Big Knife, short sword dilemma.

[RickOShea]

Zombie Tools are nice.....But a Cold Steel Gladius machete is waaaaaay cheaper.

[ninja-elbow]

Here's how I look at it:

You want tools that you use for reasons based off work/recreation/life.
You want cool shit.

I process the 2 above everytime I buy stuff. I'm totally down with cool shit. I have, on my bedroom wall, a custom langsaex made by Michael "tinker" Pearce before he got a gig with Hanwei and known outside of SCA circles. That was $275 in 1997 dollars. I have a Danish/huscarl axe that cost me $200 a few years ago. I have an awesome spear that did not cost me much ... but it's an awesome "combat ready" spear (ash haft, robust steel head). I still have a byrnie, padded jacket, spanglehelm, "period" Viking shoes, shield, and belt from my SCA days - these cost me a lot and do nothing right now. All I am missing and want are some good splinted greaves and vambrace.

No shame man. If you want a short sword, make sure it's a good one and do it. No need to justify it. Get tools for tools sake and then get yourslef a sweet fucking wakazashi. I look at my huscarl axe everynight and think, "Damn, I got one of those."

[KentsOkay]

Zombie Tools are nice.....But a Cold Steel Gladius machete is waaaaaay cheaper.

If that is yours, you owe us a review.

[foxx]

I owned a Swamp Rat Waki for a while. I did use it, not in any fights, but I cut up some water jugs, ropes, bushes, wood, etc..
I was impressed with it's quality, the toughness and edge retention, the handle felt great. The issue I had with it was the mass within the long handle. If the blade was longer, a two handed swing may have felt good. But, it didn't, it was akward. OTOH, a one handed swing was a challenge, due to the weight. Choking up to a better balanced grip left so much handle behind the grip, that it always seemed to hit my wrist.
A good sword, short or long, should be balanced so that it is fast in hand, The SW Waki was not balanced, IMO. The Waki was very cool, and it seems like the Ruki has addressed the problems I had with the handle length. It would be a good, tough, wood chopper and sword for work, play, or Zombie dispatching.
I don't own any of Storm Crow's blades, but I can tell that he knows what he's doing with 5160.

[kylesaturday]

Sword seemed to work okay for somebody.I think that at close range a sword is nearly unbeatable against the types of weapons that people typically carry.

[BarnabeJay]

At close range a sword can be extremely effective, but if you don't have a significant amount of training and practice with your sword it becomes as much a danger to yourself as to others. This is particularly true with longer swords like katana, bastard swords, and so on because they are inherently more difficult to control than shorter blades. During my iaido days I saw a number of relatively advanced students spurting blood all over the floor when they switched from an iaito to a shinken (live sword). Add in the intense anxiety of a zombie attack, or criminal attack, and controlling the sword effectively and safely (to you) becomes extremely difficult.

A machete-like tool with a single edge and a shorter & lighter blade is a whole lot easier to learn and use safely. If you're looking for a weapon as opposed to a tool, getting one with a decent thrusting point will make it more versatile. An acquaintance of mine got a Hanwei tactical wakizashi for a fairly good price, and it seemed to handle well; short, light, balanced, easy to grip, easy to draw, cuts and stabs pretty well. You can get all kinds of different machetes, of course, for a lot less money, although they tend not to handle so well for things other than chopping wood. One exception I've used was the Condor bush cutlass, which was by no means well balanced, but light enough, sharp enough, and designed properly for good slashing and thrusting moves. And it was priced like any other Condor machete. Not really heavy enough for hard wood chopping, but would work just fine on flesh and bone.

Big knives are also good fun, but they need to be big enough to develop serious leverage on a swing if you are planning to do any serious damage. I'd say have both a good knife and a good short sword/machete.

[djblocker88]

I really do want to drop some cash on a good, battle proven katana. But I just can't figure out what the utility would be. I practice martial arts every now and then, nunchaku, bokken. I just don't see a katana being more practical than a fire axe, or kukri. I dunno you can only carry so much.

I went to Menards and got an okay chopping axe with the fiber glass handle. It has a lifetime warranty. So far it is holding up good, I've been going after heavy grape vine roots/trees and a tree stump. The only issue is having to sharpen it but that probably comes with any tool or blade. For $20 it wasn't too bad of a buy. I can always use my Bokken or 14 oz aluminum bat to smash my way to the garage of zombies are an issue.

[Mannlicher]

I had this 22 inch Langsax made a few years back. The steel is hand made, pattern welded Damascus. It is tough as nails, and a superb cutter.

[maine1]

for multi- purpose use, i like a good bowie knife. One sized to you will be easier to use/carry than a sword.

Its not a wakisashi, but is a better tool than a waki will be, and is an excellent weapon.

[dkr02]

Take a look at the KBar Becker BK9. Big enough for chopping/splitting wood, as well as being a really nice anti personnel weapon! My 2 cents...

slik

[foxx]

Here's my favorite "large blade" or chopper. It's made by Bruce Culberson, he's over on Bladeforums. It's a 13/64" thick, 12.5" long forged 5160, with a ful tang and micarta scales. It's more of a wood chopper, but it would take off other limbs as well



Here it is between a 12" Ontario Cutlass machete and an ESEE Junglas...