Club (weapon)
A club or cudgel is perhaps the simplest of all mêlée weapons. Essentially, a club is simply a big stick to hit with. Related mêlée weapons such as maces and flails are variations upon the club.
Typically, a club is small enough to be wielded in one hand. Bludgeons that require both hands to wield are called quarterstaffs in English.
A simple weapon
The club is perhaps the simplest of all true weapons; a club is typically carved from a single piece of wood; any piece of wood that is narrow enough on one end to be grasped by the hand of its wielder can be used as or made into an improvised club. Baseball bats and axe handles or pickaxe handles are common instances of clubs. Police sometimes refer to clubs as impact weapons, or impact tools.
In folklore, fantasy literature, and comics, clubs are associated with barbarians and giants. The hero Heracles was famous for wielding a club. Many, probably most, stereotyped cartoon cavemen carry a rough conic club so large as to probably overwhelm the strength of the best-developed human wrist.
In computer and roleplaying games, a distinction is often drawn between a "simple" and "composite" club, where the composite club is formed from two or more materials joined together (as opposed to simply hefting a stick).
In the game of Cluedo or Clue, players must specify which weapons a murder was committed with, among choices that include a wrench, a lead pipe, or a candlestick, and as to their purpose (a weapon inflicting trauma), each of these household items serves as a club.
The wounds inflicted by a club are generally known as bludgeoning or blunt-force trauma injuries.
Various kinds of clubs are used in martial arts, police work, and other specialised fields.
Police and army batons
Batons, truncheons, and nightsticks
A baton or truncheon (nightstick or billy-club in American English) is essentially a stick of less than arms-length, usually made of wood, plastic, or metal, and carried by law enforcement, correctional, riot control, and security personnel for non-lethal self-defense or combat situations. A baton is used to strike, jab, block, and aid in the application of armlocks.
In the Victorian era, police in London carried clubs about one foot long called billy-clubs or truncheons. The impact weapon has developed into several varieties available today. The basic impact weapon is a straight baton, approximately one and a quarter inches in diameter, and from 18 to 36 inches long. It can be made from wood or a synthetic material. This is also called a nightstick. The 36" and longer batons are called "riot batons"; the handle end is sometimes fluted to aid gripping. There is an image of a 25" to 31" riot baton at this link.
Sometimes wooden truncheons or batons are ornamented with organization's coats of arms and suchlike and used for symbolic presentation rather than as weapons.
The side-handle baton is described below.
- This baton is called a "traffic baton": it is red to make it more visible when used as a signalling aid when directing traffic.
Until the mid-1990s British police officers carried traditional wooden truncheons of a sort which had changed little from the Victorian era, but since the early 1990s all forces have chosen to replace truncheons with more modern side-handle and telescopic batons for all but ceremonial duties.
Compare mace and staff of office for the marrying of defense and symbolism.
Sometimes straight batons are made of rubber. That results in a harder blow, because they apply to the target the force needed to bounce the baton back the way it came, not only the force needed to stop it moving. Image at this link. The Russian police standard issue baton is rubber, except in cold areas like Siberia where extreme winter cold makes the rubber go brittle.
Both types of batons have their advantages and disadvantages. Side-handle batons are more flexible, enabling many more kinds of strike and block, but they require more training to use than straight batons, and they are very bulky. For the advantages of expandable straight batons see below.
Telescopic batons
Both ordinary batons and side-handle batons are available in collapsible variants.
An expandable baton or telescopic baton or telescope baton or expandable baton is an intermediate-force weapon for law enforcement and security professionals, used to gain control over assaultive subjects. The baton is a cylindrical shaft that contains telescoping metal pieces that lock into each other when expanded. When swung, the extended baton can deal massive damage due to the kinetic energy emitted from its solid metal tip upon striking a surface. Most strikes are done on large muscle areas of the subject to avoid permanent injury. Expandable batons come in various sizes, including 16, 21, 26, and 31 inch when extended. The purpose of a collapsible baton is three-fold:-
- It makes it easier for the officer to carry it and to sit in a car seat wearing it, since when collapsed it is between six and ten inches long.
- It can be psychologically intimidating to an aggressive suspect to see and hear the baton being extended.
- Many police administrators think that it presents a more peaceful image to the general public than the regular non-collapsible baton.
At the end of the 20th century, a popular type of telescopic straight baton or friction lock baton was made of steel tubing which collapsed together for carrying, then slid apart to expand. This device is commonly referred to as a "teleton". A small metal knob on the end added weight when the baton was used as a bludgeon. Manufacturers include ASP (also see here and here), Monadnock, Casco, and Hiatt. There are image of telescopic batons at these links: intended for police use; intended for martial arts.
Electric-shock batons
See stun baton for batons desinged to administer an electric shock.
Side-handle baton
One type of these is the Monadnock PR-24 Prosecutor, which was made infamous by the LAPD in the Rodney King beating. Side-handle batons come in rigid and expandable models. The rigid models are typically made of polycarbonate. The expandable models usually have an aluminum chassis which a polycarbonate section extends from. Almost all side-handle batons in use are made by Monadnock. Image of side-handle baton.
The side-handle baton a side handle at a right angle to the shaft, about six inches from the handle end. One make of this is the PR-24 "Prosecutor" side-handle baton (although the use of the original name of Prosecutor was discouraged) and is almost identical to the martial-arts tonfa. The PR-24 has greater defensive capabilities than a nightstick, as:-
- It can be held by one end and use the corner between the shaft and the handle to catch a long swung blunt or sharp weapon.
- It can be held by the side handle and the shaft laid along the hand and forearm to splint and shield the arm against an expected blow from a club.
Side-handle batons are derived from the tonfa, a Japanese martial arts weapon, and are used with a similar fighting technique.
Maglite and Other Flashlights
Currently, many policemen and others carry long metal-bodied flashlights which are used both for illumination and as a club (though police are specifically discouraged from doing so). The 5 D-cell Maglite is a popular example, and was also made infamous by another police brutality incident, the Malice Green beating in Detroit.
The kel-light is a popular flashlight among police officers. It is rumoured that it was designed as an impact weapon first and a light-source second. The use of a metal-cased flashlight as a baton is discouraged by law enforcement officals.
Pickaxe handle
In the British Army the pickaxe handle is used as a standard guard baton when firearms are not carried, and is also used for measuring, so by Army rules must be exactly a yard long. Pickaxe handles are also used as "raft beaters" to help tighten the knots in the traditional pole-and-barrel rafts sometimes used during training. Very many times also pickaxe handles have been used as batons unofficially.
Baseball bat
The baseball bat is often used unofficially as a weapon.
Blackjack and similar
A blackjack (known in British English as a cosh) is a small, easily-concealed weapon consisting of a leather-wrapped lead weight attached to the end of a leather-wrapped coil-spring or rigid shaft, with a lanyard or strap on the end opposite the weight. Materials other than lead and leather are sometimes used to construct these weapons. It ranges from six to fourteen inches long. The sap can be made of braided leather with a strap or sewn into flat pieces of leather.
Blackjacks are popular due to their low profile and small size, and their potential to inflict enormous damage on human beings.
A blackjack is sometimes referred to as a sap, which is the name for a weapon of similar design (also called a slapper) which has a flat profile as opposed to a cylindrical one.
Another variation on the sap is a sandsock or sandclub, which as the name implies, is a weapon of flexible sheath construction filled with a heavy fragmented weight. The sandsock may be filled with sand, but more likely with lead shot. The covering may be a pouch of leather or heavy cloth, such as denim or canvas. The sandsock is almost universally used as an improvised weapon.
Blackjacks can be used to inflict devastating damage on bones and tissues, and are considered in many jurisdictions to be deadly weapons. Blackjacks are also illegal in many jurisdictions. Traditionally used by police officers, they have been replaced to a large extent by telescopic and side-handle batons.
Snapstick
This is a variation of the blackjack. It consists of a longer strap which can apply flail applications aside being used as a club minus the use of trapping techniques as seen in the use of nunchaku and other flexible weapons. Other concealing batons include the kubotan and yawara.
Palm sap
This is a variation of the sap. It is a lead weight sewn into a leather or nylon cover, carried in the palm and held in place with a cord or elastic band. A glove is usually worn over the palm-sap. The palm-sap is used by slapping a suspect. A police officer related a story of using a palm-sap on a combative suspect and indicated the suspect "dropped like a sack of potatos" when slapped on the side of the head.
Sap gloves
These are a variation of the sap. They are gloves with lead shot or powder contained between layers of leather located across the knuckles. Police officers tend to refer to such items in euphemistic terms. Sap gloves have been referred to as "balanced driving gloves."
Shillelagh
- See also Irish stickfighting
A Shillelagh (pronounced "shil-LAY-lee") is a wooden club or cudgel, typically made from a stout knotty stick with a large knob on the end, that is associated with Ireland in folklore. They are traditionally made from blackthorn (sloe) wood (Prunus spinosa) or oak. It was named after the Shillelagh forest in County Wicklow, a forest of oak which produced some fine examples. The wood would be smeared with butter and placed up a chimney to cure, giving the Shillelagh its typical black shiny appearance. Shillelaghs may be hollowed at the heavy "hitting" end and filled with molten lead to increase the weight; this sort of Shillelagh is known as a 'loaded stick'. They are commonly the length of a walking stick (distance from the floor to one's wrist with elbow slightly bent). Most also have a heavy knob for a handle which can be used for striking as well as parrying and disarming an opponent.
In the folk song "Finnegan's Wake", shillelagh law refers to a brawl. There was a popular song, "The Same Old Shillelagh", recorded by several Irish-American singers in the 1940s, including Bing Crosby and Billy Murray, about such a weapon being passed along from father to son. Professional wrestler Fit Finlay uses a Shillelagh as his signature weapon. X-men villain Black Tom Cassidy was known to wield a Shillelagh both as a club and, as his mutant power; generate destructive concussive force through the wooden stick.
Sally Rod
A Sally rod is a long, thin wooden stick, as the name suggests generally made from willow (Latin Salix), used mostly in Ireland as a disciplinary implement, but also sometimes used like a club (without the fencing-like technique of stick fighting) in fights and brawls.
Knobkierie
A Knobkierie, occasionally spelled knopkierie or knobkerry, is a strong, short wooden club with a heavy rounded knob or head on one end, traditionally used by Southern African tribes (e.g. Zulu) as a weapon in warfare and the chase. The word Knobkerrie derives from the Dutch knop (knob or button), and the Bushman and Hottentot kerrie=kirri (stick). It is employed at close quarters, or as a missile, and in time of peace serves as a walking-stick. The head, or knob, is often ornately carved with faces or shapes that have symbolic meaning. The knobkierie itself serves this function in the crest of the 2000 new federal coat of Arms of South Africa.
The name has been extended to similar weapons used by the natives of Australia, the Pacific islands and other places.
Jitte
One of the more unique weapons of the samurai police (Keisatsu-Kan) was the Jitte (or Jutte). Basically an iron truncheon, the Jitte was popular because it could parry the slash of a razor-sharp sword and disarm an assailant without serious injury. Essentially a defensive or restraining weapon, the length of the Jitte requires the user to get extremely close to those being apprehended.
A single hook or fork, called a Kagi, on the side near the handle allowed the Jitte to be used for trapping or even breaking the blades of edged weapons, as well as for jabbing and striking. The Kagi could also be used to entangle the clothes or fingers of an opponent. Thus, feudal Japanese police used the Jitte to disarm and arrest suspects without serious bloodshed. Eventually, the Jitte also came to be considered a symbol of official status.[1]
In sports
Clubs or club-like implements figure in a number of sports. The tools used in golf to hit the ball with are called golf clubs, although golf clubs are perhaps less traditionally club-like than baseball or cricket bats, both of which are still made of wood; a baseball bat is a round club traditionally made from ash tree wood; a cricket bat resembles a paddle and is traditionally made from willow wood. Few golf clubs are made of wood in current play.
A much smaller wooden truncheon-like bat is used to strike the ball in pelota, a game similar to jai-alai.
(Fit) Finlay, wrestler in the WWE uses a Shillelagh constantly as a foreign object, on the Smackdown brand.
A shillelagh appears in the logo of the Boston Celtics.
The Shillelagh Trophy is an annual football game between members of the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University and takes place in Indiana, United States.
The Jeweled Shillelagh is awarded to the winner of the annual football game between the University of Notre Dame and the University of Southern California. The club has small medallions representing the winner. A shamrock for the Irish, and a Trojan head for USC. Notre Dame leads the series 42-29-5. In case of a tie, the medallion is a shamrock with trojan head overlay. The first club ran out of room and is stored at Notre Dame University, South Bend, Indiana, United States.
Police use of batons
Before the 1970s, the common practice was to "skull" a suspect — that is, to hit him on the head with the weapon. As a result of civil lawsuits and claims of police brutality, more training was given to officers, and now the primary targets are nerves such as the common peroneal nerve, or large muscles such as the quadriceps or biceps. If an impact weapon has to be used to deliver lethal force, parts of the body targeted can include the wrists, crotch, skull, and neck.
Striking a suspect on the head/skull is strongly discouraged although the face is a legitimate target area.
Sources and External references
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - Side Handled Batons
- Assessing the Expandable Side Handle Baton – a UK government document comparing various types of baton (PDF)
- State of California Penal Code sections 12020 - 12040
- The Kegel A club used as a weapon, and in a game
- Expandable Batons
- TSB45 Tactical BatonA new and innovative baton
- TSB45: The Baton of the Future An article on the TSB45 Baton
