More clubs.

lignum vitae makes nice clubs. if i could find a nice piece here i'd try making one myself. good luck.

a patu/mere should not be overly thick and should have sharp edges on the blade section. it's more of a thrusting weapon than a blunt force club. used to target the eyes, temple, throat, etc. i've heard that a maori could thrust at your temple, twist & pop the top of your skull off.

meanwhile, back in the jungle, here's another recent purchase, an australian aboriginal club made in 1967: 18 in.
wending it's way east then over the pond from california. oval cross section.m this IS a blunt force trauma inducer. :)
decorated with a burnt in design.

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davidf99 said:
What a beautiful piece of wood. It looks like Koa in the photo, but Koa is not nearly as heavy.

I bought a patu recently, but was disappointed. It's a nice size and shape, but much too lightweight to be convincing as a weapon. I'm tempted to use it as a model and make one from a piece of lignum vitae that I've had stashed away for many years.
Click to expand...

more recent ones are made from a lighter evergreen wood which is easier to carve & looks good but is as you say, a bit light, this style of
patu are more of a thrusting weapon tho, and should have fairly sharp edges. instead of breaking bones, you thrust for the soft spots, throat, temples, mouth, etc.
the kjotiate and wahaika forms are generally larger and heavier and more bludgeon-like, tho their edges should be fairly sharp rather than rounded too. the ultimate of the simple patus were the 'mere' which were made of green jade, quite heavy (my 16 in. one weighs over 1.2 kilos, almost 3 lb. for me a bit cumbersome. for a big maori chief who has used them since babyhood, it would not be. they also made some of granite, for those of lesser status. captain cook took a few back to england and had some cast in bronze and iron, which he presented to various chiefs when he returned. some NZ'ers cast them in aluminum now.

anyhow, tiaha & patu have arrived. the taiaha is a nice heavy hard wood, surprisingly weighty compared to the other slightly shorter taiaha which is a NZ evergreen wood. this one just reaches the bottom of my chin, which i understand is about the right length for me.

oiled finish, not lacquered. 1 old wormhole that goes all the way thru & a couple shallow holes about 2mm deep. a number of dents from parrying as noted earlier. ill give it a few drinks of boiled linseed (flax) oil. i've filled the wormhole with superglue.

the newish patu has a clear urethane coating (would have preferred an oil finish), nice grain, couple shrinkage cracks near what look like knots in the wood that do not go all the way thru.. coating doesn't go all the way thru the lanyard hole which is fairly roughly bored. very sharp edges on the 'blade', 245 gm. 12" x 4" x 3/4". gave it a braided leather lanyard as a present. this one is not plastic.

i would not like that shoved into my throat or temple. a wahaika made from that wood would would be cool. i have a wahaika made from walnut that would make a good impact weapon.
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the striking edge is the one opposite the tiki, which should look over your shoulder, to guard your back. ;)
 
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wending it's way to me from san francisco

attributed to Rarotonga, Cook islands:

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the pair of rather roughly cut & unoccupied holes (butt and/or leading edge) may have been used to tie decorative feather bundles as for signaling in the tewhatewha.

looks like a traditional form. does not appear to be very old. listed as circa mid 20th c.

13.75 in long 5.5 in. across the blade 5/8in. thick. hardwood. (looks somewhat opalescent in some of the photos) looks like a coconut fibre cord in the central butt hole which appears rather rougher than a modern drill would produce.

someone elsewhere mentioned these appear to be ceremonial rather than weapons. i note a certain boxy similarity to maori wahaika and the tewhatewha which were used as weapons, at least up to the arrival of the brits. on both of those, the strike is made with the long edge rather than the shorter edge or thrust into a soft spot - like a throat. i wonder if the same was not used here. would certainly be a nasty close range weapon like a wahaika/patu/mere. will be interesting to see if it has a useful edge or is rounded.
this one shows added serrations to the edges.

the tewhatewha (not mine)
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was a 1.5 metre (+/-) long chief's staff weapon and signalling device, used to direct lesser warriors as well as kill. same here, like a japanese war fan?
 
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Can you guys stop with the clubs and swords...it's hard enough for me collecting knives haha ah who am I kidding...:D
 
Hehe, I know the feeling DTKM, I have attention deficit as it is... but all the different collections just make me drool so much I get dehydrated before I decide what to collect next myself.
 
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