Stilettos are a class of European knife. Usually regarded as an off-hand weapon, stilettos are purely offensive knives. Stiletto blades are slender and usually double edged with a thicker than average centre-spine all to facilitate a stabbing action and to increase the effectiveness against the armour of the day (leather, mail, plate). As they relied on puncturing attacks so heavily, some stilettos did not have functioning edges and were tapered to more extreme points.