Scabbard help
 

Greetings folks!

A friend of mine is getting a takouba reproduced for modern sparring. I was hoping to make a scabbard for him as a gift. What can you folks tell me about their construction? Do they have a wooden or cardboard core, or is it all leather? Are there any written sources on how they were made? And would it be possible for some of you who own one to take a few close up photos for me? I would like to seams, the mouth and the tip.

Thanks

Hi !


There is some good information in "Essai sur l'épée des Touareg de l'Ahaggar" by Morel, however, the article is in French. I will translate the relevant extract for you, but I won't be able to do it until tomorrow, I think. In the meantime, here is some relevant screenshots from the article.

I can already tell you that the scabbard is made of leather only (no wood core), and that it is not stitched but glued. But I sadly don't own one with a scabbard myself.

Is the takouba you're talking about made by Da'Mon Stith by any chance ? :)

Thank you. This is greatly appreciated. I will wait patiently for the translation. And yes Da'Mon Stith at Street Forge Armory is the maker.

And here is the translation ! It wasn't an easy one (English isn't my first language), so if anything is unclear, feel free to ask me and I will try to rephrase it with my own words.

I want to add to the information contained in that extract that it only covers scabbards made in the Hoggar during the first part of the 20th century, and that scabbards made elsewhere or in a different time period might have been done differently.

Thank you for sharing this. I did wonder how they were made. I have seen some battered ones at fairs that seem to have paper or card used as well, probably recent productions.

This is excellent. Your translation is perfect. It answered several questions and made it much more clear to me.
Thank you

Hi Yvain
Outstanding translation, much appriciated.

Greetings
Marc

Thanks a lot to you all ! I have no problem translating from English to French, but the other way around is way more tricky for me, especially when the French text itself is in written in somewhat old-fashioned way...