Scabbards

Ancient scabbards Wooden scabbards were usually covered in fabric or leather, and leather versions also usually bore metal fittings for added protection and carrying ease.

Four Roman-era swords, their wooden and leather hilts and scabbards and steel blades exquisitely preserved after 1,900 years in a desert cave, surfaced in a recent excavation by Israeli archaeologists near the Dead Sea, officials announced.

After 200 BC fully decorated scabbards became rare.

Bismarck later recorded that there had been a "rattling of sabres in their scabbards" from Prussian officers when they learned that the King would not suppress the revolution by force.

Imperial Russian infantry carried "triangular" bayonets fixed to their rifles on almost all occasions, rather than using the belt attached scabbards of other armies.

Little is known about the scabbards of the early Iron Age, due to their wooden construction.

Many scabbards like the ones the Greeks and Romans used were small and light.

Over the millennia, scabbards have been made of many materials, including leather, wood, and metals such as brass or steel.

Scabbards were historically, albeit rarely, worn across the back with the intention of being quickly unsheathed, but only by a handful -if that- of celtic tribes, and only with very short lengths of sword.

Some military police forces, naval shore patrols, law enforcement and other groups used leather scabbards as a kind of truncheon.

Some modern bayonets, such as the one used on the British SA80 assault rifle, can be used as wire cutters when combined with their scabbards.

This was used to cover objects that needed waterproofing, such as scabbards and other items.