Thread: Pickaxe handle drills

If you've ever stagged-on with a pick-axe handle and wondered what your chances were; read this

Daily Telegraph

Cheeky feckers - glad the old boy is ok. Shame they got away and that he didn't cave their heads in!

Damn fine effort from Mr Hill. As BoF said, pity they got away and he didnt get a chance to do some real damage to them.

a baseball bat works wonders as well, cricket bat not so good unless u use the sides

Good Drills, that man!

I practice Kali, a martial art that specialises in stick and knife fighting; the machette is one of the main weapons and I keep several in my bedroom.

I am always up for a "sparring" session with the local Neds...

James Hill, here's to you. Good to see you haven't lost any of the Jock Guards fighting spirit. I hope you get to read these comments one day....... and I wish you had managed to stove in their skulls.

Nemo me impune lacessit.

Good on him. Shame he didn't stave one of their skulls in. He would have been fully justified to do so too. Good Drills that man!

I'm surprised Dibble didn't stiff him for having an offensive weapon under his bed. The use of machetes seems to be on the increase. Perhaps we need a machete anmesty... or an outright ban?

Oddly enough, I was discussing the use of pickaxe handles the other night. I think British forces were unique in their employment of bits of wood for 'armed' guards. I can think of no other nation that would have a soldier on guard armed with either:

a) Nothing.
b) A pickaxe handle.
c) An SLR with no magazine.
d) An SLR with a magazine with no rounds.

It wasn't until around 87/88 that I routinely drew ammunition for stag. What was the point of pickaxe handles... apart from attaching to pick helves? The armouries were full of gats and they had some mong on the gate with a stick? FFS!

Holy crap. Thats my home town. Hasn't been mentioned in the local rag that I know of. Good drill that man. If I bump into him I'll buy him a pint. Not holding out much hope though, Population 100,000+ before the eastern europeans came here...

Originally Posted by Trans-sane

Holy crap. Thats my home town. Hasn't been mentioned in the local rag that I know of. Good drill that man. If I bump into him I'll buy him a pint. Not holding out much hope though, Population 100,000+ before the eastern europeans came here...

yeah im not far from there either. it was mentioned on century fm (local radio station) when i was getting changed after a swim. Laughed out loud when i heard it on there.

Originally Posted by BuckFelize

It wasn't until around 87/88 that I routinely drew ammunition for stag. What was the point of pickaxe handles... apart from attaching to pick helves? The armouries were full of gats and they had some mong on the gate with a stick? FFS!

Something lurking in the back of my addled memory seems to recall that the use of pick helves stemmed from their use by the Firepickets, but I am not 100% certain of that! Can anyone confirm?

Ive stagged on armed with a pickaxe handle in Ballykinler NI training course 1991, i was lethal.

During basic in 78 with RACTR we'd be given them. Wandering around the tank sheds I often wondered how I'd stop someone determined to nick a Chieftain with a stick with a lump of iron on the end...........

In the 1950s the RN used to post an overnight picket at our Tipner rifle range in Portsmouth - the IRA were thought interested in stealing ammunition that was kept there, so the picket was armed with pickaxe handles! Mercifully Paddy didn't materialise. RN Seaman officers were all taught how to use a pickaxe handle as part of their five-day course in Land Fighting (Pongo officers spent two years on this at Sandhurst but then we're brighter).

As I recall, the idea was first thrust forward horizontally into the stomach. Target doubles up so bring the woodwork up smartly under his chin. Target will then obligingly fold backwards, presenting his midship section and so enabling a third stroke which is a wild swing upwards which comes to a halt between the legs. Then (optional) hold the hleve horizontal across his face and break his nose up a bit. After that just whack him for a bit of fun. The instructor (RM Sgt) then taught us how to take someone's eyeball out with one's thumb.

Jusr another of the thousands of things one was taught and never used.

Pick axe staves are about the same length and grip size as a bokken (Japanese wooden training sword). With training and practice they can be lethal. Literally. Miyamoto Musashi fought several duels armed only with a wooden sword, never lost any and depending on who you read, may have killed at least one man with it. Then again Musashi is regared as being the finest swordsman to have ever lived.

Seaweed: With a good straight thrust into the solar plexus, delivered with a reasonable level of violence, target will not be present to have woodwork smacked into chin. I got clipped once in training by a staff thrust. Fell over in a heap. Took me about 5 minutes to remember how my legs worked. Unlike a deliberate target, I didn't have a shattered sternum. In skilled hands, a good bit of hardwood is SCARY.