Sheaths and scabbards are more than just a pretty piece of medieval bling, they also protect your sword from the elements, and protect you and your friends from accidentally encountering the pointy end whilst sauntering about. As Nathan describes in the video below, here at Arms and Armor we make two basic types of sheaths and/or scabbards for our swords, rapiers, and daggers. The first of these, our leather scabbard, is constructed of plain leather, formed to the blade and stitched up the back seam. Below is our fancy parrying dagger scabbard with a chape and locket.
The second variety are custom scabbards with a historically accurate core of hardwood and chapes, lockets, fittings, and hanging systems, as seen below.
Custom hard cored scabbard with simple chape and by-knives in side pocket.
Arms & Armor scabbard with chape
Black Prince Sword with hard scabbard and belt system
Nathan Clough, Ph.D. is Vice President of Arms and Armor and a member of the governing board of The Oakeshott Institute. He is a historical martial artist and a former university professor of cultural geography. He has given presentations on historical arms at events including Longpoint and Combatcon, and presented scholarly papers at, among others, The International Congress on Medieval Studies.
Craig Johnson is the Production Manager of Arms and Armor and Secretary of The Oakeshott Institute. He has taught and published on the history of arms, armor and western martial arts for over 30 years. He has lectured at several schools and Universities, WMAW, HEMAC, 4W, and ICMS at Kalamazoo. His experiences include iron smelting, jousting, theatrical combat instruction and choreography, historical research, European martial arts and crafting weapons and armor since 1985.