Ahoy there me matey! Compliment your pirate stuff with this authentic cutlass letter opener. The Cutlass was a short slashing sword, ideal for the close- quarters battles aboard great sailing ships. It has developed a reputation as the pirate weapon of choice and this version by Denix exploits this connection, with the Skull-and-Crossbones emblazoned on the scabbard throat and a full-rigged pirate ship engraved on the handguard. Excellent for piratical re-creations! The blades of Denix daggers and swords are cast from a metal alloy and cannot be sharpened, making them safe for display in family environments. A cutlass is a short, thick sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard.
Best known as the sailor's weapon of choice, the naval side arm, likely because it was also robust enough to hack through heavy ropes, canvas, and wood. It was also short enough to use in relatively close quarters, such as during boarding actions, in the rigging, or below decks. Another advantage to the cutlass was its simplicity of use. The cutlass required less training than the rapier or small sword, and was more effective as a combat weapon than the full-sized sword. The cutlasses portrayed in films about pirates are historically incorrect, often 19th-century weapons.
It was also used on land, particularly by cavalrymen such as the Mamelukes, since its curved blade made it useful for slashing combat. In time of peace the Ottoman state supplied no arms, and the janissaries on service in the capital were armed only with clubs; they were forbidden to carry any arm save a cutlass, the only exception being at the frontier-posts.
A cutlass is as often an agricultural implement and tool, as a weapon (cf. machete, to which the same comment applies), being used commonly in rain forest and sugar cane areas, such as the Caribbean and Central America. Woodsmen and soldiers in the 17th and 18th centuries used a similar short and broad backsword called hanger.
Cutlasses are famous for being used by pirates, although there is no reason to believe that Caribbean buccaneers invented them, as has sometimes been claimed. However, the subsequent use of cutlasses by pirates is well documented in contemporary sources, notably by the pirate crews of William Fly, William Kidd, and Stede Bonnet. Exquemelin reports the buccaneer Francois l'Ollonais using a cutlass as early as 1667. Pirates used these weapons for intimidation as much as for combat, often needing no more than to grip their hilts to induce a crew to surrender, or beating captives with the flat of the blade to force their compliance or responsiveness to interrogation.
The last use of a cutlass in a boarding action by the British Royal Navy is recorded as being as late as 1941. A U.S. Marine engineer NCO is reported to have killed an enemy with a model 1941 cutlass at Inchon during World War II.
The cutlass remained an official weapon in the U.S. Navy stores until 1949, though seldom used in training after the early 1930s. The last new model of cutlass adopted by the U.S.Navy was the Model 1917. A cutlass is still carried by the RCPO of recruit divisions at U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command. Blade Length: 7 1/2"
Handle Length: 2 1/4"
Overall Length: 9 3/4"
Weight: 5oz
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Pirate Cutlass Letter Opener
