Shivs/shanks - serious discussion

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Charlie_K

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Jul 16, 2012
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Been browsing the improvised weapons forum and a lot of other places on the web, and I've come to the conclusion that there's a great deal of interest in prison-tech cutting implements. What I don't understand is why this is. Does anyone have an idea why so many seem to have such a fascination with these low-grade weapons that're made out of whatever one can get their hands on? Not simply with inmates who have no other excuse, but those among us who can easily acquire much better quality knives with ease?

Is it because we as a species have tool using and making ingrained in our DNA, and their creation speaks to us on some sort of primal level since they're all made by hand in a way we don't often see with mass produced goods? Is it the creativity used in demonstrating that anything can be lethal if the situation demands? Is it some perverse amusement in recognizing how their existence goes to prove just how futile restrictions on weapons are in society since they can be made so easily? Does it remind some of us of our childhoods when we made our first wooden sword with the help of our parents or on our own?
 
Though I don't plan to go to prison I constantly play what if scenarios in my head.
Knowing how to build things from scratch maybe even under restrictive conditions is fascinating.
Shelter in a jungle, weapon in prison, raft without tools, primitive water filtering, all speak to the same part of me. Even if I'll never need it it's cool to watch, read about or learn it in the military or practice while camping.
 
People are fascinated by things that frighten them, and as long as they can do so safely, they like to indulge that fascination. The thought of being incarcerated, and having to face violent criminals armed with weapons, frightens a lot of people.

And the subject of weapons in general fascinate a lot of people. Whether it's the weapons used by some primitive tribe down in the Amazon rain forest, or the most modern weaponry used by the US special forces, many people are interested to see and learn about what types of weapons a specific group of people are using in whatever environment they live in or are operating in. Prison is a world all it's own, with dangers and circumstances that typically don't exist anywhere else, and populated by some of the most dangerous people on earth. So it's not surprising that people would be interested in what types of weapons the people in that environment are using.
 
Here's an idea. I read a lot of fiction by non-U.S. authors and Google unknown terms....example first saw "flick knife" in an English novel, Googled it - "automatic knife". That one might seem intuitive to most but wasn't to me...could be similar on "shiv/shank".

Best.
 
Some people have interest in things they can make themselves. While some of them may well make custom knives, other people aren't gonna have access to things like a forge and such, but prison weapons are well within their means.

Other people are just interested in weapons. Some people are interested in guns, some are drawn to swords, some are drawn to weapons of a specific culture, and some, like me, are interested in weapons in all their shapes and forms. I have books on modern military issue firearms, books on tanks, books on attack helicopters, books on medieval weapons, books on weapons of ancient Greece and Rome, books on weapons of ancient India, books on weapons of Native Americans, books on weapons of the Maori, books on weapons of ancient Hawaii, and yes, books on improvised weaponry.
 
Charlie_K said:
Been browsing the improvised weapons forum and a lot of other places on the web, and I've come to the conclusion that there's a great deal of interest in prison-tech cutting implements. What I don't understand is why this is. Does anyone have an idea why so many seem to have such a fascination with these low-grade weapons that're made out of whatever one can get their hands on? Not simply with inmates who have no other excuse, but those among us who can easily acquire much better quality knives with ease?

Is it because we as a species have tool using and making ingrained in our DNA, and their creation speaks to us on some sort of primal level since they're all made by hand in a way we don't often see with mass produced goods? Is it the creativity used in demonstrating that anything can be lethal if the situation demands? Is it some perverse amusement in recognizing how their existence goes to prove just how futile restrictions on weapons are in society since they can be made so easily? Does it remind some of us of our childhoods when we made our first wooden sword with the help of our parents or on our own?
Click to expand...

I think this may stem from two sources. The first is the prepper movement. The survivalist crowd who are sure that "it's all going to fall apart one day." They are some of the same people that learn flint snapping and primitive technologies like making a bow from available woods. Or making a knife from what can be scrounged from resources at hand.

The other factor at work is maybe the rise of more places where you can't have a knife. Airports, schools, government buildings, and many private employers who are having weapon free work zones. Maybe more anymore people recognize a knife is a handy thing to have, but may need to fabricate one in a pinch. Ancient man did just fine with some knapped flint or a flake of obsidian, so we could do the same if we had to. The bottom of a beer bottle can be flaked to provide a wicked edge to slice something. People get killed in prisons with sharpened toothbrush handles, so you don't really need a 200 dollar knife to accomplish your goal.
 
Or maybe its because there is a part of society that has some kind of disturbed fascination that seems to border on respect/admiration toward convicts/inmates.

same reason you see people at gas stations in the prison sandals and sox's looking like they just rolled out of their cell and you find out that they never done a day inside.

I do think its good to be able to make a blade or weapon out of just about anything tho.
 
I went through the Department of Corrections Support Personnel training, and part of that was a presentation on improvised prison weapons. In addition to shanks there was a functional nunchaku fashioned from magazine laminated together with prison toothpaste, and it was hard as wood--very creative, very labor intensive, and good for one skull-crushing before breaking. But all of them had a "hey, I could do that" factor, and who doesn't take more satisfaction in a DIY project than the same product bought in a store? I like to use knives I have modded from stock because I have invested my time and energy to make it more "mine," though I know that my Dremel and I can't match the production values of an actual company.

People are fascinated with the macabre, and prison weapons really fit that bill. I think the real takeaway from the whole improvised weapon bit is that if a guy can overdose on drugs and make his own knife with all the controls built into a prison it points out the absurdity of trying to nanny us in the outside world for our own good.
 
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