Wooden weapons

[gb6491]

A recent Highroad thread in regards to a shillelagh reminded me of this thread on another forum: Wooden Weapons.
Perhaps, some here might find it of interest.
Photo from that thread:

Regards,
Greg

 

[Carl Levitian]

The Massai have a long history of stick fighting, as does the Irish after the invasion of the English and being forbidden to have weapons. The Zulu have a little thing called a knobkerry, very serious weapon.

Durring the sailing ship days, many a seaman would use a belaying pin out of prefference to another weapon. I read someplace long ago, that when Sir Robert Peel, who set up the first modern police department, had to decide what to arm his "Bobbys" with, it was one of his Bobbys who was an ex-sailor in the British navy, who sugested a truncheon that was a scaled down belaying pin.

You can go pretty far with a good hard piece of wood and a little intent on mayhem.

Wood is good. Blunt force truma injuries get ones attention imediatly.

 

[chriso]

My friends mother moved to africa with her husband they brought back a few wooden weapons like in the picture above the natives who they got it from called it a "LEEBO" you could really do some damage with a weapon of that sort.

 

[HoosierQ]

Wooden weapons have a very long history...and not just the cartoon cave-man club.

The weapon of choice for many Native American's - North and South - were often clubs...some bat or axe-handle like, others like the fellow above.

In New Guinea, clubs are it.

Until the advent of the steal sword, a good piece of wood was it. And even today, what sort of armor are you going to wear that would protect you from a fierce stike from something like a hickory pick handle? Even if you had a steel helmet, you going to see some serious stars.

 

[ScottyT]

The Massai weapon is called a "rungu", usually made from the root of a hardwood tree.

I picked up a couple of them when I lived in Kenya, a decorative one and one that is the real deal.

They can take down small game and baboons with them from 20+ yards away, it is quite remarkable.

Edit for link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rungu_(weapon)

note: mine is the real thing, not the tourist ones. I traded a small radio and batteries to a real Massai for it out in the middle of nowhere.

 

[plumberroy]

Back in my wilder days, I have opened me a path to the door a couple of times with the heavy half of a pool cue
Roy

 

[Carl Levitian]

I remember reading a book about the life of Musashi, and it was remarkable in that he fought some of his duels against other samurai with a wooden training sword. He managed to kill several opponents armed with real Katana's with a wooden sword.

I think alot of people would tend to underestimate a wooden weapon. But that seasoned looking chap in the photo looks like he may very well know what he's doing with it. He reminds me of some of the guys down at the V.A. hospital in D.C. Some of them are from the lower economic status of Washington D.C.'s African-American comunity, and have to live in less than safe nieghborhoods. Instead of the typical old fogy cane, I see alot of homemade walking sticks that are "heavy duty" to say the least. Many look like they were part of a stout oak limb, and the probably were. Some are carved with very nice whittling, African type of designs, but its still a thinly disguised weapon for the mean streets.

These days, with ever stricter laws, I think wooden weapons will be with us for a very long time to come. Heck, they worked well for the native Americans, Celts, and Egyptions. Thats a pretty good track record.

 

[JShirley]

Musashi exclusively used bokken in duels in his latter days.

 

[Jason_G]

Don't forget about boomerangs. Maybe not a first choice for SD, but an effective hunting tool in the right hands.

Jason

 

[Wolfman_556]

I make my own:

 

[Bob R]

19" long, lead filled, tire thumper........riiiiight.

bob

 

[Pax Jordana]

haha! bob, I love the caption on it too

I have a cut-down stickball bat handy in the truck, because the truck is old and the mirrors turn in when I drive it too fast. Maybe more suited to kendo (would god I had the time and money) but it'll do just fine using the Babe Ruth self defense system

 

[gastong30]

Blunt force weapons will always have a place because they have the power to "switch people off".

 

[Piedmont Plinker]

I use to be pretty big into making toy wooden swords. Nowadays, I think one wouldn't make a half bad weapon, if you didn't sand or take a router to the angled "edge" of the wood. Good balance, can be swung quickly and precisely, and the unsanded wood edge would burst skin easy,

 

[lookshigh123]

That is cool.

 

[RancidSumo]

Traditional club from Easter Island. My brother has one that he got on Easter Island when he was there a couple years ago. They are really cool and would split a skull no problem. Eyes are made of shark vertebrete (sp?)

 

[Devonai]

A quality bokken is the ultimate in simplicity, balance, and unassuming deadly force.

 

[twoclones]

The spelling would be vertebrae but since sharks have no skeletal system, I wonder how they could have vertebrae....

 

[gb6491]

The spelling would be vertebrae but since sharks have no skeletal system, I wonder how they could have vertebrae....

Don't they have a skeleton, but no bones; all cartilage, with some parts, like
their vertebrae, calcified?

 

[phoglund]

Wolfman,

That is one sweet piece of work. What is the "spike" made of? Would it take a substantial impact without breaking?

 

[Wolfman_556]

It's sharpened and polished antler from a white tailed deer.

The spike sticks out and 2.5" and it's sunk in about 1.5" and epoxied.

Yes, it's battle ready. I tested it against tires.

The wooden part is one solid piece of cherry heart-wood.

 

[mgregg85]

I just remembered that I had this thing laying around. I got bored while camping and decided to whittle myself an improvised weapon. Instead of a typical spear I found an interesting piece of wood that I thought would work well as an improvised shillelagh type club. Anyways here is what I came up with...

The end result was way too light so I took some lead balls I had laying around for my BP revolver and pounded them into a hole I made in the knob end. They are pretty well wedged and smashed in there but I am looking for a better way to secure them. I wrapped the knob end with a few turns of copper wire and secured it with copper tacks as best I could. I was hoping to make something of a traditional weapon that maybe a native american would have made with supplies bought from fur traders or something. The black cord is a stand in until I can get some leather thongs for it. I used some oil from a friend to do a little bit of finishing on it, not sure what type it was.

 

[hardwarehacker]

A couple of decades ago, way pre-TSA, I was waiting to check in for a red-eye flight. In front of me was a couple heading for a gathering of the 'Society for a Creative Anachronism', the group which dresses up and recreates ancient lifestyles. Fencing, jousting,, archers, people in animal skin clothes, the works.

This fellow had a quarterstaff. About six feet of beautifully laminated and finished wood, perfectly shaped for fighting. From the way he handled it I could tell that he really knew how to use it.

The good part was watching the airline staff behind the counter trying to figure out how to deal with it. Clearly a weapon, but one which was not in their manuals. Almost let him take it as a carry-on, but finally taped a baggage tag onto it and checked it.

 

[freedom lover]

If you take apart an e-tool and lose the brass screw that keeps it together, the the shaft and the piece of metal on the end make a great club. Useful for HD if you don't have a gun or maglite handy.

 

[conw]

This item is a premium knobkerry club, probably Zulu manufactured in the 19th Century. This club is longer than most of the knobkerries that I have seen in the past and has been used extensively. This is self evident by the peening of the peripheral surface of the spherical head. There is one natural age crack present on one side that is commonly found on older clubs with age. this is caused from shrinkage because of loss of moisture. There is a row of 16 hash marks on the shaft near the spherical head. In many cultures, this is a record of use that is usually called "kill marks". There is no damage other than the shrinkage split, peening around the periphery of the head and a small amount of residue remaining from a collection tag. The overall length of this knobkerry is 75 cm. The knobkerry weighs 392 grams.

(!)

http://www.flight-toys.com/artifacts/RF02.html