We’ve all been there, stuck in situations where we simply can’t carry a weapon. Government office, school, airport, or simply a rigidly enforced no weapons policy. Even worse, let’s say you flew to an exotic location and the entire country is basically a gun free zone for you. What happens when you need a weapon? Well, you make one. You can’t take the 80 lower route, you gotta go more caveman. Today we are going to Dissect the deadly skills and make an improvised sap. A sap is a powerful weapon, and it happens to be damn easy to make one.
What You’ll Need For an Improvised Sap
- Fishing Weight 4 to 8 ounces
- Bandana
The fishing weight is easy to find, but really could be anything that weighs roughly the same weight and is small enough to be wrapped in a bandana. * ounces is going to be your best bet. I listed 4 to 8 because a 4-ounce fishing weight could say fit on a key ring as an ornamental and unnoticed keychain. A six-ounce is actually what I used for testing because I found it easy to pocket and still be strong enough to break cause serious damage.
How to Build an improvised Sap
The first step in your improvised sap construction is to lay out the bandana and leave it fully opened.
Place the weight in the middle
Then pull one corner of the bandana to the other, forming a triangle.
Starting at the “top” of the triangle you want to start rolling the bandana inwards. Do so until you reach weight. At this point fold one end over the weight that’s in the center. If you are in a hurry you can deploy the weapon as is.
If you have another ten seconds you can tie the two ends into a knot and form one solid handle.
How well does this 99 cents improvised spa work? Well, I took it against a coconut. According to the 100 Deadly Skills Deadly Deck card a coconut is 10 times harder than the human head. I can’t find much to back that claim up, but I did find the study in the US National Library of Medicine that states:
Our results have shown that coconut can be used as an inexpensive screening model of the human skull, but only to determine fractures made by tools with a small striking surface.
Our improvised sap fits that description well.
Target: Coconut
As the video illustrates a few strikes from the sap to the coconut was enough to split and crush it. There are a few things to note.
One I didn’t use my full body weight behind the blows. If I was using my improvised sap in an actual fight I’d be swinging it more like a punch, with my hips rotating the sap towards my enemy. This would put a lot more force behind the blow, and likely deal a lot more damage.
Second, in the coconuts defense, it had nowhere to go. My work table was basically pinching it. If I struck a human the head could move from the force of the blow. This could potentially lessen some of the effects.
Overall, I think my improvised sap could take someone out a fight with a blow or two to the head. Easy blows to the body, especially near a bone, would be incredibly painful.l It’d be a better option than a fist.
Carry and Deployment
The first carry method is to carry the items separately. Like I said a 4-ounce weight on a keychain isn’t great for your ignition but won’t be noticed by many. Most people will think you are a little too into your fishing hobby and that’s it. It’s unlikely that’d you’d be stopped even at a metal detector with a fishing weight and bandana. The non-threatening appearance overall makes it a rock-solid choice for passing a pat down and getting in and out when you need to. Carrying them as separate items does give you the ability to get a weapon into nearly any situation.
If you can grab a 6 or 8-ounce weight I’d go with a heavier one. 6 ounces wrecked a coconut. If you have a heavier weight and entering a potentially shady area you can pre-make your improvised sap. Once it’s made you can set it in your back or front pocket and simply leave the handle hanging out.
If someone gets close, all you have to do is grip it, rip it, and swing it. It’s quick to deploy and a bandana hanging out of your pocket doesn’t look like anything threatening. It’s quick and easy to deploy and still hits with a sting.
Parting Shots and Final Thoughts
I will say after a few hard blows the bandana will start to tear. It’s not made for striking an enemy more than a few solid times. You probably got half a dozen good hits before it breaks. Overall this is a powerful striking tool that’s easy to make, and easy to break heads with.
Originally published on the Crate Club Knowledgebase
