R. McKinnell
Oct 6, 2025
“A shiv or shank is a hand-crafted bladed weapon resembling a knife that is commonly associated with prison inmates.”
They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and this could not be truer of inmates at OSR who created shanks from every sort of item. Some of the shanks were made from obvious things such as sharpened bread knives or large safety pins used to close laundry bags.
There were, however, some unconventional items such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and the lids from a tin can. Inmates would melt the handles of plastic toothbrushes or hairbrushes to attach a razor blade. A bent lid from a tin can was attached to a handle to create a blade and #2 pencils were altered.
Some of the shanks had bent paper clips attached which were a puzzlement until that question was answered by Mike Humphrey, a former inmate and volunteer.
The bent paperclip became a hanger that inmates would hang on the inside of their shirt collar. It was easy to access if needed and yet not always found during searches by guards.
