Some items of interest....Cuffs, Saps, Blackjack, Brass knuckles

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I have seen all of the Item types but when I became a Police officer in NH in 1974 the S&W cuffs were the only one of these items that I could ever carry while working. I bought a pair of of those thumb cuffs really cheap but when I showed them to a Sargent I was told to take them home and NEVER EVER use them or have them on my uniform. The saps or black jacks were not allowed either.
 
Tom, are the knuckles made of aluminum? Here's a photo of 30 that I display. I have another 30+ stored in a box. I collect the antique ones only. The dusters on the black satchel are Stirling Silver and so marked. I, too, live in a free state. Let me know if you are inclined to sell the knucks.
 

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mmaher94087 said:
Tom, are the knuckles made of aluminum? Here's a photo of 30 that I display. I have another 30+ stored in a box. I collect the antique ones only. The dusters on the black satchel are Stirling Silver and so marked. I, too, live in a free state. Let me know if you are inclined to sell the knucks.
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The knuckles are a brass color and the weight feels like brass best I can tell.
With no markings visible I have no idea of who made them or when they were made.
 
Your knuckles appear to be heavily used judging from the wear pattern of the finger loop on the right in your photos. That loop is worn thin in comparing it to the loop on the left. The style and look of your knuckles appear to be from before 1930ish. Most knuckledusters were not marked. There are a few exceptions such as the top, second set from the left in my photo. They are cast iron and say BOXER on one side and PATENT on the other (British). Another set only has USA stamped on them and the Stirling set has 925. The top left set is cast iron and dates from the Civil War. Brass was next and finally aluminum. Aluminum was an expensive material back then.
 
mmaher94087 said:
Your knuckles appear to be heavily used judging from the wear pattern of the finger loop on the right in your photos. That loop is worn thin in comparing it to the loop on the left. The style and look of your knuckles appear to be from before 1930ish. Most knuckledusters were not marked. There are a few exceptions such as the top, second set from the left in my photo. They are cast iron and say BOXER on one side and PATENT on the other (British). Another set only has USA stamped on them and the Stirling set has 925. The top left set is cast iron and dates from the Civil War. Brass was next and finally aluminum. Aluminum was an expensive material back then.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the observations on my knuckles.....I never noticed that they were thin on that one area......can't imagine them being carried/used enough to cause that much wear/thinning.
 
A few years ago I may have given my father a Boston Midget sap…
He looked at it and said “Your Great Grandfather carried one of these all the time. Wish we still had it.”

Great Grand Dad was an immigrant who lived on the wrong side of the tracks. Barely spoke English. But nice to know a sap ran in the family.
 
I first got interested in saps and blackjacks when a buddy of my dad's was talking about his father who was a small town sheriff back in the 20's and 30's. He said that his dad went to the local shoe repair shop and had the owner stitch up a small leather bag filled with bird shot. Apparently it was quite effective.

I have a few...some are rather crude, others are works of art made by Scott Foster of Foster Brothers Impact Devices.

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My father used to have a blackjack that he kept beneath the seat of his car, a crude thing which I presume he made himself out of what appeared to be the handle of a baseball bat wrapped in electric tape with a length of twine going through a hole drilled into the base of it, although that's just what I could tell by looking at it.
 
Have most of this stuff, (no thumb cuffs, do have sap gloves), when I was in the job. it's all tucked away in the safe, illegal to carry here in Michigan. I wish it wasn't, I'd like a less than lethal option.
 
I still carry a monkey fist "keychain"
 

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