Bosun's cosh/starter/persuader

machinist · 5th March 2016, 07:31 AM

I have a great affection for thuggish impact weapons that go thump in the night and have purchased a few of these off the bay and in studying them I feel there is a bit of overlap between tool and weapon similar to the way that fire axes and boarding axes are often easily confused.

In the case of these coshes a more civilian use of these is as a fish club to pacify a caught salmon or cod and if you check the UK specific part of Ebay regularly you will see a lot of old coshes sold as fishing priests (because they gave the last rites to a fish). Some of these really were meant for fishing but others may be sold as a fish club to get past the laws of the UK and the rules of Ebay UK which tend not to be weapon friendly.

I imagine a hundred or two years ago these would have offered a sort pf plausible deniability to a fellow who wished to go armed with the excuse that it was not really a weapon but a bit of tackle.

Without more info we can only guess which one was carried for sport and which was carried as a weapon but I do believe that as a weapon they would have been quite formidable, a tap with one of these will break an arm or crush a skull. I have one of the whalebone ones and it is very heavy and weapon-like.

A couple years ago I saw on a website devoted to identifying mystery objects a soft cosh, without a stick but in which the weight was covered with this same style of maritime knot-work and it was pure thuggish with no doubt it was not for killing fish. I foolishly did not save the photos.

Here is one of my goodies

kronckew · 5th March 2016, 08:41 AM

nice one, looks like twisted baleen.

sadly the police are less credulous nowadays, outside my residence i'd need a rod, tackle box and probably some fresh flopping about fish to convince a LEO that mine was a fishing priest. probably need some fresh fish slime on the cosh as well. in any case it automatically becomes an offensive weapon if you actually use it to defend yourself. if you are being attacked by a crazed gunman that has killed a dozen or so people before you, the judge might be lenient and reduce your sentence for violating his/her EU given hooman rights to self expression, if you have all the fishy stuff on hand...inside your house you have a better chance of getting away with it, but the felon might sue you.

drac2k · 11th March 2016, 08:12 PM

You could always break out your cricket bat, right ?

kronckew · 11th March 2016, 09:07 PM

nah, i find them a bit ungainly. i'd use my hurley. (below)

a deadly oceanic islander weapon discussed at length HERE
i reccommend the video in post no. one.

it's now less than a week away from the islander's traditional celebration where they chew road tar out of pint glasses and dye their sheep green yet again. the rivers in the USA will run green with their blood and even NYC may find their road markings temporarily painted green by official vandals of island descent.

i have a few wooden surprises for anyone entering uninvited. also a number of very sharp hunks of metal they might accidentally get cut on. fatally. not to mention a 29 kilo furry monster with sharp teeth that can run 1.5 times the speed of hussain bolt.[IMG]http://www.vikingsword.com

p.s.- i am an american by the way, my mum & dad were both semi-pro baseball players, so i am quite familiar with the use of baseball bat-like objects.

5th March 2016, 07:31 AM	#1
machinist Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 93	I have a great affection for thuggish impact weapons that go thump in the night and have purchased a few of these off the bay and in studying them I feel there is a bit of overlap between tool and weapon similar to the way that fire axes and boarding axes are often easily confused. In the case of these coshes a more civilian use of these is as a fish club to pacify a caught salmon or cod and if you check the UK specific part of Ebay regularly you will see a lot of old coshes sold as fishing priests (because they gave the last rites to a fish). Some of these really were meant for fishing but others may be sold as a fish club to get past the laws of the UK and the rules of Ebay UK which tend not to be weapon friendly. I imagine a hundred or two years ago these would have offered a sort pf plausible deniability to a fellow who wished to go armed with the excuse that it was not really a weapon but a bit of tackle. Without more info we can only guess which one was carried for sport and which was carried as a weapon but I do believe that as a weapon they would have been quite formidable, a tap with one of these will break an arm or crush a skull. I have one of the whalebone ones and it is very heavy and weapon-like. A couple years ago I saw on a website devoted to identifying mystery objects a soft cosh, without a stick but in which the weight was covered with this same style of maritime knot-work and it was pure thuggish with no doubt it was not for killing fish. I foolishly did not save the photos. Here is one of my goodies Attached Images

11th March 2016, 09:07 PM	#4
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,264	nah, i find them a bit ungainly. i'd use my hurley. (below) a deadly oceanic islander weapon discussed at length HERE i reccommend the video in post no. one. it's now less than a week away from the islander's traditional celebration where they chew road tar out of pint glasses and dye their sheep green yet again. the rivers in the USA will run green with their blood and even NYC may find their road markings temporarily painted green by official vandals of island descent. i have a few wooden surprises for anyone entering uninvited. also a number of very sharp hunks of metal they might accidentally get cut on. fatally. not to mention a 29 kilo furry monster with sharp teeth that can run 1.5 times the speed of hussain bolt.[IMG]http://www.vikingsword.com p.s.- i am an american by the way, my mum & dad were both semi-pro baseball players, so i am quite familiar with the use of baseball bat-like objects. Attached Images Last edited by kronckew; 11th March 2016 at 09:33 PM.

5th March 2016, 08:41 AM	#2
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,264	nice one, looks like twisted baleen. sadly the police are less credulous nowadays, outside my residence i'd need a rod, tackle box and probably some fresh flopping about fish to convince a LEO that mine was a fishing priest. probably need some fresh fish slime on the cosh as well. in any case it automatically becomes an offensive weapon if you actually use it to defend yourself. if you are being attacked by a crazed gunman that has killed a dozen or so people before you, the judge might be lenient and reduce your sentence for violating his/her EU given hooman rights to self expression, if you have all the fishy stuff on hand...inside your house you have a better chance of getting away with it, but the felon might sue you.

11th March 2016, 08:12 PM	#3
drac2k Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 1,306	You could always break out your cricket bat, right ?