Steamy non-firearm weaponry

[Pivole]

Shillelagh.
Anyway, any gentlemans weapon of choice for defence in a strange town should always be a good pike of English ash.

[Volarion]

Seeing as I have never done bartitsu I would pick a knife but if at all possible I would choose my Longsword but that's only because I've trained with it and love how light and versatile it is. Shouldn't be hard to steeampunk one out but to do it and keep the alp important balance and 3.5 pound weight would be tricky.... Maybe get gears engraved into it lightly idk.

[Strapped-4-Cache]

(snip)Speaking from experience, a prop that you have to set down  and keep an eye on and pick up again if you move, such as a staff or a spear, (or a minstrel banjo, in my case ) can be a real liability....(/snip)

This type of thinking is the reason I've chosen to carry a sidearm of some some sort along with an axe/tomahawk.  I've carried a small, lightweight backpack around a con and by the end of the day it was simply a chore to deal with.  From now on if it doesn't fit in a holster or a pocket I simply don't carry it.  I can keep my valuables in the hotel room safe.  Everything else can just be left in the room.  If traveling by car, that stuff is left in the trunk.  

I prefer to slip through the crowds rather than stumble through, making apologies as I go.

[MCC]

How about a monkey wrench? Useful for braining your opponent and fixing your larger contraptions.

It's also a LARP safe weapon.

[MWBailey]

I like that wrench...


One year, I participated with several others of like persuasion (dulcimerists, guitarists, banjoistas and hammer dulcimerists, and a fiddler and string bassist or two) in the Folklife festival in San Antonio. Weather that year sported record-high outdoor temperatures. Yep, you guessed it, we were in the Barn in the back lot, all dressed up to the nines in full period costumes and kit. I was already used to dressing that way in summer, but the addition of a minstrel banjo carried in hand, a medium-sized Crockett Commemorative Bowie on my hip, flute and fifes in their scabbard on the other hip, possibles bag over the neck and tomahawk stuck in the belt in back, added up to make one very sweaty and tuckered-out banjo player.

By the middle of the second day, I had shucked all but the tomahawk, the possibles bag, flutes and the regular openback banjo (and period clothes, of course), which sounded a lot better in any case. These days I tend toward either a bowie OR the tomahawk prop-wise, with a very broad palm hat of the Sam Houston variety. I'd prefer to survive long enough to actually play at least one set...

[elvisroe]

I posted this over in the gun collective but thought I ought to represent here too...

I've long wanted a crossbow and am pretty happy with how this little hand-held number has come up..

All I need now is a Vamp to stake!

[OswaldBastable]

I posted this over in the gun collective but thought I ought to represent here too...

I've long wanted a crossbow and am pretty happy with how this little hand-held number has come up..

All I need now is a Vamp to stake!

Why am I thinking of The Walking Dead

 

[Dr. Madd]

I'm thinking of making a copper tube blowgun with a brass mouthpiece.

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Bats, bricks, axes, knives...Pistols?

Naw.  No pistols.

[tophatdan]

why is everything about vampires?

[OswaldBastable]

why is everything about vampires?

I imagine its because they are a fun non offensive enemy everyone can hate (especially if they are covered in glitter)

[Vagabond GentleMan]

So, a couple of years back I took a tip from Queequeg and bought myself a functional (for both usages) pipe-tomahawk.  You know, a tomahawk with a hollow shaft and a small mouth-tip at the end, the reverse side of the hatchet having a small bowl for the pipeweed, etc.
I load it up with tobacco mixed with kinnikinnik on occasion when I'm smoking with the lads.

I figure it's pretty steamy. >shrugs< Only thing that bugs me is that even though the shaft is hardwood and the hatchet is carbon steel, it's a little light-weight for me.  Seems a bit fragile, when I had hoped to use it as a camp-axe and so forth.
Worse, I found a smith at a gunshow a year back who hand-forged them...and they were BURLY, but I hadn't the scratch to drop at the moment, and I ain't seen him at the VA gunshows since.  Kicking myself for neglecting to nab his card.

Also, I've taken up a study of the Bowie knife in American culture.  It's a classic armament for any Victorian/Edwardian era American, Yankee or Southron.
It wasn't a thugs weapon exclusively, either...there are many, many, many accounts of Judges, Lawyers, Bankers, Politicians, and other 'gentlemen' of the era getting themselves involved in brawls and duels with the thing.  There were even Bowie-dueling schools established in New Orleans for awhile.
And yes, of course, there are as many instances of desperado miners, cowboys, New York gang members, gamblers, and other more unsavory characters using the thing as well.

A nigh-Universal American Steam-era sidearm.
And, with the knowledge that a great many of the Bowie Knives were made in Sheffield, England and imported, a Limey could just as easily have carried one as well, though cultural differences might very well have indicated to an Englishman that a Bowie-wielder was at best less-than-a-gent, and at worst >friendly scoff< a Yank.

My Bowie (goes by the name of Jim Cleaver) is a beauty...hand-forged in the good old US of A by an independent smith, hardwood handle, brass fittings, just shy of a foot-long carbon steel blade, the false edge is sharpened as it should be, weighs a bit under 2 lbs...

I had to whittle the handle some to make it personally ergonomic, and figured while I was at it I'd carve some fancy scrollwork in there...it's a bit primitive (as indicates my rather humble woodcarving skills), but still a nice-looking cutter, overall.

Need to fix myself a nice sheath for it, though.

[Captain Lyerly]

Need to fix us some pictures of it!!!   

Seriously, sounds like a really sweet piece, and I would love to see some pics if you get the chance to upload some.

I have a nice one - an Ontario Bagwell Bowie - the Gambler...






Cheers!

Chas

[tophatdan]

i am a huge fan and student of bowie, big knife, polish saber and tomahawk fighting styles. the tomahawk and bowie are very good combination weapons as any north american frontier fighter would tell you, right up through the civil war. you even found them carried in mexico while hunting pancho villa, very steamy...

[Astalo]

I found one swedish blacksmith who makes very unique looking art knifes and most of them have quite steampunkish details, color schemes or material choises. http://www.northlandknives.se/pages.asp?page=gallery&album_id=52

For example this revolver inspired knife called "Space Cowboy" is just breathtaking! http://www.northlandknives.se/pages.asp?page=gallery&bild_id=234&album_id=52

[Astalo]

This might be a little bit off topic, but these guys have made new versions from "gunblades". I have seen a lot of pictures from antique flintlock & knife mixes over the years, but it's interesting to see, that they are made still in the modern times.

http://www.brucebumpknives.com/gallery.html
http://www.rhrgrandknives.com

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Awesome!  Big thanks...I love dem things...even if they were historically fairly silly...they still rock!

[elvisroe]

hey blade lovers - I came across some VERY cool pieces this week for those who like 'em raw and deadly.
Zombietools.net are kitting out zombiephiles for the coming apocalypse...

[queenofgoblins]

hey blade lovers - I came across some VERY cool pieces this week for those who like 'em raw and deadly.
Zombietools.net are kitting out zombiephiles for the coming apocalypse...

Those are all sorts of amazing...

[Dr. Ironbeard]

If you think outside the GEARbox you can come up with all sorts of strange and effective stuff that should pass inspection from the mundane constables in your area.  

During my many ballooning adventures I happened to land in the royal colony of South Africa. They have a very effective re-educational tool called the Sjambok.

In Africa, the Sjambok (Sham-Bawk) is a cattle prod, a whip, a riding crop and a means of self-protection. Unlike most western style whips, the Sjambok is not plaited from thin leather thongs. Instead, it is carved whole out of very thick Hippopotamus hide

Cold Steel in the States sells two synthetic versions: 54" $24.99 and a 42" $14.99
http://www.coldsteel.com/sjambok.html

Cold Steel also sells a "Specials Forces Shovel" that can be quite an effective weapon. Check out their videos!!

http://www.coldsteel.com/spshovel.html

What about a Boomerang? Effective both close up and at a distance.


How about a Bolo made with two small pipe wrenches attached at each end of a heavy leather cord or small strong chain?
For that matter a pouch full of small monkey wrenches for tossing and beaning the bad guys?

A pouch of 3-4 inch bicycle drive gears that can be thrown as Shuriken throwing stars.

A brass cane with a small metal piston as a hand grip.

A Dragon Walking cane could give quite a head ache and the Dragon's head could easily act has a hook to trip up an opponent.


Don't forget a Brass Buckler to provide defensive cover.


The Chinese made metal Fighting Fans that could be used as both a shield and fighting weapon.

Use steel on the outside edges and brass for the inner arms.

Make some rubber or foam period monkey wrenches and attach a chain or strong cord to the bases and use them like Nunchucks.


Perhaps a Walking Cane seat could be used as a defensive weapon?


Heck an unbreakable Fighting Umbrella could be quite effective if built stout enough. No Gentleman should be without one.
Link: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/07/unbreakable-fig/
Sharpen the tip a tad and you can take quite a nasty poke at an assailant and more than adequate defence against a sword cut. Hmmmmmm

Think of common everyday items that could be built strong enough to do the job. Imagine a muggers surprise when something considered harmless like an Umbrella bashes his head and knocks him unconsciousness. Or perhaps an armour plated top hat or bowler that seconds as a buckler. Let your imagination run wild

Regards from the Doctor...cheers

[PatronZero]

Has anyone mentioned bolas ?

[D.Oakes]

Cold Steel also sells a "Specials Forces Shovel" that can be quite an effective weapon. Check out their videos!!

http://www.coldsteel.com/spshovel.html

Basically a modern production Soviet M1943 Pattern Entrenching Tool.  Which in turn is a simplified version of the late 19th century designed widely copied in Europe.  I happen to have a 1915 dated Russian one of the old pattern and 1943, 1988, and unmarked heavily sharpened (clearly used for more than digging) examples of the later pattern. 

I knew a couple people who were making rubber or foam copies of them to use in hand to hand fighting at reenactments. 

[Wolf410]

no cold steel actually designed their shovel after the russian 1915 model and they made is to be a weapon/tool...lynn thompson (cold steel CEO) does that for alot of his non-weapon weapons

[D.Oakes]

no cold steel actually designed their shovel after the russian 1915 model and they made is to be a weapon/tool...lynn thompson (cold steel CEO) does that for alot of his non-weapon weapons

The early model featured a metal reinforcing band and rivets.  
Example: http://www.ostfront.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ROFG-00010&Category_Code=Rus-WW2-FG-ETools
This pattern in either a pointed edge or a flat edge was manufactured into the 1940's when it was replaced with:  
http://www.aboutww2militaria.com/May2011/shovel1944.html
Which was a lot easier to manufacture and had a single rivet to reinforce the handle to the actual shovel, the metal was all one piece. 

The simpler model has been manufactured since that point and is commonly referred to as the "Spetsnaz Shovel."  The Ural motorcycle company even makes their own version.  

I know how to use them:  

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[robotmastern]

I saw an episode of doomsday preppers on the science channel where a Guy had what he called a crovell which combined a crowbar a hammer a shovel and a blade ( separately weighing 45- 50lbs) into a tool that weighs 5lbs he tried it on a pig and cut it in half in 2 swings. Steampunk? With the right designs and handle maby but very useful

Spoiler (click to show/hide)