Indian War Club

[sl2squeeze]

Does anybody have one of these?

I have the one that Cold Steel makes, and it could be a DEVISTATING self defense tool!

 

[tellner]

Club, thighbone M1-A1

I don't have one of those, and Lynn Thompson's marketing not-withstanding I don't believe in polypropylene for this sort of thing. I do have the African equivalent - the rungu - made of some sort of unreasonably hard wood. I've also got a few Polynesian/Micronesian versions. It's a nearly perfect design for its intended purpose.

 

[arnisador]

Looks neat!

 

[Jai]

I do not have one, but they look like something I would enjoy.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Club, thighbone M1-A1

I don't have one of those, and Lynn Thompson's marketing not-withstanding I don't believe in polypropylene for this sort of thing. I do have the African equivalent - the rungu - made of some sort of unreasonably hard wood. I've also got a few Polynesian/Micronesian versions. It's a nearly perfect design for its intended purpose.

It is a nice looking weapon, but I have to agree with Tellner on this, I'm not that big a fan of polypropylene either. The original weapons, this one is a woodland Indian design (you know Abnaki, Iroquois, Huron, etc) was made of hard wood and was the preferred melee weapon until the trade hatchet (tomahawk) became a cheap, readily available alternative.

I have always thought it to be a particularly good weapon design.

 

[still learning]

Hello, In Hawaii alot of the clubs of the Hawaiian Warriors had "shark" teeth in them for knife edges....

Pretty cool too! (they did not have tooth brush either)...........Aloha

 

[Touch Of Death]

Does anybody have one of these?

I have the one that Cold Steel makes, and it could be a DEVISTATING self defense tool!

What do you suppose a jury will think?

 

[Jai]

A fancy looking walking stick?

 

[Big Don]

What purpose does the little button shaped protrusion on the face of it serve?
It is kinda cool looking, but, I'd prefer something either less obviously a weapon or more obviously a weapon.

 

[elder999]

I've handled the Cold Steel "Indian War Club," .


It's a club, anyway, and something of an insult....

 

[tellner]

What purpose does the little button shaped protrusion on the face of it serve?
It is kinda cool looking, but, I'd prefer something either less obviously a weapon or more obviously a weapon.

It focuses the impact on a small area to provide that crucial break in the skull.

If I needed a one-handed non-projectile tool for killing men that wasn't a sword this would be it. The basic design is universal because it is brutally effective. It is as deadly as you could wish for.

 

[tellner]

This one is a woodland Indian design (you know Abnaki, Iroquois, Huron, etc) was made of hard wood and was the preferred melee weapon until the trade hatchet (tomahawk) became a cheap, readily available alternative.

I have always thought it to be a particularly good weapon design.

As I said, almost identical designs are found all over the world. It is damned near optimal for its intended function. The tomahawk had several advantages. Not least among them is that it's light and useful for other things. The club is a heavy, awkward piece of wood with a weight on the end. It's not useful for much else and takes up space that could be used for something else. A hatchet has a thousand uses and is better shaped for stowage while not in use.

 

[elder999]

It focuses the impact on a small area to provide that crucial break in the skull. .

That's not strictly true-while that may be Lynn THompson and Rich MacDonald intended, it's something of a conflation. While ball-headed clubs could be knobbed or dimpled ornamentally, or even be decorated with a very functional carving, like a turtle, the Cold Steel war-club has adopted and updated the practice of making clubs with antler protusions-those sort of clubs were mostly for hunting, or executions. Most often, the ball on a war club was, well-a ball, and a fairly smooth one at that....Plains Indians occasionally affixed a spike or antler to their ball-clubs, but these would usually break off in combat...

...that thing is really nothing but a (haha!) pale imitation of a real ball-headed club

 

[tellner]

Maybe not for the plains club. But if you look at a lot of Polynesian and African ones of similar design they have the a button or spike for just that purpose. Cold Steel is going more with that design than strictly with the Plains Indians version. And there were certainly nations in the Americas which used clubs with stout skull-breaker pieces.

 

[Carol]

Yup. That small piece is like the weapon having its own kubotan. Concentrates force on to a tiny point get better penetrating power.

Throw some scrap ceiling tile down on the floor. A 200 pound man walking across it in athletic shoes will barely cave the surface. A 120 pound woman walking across it in stilettoes will create deep holes in the tile. Concentration of force.

 

[tellner]

And there's something just so primal and satisfying about it

You can make one that's just as good if not better cheaply. Maple, hawthorn, blackthorn, anything tough with a root ball can be turned into a rungu, shillelagh or whatever name you want to call it. Properly cured it will last a lifetime. Well, one of yours. It could outlast several bad guys :whip:

 

[elder999]

Maybe not for the plains club. But if you look at a lot of Polynesian and African ones of similar design they have the a button or spike for just that purpose.

Before the coming of the Europeans, Plains warfare was more about "counting coup" than splitting skulls, though it did happen. It also had pretty much progressed to a mounted affair, so Plains clubs are straighter, not curved-they did sometimes have spikes on them, though-like I said, they weren't durable. Eastern and Southern tribes were more known for the ball-headed club of the type Cold Steel is trying to acheive, but generally-as I said earlier, without the protrusion. They did have clubs with spikes made of antlers, but, like I said earlier, those were more for hunting and executions than combat....

Maybe Cold Steel should have called it a Polynesian or African war club, and not an Indian one...


Anyway, if you look at the end of this post , you'll see a much more authentic, though made in this century, ball-club of the Woodland Indians, and if you read it, you'll see why that thing is nothing like one. You can also see an authentic Iroquois war club here .

And here's an authentic Plains Indian ball club, so you can see that it's not exactly like one of those:

 

[elder999]

And there's something just so primal and satisfying about it

You can make one that's just as good if not better cheaply. Maple, hawthorn, blackthorn, anything tough with a root ball can be turned into a rungu, shillelagh or whatever name you want to call it. Properly cured it will last a lifetime. Well, one of yours. It could outlast several bad guys :whip:

Too true, but a cane is so much more utile, and inocuous....

 

[Cryozombie]

It's neat and all, but Ill stick with my old standby.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

For merely cursiosities sake I have several Native American clubs from different tribes. Nice design and functional for what it was intended for. Still a Tomahawk is a much more effective tool and that is why this type of club became basically obsolete. Something about the synthetic material of cold steels versioin just does not sit well with me though and I generally like Cold Steel products; ie. durability and reasonable price.