Now that I am saving up to buy some steel swords I thought I would post and ask a question. I have read the "Care and Maintenance of the Modern Replica" article here on myArmoury, however is does not answer something I have been wondering about. How do you physically store a sword? That is, what in the way of cases, stands, cabinets and so on should be used to protect it when it is not being handled?

Thank you.

Karl,
Hello and welcome to myArmoury. :) The subjects of display and long-term storage have been discussed many times here. The forum Search function should yield many results.

Happy hunting!

*shrug* my swords are hanging on the wall using decorative plate holders.

Jean is right - always expect the unexpected:

I woke up with a jolt, a couple of years ago, to find my horse pistol (see below) lying on the pillow beside my head. It had fallen 4 feet from the shelf above my head (darned poltergeists!), and if it had connected, it would have brained me! Needless to say, it is now in a safer location and I now sleep safely.

Julian

---

 Attachment: 56.84 KB

A hefty pistol. I read and always thought they over-engineered those things so after the first shot you could use the sucker as a club. That one looks like it would do the job quite nicely.

As Jean says, ignoring issues with rust control and the like, safe storage is mostly a matter of stopping and thinking about "What-if" situations. By the way, I always store mine in their scabbards and worry about whether that causes rust later with some fine grit sandpaper.

Back home I shove my swords in the back of a closet. Everyone in my family is smart enough not to mess with them. We were also allowed to play with knives, shears, axes, saws, and the like at a fairly young age, and I do go around saying things like "By the way, don't ever do what I'm doing with my sword right now", so I'd like to think that even the ten year old would know better than to do anything stupid if she played with one unsupervised. In truth, most of the sharp injuries in the family have occurred due to kitchen knives. *Glances at scar running across thumb*

There's also enough stuff piled around in the closet, including my father's guns (some more things everyone knows better than to play with), that there is very little chance of them actually falling over, never mind that there's nobody to hurt in the closet.

Out on my own in another state family doesn't visit, I don't have any roommates, and unfortunately lack a girlfriend, so I just throw my swords in the corner. My main worry is that they will fall over with pommel or cross-guard aimed at my toes or put a dent in the floor. I rarely have company and have never had anyone reach for them, so I don't see any reason to change my habits though. Maybe I'll get a couple of toes smashed sometime and decide otherwise...

Thanks for your replies everyone. Since I started thinking about buying a sword a few thoughts have been on my mind that caused me to start this thread.

First that a sword is a weapon and should be shown the respect it is do in the same way a responsible gun owner respect his firearms. The second was that I wanted to secure them to prevent damage to ether the Sword or Items around them. I have had the two dress swords I have slide and fall over due to the slick nature of the Pergo floor in the room I keep them in.

And a question, in normal day to day life this is not an issue but if I had to go somewhere for awhile for, say a job or vacation. I was wondering how long a sword that is not stainless steel which has been properly oiled and stored, for instance in a rifle case with no scabbard, can be left without rusting?

I am interested in sword storaging, too. While I don't posses any sharps, I own several trainers from Albion and some czech blunt swords for show combat. Up to now I store them much like other posters in a corner behind the door to my study. Since they are not sharps, I don't use any scabbards and oil them with a weapons oil regularly after using them. But nevertheless the high humidity in our region causes them to rust immediately, if I forget to oil them for two or three days after using them. (Thanks there are scotch brites!) I have thought about getting devices for hanging them on the wall, but I am not that much into it, since in my opinion these swords are sports equipement, and I don't put up my racing bike on the wall neither. So I plan to make a wooden plank like device, which I can mount behind the door, which will hold the swords. From time to time, one or two of the swords just keep falling over and hitting the floor with their guards, which is not that good for them...

Thomas

Umbrella stand? that might work in your case.

Haha! Eric, maybe you are a genius! I will consider an umbrella stand! :D Never thought of that!

My most recent display I made is a stand out of 2 wrought iron plate holders made for display, padded the areas the swords would come in contact with in black felt and bolted it to my wall in an appropriate place away from chairs, beds, etc and they rest at eye level in a corner so you have to actively try to walk into it at which point I question if I would want such a person even in the kitchen around steak knives and my blender...

It actually looks pretty good. I tend not to keep my blades in the scabbards for fear of moisture collecting but then again I also do routine oiling and wipe-downs every month at minimum as well as after every handling...I probably go over the top about taking care of the pieces I own though. I probably will make a more elaborate display or just buy a commercial glass case when I move into my new place next summer.

My practice blade I keep in a travel rifle case for transport and wipe down and oil after every use.

Just a quick picture of a display case I altered to show where I hang my swords.

---

 Attachment: 172.57 KB
[ Download ]

for WMA sparring, I personally store them in a ski bag. keeps them looking innocuous while walking to practice, protects them, and big enought that you can fit pollaxes in if needs be.