Blackjack (knot)

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Blackjack (knot)
sketch
Information
Weapon type: Club, killers
Designations: Blackjack
Use: weapon
Region of origin /
author:
Sailors
Distribution: Worldwide
Overall length: about up to 50 cm
Handle: Rope, tar
Lists on the subject

The Blackjack is a self-knotted blunt instrument of the 18th and 19th centuries.

use

This was taken ashore by seafarers in order to be prepared in the harbor bars in case of trouble. This weapon was particularly popular among American and English sailors. It was also known to seafarers of these nations as the "Life Preserver", "Cosh" or "Colt".

nature

The blackjack consisted of a flexible rope handle with a weight incorporated into the other end. Common variants reached lengths of up to 40 cm. This was the blackjack into a serious blunt instrument, similar to the murderer .

There are various reports of the popularity and effectiveness of this knotwork, which was often made on sailing ships during slack times. A report reproduced by Richard Wossidlo is very impressive :

“As Seelüd once the city commandant in Wismar had vertobakt his fellows, geew de dat fri. The soldiers can win over the sailors. There is no spellbinding slayer in the corridor with a rubber hose and all that kind of thing. Mien Unkel had a ball anne Snuur, who had brought America with him. The soldiers raise their collars so often, the sin ut fear ut't dark rutgahn. "

“(Freely translated in High German)
When seamen beat up the city commandant's boy in Wismar, he released them. The soldiers could beat up the sailors. A real brawl started, with rubber hoses and all that sort of thing. My uncle had a ball on a string that he had brought back from America. The soldiers were beaten so many times that they jumped out of the window out of fear. "

alternative

Alternatively, the “ball on a string” mentioned in the text could also have been the monkey fist . There is also a ball or other weight in the core. This monkey fist on a "rope extension" is a dangerous weapon with a whip effect .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Travel quarters in Gottesnaam . C. Hinstorff, Seestadt Rostock 1940.
The weighted monkey fist can also be used as a striking weapon