SnakeSkin w/ Engraveing Sword

derek · 24th March 2005, 04:54 PM

Man, I had a friend that kept monitors years ago (name was also Derek, coincidentally) and they are mean as hell. One of them actually shattered the glass on a tank just eating a meal!! (meal=very unfortunate rat)

ariel · 24th March 2005, 05:03 PM

My son just got himself a baby Chinese Bearded Dragon. They are supposed to be very friendly even at full length (~ a foot) but you should only hear the crunch of crickets in it's mouth and shudder... Adults eat live mice....
Do you think it will make a good cutting test target?

Conogre · 24th March 2005, 05:13 PM

If you want to have fun, sit and very slowly wave one hand at the little dragon........there's a good chance it will wave back at you.
Bearded dragons are omnivores that consume both insects, fruit and vegetables, with the occasional smaller lizard, and when they say "mice" they mean newborn pinkies too young to have hair.
An adult mouse is capable of severely injuring even a full grown bearded dragon (there are 5 species)of the larger types as they aren't particularly aggressive, except to other male bearded dragons....the term bearded, by the way, comes from an expandable throat covered in sharp spines and which turns black in courting males.
They can be quick enough that blade damage could be incurred from striking where the lizard WAS, or through it if hit.
I myself like to test blades on people who test them on lizards!**grin**
I admit to being predjudiced, as I've never had a lizard lie to me or try to do harm, unlike many "intelligent"animals.
Mike

ariel · 24th March 2005, 06:43 PM

Mike,
You sound suspiciously like my son.
Was he in secret contact with you to assuage his Dad's fears?
Lizards, snakes and the rest of cold-blooded creatures terrify me; they are just pitbulls with pea-sized brains and no social skills. Remember the movies "Alligator!", "Anaconda" and "Jurassic Park"?
There are these Sudanese Kaskaras with the scabbards made of the entire croc: awful sight..... Will never buy one.

BSMStar · 24th March 2005, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ariel

Mike,
You sound suspiciously like my son.
Was he in secret contact with you to assuage his Dad's fears?
Lizards, snakes and the rest of cold-blooded creatures terrify me; they are just pitbulls with pea-sized brains and no social skills. Remember the movies "Alligator!", "Anaconda" and "Jurassic Park"?

ariel,

I don't think they mean to play on your fears.... you are just talking about something big, angry and looking for something to eat... never mind, I think I will join you... that's beginning to sound like my wife.

tom hyle · 25th March 2005, 06:08 AM

Derek, can you elaborate on what you find unkaskaroid about the guard? Is it the roundness of the quillons? The finials? I'm not disagreeing; I'd like to be better able to regionalize/ethnically ID these type guards.
Conogre, I'm pretty sure that's not inlay on the blade, but etching with a lowered "ground" and raised letters. It appears to have rusted and pitted at some time, been polished (with a flat stone or sandpaper, etc?) across the tops of the raised letters, leaving the ground pitted, then rusted a bit again.
I wasn't thinking of the Tebu daggers, actually; there is another type, and I'm not sure if it's an arm dagger or not, though it certainly resembles one; it has a pommel this exact shape, integral to the usually wooden handle, and a similar shape at the tip of the usually nonleathered wooden sheath. I've seen two sold on ebay lately, at least one as Oceanic/Pacific, but I'm pretty sure they're African. I don't know if I still have one on my "watching" page, but I'll check later.

Conogre · 25th March 2005, 08:16 AM

As an admitted animal fan, Ariel and BSMStar, even terms like "cold blooded" seem to fit people better than reptiles...you have to keep in mind that I spent more than a few years dealing with what people do to each other on a surprisingly regular basis.**grin**
As to the movies, alas, here too we have a case where people's fears are played upon specifiacally to instill fear and horror and often to usually have little to do with what the animals REALLY do, which is usually actually beneficial in the real world (BUT doesn't sell movie tickets! **grin**)
Tell your son to feel free to e-mail me for assistance should he ever need it, or even just moral support.
Let's just say my youth was somewhat troubled as my appreciation and love of animals was NOT a shared family trait or interest, and that even peaceful species seemed to insist on attacking my father just to exacerbate the situation....ever see a killer pigeon? **BIG grin**
With that said, I'll apologize and quit hijacking the thread...sorry, sorry, sorry.
As to the guard on this piece, bronze isn't common, although not unheard of, and likewise sculpted or shaped quillons are unusual, with the vast majority of kaskaras having them plain and straight, although fairly commonlly octagonal or sextagonal in profile.
Although probably subjective, it just doesn't "feel" right to me.
Mike

24th March 2005, 04:54 PM	#1
derek Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 215	Man, I had a friend that kept monitors years ago (name was also Derek, coincidentally) and they are mean as hell. One of them actually shattered the glass on a tank just eating a meal!! (meal=very unfortunate rat)

24th March 2005, 05:03 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	My son just got himself a baby Chinese Bearded Dragon. They are supposed to be very friendly even at full length (~ a foot) but you should only hear the crunch of crickets in it's mouth and shudder... Adults eat live mice.... Do you think it will make a good cutting test target?

24th March 2005, 05:13 PM	#3
Conogre Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Clearwater, Florida Posts: 371	If you want to have fun, sit and very slowly wave one hand at the little dragon........there's a good chance it will wave back at you. Bearded dragons are omnivores that consume both insects, fruit and vegetables, with the occasional smaller lizard, and when they say "mice" they mean newborn pinkies too young to have hair. An adult mouse is capable of severely injuring even a full grown bearded dragon (there are 5 species)of the larger types as they aren't particularly aggressive, except to other male bearded dragons....the term bearded, by the way, comes from an expandable throat covered in sharp spines and which turns black in courting males. They can be quick enough that blade damage could be incurred from striking where the lizard WAS, or through it if hit. I myself like to test blades on people who test them on lizards!grin I admit to being predjudiced, as I've never had a lizard lie to me or try to do harm, unlike many "intelligent"animals. Mike

24th March 2005, 06:43 PM	#4
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Mike, You sound suspiciously like my son. Was he in secret contact with you to assuage his Dad's fears? Lizards, snakes and the rest of cold-blooded creatures terrify me; they are just pitbulls with pea-sized brains and no social skills. Remember the movies "Alligator!", "Anaconda" and "Jurassic Park"? There are these Sudanese Kaskaras with the scabbards made of the entire croc: awful sight..... Will never buy one.

25th March 2005, 06:08 AM	#6
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	Derek, can you elaborate on what you find unkaskaroid about the guard? Is it the roundness of the quillons? The finials? I'm not disagreeing; I'd like to be better able to regionalize/ethnically ID these type guards. Conogre, I'm pretty sure that's not inlay on the blade, but etching with a lowered "ground" and raised letters. It appears to have rusted and pitted at some time, been polished (with a flat stone or sandpaper, etc?) across the tops of the raised letters, leaving the ground pitted, then rusted a bit again. I wasn't thinking of the Tebu daggers, actually; there is another type, and I'm not sure if it's an arm dagger or not, though it certainly resembles one; it has a pommel this exact shape, integral to the usually wooden handle, and a similar shape at the tip of the usually nonleathered wooden sheath. I've seen two sold on ebay lately, at least one as Oceanic/Pacific, but I'm pretty sure they're African. I don't know if I still have one on my "watching" page, but I'll check later.

25th March 2005, 08:16 AM	#7
Conogre Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Clearwater, Florida Posts: 371	As an admitted animal fan, Ariel and BSMStar, even terms like "cold blooded" seem to fit people better than reptiles...you have to keep in mind that I spent more than a few years dealing with what people do to each other on a surprisingly regular basis.grin As to the movies, alas, here too we have a case where people's fears are played upon specifiacally to instill fear and horror and often to usually have little to do with what the animals REALLY do, which is usually actually beneficial in the real world (BUT doesn't sell movie tickets! grin) Tell your son to feel free to e-mail me for assistance should he ever need it, or even just moral support. Let's just say my youth was somewhat troubled as my appreciation and love of animals was NOT a shared family trait or interest, and that even peaceful species seemed to insist on attacking my father just to exacerbate the situation....ever see a killer pigeon? BIG grin With that said, I'll apologize and quit hijacking the thread...sorry, sorry, sorry. As to the guard on this piece, bronze isn't common, although not unheard of, and likewise sculpted or shaped quillons are unusual, with the vast majority of kaskaras having them plain and straight, although fairly commonlly octagonal or sextagonal in profile. Although probably subjective, it just doesn't "feel" right to me. Mike