Survival Swords?

[Mr. Bggs]

I sell pens.

I hear it's mightier

 

[Mr. Bggs]

Maybe a good Louisville slugger as a last resort

 

[pirate]

Ronin Katana Medieval Warsword - Euro Model #3

This Late Medieval Sword by Ronin Katana has a sharp blade fashioned from 1075 high carbon steel; it is fitted through the hilt and peened over the pommel to create an overall robust hilt construction. The crossguard and pommel are stainless steel and the grip is cord over a wood core with a...

www.kultofathena.com

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Type XVIIIc, insane for cutting things.

Oakeshott Type XIIIc

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Speaking just for myself, I would opt for a 24" felling axe or a long-handled tomahawk. I am at least mildly proficient in axe use, as opposed to training with a blade that is not a machete.

Plus I have more plausible deniability for why I have an axe with me than a sword.

Well...except for carrying two cross holstered on your back and one strapped to your waist...

🤣

 

[RR]

I always think about this topic when watching the patriotView attachment 459214
Then i remember I'm unskilled and out of shape. I'd probably be better off hiding with a ghillie suit. That and stocking up on wearable components for my guns and of course ammo are my best chance.

When I was stabbed I was in the best shape of my life. That's likely why I survived that particular encounter.

I was 19, 185 lbs with a six pack, and I benched 245. I was training 3 nights a week with a group that brought various "MMA" elements to the mat. One guy was heavy into muay Thai, another was a former ranked HS wrestler. Several others held belts in various "arts." My biggest skillsrt was kickboxing but I was a decent grappler and could pull a chokehold from outta my *** if need be.

Anyhow the fellow that instigated this particular exchange wanted my wallet. And he thought the 3" folding knife in his hand was gonna be what pursuaded me to give it up. He may have been 120 lbs soaking wet and failed the victim selection process miserably.

As it turns out I was working a crappy job and had just broken up with a long time girlfriend and was in a mood where I really didn't care if I lived or died.

So when I said "no" and he commenced to stabbing at me, I didn't even realize I was cut until he was laying on the ground in a tangle of his own ass. I'd gotten inside of his wild swinging crackhead stab, locked both hands around his neck in a classic muay thai plum and then kneed him in the face and bounced his head off the brick wall and metal exterior door to the convenience store bathroom I was walking out of when he confronted me. It wasn't until I saw the metal doorknob of the exterior bathroom door snap off that I realized he'd gone limp and was unconscious.

I got back to my car and headed to work (nightshift in the ghetto). That's when I realized I was bleeding and had in fact been stabbed. More like a gouging cut to the upper arm.

So yeah, you're gonna get cut. Even if you come out on top.

 

[Walkabout Dan]

Machete and an entrenching tool . Both make fine weapons if the need arises.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

"Two guys engage with blades, one guy is going to the hospital and the other is going to the morgue."

Think about that for a minute in the context of a societal collapse and decide how long you think you'll survive swordfighting. Even if you're good at it.

You're gonna get cut. Cuts with no medical resources = bad juju.

Or, as @GoWolfpack once told me, "Nobody walks away from a knife fight without bleeding."

A deadly force encounter ain't about fairness or sparring in the ring. It's about survival. I wouldn't pull a knife in a knife fight...I'd go for something that gives me a better "edge" (see what I did there?). A sword, with better reach, or a gun would be examples.

 

[Mr. Bggs]

Yikes!

 

[RR]

Or, as @GoWolfpack once told me, "Nobody walks away from a knife fight without bleeding."

A deadly force encounter ain't about fairness or sparring in the ring. It's about survival. I wouldn't pull a knife in a knife fight...I'd go for something that gives me a better "edge" (see what I did there?). A sword, with better reach, or a gun would be examples.

If the person wielding it knows what they are doing, you'll never see the blade that cuts you. If they pull it out and flash it at you that's a bit different. Doesn't mean you're safe but.....

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

If the person wielding it knows what they are doing, you'll never see the blade that cuts you. If they pull it out and flash it at you that's a bit different. Doesn't mean you're safe but.....

That can be said about nearly any weapon. And I agree.

Those sucker punches we've seen goons pull on unsuspecting victims, for example.

If you get caught this way, you're likely hosed anyway.

 

[RR]

That can be said about nearly any weapon. And I agree.

Those sucker punches we've seen goons pull on unsuspecting victims, for example.

If you get caught this way, you're likely hosed anyway.

I carry a Spyderco Delica wave in my left front pocket. It has a Wisemen Co signet ring attached and the blade will deploy as it leaves my pocket.

The whole reason it is there is if violence happens inside my OODA loop. In that case someone is getting gutted if I can get to it.

It's on the left and my gun is on the right. I'll be going for both while trying to grapple and not 💩 myself....

 

[Alabamacoastie]

And though I won't carry one strapped across my back in a SHTF scenario I do appreciate swords. They're a lot of fun. I have several of the se ones @pirate posted up thread.

I even made one.....
View attachment 459187View attachment 459188

I've kinda beat the hell out of this one so it kinda passes the SHTF test, but I'd revert to my Kershaw Outcast (D2 steel) or Expat Darien (1075 steel) over this (1084 steel) if all hell breaks loose.

I really like that. You did a great job, but it's almost more handle than blade, isn't it?

 

[NKD]

Swords are so useless and ineffective that they ruled the battle field for over 4,000 years.

At any rate, when the powder runs out, by all means go with a pocketknife. It’s just as good as a katana.

 

[RR]

I really like that. You did a great job, but it's almost more handle than blade, isn't it?

Two hands control a blade better than one, and a balanced blade is manageable with one hand. I was aiming for, and achieved both.

 

[Alabamacoastie]

Two hands control a blade better than one, and a balanced blade is manageable with one hand. I was aiming for, and achieved both.

Wisdom!

 

[B00ger]

I’m a fan of bayonets. They were literally designed for “taking a knife to a gunfight”. Useful on their own as general purpose knives, but attached to a long hunk of wood and steel they get pretty gnarly.

I’d also look to a nice solid Kabar. Served the marines quite well. And is a good fighting knife and utility knife.

If we are at a stage in society where swords are back in vogue…I died a while prior.

 

[RR]

I’m a fan of bayonets. They were literally designed for “taking a knife to a gunfight”. Useful on their own as general purpose knives, but attached to a long hunk of wood and steel they get pretty gnarly.

I’d also look to a nice solid Kabar. Served the marines quite well. And is a good fighting knife and utility knife.

If we are at a stage in society where swords are back in vogue…I died a while prior.

I can't think about bayonets without remembering an old comedy routine by Blake Clark (Home Improvement, Water Boy, et al)

Blake Clark is an Army Vietnam vet and in his stand up routine talked about basic training. He said his drill instructor taught them that if their bayonet were to become lodged in their enemy's rib cage that they were not to pick their foot up and kick their enemy off the bayonet. They were to fire a round from their weapon and this would dislodge it.

To which he replied "Sargeant, if there is a round left in my weapon, ain't gonna be no GD bayonet fightin'"

Which I guess sums up the thread to date...

 

[Mr. Bggs]

Those gosh darn lizard people

 

[Alabamacoastie]

I bought an Ontario SP8 for my shtf kit. One of my buddies carried one of these in Iraq. It was a machete, a saw, and a pry bar, all in one. I saw it open several windows and steel lockers while we were doing searches in Iraq. 1095 carbon steel... $58 on Amazon. I paid double that about 5 years ago... But mine was an older, "old, new stock" model. Mine might be a different kind of steel, not sure.

 

[GoWolfpack]

Or, as @GoWolfpack once told me, "Nobody walks away from a knife fight without bleeding."

A deadly force encounter ain't about fairness or sparring in the ring. It's about survival. I wouldn't pull a knife in a knife fight...I'd go for something that gives me a better "edge" (see what I did there?). A sword, with better reach, or a gun would be examples.

I learned that from a thread on THR featuring a famous picture of I think a prison guard who won the fight but still got cut almost to ribbons.

 

[Hammer12b]

Did y’all not learn anything?

 

[Herk]

Never even thought about it.........


I like hacking up stuff......more for fun, but that said I do think there is a place for edge weapons. I have more than enough guns and ammo to keep me engaged for a good long time but you never know when you might have to take a head or two.......


A quality machete would be my choice since it has "tool" value too. I do have a few swords but they would not stand up to SHTF long term use as well.

And don't forget hawks......

Nice collection!

 

[Herk]

I never get enough of Cold Steel videos - this one got me to buy my first kukri -

 

[Ferrisfan]

Those gosh darn lizard people Gorn

Star Trek nerd reporting in.

 

[Starkherz199]

I was reading a depressing article on the impending financial collapse and the following sentences caught my attention - "Another aspect that people don’t think about, is edged weapons. Amazon has some amazing deals on Wakizashi-type swords (like miniature samurai swords) made of 9260 spring steel, which can be wielded one-handed by an adult or two-handed by kids, if needed. They can be made razor sharp, don’t require ammo, and are quiet. Finally, they don’t require background checks." So anyway - I've been thinking about swords and I was wondering if any of you have thought about or own a sword for actual use if necessary? I've had a nice Cold Steel Kukri for a while. Must confess - I did order a Wakizashi after reading the article.

This is the one to get.
24$ on Amazon

 

[REELDOC]

Many moons ago I had the opportunity to work out with some kung fu dudes. These weren't your Chinese movie types, they were for real bad asses that loved their weapons. Most of them when asked what weapon they would choose chose the spear.

 

[NKD]

The powder will never “run out”.


What fantasies do you guys sit up at night dreaming about where mankind takes quantum leaps backward?

Now that humans have figured out how to make gunpowder, the last time a major battle was determined by “not guns” was many centuries ago. Long before electricity, mass production, etc.

Once we come up with the “better way to kill”, we never put that genie back in the bottle.


Heck, even hundreds of years in the future, in a land with all technology gone…..makeshift firearms will always triumph over pointy-stuff.


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Believing it is not possible for technology and yes, gunpowder to disappear is.... hopeful. We are tiny ants floating on a rock surrounded by a maelstrom of chaos. Waiting for our history and tiny achievements to be erased in an instant. This has everything to do with reality and nothing to do with fantasy. The fantasy is the laughable cockiness of thinking this will never go away, and the ridiculous belief that humans control the future of this Earth.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

The powder will never “run out”.

It's not that gunpowder will ever "run out", it's that it may become largely unavailable to the common man through various means.

While I'm sure most of us here can (and some have) actually make gunpowder, that's a far cry from modern propellants and I daresay there are few modern cartridges of the common variety where it would perform satisfactorily. Like 9mm, .45 ACP, .223, etc. Which means a great many modern firearms will essentially become clubs when ammo and reloading resources are gone.

At any rate, I believe the original context for this is "when you run out of ammo", not "when gunpowder disappears from the face of the Earth".

 

[NCLivingBrit]

This is the one to get.
24$ on Amazon
View attachment 459353

That's my bedside one. Sturdy, takes a nice razor edge and feels good in the hand.

My only issue is I prefer the less tapered point on a Gladius and can't be arsed to grind it lol

 

[Combat Diver]

I was reading a depressing article on the impending financial collapse and the following sentences caught my attention - "Another aspect that people don’t think about, is edged weapons. Amazon has some amazing deals on Wakizashi-type swords (like miniature samurai swords) made of 9260 spring steel, which can be wielded one-handed by an adult or two-handed by kids, if needed. They can be made razor sharp, don’t require ammo, and are quiet. Finally, they don’t require background checks." So anyway - I've been thinking about swords and I was wondering if any of you have thought about or own a sword for actual use if necessary? I've had a nice Cold Steel Kukri for a while. Must confess - I did order a Wakizashi after reading the article.

Swords take lots of training and skill to be proficient with back in the dark ages. I'll stick my bayonet on the end of the rifle.

CD

 

[Combat Diver]

Still have my Blackjack Viking Raider Axe that I ordered during Desert Storm. Came in just as I went into Kuwait City just after the cease fire so didn't get to test it out.



CD

 

[RR]

Still have my Blackjack Viking Raider Axe that I ordered during Desert Storm. Came in just as I went into Kuwait City just after the cease fire so didn't get to test it out.

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CD

I love hatchets that double as ulu style skinners.

I have the "Thorax" from Condor that has a similar design.

Condor 14" Thorax Hatchet w/ Walnut Handle CTK3901-1.5HC - Blade HQ

The Condor Thorax Hatchet is a capable tool featuring a durable 1075 carbon steel head with a blasted satin finish. The wood handle scales are made from a long-lasting, sturdy walnut for optimum comfort. This Hatchet includes a hand crafted welted leather sheath.

www.bladehq.com

Sadly it is discontinued.

 

[GymB]

I never get enough of Cold Steel videos - this one got me to buy my first kukri -

Did you buy the San Mai? I wasn’t able to locate one so got whatever the standard one with the textured grip is.

 

[pirate]

This is the one to get.
24$ on Amazon
View attachment 459353

This is the one to get.
24$ on Amazon
View attachment 459353

I have one and the handle/grip of this "Gladius" type machete/sword is a bit uneconomic IMO (4th from left). Of course it will pierce through just about anything. The Cold Steel Saux machete is a easier tool to wield (3rd on right in pic). Its cost under $30 also. https://www.heavenlyswords.com/product.php?productid=17146

The Windlass Qama (2nd from right) is literally scary sharp. I am a bit scared of it honestly. The Qama is now discontinued but Windlass makes a similar blade called the Cobra Steel Kindjal and It goes for around $70 and is a nice quick short sword. https://www.kultofathena.com/product/cobra-steel-kindjal/

 

[Herk]

Did you buy the San Mai? I wasn’t able to locate one so got whatever the standard one with the textured grip is.

I got mine 10 years ago off of Amazon - it was the step down from the San Mai manufactured in Taiwan. It's a great blade looks like the Kukri Plus without the finger guard. I don't think they make it anymore. The Kukri Plus costs a little over 3 times the price I paid.

 

[Herk]

Did you buy the San Mai? I wasn’t able to locate one so got whatever the standard one with the textured grip is.

Here's a picture of it (and also a Ka Bar Combat Kukri)

 

[pirate]

I have several Kukri style blades but not the San Mai. The lower end Cold Steel stuff can be hit or miss sometimes but their higher end products are really nice generally. The Kukri is a great all around tool/weapon and you can get a lot of power and leverage when you swing it.

 

[pirate]

For those on a budget looking for a fighting tool, the machete is always a good option. lot of good options and sizes available. I play around and modify them to my needs and whims since they are relatively inexpensive.

Here are a couple I moded/re-profiled

 

[Herk]

My Wakazashi arrived. Whacked a 1" Beech sapling through with 1 stroke. I can see some possibilities with this.

 

[Alabamacoastie]

Did y’all not learn anything?

Did you hear the story on that scene?

According to legend, they had a whole long fight sequence planned and choreographed. But, that day, Harrison Ford had a very bad cold and felt horrible. You can see him rubbing his nose, in the shot.

They said he improvised the gun shot, off the cuff, and the director kept it...