does this exist?

D

Dark Kensai

Joined
May 19, 2005
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I was watching a movie with my girlfriend the other day, and I saw the main character carrying one of those "spring loaded sheaths" that are so popularin movies and books. You know what I mean. The sheath that is worn on the wrist, and with a certain flick of the hand, a throwing knife pops out into your hand.

My question is this: Does this kind of sheath actually exist, or is it almost a purly fictional device?
 
I think it exists, (not 100%) but for a knife I would really worry about safety.
Also. I think it's quite illegal.
 
I think those are just props made by the effects studios of the various films they are used in. That is why they are always different. There could be a midget standing behind the guy yanking on wires to make the effect ;)
 
It can be engineered--similar spring-loaded devices existed in the late 1800s for derringers (a la "The Wild Wild West").

However, for any type of blade, there would indeed be a safety issue as Walking Man suspects. You would need some sort of hair trigger to get the thing to deploy--otherwise, you'd need a manually activated trigger, which means using the other hand to release the spring.

With any hair trigger located in a busy place like the right forearm, well... it would go off a lot.

I would suspect that many simple designs would result in frequent jamming, so you'd be talking big bucks to get it to work right.

And ultimately, I suspect to anyone with a practical mindset that it would be much more trouble than it's worth: it's cheaper, safer, quicker, and easier to pull things out of pockets and sheathes.

So I place this into the dustbin of Hollywood thinking, where firearms never need to be reloaded, where a full length sword can be concealed under a standard leather coat, and where enormous lairs can be constructed without the use of contractors, easements, permits, or architects and engineers.
 
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