PRISON SHANK 012

Private collection
PRISON SHANK 012
Private collection

Collection

  • American Prison System
  • Weapons

Origin

Cayuga Correctional Facility
Moravia, New York, USA

Medium

Steel, cloth, thread, and tape

Association

Manufactured by an incarcerated individual for close-quarters combat within a correctional facility.

Description

Improvised prison weapon constructed from a sharpened steel rod with a tapered point. The handle is tightly wrapped with brown thread over a cloth core, creating a secure grip while concealing the tang. A small piece of dark tape reinforces the wrapping on one side of the handle, and several small tabs of white cloth protrude near the upper handle, likely remnants from the construction process or reinforcement material. The steel blade exhibits surface wear, light oxidation, and grinding marks consistent with improvised manufacture. The overall design is slender and utilitarian, emphasizing concealability and effectiveness as a close-quarters improvised weapon.

PRISON SHANK 012

1/2

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550BC is an independent publishing house based in Amsterdam, founded in 2018. Specializing in the complex realities of organized crime and conflict, we explore these subjects through the lens of visual anthropology. Our photo books provide rare, first-person perspectives from within otherwise inaccessible worlds, often created in direct collaboration with those involved. 550BC is also home to a private collection of over 2,000 unique physical items, preserved artifacts from the worlds we document. A selection is presented in our online archive.

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