What melee weapons would you choose for when the SHTF?

Originally posted by epitaph.one
reply to post by JDBlack

 

katana, gladius or spear?

a katana is not good for close quarters combat, a reason why the ninja did not use one, they used the shorter version of a katana, i forget what they are called, i think it starts with a "w". Unless you live in a rural area right now, your going to have to get out of the city which will be alot of CQC if # really goes into chaos.

a gladius would make sense although I think like someone else said, isnt it only 1 edged? would be a good machete.

a spear? # for CQC unless youve trained with one for half your life haha. a hunting with it? do you have the muscles developed to throw the spear like a javelin? cause I know i sure as hell dont. I think i could get maybe 20-30 yards with accuracy and then I dont know how much force it would have.

I would use a hatchet, 1 side for cutting wood (once outside of the city haha) or fashioning tools and or weapons with the blunt side for breaking locks and or something that needed to be opened.

edit on 8-12-2010 by epitaph.one because: (no reason given)

The mate to the katana is the wakizashi.

A gladius is double edged. These are good for everything. CQB, camp work. Remember, this was the general tool and weapon of the Legion.

I would favor the Gladius for durability, single edge hatchet, and maybe a boar spear. Remember, you dont always throw a spear. Sometimes its just an extention of your arm.

Now if we were given the option of a missle weapon, I'll take a medium bow thank you.

Ok people. For starters I'm upset that this isn't a weaponry forum subject anymore. As it stands, guns go through ammunition really fast, and even though some people could make more powder and ammo, most couldn't. The weapons left would be bows and arrows, and swords, and makeshift weapons. And it could easily happen anywhere, through war, or natural disasters.

Originally posted by JDBlack
Ok people. For starters I'm upset that this isn't a weaponry forum subject anymore. As it stands, guns go through ammunition really fast, and even though some people could make more powder and ammo, most couldn't. The weapons left would be bows and arrows, and swords, and makeshift weapons. And it could easily happen anywhere, through war, or natural disasters.

Just curious, but how do "guns go through ammunition really fast"? Don't people go through ammunition? In this post apocolyptic fantasy how many people do you think you would need to shoot?

Have you seen the Mad Max movies? Is that what your picturing?

I would rely on my Wusthof Trident collection.

Including the wooden block.

Originally posted by jennybee35
reply to post by amc621

 

I can tell that you have never lived in rural Louisiana!

I'm a girl, and I can guaran-dang-tee you that I have used all of the weapons that I have listed, many times. When you grow up out in the country on a working farm, you learn to do ALL kinds of thing! It's great!

People in the cities would be dead, goners. Us country folk stand the best chance of surviving and thriving.

If the ammo ran out, which is a big if considering all the places I'd rob around here that sell ammunition, I'd go for a compound bow. Excellent and silent way of hunting or taking down some transient who thinks he's going to take my stuff or rape my girlfriend.

It's a ranged weapon, but with practice it can be very fast.

For close in action I'd pick my katana over my chokuto or so called "ninja" sword. Note to the martial arts fans: ninjas were coward assassins, and no good in a one on one fight despite the popular mythology of Hollywood and Hong Kong that have made them out to be some kind of superhuman fighters.

No ninja would dare stand against an experienced Samurai, katana in hand. Or if he did, it wouldn't be a long fight.

Also, when speaking of katanas I am not talking about the cheap crap you can buy in a store or online, but one that has been forged by hand and taken hundreds of man hours to complete. A real katana is a beautiful, light and flexible weapon that with practice becomes a very deadly extension of your sword arm.

reply to post by amc621


Trouble causing troll with not a lick of commin sense!!!!!

If you dont know how to make your own powders, then you might want to start on your bow & arrow building skills now or start work on learning Black powder making and Musket shooting skills, one or the other will keep you feed unless your a R-tard without a lick of commin sense

reply to post by Guilp

LOL! Knowing my luck, that is probably how it would be
Oh well....maybe we can just be friends and be a bad ass team!

You can see all kinds of cool weapon demonstartions on the show "Deadliest Warrior" on Spike....love that show!

reply to post by amc621


I'm not picturing mad max. I am picturing the fact that most people will have semi-auto and will go through ammo as fast as they can squeeze the trigger. And when people are hopped up on adrenaline they can squeeze pretty quick. Also guns break and most people wouldn't be able to fix them. Personally I don't care about why there are no guns, just go with the fact that there aren't any. Also upon spending some time with my stuff, I would probably use my good machete, (I may change that to a kukri, when I get mine) with either my hatchet or hunting knife as a backup.

reply to post by Perseus Apex


The Answer.
The "Bow of the Cross" or rather Crossbow.
It comes Natural and doesn't run out of rounds/bullets.
A silent stealth weapon.
Great for hunting and dEfense.

For all of you that posted samurai or other types of swords, please realize that if it is not a traditionally made "functional" sword blade, it is not going to help you as much as you'd like. I've spent some time reading up on metallurgy, and the mass produced stamped out swords that you see so often in novetly shops are virtually useless in a combat scenario. At the very least you'd need something like a Paul Chen Hanwei Forge Practical Katana or better. If you're not concerned about striking distance I'd suggest a shorter, sturdier blade that can still be used for hacking, similar to the one Stallone used on the most recent Rambo movie.

If you find yourself in a tight spot, you can always quickly throw together the following or something similar:
1. Take two long socks (dress socks work nicely, unfold them, and them put one inside the other and make a double layer sock.
2. Drop 2 or 3 golf balls or rocks, or other hard, heavy, generally unbreakable objects inside the inner sock.
3. Tie a knot just above the objects inside the socks to prevent them from ungrouping or moving around.
4. Tie a know near the open end; this will give you something to hold on to.

You cannot imagine the head speed you can generate with a good pair of elastic dress socks and three golf balls. I find the golf ball solution to be optimal because they are made to withstand multiple hard impacts, they are designed to efficiently transfer energy to the target, and they are smooth and will not wear down the sock sheathing, as would rocks, etc.

I actually carry one of these in my car, and after trying it out on a double ply heavy duty cardboard box (think really heavy duty), I am confident that it can handle whatever a human body can throw at it.

Use this information responsibly.

Bryan

Ive built a few of these Apache throwing Stars and used them for small game hunting and did suprisingly well.

reply to post by JDBlack


Honestly... and this is my opinion: It's people like the weapon mongers replying in this thread that are going to be the cause of a SHTF scenario.

I would hope that if such a scenario were to occur, people would be far less barbaric in formulating a new way to help civilization get back on its feet. That obviously won't happen, though, because from the looks of things, everyone's going to be cowering in their shanties, sharpening their "bowie knives", ready to decapitate the first person to who gets close to their lettuce garden.

This idea that everyone's out to get you ( cue Beck song ) really has to die before humanity can actually start respecting itself.

Not to be a jerk, but I disagree with your comment, and I'm afraid that if the S does HTF, that it's people that cling to ideas like yours that won't be around to admit that they were wrong. I just don't see why people who are concerned with the ability to defend themselves are deemed weapon mongers in your view of the world. Should I call all pacifists violence magnets?

reply to post by oaf21

reply to post by JDBlack


lol, im not sure but, do you mean Sh*t hits the fan when you say SHTF?

reply to post by kettlebellysmith


Oh, yeah! I forgot about our staffs we made in Arkansas! They are just like steel now, after drying for 2 years. We made 'em the last time we camped on Little Missouri, and they are perfect as a defense weapon.

Thanks for jogging my memory. They are truly skull-crackers!

reply to post by mydarkpassenger


In your fantasy world here there would be NO MORE "city folk". They would be destroyed.

You guys kill me......figuratively

Originally posted by Patrioitinsheepclothing
reply to post by amc621

 

Trouble causing troll

with not a lick of commin sense!!!!!

If you dont know how to make your own powders, then you might want to start on your bow & arrow building skills now or start work on learning Black powder making and Musket shooting skills, one or the other will keep you feed unless your a R-tard without a lick of commin sense

stick and stones may break my bones, but names are not going to hurt me. Especially from a immature kid who lives in a fantasy world.

Have a question, what is "commin sense" is that some junior high thing?

Originally posted by Patrioitinsheepclothing



Ive built a few of these Apache throwing Stars and used them for small game hunting and did suprisingly well.

small game hunting? you've gone after PS2's in stores with throwing stars? Wow.

Every time a "Dude, what's your favorite melee weapon?" thread comes up, I can't help but envision this:

No, but seriously, enough with the melee threads, hey?