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WWI US Wooden Practice Sword


SARGE
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Gents,

I picked up a US wooden practice sword from an area collector over the weekend that I thought I would show.

There are several variations of wooden practice swords used by the US military including variations of the USN Singlestick with a leather guard. The one I picked up is a WWI period wooden practice sword with a steel guard used by the Army. This one is identical to one in the National WWI Museum located in Kansas City. It bears no markings but is identified as a practice sword for the US Cavalry Patton Saber.

Does anyone else have one of these swords or a variation of the wooden practice sword for the Patton Saber?

 

 

Wooden practice sword.JPG

Wooden practice sword hilt.JPG

Wooden practice sword tip.JPG

Wooden practice sword guard interior.JPG

Wooden practice sword guard.JPG

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Sarge,

 

I have one of these, it is literally identical to yours. I'll take a picture tonight if you would like, but it won't really shed any new light. I think mine has a very small ordnance bomb stamp on it somewhere, but I may be confusing it with another one I saw years ago--its in the closet, not out, so I'll have to go digging... I had a chance to buy one of the ones with a wicker hilt (which may actually be the ordnance bomb one...), but the wicker was too beat up and fragile so I passed. Anyway, I'll dig it out this evening.

 

Chris

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As the blades on these broke rather easily, Rock Island produced spare blades in quantity. I don't think the early blades were marked, but the later ones were stamped R.I.A. and the date. The same blade was used for the wicker guard versions (and I know very little about the wicker ones - any information will be appreciated.)

 

As the wicker guard and Navy singlestick have been mentioned, I will add photos of a couple of them for reference. There are variations of these so you may find differences.

 

post-66-0-91630400-1446314454.jpg

 

post-66-0-85133100-1446314484.jpg

 

post-66-0-54029600-1446314470.jpg

 

post-66-0-28477100-1446314565.jpg

 

 

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Thanks for the replies gents. I was hoping to see another like mine or one of the wicker hilt examples. I have also seen one of the Army examples with bulbous ends on the grip area of the wooden blade. I don't recall if that was just a blade or if it had a hilt. It was a long time ago and I have slept since then.

 

Here is an example of the padded glove used when fencing. This one is dated "1918" and has a leather glove with a fiber board forearm guard. I have seen the fencing masks and plastrons but I don't have either.

 

 

Fencing glove.JPG

Fencing glove markings.JPG

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I picked up one recently that also looks just like Sarge's. The only mark on it is an "IC" on the blade several inches below the guard. Someone has shaped the tip to look like the tip on a Japanese WW2 NCO sword - but not sharp.

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world war I nerd

Not too long ago AVG Militaria had the whole get-up for sale. Here's the photo ...

 

Somewhere I have a good photo of a group of soldiers doing their thing wearing that outfit. If I can figure out where it is, I'll post it.

post-5143-0-85354900-1446347548.jpg

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Nice collection. My practice sword is missing the fur pommel. OK - just kidding (but seriously, what is that?). I'd love to see that eagle head.

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Good photos guys!

 

I might add a note to the discussion of USN wooden singlesticks that I have seen two types of these. The first is the one shown by bayonetman with the formed leather cup guard. There is another one that has a flat leather guard more in the shape of the metal guard seen on the wooden Army practice sabers. I presume these flat leather guards are later and the formed leather cups are the earlier examples?

 

Any thoughts?

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George,

 

You ought to give the Pack Rat a call about these swords. When Corky Reed was still living, he had dozens of extra blades stuck up in the rafters of his garage. I distinctly remember this as a friend came up with one of the steel guards with a broken wooden blade. I called and asked Corky if he would sell one of his spare blades and he refused saying he might need them someday. I am sure that Pack Rat has them now as there were more than any collector would want. My recollection is that they were all RIA marked and 1913 and 1914 dated.

 

Allan

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Thanks for the lead Allan. I might see Steve this weekend at the Wichita Militaria Show and I will ask him about the blades. I think he sold off the remains of Corky's collection at auction a few months ago but I suspect he still has some items in storage.

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Allan,

 

I did not run into Steve at the Wichita Military Show but I did see a loose wooden blade on a table. It was clearly marked RIA 1914 on the flat side and had a pre-drilled hole for the rivet to hold on the steel hilt. Also, interesting was that it had a thumb groove on one edge of the wooden blade to mimic that on the Patton Saber. My sword has the same recessed thumb groove so it seems the wooden blades were Rock Island Arsenal made with that groove and it was not a later addition.

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For those that have one of the RIA wood sabers without a guard, I do have a spare wicker basket guard which I was planning to get a blade for, but now have decided to let it go. If interested, I am advertising it in the For Sale section.

 

SOLD

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  • 2 years later...

Not too long ago AVG Militaria had the whole get-up for sale. Here's the photo ...

 

Somewhere I have a good photo of a group of soldiers doing their thing wearing that outfit. If I can figure out where it is,

Although this is an older post, I want to congratulate you on the having obtained such a great grouping of Saber practice items. Very Nice !

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Thanks draws. I think these practice items are under-appreciated. The Saber Practice manuals also give a lot of information on these swords... as well as their regulation brothers.

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  • 6 months later...
lafayette167

What is the value on these wooden swords? I have an opportunity to pic up a leather guard USN saber and one of the wood blades (marked RIA 1914) for the wicker or metal guard? They are asking $45 and I just dont know, sounds cheap.

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I think paid about $100. for one that looks just like the one in the first photo. I might have paid too much but it was unique and I wanted it.

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lafayette167

I think paid about $100. for one that looks just like the one in the first photo. I might have paid too much but it was unique and I wanted it.

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Doesn't the one shown on the bottom have any type of guard? They are pretty straight forward - you could probably fabricate one if needed. Perhaps the bottom one is a replacement blade.

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The one on bottom is a RIA made replacement blade for the M1913 "Patton" practice saber. With the sheet metal guard that is mising they run around $100. But without, around $65 or so. Not sure what the cutlass version on top sells for.

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  • 1 year later...

Hey folks,I realize this is a pretty old thread,but I picked up two of the flat sided R.I.A sticks blades at auction and had no idea as too what they were,only saw the markings(one is 1913 and the other is 1914) and decided I had grab em...the auctioneer was using them as his pointer sticks....does anyone have any ideas where I might find a loose guard?....there are not a ton of these floating around I don't imagine.....would love to make a complete sword....neat items either way....Scott

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I wandered into a small antique mall today that I visit occasionally and found a practice sword that is identical to the one shown in Sarge's first photo. It's marked RIA 1914. For a modest price I was happy to bring it home. Another item I wanted but certainly didn't need. Then again that's collecting in a nutshell.

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Scott, good luck on finding a loose guard. You never know where these might turn up.

 

Sundance, congratulations on finding a nice example of the practice sword. Needing and wanting are two different things. ;)

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