Original Items: Only One Group of 2 Available. In martial arts, a waster is a practice weapon, usually a sword, and usually made out of wood. The use of wood instead of metal provides an economic option for initial weapons training and sparring, at some loss of genuine experience. A weighted waster may be used for a sort of strength training, theoretically making the movements of using an actual sword comparatively easier and quicker, though modern sports science shows that an athlete would most optimally train with an implement which is closest to the same weight, balance, and shape of the tool they will be using.

Wasters as wooden practice weapons have been found in a variety of cultures over a number of centuries, including ancient China, Ireland, Iran, Scotland, Rome, Egypt, medieval and renaissance Europe, Japan, and into the modern era in Europe and the United States. Over the course of time, wasters took a variety of forms not necessarily influenced by chronological succession, ranging from simple sticks to clip-point dowels with leather basket hilts to careful replicas of real swords.

Historically, students and soldiers used wasters as inexpensive and expendable training tools. The cost of high quality steel weapons, especially swords, would have made them a poor choice for practice weapons. Constant training would fatigue the blade, rendering it far less effective and reliable as a weapon. To prevent the destruction of an expensive weapon and to permit the necessary training and sparring intrinsic to any martial art, wooden practice weapons were created.

These examples of a “waster” are genuine WWI era M-1913 Practice “Patton” sabers. As stated previously, this was an inexpensive way to train cavalrymen in the art of swordsmanship on the battlefield, whether it be for defensive or offensive purposes. These practice sabers do not have any markings on them that we can find, but do not worry. These are earlier produced practice sabers and were produced by Rock Island Armory without a marking. Due to the nature of these wasters, the blades broke rather easily and RIA produced spare blades in a heavy quantity. With that being said, this was over 100 years ago, don’t sharpen your swordsmanship too hard with these wasters, they don’t exactly make new blades anymore! In the event one would break, all the user had to do was remove the single screw at the pommel and pop the rivet going through the ricasso and presto changeo, you are back to beating up your opponent!

These practice sabers are identical to the example currently on display in the National WWI Museum and Memorial located in Kansas City, Missouri. Both come more than ready to display!

Dimensions:
Blade Length: 35 ½”
Blade Width: 1 ¼”
Grip Length: 6”
Guard Length and Width: 6” x 6 ½”