General

[DeTrevni]

I tell ya. Some people have no appreciation for novelty.

I am pretty much resigned to the fact that I probably won't be getting a sword cane. Pyrate Jim, can you link me that diamondwood cane? I'm VERY interested. I know diamondwood's reputation, but have never tested/handled it. Would you say it's stronger than Cold Steel's cane? It's 11 layers of fiberglass with a stainless steel head.

[John Satclaire]

FWIW, the cold steel non-sword City Stick only looks right with black tie (I've carried the pistol grip city stick to the Rainbow Room at Rockafeller Center before, and once to the opera at Lincoln Center). A diamondwood one would look more at home with casual dress.

[DeTrevni]

Probably right. Though the skull one is jus tacky enough to be passable with a "goth" attire! Hah, I can only imagine (and just barely) what I'd look like as a goth.

[d4rksabre]

It's less than two inches to the heart through the ribcage and less than 5 millimeters to the jugular. A three inch blade is all you need.

[DeTrevni]

Yes, I'm aware. And I have MANY knives that effectively reach that requirement.

Now I'm just looking for a decent cane for the sake of being a cane. I'm intrigued by the brass and diamondwood cane Pyrate was talking about.

[Pyrate Jim]

I remember purchasing that cane around '91 from a store that had maybe a dozen of them. Some were tacky but the dark diamondwood/brass ball had a certain savoir faire to it that I couldn't resist.
After my last post, I had to go shine it up...

Funny, I can recall the circumstance of selecting that one from others in a store somewhere near the coast. But what store or where completely eludes me. It might have been Hyannis or Provincetown on the Cape, or Mystic Seaport or maybe Salem, MA. Possibly Nantucket, or Block Island.
So no way to provide linky, sorry.
I wouldn't imagine it to be very rare, an adequate search engine should find one.

[SnowDawgy]

I just bought recently this one Hand Forged Zatoichi Hand Forged Zatoichi [SH2267] - $169.99CDN : Warriors and Wonders of course for hiking here in Canada in case I should um get attacked by a grizzly...un yeah. I would love to use it for walking but I think anyway you cut it carrying a weapon is illegal we all know it so why talk about the grey of the law. You carry one you can/will get busted. I am going to use mine for trimming the bushes around my condo just for fun, it looks like a hedge trimmer no?

[Walking_Target]

Sorry to break it to ya, but that sword stick is a great novelty, but little else.

As for carrying a weapon...

perfectly legal up here. I can carry any number of 'weapons' as they are only tools or other such mundane devices. I can walk around town with a combat knife on my belt, in the open. So long as you don't try and conceal it, you can even carry a 'peace-bound' sword up here.

no matter though, a collectors item or wall-hanger, so long as it is only used for that purpose, is just that, a wall hanger.

[stevedavidson]

I used to keep a cavalry saber for home defense - I have no idea where it went to (lost in a move I guess).

The idea being, in the dark of MY house/apt, I've got the edge on anyone not wearing night vision equipment and sabers are best for hacking.

so far as the street in concerned, I think a staff/walking stick is the best option if you must carry something.

But, and its a big but - anything you carry should be something you really know how to use in a stress environment, and not something that's just going to get taken away from you.

Evironment is key - there's plenty of 'weapons' lying around on the street if you keep your eyes open (including the pair on the back of your head).

[Christian Nelson]

In El Paso, there was this elderly guy who used to run with a claw hammer in each hand.

Rough neighborhood, but he got a workout, and nobody messed with him while he was jogging.