Homemade coin sap

[conw]

The other thread being a bit of a mess, and we'll leave it at that, I wanna just show off my new homemade coin sap. This bad boy weighs 600 grams (1.3 lb) with $4 in nickels and $6 in quarters in it. I loaded the outside pockets mainly with quarters, but I may take the stuff out of there seeing as they provide a good reinforcing layer of leather and it looks better without it, plus 600 grams is probably a bit much.

Some brief instructions on making one of these - I went to a cobbler and he let me cut the leather myself. Final dimensions are about 11" by 2.8". That means I started with three pieces of leather, one being 22" by 2.8", and one being 8.5" by 3". The 8.5x3" piece is superimposed centered on the 22" piece, then the 22" piece is folded over and sewn shut.

I like the non-black color. All my friends have said "Cool wallet" or "Do you have a knife in there?"

The other cool thing is, it's equally at home in your pocket as on your belt, and it's *very* quickly accessed from either place.

If anyone wants advice on making one of these, PM me. It's not that hard, but you have to get the dimensions right if you want to fit a card in the front pouches and want it to properly hang off a belt.

Good leather is a plus too.

 

[wheelgunslinger]

That's pretty neat.

 

[conw]

Bumped the weight down to about 14.5 oz and it seems to look, carry, and work better. Smaller masses of coins may be worthwhile too, because they concentrate the force in a smaller area. Using an extreme example, it obviously wouldn't be too efficient to swing 2.5 lb of coins at someone, nor 2 oz of coins...but I think 7-8 might work well, and 10-11 might be the sweet spot. Slow and heavy is good though...

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Nothing like a multi-use coin bag. Manly and looks to be quite effective.

 

[conw]

Got the weight down to 10 oz on the nose (285g). Seems to be the best balance of power, surface area, and portability.

No one even gives this puppy a second glance walking around, in a world of cell phone holsters etc etc.

Nice thing about it is, I can fit several cards and some cash in the pockets, take out some of the coins, and after crossing over a secured checkpoint (courthouse entrance, plane checkin, etc) refill it with coins. I don't think *anyone* would peg it for a weapon if it didn't have but a few coins in it.

And as it is, it's really nice for carrying around quarters for tollbooths, laundromats, etc.

 

[JShirley]

Very nice change purse.

 

[Gordon]

14 oz historically has een the sweet spot for sap weight used with a moderate snap. I'd put dimes in it, but quarters are more usefull these days.

 

[kingpin008]

Looks good. I still wonder how effective it'd be if one ever had to deploy it under pressure. I forsee the unsnapping/gripping of the thing being a bit tough with fine motor skills gone and sweaty palms.

 

[conw]

Interestingly, depending on how you fasten it you can actually pull it *through* the straps with one hand. That sacrifices some level of retention, of course.

Gordon, I appreciate the input. I'm still messing around with it. An important variable is how the coins are sitting. When they settle and bunch together more, it becomes much more effective.

 

[John C]

I think your next project should be a "coin purse" over the knuckle area of a heavy leather glove. I think it'd be hard to get enough coins in there to make it worthwhile, though.

Great work!

-John

 

[conw]

Just a tip to anyone considering designing/making one. Well, two tips: first, overestimate on the size of everything rather than underestimate. And second, it's more time-consuming to cut it out than sew it, so if you can cut it yourself then pay someone to sew it you come out cheaper.

Thanks John...I think

 

[John C]

Conwict;

No, I'm serious. Great work!

I've just always been a fan of sap gloves (although I've never actually seen them in real life). I've talked to a bunch of old time coppers, and they all said the same thing, "they work like magic". One hit to the face, and it's lights out. As far as the old-time impact weapons goes, I'd love to have a pair, if they weren't a felony to possess in my state.

Anyways, "coin purse gloves" might be the next iteration. The advantages of sap gloves is that they're always on. Plus, if they aren't on, you can grab them by the fingers and use them as a regular sap.

-John

 

[KenWP]

Okay why not just use sand or some other weight instead of fooling around with coins. You could use buckshot for that matter.

 

[Darkninja]

Okay why not just use sand or some other weight instead of fooling around with coins. You could use buckshot for that matter.

Because coins serve other functions than smacking someone in the head?
You can buy a drink or pay a toll or put money in a meter or get that extra penny you need.

Also XYZ on the third picture

 

[Piraticalbob]

*nods* changing coins to sand or powdered lead or shot will make the thing an obvious blackjack, instead of a coin purse that conveniently doubles as a blackjack.

Conwict, did you know that US Navy sailors have traditionally carried a roll of coins in their neckerchiefs when going on liberty for use as an emergency blackjack?

 

[glistam]

Indeed, the whole purpose of coins is plausible deniability for areas were a per se blackjack or bludgeon is prohibited. It is for this reason that a coin sap should be as unlike a conventional sap as possible. As I mentioned before, a long tubular bag will suffice depending on what you're going for.

I think coin-purse gloves would be a hard sell to a judge/jury if you ask me. Hmm, well you could have a normal coin pouch and just slip it into a regular glove for backhands or palm-slaps.

Though I must admit I do like weighted-knuckle gloves myself (they're legal here). But their main advantage is that you don't break your fingers when you punch someone in the face. That's something most people don't know: Hitting people in the head bare-knuckle hurts you too!

 

[Skateguy]

Just hope that you never have to use it, after a long day of feeding parking meters down town. ----I'm new here, so Hello.

 

[rcmodel]

"Stay back or I'l hit you with my purse!" just doesn't do it for me!

rc

 

[Boom-stick]

I run my coin sap at about 8-10oz, depending on how hungry I am

But, it came in a very handy for feeding the meter when the wife went into labour

 

[glistam]

"Stay back or I'l hit you with my purse!" just doesn't do it for me!

I don't know man, my wife broke two ribs on a guy that way. She's not very good about emptying the loose change from the bottom of her purse...

 

[conw]

hey skate guy, I have actually resorted to using these coins, so...it's a good thing and a bad thing (good to have coins, bad to have no sap )

rc, in that case, for you we can call it a "masculine coin wallet sap."

boom-stick, mine too seems to mysteriously fluctuate in weight

 

[Boom-stick]

conwict, it's a problem ain't it, mine currently weighs in at around 0.5oz......

 

[kmrcstintn]

I would recommend using shotgun lead shot or a chuck of reloaders lead, but they may deform if your sap ever needed to be used

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Yea but the law boys would not like it so much as if it was filled with coins.