It's Fish Kni...er, wait.

I've no more fish knives to share! What ever shall I devote Fridays to?

I'll think of something. In the meantime, I feel obligated to post this wooden sword I made for the boy last weekend:


He's been into "The Lord of the Rings" movies lately, and wanted a sword like Aragorn's. I think the kid thinks that I can make him anything, since anytime he says he wishes he had something (e.g. a pirate ship, a sword, a bow and arrow, rocket, etc.), I scuttle off to my basement workshop and whip something together.

I only post this today because, as I see it, the boy joins a several thousand year old tradition of the little boy with the wooden sword. I had one, my dad had one, his dad had one, etc. etc. all the way back to when our Celtic and Germanic ancestors were running around in animal skins and whopping the shit out of each other with copper and bronze swords. I enjoy watching him prance around with his wooden sword, conjuring images of Treasure Island, Peter Pan, the Prince and the Pauper, and so many of those all stories that we grew up with...

Continental sword

This little pig sticker is an artillery short sword, likely from continental Europe from the 1800's. It's got an all brass hilt with a stylized eagle head pommel. The leather scabbard is in fair shape, and the blade has faint etchings of military/artillery themed images and is stamped E.G. near the hilt. It's only about 22" long, so the kid thinks this is his. It isn't.

Not a sword...

I am reluctant to post this, since it is neither old nor unique. This is a machete (incorrectly called a "katana" by its maker) that looks vaguely like a sword. It was made my Ontario Knives, and I bolt it to the side of my lawn tractor in season to prune overhanging limbs and the inevitable sticker bushes that fringe my property. Frankly, this piece is just filler, since I haven't the energy to blog during the holiday weekend. Enjoy it as such...

And another khukri...

This one is also of recent manufacture, but by the skilled craftsmen at Himalayan Imports. The company's founder, bill Martino, passed away a few years back, but I got my order for this Chitlangi Khukri before the business faltered. The balance and heft of this piece is deceptive given it's length and thickness. As far as a course, general purpose fighting and utility knife, I submit that the Khukri is damn near perfect. Not for eye surgery, or anything, but great for the woods.

Speaking of NCO swords...

This is a U.S. Model 1840 NCO sword, as shown in Flayderman. There is no scabbard. The hilt and grips are brass. This is a U.S. Civil War piece that I acquired by purchase - I know nothing of its provenance, so there's not much else to say!

A katana this ain't

Although it kind of looks like one. It's probably a WW2 era non-commisioned officer's (NCO) shin-gunto - a military sword loosely patterned on a katana. The scabbard is iron or steel, and the handle is aluminum. The tsuba is bronze. Condition is very good, and the workmanship is surprisingly good.

I say probably and "surprisingly good" up above becasue there is about an even chance that this is not a Japanese war relic but is a Chinese copy of more recent manufacture. A couple of things that make me think Chinese knock-off include the lack of serial numbers (matching or otherwise) on the scabbard and a little bit of sloppiness in the casting of the tsuba. On the other hand, most Chinese knock-offs use brass for their scabbards (which was not done in Japan) and feature acid-etched blades (this one does not). Furthermore, the accumulated lint and grime on the tang of the blade speaks of use and age (although this could be faked, as well). Finally, the price I paid for this suggests a forgery, although one never knows. Regardless, the sword is well constructed, stong, and solid, with quality materials throughout. To me, this makes the fact that it might be a knock-off moot, since this was purchased more to ward off zombie attacks than as a serious collectors piece ;-)

If this was made just for you...

You may already be dead.


This little nasty is a "keris" (or, alternatively, a "kris"). These are from Southeast Asia (Java, Philippines, Bali, etc.). It is said that they were sometimes made for killing one single specific target. That's it. An example commission may have gone something like this:

Guy:"I need to get back at that fellow who slighted me by stealing my pigs and courting my daughter."

Knife maker:"Would you like be to make you a really sharp and sinister looking knife, imbued with the necessary magic to kill that fellow and him specifically, for you to regain your lost honor?"

Guy:"Uh, OK...but only if you put into it your finest craftsmanship using the best available materials - after all, this knife must find my enemy's heart without fail. And I'm willing to pay quite a lot for it".

Knife maker:"OK, come back in about eight months, and I should have your order ready."

So much for the seven day "cooling off" period...

The Wikipedia entry on them goes into far more detail on this than I ever could...


I'm not up on the arcane details of determining age or country of origin - the blade of this one appears to be of much older vintage than the handle or the brass and wood scabbard. It's a bit thin for use as a serious weapon - this one may have been ceremonial or intended for a single use (a.k.a. assassination). The blade has a "Damascus" type patterning typical of these knives. Overall, this whole piece is about 17" long.

It is worth noting how tightly the blade fits this scabbard - the photo below does not really do the fit justice. It fits such that extraction is very easy, yet there is no lateral movement of the keris once sheathed...
Just after this image was taken I snicked my finger with the edge of the blade, so maybe I have to retract my earlier statement about it not being a serious weapon. Perhaps I slighted some Javanese guy by stealing his pigs and/or messing around with his daughter. Ouch...

THIS is an example...

Of one of the best cutting tools ever invented. Fulfilling the roles of knife, sword, and axe, the khukri (or kukri, or khukuri) of Nepal is one amazing tool/weapon. I won't bore you with the details right now - you can follow the link for all sorts of hard-to-pronounce-and-spell (for my American brain) terms. Note the two small accessory knifes in the sheath. One is sharpened and is used for utility purposes and the other is not. The unsharpened blade is used to burnish/sharpen the blade. The bit of string on the sheath is my addition for hanging in the armory...

These are carried by the famous Gurkha regiments. Read up on the history of these dudes, 'cause they definitely command respect.

The knives themselves are made by certain castes in Nepali society - an artifact of Hindu religeous practices.

I used to have a vintage WWII model khukri, but it was stolen back in college. Why I had such a knife at college is subject to some debate. The model pictured here is new Nepali standard issue, and the blade is stamped Nepal 2005 (year of manufacture). I carry this one camping and hiking sometimes - it beats a machete in the close thick stuff and it can do double duty as a light axe. I wouldn't want to fell a 22" oak with it, but it'll handily tackle a 4" limb or sapling.

I have a fancier Himalayan Imports chitlangi khukri, which I will discuss at a later date. It's of recent make, but I consider it a treasure...

D.O.S.R.

Yeah...I don't know what it means either.

But it's etched on the blade of this sword...


Actually, it says "D,O,S,R". With commas.

I still don't know what that means.

Some guesses:
"Daughters of the Spanish Revolution"
"Doing Our Sacred Rites"
"Delaware Oughta Sell Rehoboth"
"Dolphins, Otters, Sharks, and Rays"

whatever...

Of course, many others could be thought of. This is probably a lodge sword, used by a fraternal organization to denote rank or merit.

The handle is bone, not plastic. You can tell by sticking a hot needle on it - plastic melts, bone doesn't. By the way, horn smells like hair when you do this...

The pommel is a knight or maybe a legionnaire (Roman).

If anyone knows a D.O.S.R., please let me know...

Look at this chopper!

This machete-looking thing is a klewang. These were/are used as tools and as weapons in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. I don't know where this particular one hails from, but the carved wooden handle sure is decorative.

This piece may be old (i.e. WWII), or it may be more recent but used. The leather bindings on the two-piece scabbard are not original - I understand that these scabbards were usually bound with vegetable fiber rather than leather.

I've never struck anyone or anything with this, but the heft is almost perfect for a light-duty machete. And I've swung a few machetes in my day making trails for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I'd have loved something like this instead of cheap government issue junk or worse yet, the stupid Sandvik Axes they made us use (supposedly in the interest of safety).

The only better chopper I've ever come across is...well, let's save that for another post.

Get to the point...

OK. I will, you fucking lughead.

This next piece is a hand-forged pike-staff head, thought to have been manufactured by colonial rebels during the American Revolution. It would have been affixed to the end of a wooden shaft and used in defensive formations.

This piece probably was made as a cheaper and more expedient response to the British bayonet. Bayonets were necessary during the American Revolution because at that time, people still lined up in nice, neat rows and exchanged volleys of gunfire while advancing toward the enemy. Toward the end of this advance, combat switched to swords and bayonets.

At the time, folks were just figuring out how to hide behind trees and rocks and stuff (although, to be fair, this mode of combat was a European thing - other cultures long ago either figured out how to hide or shield themselves from projectile weapons or else ritualized combat to the point that few people were seriously hurt).

As accurate shooting became prevalent with the advent of rifled barrels and metallic cartridges, the "line up and shoot at each other" tactic became less prevalent, although it was still somewhat evident in WW1, even though the opposing sides finally figured out hiding in trenches (this was done in the US Civil War, too).

By WW2, battle lines remained fairly well-defined, but by the time of the Korean and Vietnam wars, opposing lines of battle were a thing of the past. Consider the modern "insurgency/counterinsurgency" mode of combat...it's a direct ancestor of this departure from the century-old "battle lines".

And yet despite the change in field tactics, bayonets are still standard issue for when things get up close and personal.