Swordstick

A precedent for the swordstick would be used by 17th century spy Alonso de Contreras, who would hide a sword inside a staff while disguised as a pilgrim.

During this period, it was becoming less socially acceptable to openly carry a sword, but there were still upper-class men routinely trained in swordsmanship who wished to go armed for self-defense.

[3] Malacca wood was the most commonly used material in making the cane shafts,[citation needed] and the standard grip was rounded and metallic.

Ornate designs, such as animal heads, skulls, and various emblems may also be carved into the wooden handles; these may make them harder to wield, but some find them more attractive.

A bespoke swordstick maker in South Africa constructs canes and walking sticks of light but exceptionally strong carbon fiber, or titanium, often with an ornately engraved silver or wood head, concealing an 18 inch stainless steel blade.

A 19th-century English expert on fencing, boxing, and close-quarters self-defense, R. G. Allanson-Winn, opined: [t]he sword-stick is an instrument I thoroughly detest and abominate, and could not possibly advocate the use of in any circumstance whatever .

[5]Allanson-Winn's objection may also reflect the prevailing view of concealed daggers as ungentlemanly, "of shady reputation": the weapon of a ruffian or "hasty hot-tempered individual" for the "shedding of blood over some trivial, senseless squabble."

Allanson-Winn's collaborator in self-defense training C. Phillips Wolley of the English Inns of Court School of Arms, took a different, perhaps even opposite view: a thrusting weapon is too deadly.

Instead these 19th-century experts recommended as more practical an ordinary walking-stick of Irish blackthorn, sans blade: strong, supple, and in skilled hands (that is, someone trained in fencing), decisive.

[10] The Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988, ISBN 0-11-088019-6 also made it illegal to trade in sword canes in the United Kingdom.