My latest BP pistol - a Pieta-made replica of the Colt Paterson Revolver, the first commercial revolver. Accompanying it is my early 1950s Kabar Rigging knife, one of my EDCs. I've carried the rigger nearly every day since I got it for $6 at a San Diego pawn shop way back in 1982. I have very seldom used the blade for cutting. That task goes to my other EDCs. The rigger is carried specifically for the spike. Many people have never seen one and when I use it to loosen knots, they are amazed by it.
This Paterson will be part of my Texian Navy Officer uniform I'm getting together for presentations on the history of Texas Navy.
Some history of the Paterson. One of the myths about the Paterson is that it was first used in Texas by the Texas Rangers.
The first ones bought by the Republic of Texas were destined for the Texian Navy, who bought 180 of them in 1839, along with a like number of Colt's revolving carbines and shotguns. When the Texian Navy was disbanded in 1843 by Sam Houston, the Rangers absconded with the surplus weapons, packing a pair of Patersons each.
The US Army didn't adopt the Paterson, claiming it was fragile and prone to malfunctions.
After General Zachary Taylor fought in Texas during the Mexican-American War, he sent Captain Samuel Walker, of the Texas Rangers (but serving with the US Mounted Rifles) back east to work with Colt to implement improvements in the revolvers, leading to the development of the Walker Colt, widely used in the US Army for decades.