Barbcrown Hand Made Ash Barbed Wire Bat | 32 Inch Overall | Galvanised Wire Wrap and Engraved Steel Butt Cap with Canvas Carry Sleeve | Horror Display Gift | RK-1942

The Barbcrown is a display club turned from solid ash, with two bands of galvanised barbed wire wrapped and stapled around the barrel and a steel butt cap at the handle end carrying a cut geometric mark. It is finished pale and left with the grain visible rather than stained, and it comes with a black canvas carry sleeve so it can be moved and stored without the barbs catching on everything in the room.

Ash is the traditional timber for anything you swing, and there is a real reason for that beyond habit. Ash is ring porous, which means each year of growth lays down a band of large open vessels followed by a band of dense fibre, and that alternating structure absorbs shock along the length of the grain instead of transmitting it straight into the hands. The same property is why ash was used for spear shafts, tool handles and cart axles for as long as those things were made of wood. This one is turned, wrapped and finished in the Czech Republic.

Ash is used for hafts and staves because it bends a long way before it breaks, and steel, wood and leather covers why. Keep it somewhere sensible and out of reach of children, which is the short version of the safety and storage notes. If you want something else for a long evening, the Viking board games are there.

Specifications

What this is and what it is not

Start with the honest part, because it matters more here than on most things we make. This is a display and costume piece. It is a display and prop piece, it is not sold for use against a person or an animal, and the barbed wire on it is real wire with real barbs that will tear skin and clothing without any effort at all. Treat it the way you would treat a length of fencing wire, because that is exactly what it is.

It is also not officially licensed merchandise for any film, television series, game or comic, and it is not a replica of any specific fictional object. It is our own design. If a seller tells you a barbed wire bat is an official product of a franchise, ask them to name the licence.

What it is good for is photography, a costume, a horror or post apocalyptic themed room, a bar, a games room or a shop display. It reads well from across a room and it reads even better close up, because the wire is genuinely wrapped and stapled rather than moulded or printed.

Ash, galvanised wire and the butt cap

The body is one piece of ash turned to a bat profile with a swelling barrel, a tapered neck and a flared knob at the handle end. Turning from a single billet rather than laminating means there is no glue line to open up if the piece lives somewhere with changing humidity. The finish is oil rather than lacquer, which keeps the surface warm and matt and lets the pale ring porous figure show.

The wire is standard galvanised two strand barbed wire, the same product used on agricultural fencing. Galvanising is a zinc coating applied over steel, and it is what stops the wire rusting where it sits against damp timber. It will dull from bright to grey over the first year or two, which is normal and looks better than the day it was made.

The steel butt cap does two jobs. It protects the end grain of the handle, which is the part of any turned timber piece most likely to split, and it gives the piece a finished end rather than a raw cut. The geometric mark cut into its face is engraved rather than stamped, so it has a real depth to it.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel, the leather or the wood. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it, so a design on the butt cap takes the place of the geometric mark. The clear length of ash between the handle and the lower wire band is the other good surface and takes a burned or cut rune line very well. See the engraving page.

Mounting and display

Two mounting arrangements work well. Horizontal on a pair of open hooks, with one hook under the handle and one under the neck below the first wire band, keeps the wire clear of the wall and lets the piece be lifted off with one hand. Vertical in a floor stand or leaning in a corner works too, but put something under the knob so the end grain is not sitting on damp concrete.

Whatever you do, mount it high enough that nobody walks into it. Barbed wire at shoulder height in a corridor is an accident waiting to happen, and the canvas sleeve is included partly so the piece can be covered when there are children or animals in the room. Do not hang it above seating.

Care

Wipe the ash with a dry cloth and give it a wipe with a light coat of a neutral wood oil once a year. That keeps the timber from drying out and shrinking away from the wire wrap. Do not use furniture polish with silicone in it, because it builds a film that traps dirt in the open grain.

The galvanised wire needs nothing. Do not oil it, because oil on barbed wire collects dust and turns into a grimy mess that is unpleasant to clean off something you cannot easily wipe. If a barb ever works loose, do not try to bend it back with pliers on the piece. Send it back to us under the warranty.

Keep the whole thing out of direct sun, which will bleach the ash unevenly, and out of a damp garage where the timber will move and the staples can loosen.

Hardwood wants an occasional wipe of oil the same way an axe haft does, and the haft and edge care guide covers that.

Made in the Czech Republic

This piece is made by hand in the Czech Republic, in a workshop that still works the old way. The steel is forged, ground, heat treated and finished by smiths who learned the trade from the people before them, and the wood, horn and leather are cut and fitted by hand rather than pressed out on a line. That is also why no two pieces come out exactly the same.

Ransack Viking is a United States company. We import these pieces ourselves, check every one when it lands and ship from our warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Engraving is done here in the United States after the piece arrives, so your runes or your own design go on before it leaves for you.

A note on handmade variation

This piece is hand made rather than machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. Ash is a natural material and no two blanks have the same grain, so the figure running along your barrel and the tone of the pale timber will be their own. The wire is wrapped by hand, so the spacing of the barbs and the exact number of turns in each band differ every time. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Is the barbed wire real?

Yes. It is standard galvanised two strand agricultural barbed wire, wrapped and stapled onto the barrel. It is sharp and it will cut skin and clothing, so handle the piece by the handle and store it in the sleeve.

Is this an official product from a television series?

No. It is not licensed by or associated with any film, series, game or comic. It is our own design and we make no claim otherwise.

Can I actually hit anything with it?

No. It is sold for display, costume and photography only. It is not a sporting bat, it is not made for use on a person, and swinging a wire wrapped club is dangerous to whoever is holding it as much as to anything nearby.

Will it fit in a normal room?

At 32 inches it hangs comfortably on a standard wall between shelves. Allow about six inches of clearance in front of the wall so the barbs are not against the plaster.

Can I have a name burned into the wood?

Yes. The clear ash between the handle and the lower wire band takes a rune line or a short phrase well. Set the text with the converter above the add to cart button.

How is it packed for shipping?

In the canvas sleeve inside a braced carton, with the wire bands taped so nothing works loose in transit. United States shipping is free and takes one to two weeks of processing first.

What is in the box

• One Barbcrown barbed wire bat turned from solid ash
• Two wrapped and stapled bands of galvanised barbed wire
• One black canvas carry sleeve
• Care notes for oiled hardwood and galvanised wire
• Lifetime warranty against defects in the timber, the fittings and the build
• Made and finished in the Czech Republic

Explore the range

More display and home pieces: Viking home decor, Norse arms, sword stands and displays and engraved and personalised pieces. Background reading lives in the guides.