An unusual item out of my neighborhood
 

I bought this item in my local flea market, visibly due to the impact of its look. As for its purpose, the seller had no idea.
Obviously this is not a Gladiator trident ... or multident, for the case :rolleyes:.
I thought you guys could have a go at it before i crack which was for me a riddle ;) :cool: .


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Looks like an eel spear to me.

Best,
Robert

I agree
eel spear,
These were discussed before

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=21772

regards
Ken

Fisga de enguias
 

I'm done !
You guys took less time to figure out what this is than myself, while this model is used 55 miles away from my hometown. 'Was' used is more the actual term, as i read they became illegal circa twenty years ago ... offenders subject to severe penalties; maybe the reason for this one having shown up in a street fair. It does look old and naturally hand made. I believe the copper wire tangling was an ingenious implement assembled by its user, to prevent it from plunginh to deep into the river bed mud.

Hi Fernando,

I can’t see the wire doing much to stop the spear from going into the mud, as the cross section of the surface would not be made much larger through addition of the wire.

I would have taught it was more to stop the bars from bending all over the place

The prongs are quiet light compared to those I have seen before, I saw one which was spring loaded to capture the eel, I will see if I have a picture

Nice item.

Cheers

Ken

i have always thought they have that transverse reinforcing there to keep the long tines from bending outwards too much. i, having caught large eels myself (on a rod & reel) know they are nasty slippery bitey twisty escape artists (my austrian granny loved them). i can't stand the little devils myself and have never tasted one.

So we focus on the device and leave them eels alone :cool: .
I still have this intuition that this transverse binding is not adequate to prevent the tines from bending. It is just a thin iron wire (not copper as said), not a solid iron bar. Besides, if this were a patternized implement, would certainly be welded by the smith in a more permanent manner. I am also taking into account its relative position and having just read that "the man must take care to only touch the bed to avoid damaging the prongs".
But thinking twice, i will not play the hard head and am ready grant a tie :shrug:.


.

e also:

http://www.antiquetools.co.uk/articles/eel1.htm

i've found a lot with the transverse bracing, some look like bar welded to the tines, others are obviously twisted wire, and even brass spearheads.the thin tines were springy. i am guessing that if they were too springy for the local eel sizes, the bracing would help. i couldn't find any explanations. brass wire makes sense as it is more corrosion resistant. an antiue with rusty tines should probably not have them flexed, as the rust may crack off and the tine fails/breaks. you can see the ones with t he wider guiding prongs have dull points thgat protect the thinner tines from damage on rocks, the ones with thin tines may be designbed for sandy or muddy bottoms.

a variety of heads with this transverse bracing:

how to spear eels, native americans ice fishing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woIUNcDvypc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ6rV0jb-Xs

last two aalspeiße: