Unknown club for ID... Is it even a club?

[laEspadaAncha]

So I came across a few items that belonged to a now-deceased gentleman who traveled extensively on business in the '70s. This was found together with a very old Eskimo Oosik and a speaking staff that I would place to the NW Coast somewhere - bought the three for a pittance. The fact it was with the other two items has me wondering if it, too, came from the same general part of the world. It measures 18 inches / 45+ cm in length, and tapers evenly from about 2 inches / 5 cm down to a little over a quarter-inch / .5 cm at the tip. It's made of hardwood that has some age to it, and some of the bottom 1/3 or so is covered with the remnants of a pitch. Lastly, there is what appears to be some incised design limited to one small area of the club/pin/stick/thing. Pictures below...

So what is it? A club? A pin? Holding it, I get a strange urge to go make me baby some seal slippers... ;)

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6963/p6210002.jpg
http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/4239/p6210003w.jpg

[Bryan.H]

I think this is a 'Fid' for sailmaking/ net repairing/ ropework etc. used by sailors. Marlinspikes and fids varied in size from a few inches to a foot long, so it's definately within the size range.

[laEspadaAncha]

Hi Bryan,

Funny you mention that, because when/as I ruminate over it's possible use as a peg or pin, I keep returning to a nautical application... it definitely has the look of something I've seen on a tall ship.

The lack of a flared pommel seems to make it somewhat unwieldy as a club, though the remnants of the tacky substance on the bottom third make for a decent purchase. :confused:

[Bryan.H]

Hi Bryan,

Funny you mention that, because when/as I ruminate over it's possible use as a peg or pin, I keep returning to a nautical application... it definitely has the look of something I've seen on a tall ship.

The lack of a flared pommel seems to make it somewhat unwieldy as a club, though the remnants of the tacky substance on the bottom third make for a decent purchase. :confused:

Hi again!
Since rope on older sailing vessels was tarred, using a fid and working with tarred ropes might have the effect of blackening the handle?? Just rambling thoughts, I read a too much Patrick O'Brian!

The crudely etched design had me thinking, (and this is purely imaginitive speculation here).. Could this represent a 'strong-arm' , a flexed bent upper arm, bicep, elbow and forearm? I remember reading that the tradition of mariners having tatoos of anchors on the arm was a superstition of seafaring, that the anchor would give strength to holding onto ropes etc. in a gale. The same thinking could apply to the fid, by etching a strong arm to give manual strength to the person doing the ropework or slicing etc. When working with rope cable several inches thick, you'd need a strong arm to do the work!

It could be a belaying pin of some kind, but I haven't seen the tapering shape on a Belaying pin, which look more like wooden truncheons.

[Gavin Nugent]

Certainly looks to be a fid to me. My father was a seaman before I was born and worked on the waterfront my entire life, I saw these used a lot when I was a kid and he still has a few laying around.

Gav

[laEspadaAncha]

A solid double-assist from Down Under - thank you both Gav and Bryan. :)

I performed a cursory search, I found that almost all the fids I could find were notched. The lone exception I found was here (http://www.tim-bowen-antiques.com/home.asp?ID=672), which closely resembles my own.

I, too, agree that the crude etching seems to resemble a "strong arm," but until the fidentification, could not place it in context... ;)

[tom hyle]

It sure looks like a big fid with a magic arm, though my first thought had been "pestle" Belaying pins do tend to taper and employ the principle of the wedge though.

Is the cross-section round? A good fid will have a flat side or a trianglular cross-section for tightening knots, but this is far from universal.

Very cool piece!

[tom hyle]

What is the wood? ("I'm always looking for a nice piece of Ash," I once said, meaning no joke, while examining a ball-bat at a garage sale; when men laughed, then I saw my unintended punniness.....)

[M ELEY]

Ahhh, the ole piece of ash- :D Good one, Tom!

I agree, a fid it is. Nice find!

www.frayedknotarts.com/images/Sailmaking/kit/623_z.jpg

www.frayedknotarts.com/images/Sailmaking/kit/648_z.jpg

[kronckew]

as an ex merchant officer and ex USCG officer, i think we can safely say this is a fid or marlinspike, we've had similar ones here before. see This Thread (http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5401&highlight=marlinspike) on an earlier fid/club discussion. that one may have actually been a club, but very fiddish ;)

[tom hyle]

yeah, there's a third name, too, but it's not coming to me old beaten coconut.
Of course they make excellent weapons of resort, as do (famously) belaying pins.

[kronckew]

just found this table that shows the recommended fid sizes for various rope and line sizes. note the 3 1/4 in. rope recommends a 45.5 in. long fid, or a 68.25 in. full fid. big items....

[tom hyle]

Wow! Go, Kronckew!