So my son is reaching that age that I am seriously considering it may be time to find a better way to display my swords while keeping them secure. I would like them in something where they can be seen, but not accessed without permission. Does anyone know of a setup that allows this? Those of you with kids in the home, how do you keep jr from taking your sword off the wall and playing Errol Flynn with it?

Some of these threads may be of interest. If so, everyone should please consider adding to one of them rather than making a new thread to cover an existing topic.

Safe Sword Display/Storage
Child-safe sword display stands/racks
Protecting your collection against theft
Displaying Swords

I've seen Chad's glass display now several times over the years (I'm just assuming its in one of the thread he referenced). Works well and its simple. A neat and elegant solution to this consideration in my opinion. My solution was just to keep swords locked away until my kid was old enough for me to teach and share with him. Ditto with his friends. Since I did not make them "forbidden" and "mysterious" but did take time to explain safety issues, there were never any problems.

I think Joe has the best idea. Boys will be boys and to boys swords are cool. So are guns for that matter. Teaching, couching and mentoring from an early age is best. A clear idea of the destructive power even by accident is a good thing to impart as well.

I would say Antiques need to be protected from children as much as children need to be protected from swords.

Possibly one of my most disjointed posts ever, insomnia sucks

Apart from a closed lockable cabinet of some kind, education is the longterm solution for your kids, but remember that visiting kids can be unprepared, impulsive and occasionally just plain stupid with sharp things like swords but I would include power tools also. ;) :D

Oh, not just kids, you might also have the occasional adult visitor who is a stupid jerk and maybe the worst would be a large party with alcohol in the mix !

Sharps should also have a good scabbard even if not always stored in it.

Sharps should be secured well enough to not fall of their supports if one stripped near the sword display and someone could get cut even if the sword(s) didn't fall: Think of rows of razor blades on a wall with nothing keeping curious hands off the edges ! :eek:

At the very least you might get rusty finger prints on the steel from curious handling.

Look around, and with a paranoid mindset, imagine the worst case scenarios and then design your display with those scary possibilities in mind.

Not having kids and knowing that your friends are not likely to do stupid things can greatly change the need for secure display(s).

I plan to get a gun cabinet and modify it so that I can hang swords instead. Gives me a lockable solution with tempered glass.

I also agree that education is a key ingredient.

i worked maintenance at a privet school for a long time - i think Jeans idea of keeping a 'paranoid mindset' is key when your tying to child proof something. actually child proof is an impossible term, get a few boys or girls together and they can figure a way to break into anything. they will piratically chew through chains.

always take the extra precaution. it may take you a little longer but you never know when you may see a young one hanging off of something like their monkey bars.

education is huge it's the most important thing that makes an appreciative adult vs that guy that comes over and has no respect for them what-so-ever as to the damage they can do. my old man taught me the dangers of firearms when i was 7 years old, and i can see the difference i have when approaching a firearm or any kind of weapon vs the people that are my age and get their first firearm and permit to carry without taking any kind of safety class just because everyone else is getting one. honestly that scares me.

i don't know at what age you should start to educate young ones about those things, but i would think as a parent you'll probably know when it's time.

I came up with a painlessly simple solution. I took one of our extra closets in a little used room, and put a locking doorknob on it. That is where I keep all my blades, my firearms safe, ammo, survival stuff, etc... The total cost was only the price of a locking doorknob at the hardware store. :)

I do have a few swords displayed in scabbards on my bedroom wall, but we also have a locking knob for that room as well. Additionally, the swords are all peace-tied into their scabbards. If we are not in there, it's locked just to be safe. ;)

There have been several good methods described here and no of them bad or unreasonable.

My perspective is this:

I've spent my entire adult life wearing one government uniform or another. What this collective experience has done is firmly convince me that the world isn't a safe place and we can't make it truly so, no matter how hard we try. I've also raised three children who now range from the ages of thirty to eighteen. That experience has shown me that children are far more adaptive and resourceful than we give them credit for. If you try to rely soley on doors, locks, boxes, etc. for their safety you're headed for tragedy. When my children were growing up it was in a home where weapons were present, swords, firearms, etc. None of these were treated with the forbidden fruit attitude, something that only enhances the,"I have to touch it." syndrome.

From the earliest possible age my children were exposed to firearms and their effects. I took them with me to the shooting range before they were old enough to hold a gun themselves. They also knew they were free to handle any of the edged weapons present, all they had to do was ask. All of this resulted in them developing a "whatever" mindset regarding weapons in the household. They were familiar with them so there wasn't any particular fascination on their part. They were also educated on the fact that their parents weren't their friends or buddies and they clearly knew what would happen to them if they ever violated the rules. That last part is a key element sadly lacking in most households today.

I've always made sure edged weapons were hung high enough so small children couldn't grab them and they have always been confined to one room of the house, a room were the general public doesn't have access. Unless they're close friends anyone walking into our house never knows such things are present. When our children reached their adolescent years the firearms were kept secured in a gunsafe. This is primarily because even the best kids can be raving idiots when they're in a group of friends. This last point is why our children were never left in the house with their friends unsupervised, ever.

No matter what kind of system you use, education and familiarity are the keys to keeping your children safe around any weapon.

I agree with a lot of what Patrick said, I gave my son his own (fully blunted) sword when he was 5 and I have allowed him to handle my sharps under supervision when asked. I was surprised at how fast he became un-fascinated with the whole subject, especially after he left his sword out in the rain and I made him scrub rust for a little while...

When my youngest son was a Boy Scout he went through the usual class to get his "Toten' Chit" which authorizes a Boy Scout to carry a pocket knife at events. By this time he was more than a little familiar with edges weapons, much like his older brother and sister. Even so, on one occasion he was whittling on a piece of wood and forgot the cardinal rule of always cutting away from yourself. He managed to slice open his finger, not bad enough to require stitches but it bled like a stuck pig for a bit. Some of the other more "progressive" parents were shocked by such a traumatic event and asked me if I was going to take away his pocket knife. I replied, "Nope, he won't do that again." Around the campfire that night I asked him if he had learned anything. His reply? "Not to be stupid with my knife." Well, there you go. We shouldn't put our children in needless danger, but nor should we try to keep them in a bubble as if they're made of glass. We all learn a lot of valuable lessons in life by making mistakes as a child. When I was young I learned more about life in the forest than I ever did at school. (and I never saw a video game until I was in highschool and even then I thought they were a brain sucking waste of time)

That being said, I like JE's idea of using a closet as an armory. If I had a walk-in closet large enough I'd definitely utilize it in such a manner. I've also seen photos of Chads display case and I love that approach as well. A scabbard isn't always neccessary and a gun case will often serve better than a scabbard for storage purposes. If nothing else it should be clear there are many ways to safely and effectively store or display a collection rather than just stacking them on the floor.

My cabinet, which has been referenced a few times in this thread (:)), is just a china cabinet with most of the adjustable shelving removed. I put an Ars Gladius display stand in it. The door slides halfway in each direction to open. There are sliding slats of wood on each side at the top designed to serves as stops to keep the door closed; they need to be slid back to open the door. I've also added a keyed lock to the bottom on one side.

My 4-year old son is fascinated with swords at the moment and when he's old enough he'll have the chance to interact with them. Until then, we'll just play with the many Tinker Toy swords and daggers he makes. He made one in imitation of my Albion Sovereign, down to the curved guard and peen block (he found a very small piece to serve that purpose). :)

I use an old china hutch with a working lock as I've mentioned somewhere in the threads that Chad listed above. This method works very well for my family (5 and 7 year old children).

Patrick, I very much like your parenting style. We need more dads like you. As a brand new Cubmaster, I'm learning about "progressive parents".

Emphasis mine:

Patrick Kelly wrote:

Some of the other more "progressive" parents were shocked by such a traumatic event and asked me if I was going to take away his pocket knife.

Scott Hrouda wrote:

Patrick, I very much like your parenting style. We need more dads like you. As a brand new Cubmaster, I'm learning about "progressive parents".

I was going to let the first one slide, but this is inappropriate. Thanks for going out of your way to be politicly offensive, this topic is (/should be) completely non-political.

Many people in my home state are politically what you would term progressive, and those same people hunt, fish, have knives and guns and would have reacted to the situation in the same manner as you did. By the way, I applaud your handling of the child/knife/injury situation.

Back on topic:

Does anyone have suggestions for pole weapons? The locked closet seemed the best option here as a gun cabinet is going to be too small.

Please accept my apologies T. Arndt.

Although I haven’t completed this project as of yet, I plan on displaying my pole weapons high on the wall above the landing to my finished basement using old fashion plumbing “bell hangers” . This would keep them out of the reach of youngsters and they can be fanned out for a nice display.

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Thanks Scott.

And I was thinking the same thing, higher is better. Those bell hangers look like a good fit so long as you don't want to get items down often.

Scott,

Those hangers look good. You might want to put some felt, or perhaps leather, on the inside of the bracket so it doesn't scuff up the sword.