Inmate customs...

Disco Stu

Disco Stu

Joined
Nov 9, 1999
Messages
1,137
My father worked at the Washington D.C. prison in Northern VA for several years and whenever he found a shank hidden in his shop he'd bring it home to me. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I've thought you guys might want to see a picture of some of them:

prison.jpg
I know, not the best picture.

I meant to lay a ruler next to them but couldn't find one so I'll just tell you that the long one on the right is about 14". I have more, somewhere...

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Disco Stu
A Finger Saved, is a Finger Earned
 
Stu, awesome collection man! That is really interesting. Do you have any details about their makers? You know, all the gory details, their history, how good (or bad) they were, how many times were they caught, and are they now deceased? (I would imagine a case of involuntary removal of the privilege of living would dramatically increase the value of the piece). Thanks for sharing!

Paracelsus, look at Don Fogg's Shivs and shanks to see some interesting work by someone free as a bird

[This message has been edited by Paracelsus (edited 10-16-2000).]
 
I'm sorry to say that I don't have any info about their makers. When one of them was found, not too many people came forward to claim it.
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I also have a ton of old patches from the guard's shirts. I never thought about it before but I guess I have a fairly large "D.C. Department of Corrections Collection."
 
Disco (what a nickname!),

Could you please E-Mail me your Shank Pics in a JPEG File? I would like to add them to my collection!

In Jessup, Maryland there is a cluster of prisons, every once in awhile one of the combatants gets the LifeFlyte to The University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Unit. The preferred method of attack is a pencil to the eyeball. Pretty brutal, but shows a certain sense of style.
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:
Great collection!!
I had an uncle that was in the Big House here in Oklahoma back in the late 1930's. There were some horrific stories that he could tell.
And one of them happened to him. He wore a glass eye in his left eye socket due to being in the "yard" when an escape was taking place. A guard in the tower shot him with an old .45 going in the left eye and coming out below his right ear. Fortunately for him nothing vital was hit. He lways said he wasn't involved in he escape, but I never knew whether to believe him or not.
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His carry was a double bit sort of a tomahawk affair with a handle about 10" long. He wore it iwb, slid down the side.
My cousin has it now since my uncle left it too him when he died.
I don't know how he managed to get it out of the prison, but he did. There were others in the famiy that confirmed it.
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Sometime ago I had the pleasure to work on it, putting a new handle in it. It was very crudely forged from a horseshoe rasp. The teeth on the rasp weren't pounded down inside where the handle fit. I had a heck of a time getting the handle to fit.

Sorry to be so long, but someone asked for a story and that's one I know to be true.
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>>>>---¥vsa---->®

"I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."

........unknown, to me anyway........

Khukuri FAQ
Himalayan Imports Website
 
Very cool collection! I remember seeing weopons from a jail shakedown when I was 10-12 years old. A push-dagger made from a fork, along with various knives made from nails, spoon handles, and other things. I have made several myself. Push daggers from screwdrivers and T-handle hex wrenches, sharpened putty knives and metal straps, just to see what I could come up with. Thanks for posting the pic.

Paul
 
If you ever go to SMKW in TN, Look towards the downstairs area...They have a large display of about 100 shanks, very interesting to see how inventive some of these guys and gals can be!

But then again, If I ever find myself in prison and find myself being "sold" for a pack of smokes...I think Id be making one myself
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Keith D.Armacost
If The Women Don't Find You Handsome,
At Least Let Them Find You Handy. R.G.
 
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