Wednesday, May 13, 2020

zombie apoc weapons book 8


ZOMBIE APOC WEAPONS BOOK 8
Chapter Three ( cont. )
Melee Weapon & Blade
Despite all the Hollywood BS, steel weapons back in the day, especially the Dark Ages with its almost complete lack of trade, were scarce and expensive. Today, making barely more than minimum wage, a worker could outfit himself with an assault weapon with one weeks wages. This is the age of affluence as far as tools, because manufacturing doesn't need to wait for trees to grow for charcoal, nor are near surface ore deposits few and far between. We are spoiled by petroleum ( soon, very soon, to change ). So forget everyone having shiny arms and armor.
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Spears were the weapon of choice, not only because of its tactical superiority ( or, its 80/20 advantage, anyway ) but because they minimized the needed steel which was expensive. All these Survivalist Guru's during Beer Virus unemployment are telling you to Train Up, you could do a lot worse than searching out YouTube “spear fighting techniques” or similar. Yeah, paper books are superior. Use what you've got if the Orange Man checks or state unemployment money is slow in coming. Just take notes ( with stick figure drawings ) and you should be fine. And if you do believe a spear is a superior melee weapon, you could even reconsider your firearms.
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If I did go with the spear, and my terrain was wooded, it might be worth considering if you even need a long firearm. It is much easier to drop your zombie weapon and draw a pistol, than to unsling your rifle and get it into position. If you are practiced and quick, or have red dot sights, you might not agree. But there is the cheek weld that for me makes a rifle slower. But of course, only a tool blames his tool. You can train against the tools disadvantages.
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And before I begin to hear the shrieking and lamentations, Good Gawd Almighty Lord Jesus Help Us, the fool said bring a pistol to a rifle fight, consider what you are doing. In theory, the theory that underpins this thought exercise, you are mobile. You aren't stationary, protecting your castle. If that was the case, infantry needs rifles, and pistols are sufficient for police and maybe officers ( although I would wager as the gunpowder and primer situation becomes dire, the officer corps would revert back to swords or similar as a last ditch weapon and badge of office ).
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If you are mobile, you don't need to take or defend ground. Upon ambush, you break and flee ( if in a group, always have a spot to meet up after. Ahead, if everyone has maps, behind if not ).  A pistol as the only firearm might be enough, and saves a lot of weight. Just a consideration. A spear also saves on weight, and doubles as a rough terrain walking stick. Don't discount the extra reach as unimportant in a melee weapon. Mr. Super Ninja with a sword needs to be close enough to work his magic, and spear men can negate his weapons advantage. Against zombies, your extra reach also works well ( no matter how cool the movies make skull stabbing, you never want to touch the nasty bastards ).
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Perhaps you'll have noticed the theme, of being able to quickly deploy your melee weapon. Ambush in thick brush, either by zombies or the living ( I don't necessarily buy into the whole “loudly moaning at the smell of living flesh” trope with zombies. If they make it THAT easy to defend against, they won't last long. But, if like every successful organism that evolves to survive, they learn to shut the hell up, you'll be in trouble in ambush ) requires instant response. Full power rifles quickly gave way to mass carbine firepower in the jungle because of this ambush issue.
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You won't have that luxury of firepower. Gunpowder requires a surplus energy political organization ( agriculture empire ) AND it requires surplus nitrates. You know, the stuff that makes your crops grow better ( or, at all, given the sad state of most of our big ag petroleum farming practices soil ). You can use melee weapons as a last resort for zombie attacks, relying on firearms primarily, in which case spears are not as important, or you can use spears as your primary weapon against them, BUT, then you are at a disadvantage against men.
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The one thing I agree with the show Walking Dead was that living men will always be a far greater threat to you than zombies. Zombies might hone their responses and adapt to certain stimulus, but they will never have the weapon package that men acquired hundreds of thousands of years ago. Not necessarily his brains, as most people are dumber than a box of rocks, but his GROUP intelligence, expressed in his culture. Yes, despite getting a bad rap, the hive mind is important. And to a very real extent, culture does make us unthinking mindless robots.
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Conservatives want everyone to unthinkingly stick with the old culture, Liberals want everyone to unthinkingly adhere to any behavior that goes against traditional culture ( which is why they will lose Boogaloo, and why you shouldn't feel bad about smiting their asses. But the point remains, cultural mores DO require unthinking adherence ). Follow me closely here, kids. Culture is a group adaptation to local conditions. Culture figured that out, trial and error with a trail of bodies left behind with On The Job Training. You will NEVER be as smart as cultural lessons paid for in blood. Culture is hive mind. Join the Borg.
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( Friggin nerds! My spell check only understands about 10% of the English language. But it recognized “Borg” )
I choose to rely on firepower, as long as possible, because of the threat from other groups of the living. Commie Twats can lovingly embrace OtherColors streaming over the border to suppress wages and eat our diminishing supply of food, but I refuse to willingly embrace “others”. Others are a threat. Others will kill you to eat in times of scarcity. And unlike all the living zombies, the brain dead humans, who guzzle their spoon fed “scientific” propaganda, I DO believe we are living in a time of rapidly diminishing resources. So ALL others are a threat to me.
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Your Lizard Brain is a racist, xenophobic, misanthropic little bastard. Lizard Brain is a dumb ass. He doesn't understand monkey mind. This very lack of understanding allows him to discount anything that isn't a threat to hisself, his beautiful self. And Lizard Brain KNOWS most other people are a threat, so he doesn't share and he wants to hurt others before he is hurt. You can be a dumb ass monkey when times are good. Bad Times require you to listen to Lizard Brain, NOT, let me repeat for the short bus riders, NOT the Monkey Mind. You don't have to fear the Reaper, but you'd better fear the Other. This chapter continued next time.
( .Y. )
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note: well, so much for Comet Swan.  Back to the Snail Collapse.
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22 comments:

  1. Good point on iron and later steel scarcity back in ye olde, olde days.

    In addition to the economy of,the iron spear tip, note the bearded axe and rat tail tang on knives were designs to minimize steel usage.
    Also, some early Viking steel implements were elvish by modern standards.

    I plan to preserve my firearms in a vat of refined whale blubber and fight solely using my wicked four-bladed broad fork.

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    1. Wasn't the broad fork just used in the remake of The Crazies? Am I remembering correctly?

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  2. I was also going to suggest the previously mentioned atlatl. But of course, being a weapon that’s thrown, while buying distance, leaves one without a weapon. In a pinch, you can sharpen the tip of a heavy duty stick for a spear, and heat harden the tip over a fire, though not ideal. Those that know the art of flint knapping, have more options. But for knives, cold steel makes a really nice one that doubles as a spear point, and at a price that’s too good to pass up.

    https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Steel-Bushman-Sheath-95BUSKZ/dp/B00BD4W54Q

    Still, as a health conscious person, that respects his fellow man (Nah, just kidding, I hate other people :D ) I tend to practice “social distancing”. And no better way to do this than to have at least a few weapons that buy you time and distance. Think primitive here, such as the South American Bolo, or a balanced throwing stick. Better yet, if you have wood crafting skills, a boomerang. Which according to this feral kid that I once came across in the field, work wonders on post apocalyptic fags :D

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    1. Isn't a bow mastered quicker?

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    2. Yes. I was under the impression that we were talking about very primitive weapons, that could be recreated under bare bones conditions. But if we’re talking about weapons that, with a little storage of crucial items, such as Dacron, PVC, or red oak boards (Not just any red oak boards, but specially selected red oak boards. See link below, or pick up the backyard bowyer book). Then yes. Nothing beats a bow, as far as primitive weapons go. And yes, I know that there are studs out there that can weave their own bow strings from sinew, or vegetable fiber. And carve their own bow from a stave. But that’s a really special art, that few are capable of doing. For those that are interested in doing so, pick up The Traditional Bowyer's Bible (Note: There are 4 volumes)

      http://poorfolkbows.com/

      https://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Bowyers-Bible-1/dp/1585740853

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    3. I tend toward anti-social distancing.
      I 'practiced' this much of my time here on this particular planet.

      Fact is, I practice so much, my anti-social distancing turned into second-nature long ago.
      For me to get within a few miles of another human requires conscious effort.
      So, this latest little ChiCom hoax is merely another excuse for me to justify my...

      Good one!
      I see what you did there.
      You tried to sucker me into being nice, offering me a sense of community through a sense of belonging and sharing and caring.
      Not going to work, smarty pants. ['maniacal' laughing while rooster-tailing as anti-social distancing automatically kicks-in]

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    4. 10:04-yeah, I'm just thinking the easier to obtain primitive weapons are so far out of our ability to master it might not be worth using. PVC-salvaged. Do the hammer test on it to test for pliability.
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      LM-Me, sharing and caring? LOL

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  3. Right. Spears that are a tad taller than your height, for walking stick usage and utility probing (booby traps or mines) or tool type usages (forced entry or extraction) during your forays and travels. Also it should be of length enough to give you standoff distance from your horny adversaries. Useful as well for slaying a yapping feral dog for dinner stew meat, without gunshot noises. Helpful stage prop, so as to be that ninja walking wise sage fellow that smites any nincompoops who screw with him. Forget not that it is an on hand pike to mount the severed head of enemies for posting on display at the compound gates. Winning.

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    1. Severed heads and feral dogs. Very good additions. Thank you. Actually, the whole list, winning ( horny legions of GILF's would be my bane )

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    2. Gilfs as highly indentured concubines
      and servant staff, winning.

      Need to source quantities of spear shafts materials and steel blade blanks. Perhaps some fiberglass or such materials for strength, light weight, and fabrication traits for bulk arsenal quantities of spears in built up reserve supplies. I Don't think the apocalypse will allow a lot of sitting around whittling wood on a porch making spears only after you break one or it runs off still impaled in some zombie chap. Spool up the melee weapons factory out back and get cranking.

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    3. Yes, good point. If it ain't in BOB condition you cannot count on it.

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    1. Have you considered a crossbow? I know, it isn't Stone Age homemade. But a hunk of steel for a prod and you are nearly all set.

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    3. I’m the dude that posted about bows above. I too have a take down bow. Mine is the Samick Sage. What’s nice about this bow, is that they sell a variety of limbs in different poundages for it, so if you wish to upgrade, you can just pay for the cost of a spare set of limbs.

      @DG. Osage Orange is perhaps one of the very best woods that you can make a bow out of. It is however, very dense. In other words, it’s best used for the short plains bows, as the density would result in a rather slow firing long bow. The English used Yew for their long bows, but yew is more difficult to come by these days, and a stave is somewhat costly (Hence, my mentioning the red oak boards above).

      For someone that’s just looking for nice, basic bow, that they wish to stuff in a bugout bag, or keep at their retreat. The one below seems nice for the price.

      https://www.amazon.com/Spectre-Compact-Take-Down-Survival-Arrow/dp/B082FQP6LF?th=1

      @Jim. I have a crossbow. It’s a real nice one too, being an Excalibur. It has a two stage trigger, unlike many. What this means, is that rather than having the full weight of the string against the trigger, resulting in an excessive trigger pull, this model does not (It’s about 3.5lbs). Accuracy is excellent, as a result. But that sucker is kinda heavy, and weighs about the same as a rifle. The advantage. You can hand it to anyone that is capable of firing a rifle, and they will hit what they’re aiming at, just the same (Accounting for the range differences between a firearm, and a crossbow, of course).

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    4. DG-I was thinking more along the lines of building your own. You would need to do some metal work, but you can also buy the prod ( last I checked, about $85 ) and I think-maybe, don't quote me-the trigger and such would be a cinch. Here is one book on old timey construction:
      https://amzn.to/3bvp1Mi
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      3:47- That take down looks pretty sweet at a great price

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  5. Well said - cultures do adapt to certain conditions. And they aren't static. There are reasons the Chinese are the Chinese and the English are the English. But multiply that over generations?

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    1. Right, a long enough time line and all cultures change completely.

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  6. Cold Steel Assegai, a double sided spear blade hafted with shortened shaft. 38" long that is used with two hands, not thrown at opponent. Swung like an axe or 'pool cued'. A nice add on would be securing a pry bar on back end.

    PVC bows are easier to make than out of wood. Plenty of videos on how to do it. Bows do make a lot of sense, but the skill to shoot them accurately is a perishable skill, so practice is required to stay a good shot.

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    1. I think riding a bike is the only non-perishable skill, but that is cheating as the machine does most of the hard work

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  7. Cold Steel Gladius or Cutlass machete. Effective and cheap enough to have several. The Accusharp sharpener works well on these when used with a little motor oil as a honing lubricant. Cold Steel makes shorter bladed machetes if concealment is needed. Hail Darwin!

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  8. Accusharp, cheaper by the 3-pack:
    https://amzn.to/2LuZ9pk

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