"Flexible Impact Weapons" part 2
But what are they?
Saps are one of those things that fall under Potter Stewart1’s “I may not be able to define it, but I know it when I see it” rules. Everyone knows what a sap is, but the names, definitions, and terminology around the subject differ widely not only in region, but in time periods, and between people. The following is only my attempt to solidify some kind of order from the chaos.
Parts of a sap:
The load.
The shank.
The cover.
Parts that you really, really need, but aren’t necessarily what defines a sap:
The knot.
The strap.
The “load” is the weight in a sap. Usually, but not always, made of lead, it is half of what gives a sap its authority.
The “shank” is what connects the load with the rest of the Get Right Stick. It is usually a spring — either a coil spring or a leaf spring — a length of steel cable, or in some older versions a short section of chain that is cast into the weight, or otherwise very firmly attached. This is the other half of the Smack Equation, in that it multiplies the force imparted by the weight and the swing.
It also is very, very important in that when the cover inevitably gives way at the height of the rodeo, the shank keeps the weight connected and available for further application2.
The “cover”. This is the outside part you can see. Usually leather3, but sometimes 550 cord or something equally pretty, the cover is further divided into two parts — the head, which covers the load; and the body, which covers the shank. Both parts can be either braided/woven, or stitched — I’ve got no real druthers as to the body, but if there’s a chance you may be using it to recalibrate some critter’s headspace and timing, get a stitched head. The braiding on a woven head has too many failure points for my comfort.
The cover has a great many purposes, among which are keeping the whole thing together at the height of the dance, helping sweaty hands keep a grip, padding the angles on the lead weight, and — somewhat more important: DNA4 collection5.
Two things that don’t necessarily define a sap, but which are all sorts of important are:
The knot: A sap is an unbalanced lead weight utilizing the application of rotational force. As you’re swinging6 it centrifugal force will be trying to yank it out of your sweaty palm. You need something at the proximal end of the grip to help it stay in your hand; and
The strap. A sap is a very short tool, and if you’re having to use it, you’re at a range where both of you can touch each other. If things go bad, suddenly it’s not “Your sap” anymore, it’s “Y’all’s sap.” The strap should aid you in keeping your sap, but also be able to turn loose so that the other guy can’t use it as a handle against you.
Kinds of saps.
Here’s where it really gets fun, because nobody ever really settled on a standard nomenclature for these things, but they basically break down to a couple of categories:
Saps with a cylindrical load.
The weighted end of these is round in cross-section. Best exemplified by the classic “Convoy” model first offered by Bucheimer Leather:
When people talk about “blackjacks” this is the model most people are thinking of. Round head blackjacks are agnostic as to striking orientation, and are the simplest to employ, but offer less options.
Saps with a flat load.
The weight in these is a disc, or flattened egg shape, and was the type I preferred in uniform — called the “beavertail sap”, “flat sap”, or “slap-jack”, the “Denver” is the classic:
This sap only flexes on one axis. If you’re hitting with the flat side, it’ll flex and add that extra oomph, however if you turn it sideways and use it edge on, it won’t flex, but it’ll chop into those deep nerve clusters like nobody’s business. Much more versatile — if that’s your thing — than round-headed saps.
Honourable Mention: Robert L. Gonzales was veteran of the US Army who joined the LA County (California) Sheriff’s Office in 1957. An experienced leather-worker, Deputy Gonzales was somewhat underwhelmed by the saps he ran across, so he made his own design. The Gonzales Sap7 was my first Sheriff’s Very Favourite Sap8, and I’m pretty sure he got his from Deputy Gonzales.
The shank on the Sheriff’s was a pair of braided steel cables welded to a washer at the strap end, and while the load in the above photograph is round, the load in the Sheriff’s was square in cross-section. While the weight for a Gonzales sap usually “starts at 14 ounces”, the Sheriff’s was over a full pound, total.
I’m here to tell you, when Jimmy bailed out of his car at a ruckus, wearing sap gloves, and unlimbering that thing — Peace, Harmony, and Brotherly Love spontaneously broke out everywhere. It was amazing.
Saps with no shank.
Sometimes called a “cosh”, “sandbag”, or if you’re improvising “lock in a sock”, these are usually “field expedient” weapons, made on the fly for a specific episode, but sometimes purpose-made with the idea that they’re safer. People who ought to know better think that a pouch of lead clay or fine lead shot in a fancy leather tube is better than the saps that time has perfected.
What generally happens is that a stitch gives way, or the leather fails, you generously sprinkle the crowd of on-lookers with harmless dust, and you’re left holding a limp tube9. Never a good thing.
Most of your cheap, gun-show Chinese saps fall into this category because they don’t actually have a shank in them — and the leather isn’t the best. With no shank, when that cheap Chinese leather gives way, suddenly you’re not armed at a time when you really thought you needed to be armed. This is called “Being behind on the power curve”10 and can have a variety of less-than-optimal results. Like the expression on the Junior Leaguer’s face when you’re digging around her décolletage11, looking for that Gun Show Special Sap you really need12 before the bipedal mastodon currently doing closing speed has a chance to get ahold of you, and make good on those anatomically-improbable-yet-gruesomely-fascinating promises.
Spend the extra money and get a sap from a reputable business. With a shank.
Ok, there is a brief breakdown, on to Part 3.
If TL;DR has overcome you, here is a video about the same subject.
Ian
Supreme Court Justice, most known for his quote on on obscenity: “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.”
If your sap comes apart mid-scuffle, and you don’t have a good shank, that 8-16 ounces of lead will inevitably, and unerringly, seek out the most expensive set of dental veneers within 53 nautical miles.
If you want the sap for Social Reasons stick with leather.
Trust me on this: A properly applied sap will collect a LOT of DNA.
Sometimes you need to ID just exactly who was hit, and other times you need to prove that “Huh. Turns out — despite your protestations of innocence — you did actually hit the plaintiff.”
If you have to use it for real, there will be enthusiasm in your swing.
While I affectionately refer to saps as “Get Right Sticks”, the Gonzales Model is probably more accurately called a “War Crime Stick”.
I’m willing to bet he was buried with that thing.
And wondering where you went wrong in your life’s choices.
Had a rookie take a Gun Show Special Sap to the XIT Rodeo one time. Whichever Chinese organ donor laborer put it together used less than the recommended wee dab of hot glue to hold the knot and the wrist strap on.
When I found her later to ask if she wanted to file a complaint on the rook, she said, “Honey, that wasn’t the weirdest thing that’s wound up between the girls during the XIT.” I didn’t enquire further.
The expression on her husband’s face when he looked up and saw my panicked rookie elbow-deep in his wife’s cleavage was Biblically impressive, though.
My Grandfather, of dubious personal history including time spent as a bootlegger, kept a blackjack in his Cadillacs, tucked into the crease between seat back and bottom. It was close and personal for car-work and didn't go boom. Somethings to think about there.
Very good. I might read that back to myself out loud in front of a mirror in my best Sgt. Friday voice to reinforce the most salient points, which is all of it. An internet friend used to a policeman in South Africa. He talked about the sjambok. I bought a knock-off version of it on the internet because I thought it a better stand-off device than a sap. Of course, a sjambok isn't concealable, but it does signal FAFO better. The one I got was plastic. No chance of getting one in rhino or hippo hide, not with all those pearl clutching Greenies. The plastic version wasn't to my liking, so I donated it "as-new" to a raffle. The winner seemed delighted with it. It was a dollar raffle. A sjambok would be problematic to carry. I have a cane sword instead, a gift from a cop friend.
Thanks for the lesson. 5/★★★★★.