"A blackjack weapon or sap refers to a group of weapons that are short, concealable, and weighted (usually filled with lead powder, molded lead clay, or lead shot) to constitute an effective bludgeoning device. The terminology used to refer to these weapons can be very imprecise depending on the period."

I started my LE career in 1995 and saps, as we call them locally, were already obsolete as a LE tool by then. I recall seeing a couple of detectives who each had one, as more of a show piece, that they kept in their desk drawer but I never saw one in the field. Billy clubs were also gone from patrol cars in our area by the time I went out on patrol. I was trained at the academy on OC spray and ASP collapsible batons and I still carry both on my duty belt. Although it's come in handy many times I've never used my ASP on a person.

Even so, I was always fascinated by saps. I came upon a fellow who had a few for sale at a gun show that were made by Foster Industries and was so impressed with the quality I purchased a couple of them, I think they'll make great paper weights.

The black one on the left is a Model 36 that is 9 3/4 inches, 20 oz weight and the handle is sprung. It's quite heavy.

The one on the right is the Door Man model in 4 ply oiled steer hide, 10 1/2 inches long, 15 oz with a springless handle.

Attached Images

Foster SAP (22)_inPixio.jpg (111.8 KB, 499 views)

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Cool.

What does "the handle is sprung" mean?

Thank you for posting this information.

The manufacture and sale of slungshot (etc.) is not legal in Florida. The possession and use of such with a CWFL is legal.

It was called a cosh where I come from.

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Release the Kraken

I did not get into law enforcement until 2000 when I was 45yrs old.But I got my first blackjack in Detroit in 1975.I was working the door of a bar in Detroit,when I got into a tussle with two drunks leaving the bar with their beer.A big no no as I was about to strike the biggest one I was grabbed from behind.Two vice cops leaving the bar intervened.Officer that was holding me told me to open my hand and brass knuckles fell to floor.I thought I was in trouble.But officers laughed at me and said we don’t use knuckles anymore. You can break fingers using one. Get a blackjack and told me where a police supply store was.One officer even told me to use his name if they wouldn’t sell to me.
I now own quite a few jacks and saps.Though no Fosters.

When I entered LE near the end of 1980, my agency prohibited carrying saps/slappers/blackjacks. Actually we were prohibited from carrying ANY equipment that was not issued. We were issued and trained to use the 36 inch riot baton but that was not feasible to carry daily. Some of our patrol cars still had old short wooden batons in them but nobody ever used them. Even the 5 "D" cell Eveready flashlights we were issued would self-destruct if you banged them against your leg hard (worthless junk).
Some of the old time County Deputies did carry saps/slapjacks/blackjacks in the designated pocket that was part of their uniform trousers. I know a couple of the old time Deputies had used them but they were rapidly being discouraged and within a couple years their agency prohibited them as well.

A handle that is sprung has a thin, form fitting piece of flat spring metal sown into the middle of the leather handle. It allows the sap to be thinner without loosing it's rigidity.

Non-sprung handles can have different amounts of rigidity depending on how wide or thick the handle is. Of the two shown above, the Door Man model is not sprung but is thicker and has about the same amount of rigidity as the Model 36. They are both quite stiff.

I have another one that is not sprung that is lite weight, thinner, and very flexible. This is the "Working Class" model and is 9 1/2 inches long, 10 oz and springless.

Attached Images

Fostyer SAP (5)_inPixio.jpg (88.1 KB, 430 views)

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Here is a bit of amusement for your day. When I started my LE career in 1982, I was working for a local city police department that was a bit behind the times. The Chief called me in his office and put a set of handcuffs and a "claw" on his desk. He then told me that I could choose one, but not both. Since I already had a set of handcuffs, I chose the claw, which I did not have for very long. This department also, at the time, issued a 1920's vintage Colt 38 caliber revolver with a lanyard in the handle as a duty weapon. Needles to say, I carried my personal model 19 instead. The radio system was an old WWII low band system with walkie talkies the size of a brick and an antenna that was taller than I was when extended. You couldn't hear the station calling you from six blocks away because the station was covered by LAPD clear across the country, who used the same frequency as we did. At least you could throw it at someone, if need be! The issued "Rules and Regulations" manual stated that, "when directing traffic on the hill sections of the city, you will give prefernce to horse drawn carriages over motor vehicles". I did not stay there for any longer than I had to before moving on to the State Police.

Have a few of Dad's dating back to the 30-50/60s

Remember the leg pocket in the uniform pants.


Dad was an Lt/ Capt by the time I "remember" details..... don't remember him carrying one.

When I started in 1967, they were pretty much required personal equipment, but a personal purchase. I was advised to buy one almost the day I started. I still have it! That was when LE had "qualified immunity", which was pretty wide!! Most of the time it rode in the brief case, yet many officers carried them full time, to the extent some uniform pockets turned white on the outside form wear on the car seats. They were replaced by aluminum flashlights by Mag Lite or Streamlight, which were sometimes used as a defensive device, until some folks were injured and liabilty issues were attached. Then along came the PR-24 and actual training. Very unwieldy to carry everywhere. To my mind the "slapper" was probably the easiest to carry, and least injurious of the defensive weapons to follow. Some of us bought Mace, but the delivery system was not effective for very long and usually officers got sprayed as well as the resistor! If it worked at all.
So, times have changed!

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Richard Gillespie
FBINA 102

When I began LE in 1962 the "Convoy" backjack was popular. The "Convoy" was 12" in length with a round lead head mounted on a coil spring and covered in black leather weighing 16ozs. This device would stop a fighting suspect instancesly. I still have mine. When each of my five sons started LE I gave each on a "Convoy". Convoys has been illegal for many, many years.
"

When I started in 1979 I was given a convoy by an old night constable who had carried it as his sole armament during the Depression. I later added a flat "slapper" or sap as we called them. Never used either on a suspect and the department I moved to in '81 discouraged their use but sap gloves were common. We were issued 24" "batons" which we called sticks and were trained in their use. They had a lot of utility, used properly, and a 4 or 5 cell Kel-lite worked almost as well.

Impact weapons got bad press from their misuse, but in a time when chemical weapons were of questionable effectiveness and Tasers were science fiction they were a viable bridge between fists and firearms, especially when dealing with suspects with knives, broken bottles, etc. The same type of people the press call "unarmed" when they are shot by police today.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I have my Grandfather's from his 33 yrs of service.
He told me he used it a time or two. He also used a type of single cuff with a handle on it to great effect.
Neat piece of history.

"An elegant weapon for a more civilized age."

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Because of the metric system?

Think I've got one or those..... a "come along"

I have my gandpa’s sap from when he was a small town cop. I can’t even hint at what he called it without getting booted from the forum.

I never used one on the job. My Motorola “brick” got the nod for attention getting duties.

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IMG_8038.jpg (69.6 KB, 74 views)

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Rule of law, not a man.

I have a slapper/flat sap. Black leather Issued to us as paramedics...70s. Never had to use it on anyone. I did use a Billie club on a big ol fellow who was trying to kill my medic partner after we Narcaned him. . Woke up broke the posey straps and grabbed my guy by the throat...He was awake about 15-20 seconds. Gonna have to dig that ol thing out...sell it or whatever

NEVER hit anyone above the shoulders with a sap, black jack A head shot may cause death, if that happens plan on spending LOTS of times with lawyers defending why you used a deadly weapon to defend yourself.

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Always Stay Strong!

I carried one back when I was in LE in the 60s and 70s.
It was a small flat one carried in a sap pocket in my uniform pants.
I used it on an a few occasions, usually intoxicated college football players.
It was small and not very visible when held in the palm of my hand.
A smack to the side of the head was very effective, and witnesses thought I just slapped the guy pretty hard, thus the name “slapper.”

Saps began to fade away with the advent of Mace, which I don’t think was as effective or as educational..

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Eccentric old coot

When I started in the early 1970s the uniform trousers had "sap pockets" at about mid-thigh height and just behind the outside trouser seam (below and behind the holstered revolver on the hip). Saps were not issued, but fairly common. We were issued a baton, about 20" or so made of hard plastic, also a 3-foot riot baton. Fancy custom hardwood batons and billy clubs were carried by a few guys, probably more a fashion statement than anything else.

Head strikes were strongly discouraged due to dangers of concussion, skull fracture, cranial hematomas resulting in strokes, etc. Best targets were shins, knees, elbows, ribs, and the collar bones (nothing takes a guy out of the fighting mood like a busted clavicle). Also useful is the two-handed driving blow with the end of the stick into the solar plexus.

The PR-24 side-handle batons started appearing in the late 1970s. I remember seeing some of the demonstrations, but I never had the required training so no personal experience. By then the excellent machined aluminum flashlights were available, and many of us substituted those for batons.

Very little equipment was issued; we purchased our own (subject to rules and regulations). Small annual uniform & equipment allowance did not cover everything, but it helped. Like any specialized merchandise, police uniforms and equipment are rather expensive (especially when just starting on the job). Couple of regional suppliers of uniforms and equipment allowed us to charge our purchases and pay 10% per month on the account balance. Several trousers, winter shirts, summer shirts, jacket, winter coat, hats, boots/shoes, leather gear, handcuffs, etc, all add up to a chunk of loot.

My starting salary was $657 per month. After federal and state income taxes, pension fund deduction, family medical plan, etc, my take-home checks were $192 every two weeks.

Edit to add: Forgot to mention sap gloves, black leather gloves with pockets of powdered lead in the knuckle area or the palm. Company named "Damascus" offered them. Useful and completely unobtrusive, unless you picked them up you couldn't tell them from regular gloves.

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Life of the party until 8:00PM

I carried Slapper in the early 60's well into the 70's. Came in handy getting someone to the nearest Call Box. Walking a footbeat, no radios. Just me and my partner, an a model 10-5, and a slapjack. Those were the days. I still have both, a 10 and 6 inch. Our pants had a special pocket for them

68 FD pay was 6208 a year..We didn't get a lot after retirement medical taxes et al. My Dept provided our uniforms though...3 months later I got a raise to 6780 a year...72 hours a week. 11 bucks a week raise...Sittin on top of the world

When I was on the WHP, we were issued LAPD Batons!
“Three from the ring,” first thrust straight to the throat, second to the face, third a vertical loop from the face to an upward stroke to the crotch.
Instructions were, If 3 from the ring doesn’t work, 6 from the holster!

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Eccentric old coot

Those are cool. I have an ASP, and a 4 cell Mag Lite.

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No baby we aint

Ah the good ol' days of LE when Saps, Billy Clubs and Brass Knuckles were standard issue equipment.....

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SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

I forgot about Kel-lites. I threw mine at the windshield of a car that came through an icy accident scene and knocked me over a guardrail and down a snowy overpass slope.
Another Patrolman caught the car a few miles down the road when he saw the hole in the windshield, and found the light in the front seat when he pulled the car over.

A funny side to this story is the little old lady whose car was in the wreck was sitting in my patrol car.
When I managed to get back to the car and get in, she said “ That *** didn’t even slow down! Are we going after him? If you’re hurt I’ll drive!”

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Eccentric old coot

Y'all must be a law abiding lot, in general. Because I haven't heard anyone say how much they hurt on the receiving end. I learned the hard way in about 1973, when I mouthed off to one of Boston's finest.

Kind of cured me of being disagreeable with the PD folks.

My 1970's Buckheimer slapjack. That and a 4 cell Kel-lite was what I used. Mag lites had not been invented yet

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Slapjack.jpg (45.5 KB, 66 views)

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Dad had one ....... now...................

I've always been fascinated by them since I heard a friend of my dad's talk about how is father, the local sheriff, went to the local shoemaker many years ago and had him stitch up a leather bag filled with number 6 shot. He called it a sap. That's the first I ever heard of one.

Since then, I've collected a few. Below are some that Scott Foster made.



I've also acquired a few rather crude homemade ones, too.





Here in Utah, it's legal to carry one if you have a concealed weapons permit. I'm always on the lookout for some. While I probably would never use one, I think their history in law enforcement is fascinating.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

Haven't heard that phrase in 40 years.

Like Kelitis: a painful condition of the joints and long bones resulting from fighting with the police.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Since I started in 1980 we did not have OC spray or ASPs. We carried a PR24,I think I hurt myself more in training than any use on the street. Some of the older Deputies spoke about the saps and how they used them,but the 60s were a different time.

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The lack of understanding of how dangerous a punch from an offender is has been a problem for a long time. Cops don't kill very many people and nowhere near as many as would be justified. The stupidity of those think cops should fight fair is a burr under my saddle.

I was first introduced to a sap as a student, role playing at the academy. A good bit of the FTO classes involved teaching practical stuff and there were still agencies that had saps. I was first introduced to the PR24 about the same time, and I had done the class seven or more times by the time I graduated from the academy. I carried the expandable version for the last 10 or more years. Liked it. I also still have a pair of sap gloves. I worked alone in the country for quite a while, and I was never dumb enough to consider a fair fight a good idea.

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NHI, 10-8.

I always appreciate hearing the stories from times past and how things have evolved in part due to different technologies.

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i started in LE in '64. That was an era of a variety of such devices. Especially since it was before MACE, although Kel Lites came into use in the late '60s.

Since we were a Sheriff's Department, we were solo and isolated a lot.

I carried a flat slapper. Still have it, on a trophy shelf now.

IIRC I only used the slapper around half a dozen times. I preferred to talk down suspects if at all possible. I think I was pretty good at it.

But there were times when either the conversation dried up, or I never had the opportunity to start it. But when I did use the slapper, it really took care of business.

When it was over and my arrestee had no further interest in further combat I would counsel him that I would pass on his lack of cooperation to my fellow troops, so that if he tried this again he would meet at least the same fate. Oh, and tell your buds and relatives too.

Sometimes that is the only way education can work.

Over time as MACE and aluminum flashlights became so commonly carried anyway interest in slappers, saps, etc waned. As useful as mine was, I did not miss it.

But without a doubt it made me safer.

I once arrested the former state heavyweight wrestling champ, who a few months previously knocked down another officer and was trying to pound his head into the pavement when a backup officer arrived and knocked him off with a night stick to the skull. Potentially deadly force? Yes. Proportionate? Also yes.

When it was my turn I tricked him by telling him the last sobriety test was to touch the backs of his wrists behind his back. I was waiting with the cuffs. On the way to jail he asked for a rematch because I didn't "fight fair". My response was my conviction: " The city doesn't pay me to fight fair. They pay me to win...every time, whatever it takes. Today that means taking your drunk (self) to jail"

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I need ammo, not a ride.

They used to be braided leather, but now are available in Para Cord.

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PICT0201.jpg (115.0 KB, 49 views)

We still used those and SAP Gloves when I got on Detroit in the late 1970s. I know first-hand how they feel as I was knocked unconscious with one blow to the side of my head by a DPD cop by mistake and required three stitches to my left eyebrow.

My first time meeting my now wife's dad, He got home late from the acadamy because he loaded 2 trash cans full of PR-24s, one stainless steel tear gas fogger and 24 riot shotguns with bayonets and a dozen cans of ammo in his van. He was teaching a Riot Control Class the next day. That was September 1976.

He graduated from Columbus, Ohio PD Acadamy in 1958. At some point was on MC duty before they did away with them in 1964, but he was then grandfathered in not carrying a night stick. He carried a horizontal sap, a 10 ounce lead bar that was leather covered. The sap was shaped like a saddle stirrup with the bar about 3" out from the knuckles. (I saw him use it as a "Door Knocker" once. Over a blasting party you could hear it several blocks away!) It road in the sap pocket. He carried that until he retired around 1988.

Several Columbus PD officers I knew, told me it could be dangerous dating his daughter! I have never had any untold intentions towards his daughter! (46.5 years married as of last week!)

Ivan

I don't exactly know when the NYPD prohibited the use of slappers but the old school cops I knew used them frequently and uniformed pants had a pocket for them. All my older generation relatives had them but the younger ones appointed during the 80's/90's were told not to use them though they continued to carry them anyway.

I started in the prison system in the late 80's and the pockets were sewn into the pant legs. There were a few slaps around but nobody carried one. When I switched over to the sheriff's office it was mace, then pepper spray and mag lights and batons, then expandable batons and tazers. I was around mace and pepper spray so much it didn't affect me much. Tazers were great fun and caused less obvious bruising!

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Support Israel!

I knew a female NYPD cop on CPOP duty in the early 1990s. She carried a slapper to more effectively deal with the 'window smearers' working at many traffic lights. I remember a slapper being issued by USMS for hospital details in the 1980s. The rounded ones were more commonly called "jacks."

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I couldn't resist picking up another Foster SAP. A model 1996 and is 9 1/2 inch long and weights in at 13 1/2 oz with a sprung handle. Made in buffalo hide.

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Foster Model 1996 (7).jpg (107.2 KB, 69 views)

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Hmm, I like the looks of that buffalo hide one.

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Live long and prosper