Bicycle Chain, Forgotten Impact Weapon

[@michaelharkonnen8126]

My favourite melee weapon in the street. Two guys tried to rob me once and I took out one of them by striking him hard in the face with a bicycle chain and when he dropped down to his knees finished that threat with a back hand strike in the back of the head. The other stared at me for a second then turned around and ran away pretty fast ^^

[@rexjolles]

and then everyone clapped

[@abraxas9340]

I remember reading a joke article by MAD magazine or the Onion that said "Hitting a dog with a bicycle chain was the national sport of Italy until 1976, when it was changed to smoking" or something along those lines. That always makes me chuckle a little.

[@ObjectHistory]

Interesting

[@Pomisher]

Speaking about adaptation. When I was in the military a brawl broke in our dining facility. Cooks joined in using giant metal spoons and ladles beat people over their heads.

[@ObjectHistory]

That is a first for me as a researcher. Thanks! Sounds like a crazy scene.

[@stevecrawford7814]

Nice job. Motorcycle chains were used as well. I had a chrome plated Harley primary chain made into a belt. Mine was just for show.

[@beepboop204]

im so old i remember playing Road Rash with my friends in an arcade and hitting them with chains (in game)

[@ObjectHistory]

Hey Steve- someone else mentioned those above. Can imagine how much worse that would be.

[@FactsFirst-yo8gc]

This is absolutely NOT a forgotten weapon. I see these used and carried today!

[@ObjectHistory]

Where? BTW- Forgotten means at large, not that literally no one alive knows about them.

[@FactsFirst-yo8gc]

I'm in Canada, I see this used with certain groups that commit crimes and use pushbikes. In the hopes that the chain will seen as something as part of the bike "repair" kit or be seen as a weapon of opportunity. And a defence against carrying a weapon. I see "get back whips" on every biker handle bar too, some are leather and some are chain. @@ObjectHistory

[@underarmbowlingincidentof1981]

I bet bicycle chains used instead of normal ones is due to the same reason people use baseball bats instead of cudgels or other beating weapons. When you get caught by the cops you can simply say you were carrying it for another use.

[@swe_nurse8121]

Another great video! A chain is a fearsome weapon, it might not be as effective as others but I've seen damage from chain weapons and they are fairly devastating. One thing I've wondered about that someone might be able to answer, I've been thinking about the loaded (hunting) crop from Sherlock Holmes fame lately and I haven't really been able to find much information about it. More specifically I'm interested in historical examples and possibly modern makers of them.

[@ObjectHistory]

Thank you. As far as I know, I'm the only one to ever delve into the topic of loaded riding crops and swagger sticks. There wasn't a ton of information available but I do have some historical incidents in Saps, Blackjacks and Slungshots: A History of Forgotten Weapons.

[@ellaarrfwfegrw5141]

Message from the king

[@vyderka]

Ok, I'll try to recollect my memories of long gone Eastern European childhood and teen years. A bicycle chain was never treated seriously, I don't remember exactly why, I guess it's too unmanageable in a fight and ineffective, actual chains were a bit more popular, but again they were treated as rather ineffective - they didn't break bones, just caused pain. And it was cold then, like most of the year, so thick clothes were often worn making chains rather ineffective. Chains when used were folded into a manageable shape - usually four times to get circa half a meter of length. They were carried usually around the belt, sometimes in a sleeve, I can't recall anyone carrying them in a pocket, but maybe that happened. Mind that I'm writing about real chains, not a bicycle variety, they were all but treated as useless. Generally, in a fight, not an ambush or delivering a beating but a fight against a resisting opponent(s) you needed things that were more controllable and delivered real damage. Knives, axes, lead/steel pipes (my favourite then!) were the most reliable and battle proven. Edit: I also remember that chains were treated a bit like a fashion accessory carried to complement sb's style in subcultures like punks or less often skinheads :D If I remeber correctly bicycle chains were used in that role, too. It might be so that in more well off countries they gained notoriety because they look badass but nobody truly used them too often for real?

[@crabeatcrab6011]

"a fashion accessory carried to complement sb's style" What does sb stand for? Also, nice comment!

[@vyderka]

@@crabeatcrab6011 sb = somebody, just an abbreviation :)

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Mention about thick clothing is interesting. It works very much like armor and may discourage using flexible weapons.

[@vyderka]

@@vksasdgaming9472 depends on the weapon construction I guess, here volchatkas and nahaykas were very popular, volchatka being a kind of a blackjack on horse steroids, a nahayka a kind of a heavy whip, both long and heavy with seriously weighed striking end, quite formidable flexible weapons. Thick clothing make slashes with knives less effective, so stabbing was the thing here, but on the other hand our Polish fencing was build around the sabre and was very slash/cut oriented; although the sabres were big and relatively heavy with the centre of percussion moved towards the end to maximalize cutting power.

[@ObjectHistory]

@@vksasdgaming9472 Yes, it can really take a lot of the sting out weapons that do more surface damage than anything else.

[@hughgrection3052]

I've actually had alot of "biker" buds. (Real ones, I won't say who or with what group😉) They used to keep common items like these as makeshift weapons since most was repeat offender felons. They knew police would stop and search them alot. So they would use tools and chains like these alot as melee weapons they could keep on hand at all times and not be accused of having weapons. Their fave was the ball peen hammers. Another one I spoke with once joked about chains. I knew some would wear long wallet chains to use in fights etc. But any random log chain kept on a bike could be viewed as a weapon. They would excuse the hammer as a tool for tapping a stuck starter on a bike. He kept a bike chain too tho. Bent in half and had electric tape and rubber bands to make it not want to tangle up. (The best was to "store" one he'd say to cops when asked lol) it was a larger chain too. Not a 10 speed chain but a small motorcycle one. Which is thicker. But he'd fold it in half once more and have an effective close range weapon that no longer tangled like yours. I assume when dealing with multiple people (as most bikers tend to jump isolated lone members they catch alone alot) You then can kinda use its full length and whirl it around over your head as a way to scare multiple people into not trying to be first to get hit by trying to grab you. (It realistically doesn't work well but seems to scare folks alot tho lol.) But he had a story too about using it sideways to poke out like a stick as he sped by another biker, and when it hit it wrapped around as he drove by fast it dam near yanked the guy off a bike and made em wipe out. How true that was I dunno but it seems plausible for sure. But yeah when bikers do the big battle wars that are un-planned (yes some are planned in advance, those usually have alot of guns) but when they're done there will be all sorts of weird barbaric looking improvised weapons laying around. Many come from California or are based there and there's lots of laws on knives there I think is partly why. The old Satyrs motorcycle gang actually at one point used to carry around big sticks because it was the satyr gods weapon of choice if I recall correctly. It was something ti that affect I forget exactly what tho. Some love the carry a small pipe with signs of being used as a "cheater bar" for breaking tight bolts by making a wrench longer. Sort of anything that can pass as a tool or part of a bike really. Crazy stuff Btw if ya soak magazines in water they have a similar consistency of more expensive ballistics gelatin. A few gun channels here use it to test ammo. Pretty cheap way of doing it. That gel is crazy expensive. I did however find some 3d mold shaped human torso gun targets made of like a paper mache. I planned to cover the inside of them with non stick form release and buy some liquid 2 part silicone and pour a homemade ballistics dummy. I planned to do it in like 1.5 layers and let dry between coats till I had a dummy to shoot my gun collection at. I just got sidetracked and never finished it. I bet you could make some the same way tho for days like this one. Dang things cost a fortune if ya buy them, just to tear them up anyways when done lol. Anyways yeah I'll stop rambling lol, good video bud!

[@ObjectHistory]

I remember being taught about the ball peen hammer. Also, there was a specific kind of wrench my original sensei (ran in some tough circles back in the day) said was popular with bikers. Can't remember what kind but he said they could just hang on the handlebar and be snatched up in a sec. The note about big biker brawls makes me think of the one from Waco, TX a few years back that made national news. I know they had a variety of weapons involved. Wet paper- I thought of that, was taught a long time ago that soaking a phone book for 48 hours was a good flesh simulator for swords. I still have the chain so I'll do a follow up when it's no longer triple digit heat here in TX. We got a real break in the weather so I had one whole day to crank out the tests from this video here. Even then it was hot so I did a lot of it inside.

[@hughgrection3052]

@ObjectHistory Oh I didn't know you was in Texas. So yeah you know very well then lol. And yeah I think even the devil has swampazz lately lol. But yeah there was that brawl, and some that was worse too. One that comes to mind is the casino brawl. I vaguely remember seeing literally every type of weapon conceivable, laying and hidden literally everywhere after it was over with and they started ditching weapons lmao. It looked like something in a Reno 911 comedy of some sort, but with real dead people laying around lol. The stories get really wild if ya dig into the European branches of the clubs. Over there then they used rocket launchers and grenades on each other dam near daily lol. Count Dankula did a good episode here about it all. Them crazies even broke into a prison to Grenade a rival member locked in a cell and he somehow survived lol. Here in the states only one rocket attack happened that I think I can recall. Some grenades was used not as much. Heck one guy was convicted after using sheetrock screws to kill and torture a guy once with a Dewalt drill lol

[@bdlkinetics]

nice video, you can tell that you have put some thought in it. greets from europe

[@boring1770]

SIM said ,many we're confiscated at rollling stones shows in the 70's,-they were worn as belts/bikers mostly.

[@ObjectHistory]

Nice detail... thanks

[@captaindoom1]

I have a solution. And I’ve seen this method when ppl make necklaces out of them. What would you need is to those grooves in between each link that allows them to individually rotate. It keeps the chain fluid. Idk what exactly it’s called but you probably know what I’m talking about

[@ObjectHistory]

Ah, that would make it much more useable. I'm not sure of the mechanics (e.g. how do you actually alter it to do that) myself but I'm not very handy.

[@JackBlack-gh5yf]

I can remember carrying a Duplex bike chain as a youngster in the 1970's, but bikers more commonly carried Triplex ones, wearing them as belts. Never particularly liked them that much.

[@ObjectHistory]

Never heard of the belt wearing version, thanks.

[@JackBlack-gh5yf]

@@ObjectHistory If you do a Google 'Image Search' on 'Biker Chain Belt', you'll see some examples, though most look like they are manufactured, rather than adapted. Around 1980 a Sheffield biker named 'Donk' Dunkley received 5 years for assaulting a policeman, with a Triplex chain belt. He had been arrested after a fight between bikers and skinheads the previous year. He claimed that after being arrested, along with several of his friends, the police "used me own bloody belt on me!"

[@deniskozlowski9370]

This will sound weird but I'd like to see this experiment done on a chicken or turkey breast. You could really see the injury pattern on flesh.

[@ObjectHistory]

I thought the same thing. Like, a side of pork would be perfect.

[@alonzowitt5931]

You're supposed to make a belt out of two pieces of chain side by side the leight inches shorter than your wast size. Then you attach leather belt ends to the chains.... Now you have a chain belt that is easy to pull off and to work with and you fold it in half griping the leather as the a handle... It doesn't kink , this was quite common amongst the biker gang's... The only difference they used motorcycle chains!

[@Si74l0rd]

Popular when I was a kid, along with telescopic aerials.

[@ObjectHistory]

I've always wondered, could the aerials do enough damage? I mean I guess so or they wouldn't have been used on the street but they don't seem hefty enough. Well, not that I ever held one but remember them on cars from when I was a kid.

[@Si74l0rd]

@@ObjectHistory In Nicky Cruz's autobiography, Run Baby Run, he mentions their use in American street gangs in the seventies and eighties. They were used for slashing, mainly to the face and eyes.

[@ObjectHistory]

@@Si74l0rd That matches what I found with a Scottish youth gang member's account- aiming for the head. Body shots would probably be more once the opponent was down.

[@Si74l0rd]

@@ObjectHistory From having swished one through the air a time or two I'd say body shots would be pretty useless given the lack of mass, but getting stung across the face would certainly hurt. As with many improvised weapons of the time, they were an attempt to skirt the law on weapon possession, and were easily available in that era where every car had one. But more for show, swishing around with your mates, than actual use, I suspect. None of the street gangs of the seventies and early 80s had any money for fancy weapons, it was sorta before the days when street gangs were the main suppliers of drugs. I guess it was going on to some degree, but it would have been an elder, not the kids on the street that had the money. Most of their weapons were working class things like brass knuckles, bats and knives, and so improvised weapons were very common.

[@RussellBarnhart-dw4kh]

One of the flexibility chain saw chains with handles ? ♈⚓⚓♈

[@ObjectHistory]

Was saying to someone in one of these comment replies, I was told about that in the 1980s in Miami, FL. Take a chainsaw blade, wrap duct tape on one end to make a handle and you're good to go (supposedly).

[@toddellner5283]

This is some serious S. E. Hinton stuff.

[@ObjectHistory]

Hell yes

[@mr.menefee]

Thank you! This is so cool!

[@ObjectHistory]

Glad you liked it!

[@alexsawa2956]

I know it's not a rope and therefore not as flexible, but due to it's length i suspect one could try to make a "knot" in the middle... Something loose and perhaps weave the ends through the "knot" as often as possible? It's theoretically possible...try it and make another video with those results

[@ObjectHistory]

It's worth a try... I know I've got that thing around here somewhere but honestly don't remember where LOL.

[@timobrien7554]

How's long till your next book i can't wait

[@ObjectHistory]

Just in case you missed it, Deadly Ingenuity is already out... www.amazon.com/Deadly-Ingenuity-History-Unusual-Weapons/dp/1662940653/ref=sr_1_1?crid=10GJRVBQ820RG&keywords=deadly+ingenuity&qid=1706283355&sprefix=deadly+ing%2Caps%2C121&sr=8-1. Other than that I'm going to transform my podcast into a book, add a few more weapons to the mix, etc. and then publish. I think it'll translate well and that way it won't take me years like writing a book from scratch.

[@sbcinema]

Again a very interesting Video I wonder if the chain would have been opened back then, you could easily remove it from old bicycles witout opening it

[@ObjectHistory]

Thanks. And on your point, I don't know.

[@rexjolles]

back in the 30's and 40's the international seamen's union would carry these and bats onto incoming ships and the crew if they weren't union, my grandpa told me that one

[@ObjectHistory]

Love intel/stories like that. Thanks!

[@johnpatterson7140]

I thought the gangs used motorbike chains ?

[@pacomartin6254]

VERY INTERESTING. Take a look at the front cover of Crazy Cavan and The Rythm Rockers - our own way of rockin LP

[@ObjectHistory]

Just did... wow. I would have used that in the video if I'd known about it.

[@beepboop204]

[@stanleybennett8879]

What about a chainsaw chain?

[@ObjectHistory]

I was told about that a long time ago in Miami. Supposedly you’d tape up one end to grab it by. Haven’t researched it yet but will.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

If problem of gripping is solved it is horrifying weapon in gang warfare.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Bike chain seems to be more like "secret" than forgotten weapon. Kind of "common knowledge" that bike chains make good weapons. Some kind of stereotypical punk gang-member has either a switchblade or bike chain. Only appearance in fiction as weapon I found was Cape Fear directed by Martin Scorsese and in it three goons attack Max Cady and one of them is armed with bike chain (or motorcycle chain) and his strike rips through Cady's shirt and tears chest beneath. Cady steals pipe from one them and uses it to beat them up.

[@ObjectHistory]

I've never seen that movie. Scorsese grew up in the old gritty NYC, wonder if he got the chain bit from there or if it was already in the script.

[@MyMomSaysImKeen]

😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😮😅😅😅😅😮

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Made an response to this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4XKfIVmpLuees0 I generally agree with bike chain being nasty thing to be smacked with.