In this photo of the inimitable Don Knotts portraying Barney Fife, he is wearing something on the left front of his uniform’s belt that looks like a pocket knife sheath, except it appears that the opening is downward, so that when you open it, whatever is inside will fall out. Is this something people actually do, or is this an extraordinarily subtle indication of Barney’s incompetence by the costume designer? If the former, what would a law officer be carrying inside of something worn this way? (Maybe I’ve been wearing my pocket knives upside down all my life?)
I agree that it being upside-down is a subtle dig at the character by the costume designer. Maybe it’s to hold cuffs?
Sorry, when I’ve had them put on me, I’ve neglected to closely note the container they came from. However, I think it looked a lot like that, but that photo is foreshortening it so it looks narrower than it really is.
It looks like a dump pouch . Probably for holding extra ammo for his revolver. They are upside down so you can just flip the cover open and the contents will drop into your hand. That way you don’t have to fish things out. Handy for revolver ammo when need to reload and would rather do it faster than slower.
Ha, if they wanted to accentuate Barney’s ineptitude, they could have had him wear it “upside” up ( which would really of course be upside down).
I have no idea why Barney Fife would wear a knife sheath that way. The character of Sergeant Barnes, in the movie Platoon, wore a knife upside down on his load-bearing gear, for fast access, per their advisor Dale Dye. And sliced Charlie Sheen’s character in the face with it, but that’s neither here nor there.
Perusing knife fora (Upsidedown Carry: Is it Practical? | BladeForums.com) it appears to be a “looks cool, of dubious practical utility.” But, YMMV. Most say there that it’s inevitable that the knife will fall out at some point, usually when you need it.
I would have said handcuffs too, and for the same reason as an ammunition pouch. But I don’t think I’ve seen the nylon ones worn that way. Perhaps that’s because nylon is floppy, and easier to extract handcuffs from?
It is a handcuff pouch. It’s actually easier to pull the cuffs out upside down like that if they are worn in the front. The belly can get in the way. Even a skinny officer is often bent forward when arresting someone, so the belly pushes down on the cuffs, make it hard to get them out. Mosr modern cops solve this by just wearing the pouch on the rear of their belt.
Thanks all. So the dump pouch is intended to hold ammunition. But given that Barney is only allowed by the sheriff to carry one bullet, his pouch must be empty. So he’s probably wearing it just out of vanity, which is entirely consistent with Barney’s character.
