Talk:Katana/@comment-98.203.83.206-20140627055706/@comment-108.215.49.156-20140725011138

Samurai actually carried around two katanas, one long called Uchigatana and the other short called Wakizashi, and a knife. However, they don't really use the short katana since they can't cut through armor with it. It was meant to be a spare but was rarely used. What's even more funny is that they prefered spears over katanas during the Sengoku era since they had more reach and it was easier to kill with. On top of that, katanas become more like a status symbol instead of a weapon during the Edo era and was used even less.