What Weapon For HD OTHER than a firearm?

[AStone]

space for sword swinging

I have no doubt of a sword's effectiveness. But I'd be interested to see if you could take an aggressive guy with a kitchen knife in a hallway with a bokken. Long weapons don't work well in crowded spaces...and neither do complicated strategies.

Hey Daniel, I agree: no swords in the hallway.

Speaking only for myself, my space is a lot different from most house and apartment dwellers: it's a modified warehouse with 18' ceilings. Read "big open space, no narrow hallways". I've got plenty of room to swing even a long sword, let alone a shorter one that i'm looking at (or at least dreaming about).

Not that I'd choose a sword here either as first option. The K9 and 12 ga. will still be closest to my hand at all times.

Regards,

N~

 

[Soap]

Hey Daniel, I agree: no swords in the hallway.

Speaking only for myself, my space is a lot different from most house and apartment dwellers: it's a modified warehouse with 18' ceilings. Read "big open space, no narrow hallways". I've got plenty of room to swing even a long sword, let alone a shorter one that i'm looking at (or at least dreaming about).

Not that I'd choose a sword here either as first option. The K9 and 12 ga. will still be closest to my hand at all times.

That's a pretty slick setup you have there! I own quite a variety of lengthy blades from katanas to a Blackjack Mamba. They're amazing but like you, I use a handgun and a 12ga as my HD weapons. If I were pressed into a country where I couldn't own a firearm and I had to live in a normal flat or house, I'm sure a long blade like a katana would be a poor choice. I'd simply rather have a kukri or large bowie instead.

 

[Dirty Bob]

Daniel,

You're right about close-quarters bokken use. I think that weapon is better suited to larger areas.

Dirty Bob

 

[Cosmoline]

That's why I like the bayonet. Short enough for close quarters, no need to build momentum, yet big enough to get the job done with a single stab.

 

[AStone]

bowie, bayonet & dirk

in my teens, i owned a bowie & a bayonet.

both were ... 'inexpensive', i suspect purchased in a local military surplus store. cheap steel.

still, what sold them to me was their image and feel. the size that can be accelerated quickly to a power thrust. As Cosmoline says, "Short enough for close quarters, no need to build momentum". Yep.

Both have long since departed from my ownership.

Still, that feeling of the small (relative to sword) lengths still appeals.

Here are my two top contenders for blades bigger than a SOG camp knife (seal pup elite).

Let's put it this way. If I lived in the 15th century, before 9mm & 12 ga, or in some future primitive world after cheap oil, after 9mm & 12 ga, these would likely be among my weapons of choice.

{Note: my opinions about blades are evolving rapidly; likely enrolling monday in a Medieval long sword class...}

One would be in my left hand, the other in my right.

One would be mainly for the insider thrust, short enough for CQ, no need to build momentum.

The other is short enough for a deeper thrust at a slightly longer distance (e.g., upward through abdomen through diaphragm into thoracic cavity, lungs & heart), but can also offer a substantial cut when swung downward at a 45* angle, right to left with some force in the neck area.

http://www.coldsteel.com/88sd.html

http://angustrimdirect.com/models/unamed_6/unamed_6.htm

 

[106rr]

A Kevlar shield and a Gladius would work well, an Assagai (sp) with the same shield might be better. In very close quarters, a Phillipine Parang or Camillus Pilot Survival knife. I am used to using both of those knives. The Parang of which I speak is shaped like a Kukri but is thinner, lighter and better balanced with less weight forward. The recovery stroke is much faster with a Parang. I have never owned a Gladius, Assagai or a Kevlar shield. Some foam based pepper spray from Fox Labs would be nice to have in a pinch.

 

[AStone]

Kevlar shield?

106rr,

I've not heard of a "kevlar shield" before, but the concept got my attention. Is it like a buckler?

I googled that term, but didn't find much. Can you post any URL's with more info about them?

Thanks,

N~

 

[pax]

Other than a firearm, what would you want for home defense?

A brain, and sufficient determination.

pax

I am the weapon.

 

[Medusa]

Voted Exotic - Halberd: a weapon especially of the 15th and 16th centuries consisting typically of a battle-axe and pike mounted on a handle about six feet long (by Webster).

Also a morningstar and a flail also seem very appealing. To be used in conjuction with a Claymore (too bad about the door and the neighbours house ).

Maybe something like on the included image?

Yeah, that should do the trick.

 

[Soap]

Jeeze it feels like I'm surrounded by LARP'ers all of a sudden

 

[106rr]

Nematocyst-870;
The Kevlar Shield doesn't exist yet in commercial form. There are several commercial items made in the shape of clipboards and briefcases which serve a similar function. I envision a device larger than a buckler but smaller than a riot shield. It could be held with the fist like a buckler but would would be made of a bullet resistant material like Kevlar. Naturally it would be much lighter than a Roman shield and stronger than a Zulu shield.
I woud expect it to be resistant to the common calibers used by criminals. It should not be penetration proof to the knife as it would be used to capture the BGs blade with a twisting motion.
A person breaking into your home while you are there is not considered a burglar. This is called a "hot prowl" and is very dangerous. It is an entirely different category of criminal.

 

[Skofnung]

Hmm. I think that a short, broad, stabbing sword (20" or less blade) and a buckler would be my choice given the dwelling that I live in now. An Albion Arms Gladius would be high on my list for such a job.

That said, I think that any weapon will do if you will.

 

[Dirty Bob]

Shields

I'd make a targe or buckler of plywood, if that's what I wanted, but I think, at least in my case, that that defeats the purpose. I've kept hand-to-hand weapons for situations in which I couldn't shoot, mostly due to large numbers of people in the area.

I don't rely on swords or knives as primary HD weapons anymore. I live in a brick house, as do my neighbors, so the chances are excellent that "what happens in Dirty Bob's house stays in Dirty Bob's house."

All my best,
Bob

 

[AStone]

106rr, thanks for the description of the kevlar shield of dreams. Seems like a reasonable evolution.
_______

Reading Medusa's post about halberds reminded me of a 'weapon' in my arsenal that i'd forgotten about: my mountaineering ice ax. Indeed, it lives near my bed, and I've often thought while in those dreamy half asleep states that if for some nightmarish reason i couldn't find my handgun on being awakened, the ice ax is the next thing i'd look for in defense.

Mine is a Charlet Moser. The head & shaft are one solid piece of steel alloy; the shaft is coated in some kind of rubber. The ax is extremely hard (since there's always rocks under that ice you're chinking into). For dimensional perspective, the handle is 27" long, and the sharp, narrow pointy "blade" is 6" from its intersection with the shaft. It's not heavy, but very well balanced and easy to swing.

I have no doubt it would penetrate a skull or a thorax very easily.

 

[Dirty Bob]

Wicked!

I love the functionality of ice axes. We don't have much need for them down here in Texas, but I've always admired the purity of the design. I hope you never need yours for anything but snow and ice.

Regards,
Dirty Bob

 

[Skofnung]

Nematocyst-870: THat is a sweet looking tool!

I'm having flashbacks from "Where Eagles Dare"

Like Dirty Bob, I have no use for such a thing living in the South, but that thing is cool nonetheless.

 

[106rr]

A similar but smaller device was used to kill Trotsky in Mexico. He had a visitor in his study and the visitor pulled out a rock pick or a climbing axe and popped poor Trotsky right on the top of his head. Trotsky had fallen out of favor in Russia and fled to Mexico for safety. They really didn't like that guy!

 

[Byron Quick]

Well, it might take a while to run out of firearms here. And I've got a slew of other weapons: bowie, kukris, katanas (one real one), I can throw knives and tomahawks.

If I was constrained from using my firearms, I would acquire something I haven't had in a while: a Korean War era Army entrenchment tool. Open the shovel blade out and sharpen the edges. I can use it in a hallway to thrust, cut, and bludgeon.

I like the spears, the big bowies and kuks, and the katanas but, in a normal width hallway with an eight foot ceiling, I'll take the entrenchment tool. I can get both hands on it and thrust or cut in a hall.

I've played with Tamara's Paul Chen bearded axe. That would be a bad weapon to face in the hands of a knowledgeable user.

For that matter, a light sledge hammer with about a 30" hammer would be good in close quarters.

 

[Kjay]

I'll opine a short stabbing sword. Twenty inch blade with a sharp point.

 

[AStone]

Oh, my. That's a mighty fine array, Kjay.

Are they really all 20" blades? Any AT's in there?

 

[Cosmoline]

I could use one of those ice axes to get to the car in January!

 

[Kjay]

Nematocyst-870:

They're all AT blades in the 20-22" range.

 

[AStone]

I could use one of those ice axes to get to the car in January!

I can imagine up where you live, that could be an issue.

For that, I'd also recommend a set of crampons.

Can you imagine the look on an intruders face if you greeted him on your porch with a set of those on your boots, an ice ax in one hand and one of Kjay's swords in the other. (Of course, ignore my rhetorical question if he's carrying a .45.)

 

[AStone]

Thanks, Kjay. Very nice. I'm looking very closely at his line up these days. Seems he's not making many shorter blades these days. The only short one I've seen on his current page is his 1425 which i think is a 21" blade.

I confess I'm leaning towards something a little longer, but mainly because he's not making too many short one's that speak to me right now. I'd originally wanted a 1427 (24" blade), but he's not making that one regularly now either, apparently. So I'm leaning towards a 1320 (28" blade, single hand).

I'm probably going up to a show in my region soon where he's probably going to be. He says he'll probably have one with him.

I've been rewatching Braveheart on DVD recently. Ah, the gory romance of it all...

 

[Skofnung]

Kjay:
Good choice. I've seen that picture or one like it before... be still my heart...

Mr. Trim sure knows how to make some nice blades.