# Did I imagine this tool? weapon? for cutting weeds, or does it exist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Tags:** tools-electric-diy\ **Created:** [July 8, 2022, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595 "2022-07-08T02:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/1 "2022-07-08T02:49:23Z")
I do volunteer trail maintenance for the local mountain bike trails, which mostly consists of mowing and running a string trimmer and hedge trimmer every month or so. In between mowing sessions, the vines and blackberries here tend to reach into the trail - we call them face slappers. As I was riding today, I had a vague memory of a sort of implement that I thought would be effective at whacking the odd vine back in between mowing sessions. The item I was thinking of was a flexible tapered plastic rod, triangular in cross section, with a bit of a hollow grind on the faces to make the corners sharper. The handle end had a lanyard and the whole thing was perhaps three or four feet long, thumb sized at the butt, and maybe 3/16" at the tip. You’d use it to slash at herbaceous weeds, and the speed of the tip and the sharpish edge would cut or break the weeds off. So did I hallucinate this brush clearer/cattle prod/torture device, or does something like this actually exist with a name I can Google? I like the idea of it because carrying a machete or other metal blade while biking seems like a bad idea, and this would give me the reach that hand loppers don’t have. Quick stop, slash slash slash, ride on. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/2 "2022-07-08T03:06:03Z")
Grass whip? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/3 "2022-07-08T08:29:12Z")
It sounds a little bit like a sjambok ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/4 "2022-07-08T08:44:26Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Grass whip? Oh, no you don’t. We’re not going down _that_ rabbit hole again. > [@Incredibly common products which the store clerk never heard of](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incredibly-common-products-which-the-store-clerk-never-heard-of/951225/13): > > Recently I went to a store with a large lawn care section and asked where I could find a grass whip. Apparently that doesn’t qualify as incredibly common nowadays because no one had ever heard of such a thing and they don’t carry them. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/5 "2022-07-08T16:47:47Z")
I remember what you’re talking about, just haven’t run down an image - probably an antique scythe. He’s something modern, same rough design. > **[Ames 36 in. Wood Handle Double Blade Weeder 2915300 - The Home Depot](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ames-36-in-Wood-Handle-Double-Blade-Weeder-2915300/204476217)** > > The Ames Double Blade Weed Cutter offers a cost effective way of clearing tall grass and other vegetation in overgrown areas. Its double-edge action provides increased efficiency by cutting on both the ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/6 "2022-07-08T17:10:12Z")
The thing I’m thinking of isn’t a sling blade or grass whip, with a wooden handle and serrated angled blade at the end. It’s a one piece implement that’s bendy, more like a plastic epee. Mangetout’s probably on the money with the sjambok (ugh), although I was picturing something made of white PTFE or HDPE instead of hippo hide, and not round in cross section. I’ll take a look at the farm supply near here to see if any of the stock whips fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/7 "2022-07-08T20:44:33Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > although I was picturing something made of white PTFE or HDPE instead of hippo hide You can buy ones that aren’t hide, hide, the hippo’s outside. > **[SJAMBOK 54"](https://www.coldsteel.com/54-sjambok/)** > > In Africa, the Sjambok (Sham-Bawk) is a cattle prod, whip, riding crop and an effective means of self-protection, whether from venomous snakes, or from varmi ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/8 "2022-07-08T20:58:01Z")
I bought one of these thingies (this exact thingy) to tame the weeds in this old garden bed I was letting grow over. IIRC it worked ok, and it’s sharp as heck, but it seemed to only work on really sturdy weeds on the ground. I actually dug the thing out a few weeks ago to see if it could handle the grass growing around my mailbox post without me having to get the trimmer out, and it did not handle said grass at all. It’s still perfectly sharp. The grass was just not substantial enough to let the blade bite it. Seems like the blade would just push it over. In the end I basically just combed my grass and took out like 1/6 of the blades. The rest remained. I don’t think this tool would work for vines growing at face level. The vines wouldn’t be able to push back. Like trying to chop lettuce with a knife, but the lettuce is sitting on a hammock. @brossa definitely needs something that doesn’t need resistance in order to chop. Something that provides its own resistance. Like a whip or a very sharp thin blade. ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/9 "2022-07-08T21:08:49Z")
To be fair, I don’t need to sever the vines completely; just cracking them so they droop and don’t extend horizontally into the trail is sufficient. But I’d like to do that 2 feet or more from the trail, and not spend five seconds at each vine stopping, reaching, grabbing, pulling, snipping, and discarding. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2022, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/10 "2022-07-08T21:25:32Z")
There’s alway this: > **[Elon Musk delivers first 1,000 flamethrowers, value rockets on eBay](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2018/06/11/elon-musk-delivers-first-1-000-flamethrowers/692937002/)** > > Elon Musk started to distribute his promised Flamethrowers last weekend ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2022, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/11 "2022-07-09T16:35:19Z")
> [@brossa](#): > > Mangetout’s probably on the money with the sjambok (ugh), although I was picturing something made of white PTFE or HDPE instead of hippo hide, and not round in cross section. Most sjamboks nowadays are made of _black_ plastic, but they definitely are round and don’t have sharp edges. Whatever you’re thinking of, it isn’t a sjambok. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/12 "2022-07-09T16:49:02Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > There’s alway this: (yawn) Poofers are dime-a-dozen at Burning Man. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W04DGxyoUOU/maxresdefault.jpg "Burning Man 2016: Fire Spire, El Pulpo Mecanico, and Other Flame Effects") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W04DGxyoUOU) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2022, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/13 "2022-07-09T16:53:49Z")
Wow. I didn’t know I’ve owned a “grass whip” for 40 years. I just thought of it as a type of scythe. Still sharp. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Terrific](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tom_terrific/32/342_2.png) [@Tom\_Terrific](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Terrific)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/14 "2022-07-10T15:16:17Z")
Try looking up grass slasher. It isn’t exactly what you described but I think some of the heavier duty models might break small to medium branches. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/15 "2022-07-10T20:22:13Z")
What you describe sounds like this thing - a plastic martial arts training sword, although the one in the link has a square cross-section rather triangular. > **[Cold Steel Sword Breaker Trainer](https://www.herooutdoors.com/cold-steel-sword-breaker-trainer/)** > > Hero Outdoors is your one-stop army surplus online store in Canada. We offer one of the largest selections of military surplus products, gear and equipment. You can find metal ones by Googling things like “kung fu sword mace” or “Chinese steel whip mace”. You will find a bunch of other wacky fantasy martial arts weapons, too. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/16 "2022-07-10T23:50:41Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > (yawn) Poofers are dime-a-dozen at Burning Man. > **[Poof](https://arresteddevelopment.fandom.com/wiki/Poof)** > > Poof is a magazine for magicians. The magazine recognizes impressive illusions such as Tony Wonder's soup-for-the-troops illusion. G.O.B. attempts to get on the cover of Poof but is only put in after messing up an illusion, the Magic Coffin Illusion,... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2022, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/17 "2022-07-10T23:52:54Z")
> [@Retzbu\_Tox](#): > > You can find metal ones by Googling things like “kung fu sword mace” or “Chinese steel whip mace”. You will find a bunch of other wacky fantasy martial arts weapons, too. You could also use [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi_no_Tsurugi), if you have access to the Japanese Imperial Regalia. ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/18 "2022-07-11T03:58:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You could also use [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kusanagi_no_Tsurugi), if you have access to the Japanese Imperial Regalia. I wonder if the _Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi_ (“Grass-Cutting Sword”) got it’s name due to a literal ability to cut grass, or because it can mow down the emperor’s enemies… ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/19 "2022-07-11T05:51:04Z")
It could be worse, I guess: it could be cursed. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7FDb_ngmzh8/hqdefault.jpg "Blade of Grass | Adventure Time | Cartoon Network") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FDb_ngmzh8) ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2022, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595/20 "2022-07-11T05:56:34Z")
The thought of mowing a lawn with that itty bitty blade fills me with despair. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-i-imagine-this-tool-weapon-for-cutting-weeds-or-does-it-exist/967595.md?page=2)