Claymore. Has to be the Claymore.

Hmmm... to begin with.. guns of any form are excluded... musket/riffle... anything.. gone. Hand on hand combat is completely preferable.. (unless you happen to be Scottish, and your name is Charlie)... Claymores are no good.. they come too heavy, and if you should happen to not be trained in use.. can be the cause of a very quick death.... (or very slow.. heh.. depending upon your enemy). Swords are great, sure.. but it depends upon the era, and material... common cave matter VS. Stainless... hmm.. no. Crossbows are a great invention.. however I feel that they require too little of skill... but should you need them for a sneak attack.. or distance and advantage are an issue... they work nicely.. also accompanied with a double-sided battle axe.. *drools*.. If you would like to take an enemy down with merely a few blows.. it would work quite well.. however , this personal preference does not help should you be fighting off a large group.. In this situation.. comfort is the only worth while matter... short sword and dagger maybe, if you are skilled... if not.. *shrugs*.. then what are you doing with weaponry!?

Hmm... now that I have completely proved that I spend far too much time at the Renaissnace Festival.. I'll be marching on my merry way.. (have to sew garb before this weekend)...

A claymore (I assume you're refering to the two-handed variant) like any two-hander is more suited to the battlefield tasks of breaking the heads off pole weapons or carving swaths into ranks of infantry. Duels were fought using two-handers but like almost all duels, each duelist was equipped with weapons of comparable length and weight. So in said situations the claymore would do just fine.
By the 11th century almost all swords were made of tempered, high-carbon steel. Stainless steel is a very modern invention (mid to late 19th century) so not a common feature of a medieval or renaissance weapon.
And as far as skill goes. When you fight, you fight to win. A medieval/renaissance general would exploit any advantage available be it archery, pikes or gunpowder. Making it a fair fight is just inviting unneccesary casualties. Despite what they feed us in books and movies, put that chivalry crap aside. Good soldiers have always known that skill and honor are a poor match for experience and treachery.

*Grins*.. Ahhh.. to be contradicted...
*Turns to face Defender of The Faith*.. Friend, I give you a great amount of credit.. for you give me the reassurance that not all history is lost...

Darts have a certain appeal to me, with the poison, and so do Longbows(I've always loved archers if I'm playing). But personally I can't handle range for nuts. ???

But, I'm very fond of some generic Japanese blades-- ninjatou, ninjaken, never forget the katana, shiruken(whoops, range again). Otherwise I would love a spear type, maybe halberd. So versatile and kinda Big... feel safe holding one somehow.

Darts, more than a bar room game. The late Romans had a rather nasty throwing dart known as the plumbata. It had a long iron head and a large, lead weight that gave it devastating penetration power. In the hands of skilled soldiers, the plumbata outranged all other hand thrown missles of the day.
The term "dart" is pretty confusing in European history, it was used by the writers of the day as a blanket term for anything from the size of modern throwing darts (which were seldom used as weapons in Europe) to full-sized javelins.

Axes and Hammers....yep...

preferably double sided axes and hammrs with a spike at the back
Maces are kewl as well

I actually have a friend that likes making weapons...he is trying to get a job with the company that site links to...

http://store.museumreplicas.com/isroot....065.jpg
http://store.museumreplicas.com/isroot....063.jpg
http://store.museumreplicas.com/isroot....669.JPG
http://store.museumreplicas.com/isroot....026.jpg
http://store.museumreplicas.com/isroot....321.JPG
http://store.museumreplicas.com/isroot....593.JPG


oh, and im an SCA nut...though im not active...i never have the time...i was last fall... need to get active again...

My fav weapon is Katanas.
A long, sharp, shiny, black katana...

...yeah...

Or maybye..

Flying on a black dragon at night under the stars..
..
...with a long, sharp, shiny, black katana...

I like that... But bow and arrows are nice weapons too..

If we want to go for something heavy-ish then a mace. Definitely. Regular mace rather than a chain mace.

OTOH, if we go for something with a little more grace and style, then I would have to say poniard. Or maybe stiletto.

the NTW-20, 20mm Anti-Materiel Rifle... when you've just gotta reach out and touch someone...

but as a more practical choice I'd have to go for a pair of FN Five-seveN Tactical's, best damn handguns there are!

NTW-20
FN Five-seveN

I prefer the tried-and-true Colt M1911A1, .45 ACP is The pistol cartridge.

Ohhh. For the lack of money. On Saturday I went sight-seeing in the Kidron Ohio area. There was a flea-market in a parking lot that I checked out. A Mosin-Nagant M1944 short rifle for $300, and another vendor had a pair of Spanish-American War era swords and he wanted $20 for the pair! Damn me for not taking any cash with me.

ninjatou, and whatever those japanese long daggers are called

For actual combat? Guns, of course. Preferably a .223 sniper rifle, so I can stay far away. If I've got to get close, just give me a good old 10-mm SMG.

For aesthetics, niftiness, etc...

As a fencer, I want a rapier. Italian or Venetian, swept-hilt... mmm. Maybe a dirk for the other hand.

Yeah, then it's just fun.

- AX

like they all say, it ain't fun until someone gets hurt.

-Angelus