War Club by Tim Scholl JS

[HTMD]

Tim took a beautiful piece of wood and made his version of a Native American war club. I shot three of his blades for submission to the magazines in trade for it because I've always wanted one but never got around to making it a priority. So it was just one of those situations that spontaneously worked out. I don't know much about the history of these things but the idea of having to use one as a weapon gives me the willies. Seems like delivering a mortal blow could be tricky. Maybe they were more ceremonial in nature. Of the 6 or 8 books I have about tomahawks, trade blades and related stuff there are very few of these pictured and no real discussion about them. I'm open to being educated if anyone has some knowledge to share.

 

[Deviltooth]

I have a Cold Steel polypropelene version of this. It's not nearly as attractive as what you created but I do like it.

 

[JayGoliath]

How long is that?
Amazing work i must say! Nice curled Maple

There's a dedicated thread at Axe/Hatchet forum started by Edwood7.
Looks like the Gun stock club to me.

Check out Todd Bitler.

 

[Dusty One]

Nice work...Great looking club. Tha wood is really fantastic !

 

[HTMD]

Thanks guys. This club has got me to thinking. Obviously my limited information and understanding was preventing me from grasping the role of a club weapon such as this one. I was imagining a one-on-one context and while that likely happened, I realized no single weapon could serve all purposes. Among my books I found a section that dealt with weapons in The Mystic Warriors of the Plains by Thomas E. Mails. I have no idea about the credibility of this tome but it is encyclopedic in scope. It helped me understand that clubs were a select part of a war or hunting party's arsenal. The array of weapons included bows and arrows, lances, knives, axes and clubs - each designed for a different purpose. The author claimed that most members of these small parties could use all of the above effectively and together they were a formidable force, tough to defeat until the repeating rifle arrived on the scene. Following this I began to read about the decoration of these weapons - another eye-opener for me.

This club measures 24 inches in length and the blade is roughly 3 1/4 inches. I'm told that the term "gun stock club" is used to describe this style but that name originated with white men. The essential shape of this style is known to have pre-dated the arrival of white men and long guns.