i have been trying to find a good picture of a supposed "locking mechanism" for british navy swords. it's a 19th century era thing where they in the scabbard had a mechanism that locked the sword in place, in case you were climbing upside down on a ship and didn't wanna impale some poor sod on the deck with your sword as it fell. anyone got more on this? it's bloody hard to find any good info on google. historically speaking, has there been similar systems for other swords and sheathes?
This isnt british but gives you an idea. You have some leaf spring and it goes into a hole in the scabbard or guard to lock it in place. You push down on the spring to clear the hole. The spring could be on the sheath or on the handle. More elaborate ones would have the lever hidden and only a small button sticking out.
>>65058562I see, so just push the knob into the hole, or out of it.
>>65058581The knob on thats a screw youd depress the shiny part near the top of the guard.
Heres an example of the reverse where the lever is on the sheath. it locks into the guard. you push the lock out with your thumb to clear the guard.
Victorian police cutlass (possibly made from shortened cavalry sabers).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN2hcfpUiXc&t=305s5 minutes in.
I think many scabbards had a bushing that gave significant retention, and that was always a fairly standard feature of a scabbard as opposed to a sheathe. There's a nice kind of tension loaded pin which can give additional retention without being either a snag risk or providing a positive lock, strongly advise against a positive lock on a secondary weapon. as an officer there is never a good time to draw your sword, plan on bad times.
