GUY STUFF ALERT!! Dagger made from a broken sword

[talesofthesevenseas]

Texasbadger, If ya want guys stuff to look at, here's some guys stuff for ya! Prepare to be awash in testosterone!

I bought this old dagger from a guy in the UK who had been traveling in South Africa. He picked it up at a "junk shop" 12 years before. According to the shopkeeper, an elderly man in need of cash came into his store with this one day and said an ancestor of his had pulled it off of a square-rigger that had wrecked in Qolora Mouth, a trecherous stretch known for shipwrecks, that was just slightly north of the junk shop.

I put it up on sword forums and had several people involved in historic maritime weaponry take a look at it. What this is is a dagger that is made from a sword, likely broken in battle in antiquity and cut down and sharpened so that it could be used again as a dagger, apparently belonging to sailor.

Here is how it looked when I got it:


I spent several hours very carefully removing the rust after getting some recommendations to remove the rust and oil the blade properly to protect it:


The blade absolutely wicked looking on close inspection. You can see where it was filed down and it is full of battle-scars, classic sword blocks and knicks. When I handed it over to my instructor at a maritime combat seminar he looked it over and said "Jesus, you know a few people died on that blade!"

The original sword was a French-made Hussar-style saber, dating about 1790-1830. It would have looked something like this before it was broken:





Will that do Texasbadger? *grin* Sailin' ships, n' spurtin' blood... Fiestaware be damned to the depths sez I!! ARRRRRRRR!!!

[dontbe]

That's pretty cool! Any special reason you have an interest is swords?? Stereotyping here, but it just does not seem like a girl thing..

[talesofthesevenseas]

I crewed with a privately owned historic tall ship for two and a half years, as helmsman and on the foredeck. She is a 1755 style gaff-rigged ketch called Royaliste, that is now on the east coast. I also founded a large pirate reenactment group that I have run for six years. The ship is on the east coast now, but I still sail, but we have a modern sailboat. The pirate group is now run by a committee of the members. But that is why the interest in swords, ship's guns, flintlock pistols, maritime artifacts etc.

Here's the ship:


And this is me at the helm. We did a lot of historic reenactments, sea battles with other tall ships, pirate sails etc. on San Francisco Bay.


Some of the best times of my life were on Royaliste, I really miss those times. But I feel extremely lucky to have been able to experience things that I did, and to have learned to sail on a ship like that. It was nothing short of amazing. Gary, the owner of Royaliste, was very generous with her and we learned a lot from him.

[ayashe]

Wowzers! Go Tales!  Love your dagger history and crewing with the historic ship is nothing short of amazing!

[Texasbadger]

Outstanding,,at last a string of "non frilly" stuff,,,the most important question I can think of is,,,Are you married?

[talesofthesevenseas]

LOL yup... Happily married to a handsome pirate with our 10th anniversary on the horizon!

[KC]

Neat stories....adventur ious lifestyle....thanks for sharing!

[jondar]

The DOM estimates show the original owner could have been one of Napoleion Bonaparte's cavalrymen. Neat old blade.  If it could only talk!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks- Here's a little more related guy stuff. This is the custom-fitted belt sheath I made for it. I wanted to be able to wear it with the pirate gear, but to make sure it was super safe. I got some extremely thick leather that was finished patent leather on one side and unfinished on the other. I dyed the unfinished side, fitted it exactly to the blade and made a wrap-over tie-down so that there's no way it could be taken out without untying the knots in the back. The finished side is hidden inside, giving a smooth surface that doesn't soak up the oil on the blade.

[D&b antiques]

That is commendable work.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Thanks! I don't do much of that kind of stuff.

[dontbe]

Sweet! what an adventure. we never regret those types of things.. makes you wonder why we don't do it more often. (OK, I should speak for myself!@!)

Nice, Tales. Thanks for sharing.