.

The great length of the pikes allowed a great concentration of spearheads to be presented to the enemy, with their wielders at a greater distance, but also made pikes unwieldy in close combat. This meant that pikemen had to be equipped with an additional, shorter weapon such as a [[dagger]] or [[sword]] in order to defend themselves should the fighting degenerate into a [[melee]]. In general, however, pikemen attempted to avoid such disorganized combat, in which they were at a disadvantage. To compound their difficulties in a melee, the pikeman often did not have a shield, or had only a small shield which would be of limited use in close-quarters fighting.