Fun but interesting the ultimate zombie survival gun.

[NorthernRaider]

Blade wise I would stick with my families military heritage and get myself an Infantry Pattern Hawk like Cold Steel make.

[Tartar Horde]

(17 May 2013, 20:38)Talon Wrote: Hmmmm,depends on the zombie.The classic romero slow lumbering zombie the .22 would be perfect. Especially in the Uk as we can supress our guns with no extra legislation.A .22 will pierce the human skull if we keep the distance reasonable,and ammo is extremely cheap and light to carry.A supressed Ruger 10/22 makes a lot of sense.It also doubles as probably the best game rifle for the Uk.

If we're talking the 28 days later fast moving phsycotic infected person (new strain of rabies maybe) then i'm all for the 12 gauge.Without doubt the most stopping power commonly available to us.It's a one shot one kill round (depending on what load you're using of course),the ammunition is bulky and you can't carry more than 100 comfortably,but it's the most common ammunition in the Uk,so resupply would be at least feasible. Hit a violent crazed attacker with an upper body shot of no.4 bb or slug and it will create massive bodily trauma.

Swords, I'm an avid collector and user of European swords,it's by no means ideal,especially the longsword.Its primarily a duelling weapon,not designed for constantly cleaving through the bone of the human skull (as no sword is) though it is in my opinion the epitome of sword design a sturdy hatchet/kukri/crowbar would be better suited,it can double as a tool (which a sword can't as it's a fine weapon but a very poor tool)
I really spend too much time researching this stuff

Respectfully Talon You are dead wrong about the "longsword" being primarily a dueling weapon, and also wrong about the ability of such weapons to sustain effective cutting for long periods of time. I do agree though that this type of sword is the epitome of European sword design.

[Talon]

Well I didn't put that across very well,what I meant was the typical xvlll longsword was used for judicial duels,but as you correctly stated Tartar that wasn't it's only use.It was also a knightly tool of war.
I agree that it could sustain extended effective cutting,i don't believe that it would hold up to extended periods of cutting through a human skull (as in zombies).

It's edge's were designed to cut flesh (which it does very well) it's point was optimised for thrusting, but it isn't designed to withstand hacking through the skull repeatedly (as no sword ever was as far as I know)
It would quickly dull the bevels and become a rather blunt steel bar.
Im sure you could make one with a more suitable grind which would stand up to such abuse,but I also believe you would have to make the blade shorter and thicker with less distal taper.I would think that repeated heavy impacts would put a lot of stress on the tang aswel as the blade,a shorter blade to me would hold up better.

My opinion could very well be wrong but for zombies I think the longsword would be far from ideal,i would much prefer a shorter thicker type x Viking blade.

[bigpaul]

for cutting into a zombie skull I would have thought a machete was the obvious tool!

[Tartar Horde]

(18 May 2013, 11:14)Talon Wrote: Well I didn't put that across very well,what I meant was the typical xvlll longsword was used for judicial duels,but as you correctly stated Tartar that wasn't it's only use.It was also a knightly tool of war.
I agree that it could sustain extended effective cutting,i don't believe that it would hold up to extended periods of cutting through a human skull (as in zombies).

It's edge's were designed to cut flesh (which it does very well) it's point was optimised for thrusting, but it isn't designed to withstand hacking through the skull repeatedly (as no sword ever was as far as I know)
It would quickly dull the bevels and become a rather blunt steel bar.
Im sure you could make one with a more suitable grind which would stand up to such abuse,but I also believe you would have to make the blade shorter and thicker with less distal taper.I would think that repeated heavy impacts would put a lot of stress on the tang aswel as the blade,a shorter blade to me would hold up better.

My opinion could very well be wrong but for zombies I think the longsword would be far from ideal,i would much prefer a shorter thicker type x Viking blade.

I see you understand Oakeshotte typology Talon, it means we can dispense with such vague terms as "Longsword" and "Bastard Sword" etc
I agree with you on the type XVIII as not a suitable sword for our "Zombie Hordes" because as you point out this type of sword was primarily a thrusting weapon, designed to penetrate gaps and weaknesses in armour. By the time this sword had developed plate armour was invulnerable to sword cuts, and the broad lenticular cutting blades of earlier centuries became obsolete. The severe Distal taper of a type XVIII, allied with its shallow Diamond profile hollow ground blade would make the edge very vulnerable to damage with prolonged cutting.
I like your preference for a single handed type X Scandinavian blade, as a well made one would cut all day without any fear of damage, something like this would be nice, I'll pop it in the post for you
http://www.castlekeep.co.uk/gallery.asp?galleryid=212
Me personally I'd go with a good Type XIIIa. The FORTE of the blade "blunt" so it can be "half sworded", just before COP and to the tip i want the blade sharp enough to cut paper, but not to lift hair, as this is too sharp. At around 3-3.5Lbs it is light enough to use one handed, but when used with two they become very fast and agile. The blade profile is Lenticular and they are dedicated cutters like your Type X, but still retain excellent thrusting ability. You could slice n dice the undead hordes all day long with a good XIIIa
Now I am going to open a HUGE can of worms here and say a Katana would be the last sword I would ever reach for

[Barneyboy]

oh i like the shiny shiny pointy stabby stabby things

[Tartar Horde]

(18 May 2013, 13:07)Barneyboy Wrote: oh i like the shiny shiny pointy stabby stabby things

This ones for you Barneyboy, for those Zombie moments when you just have to get some payback, totally OTT, you gotta love the Yanks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hfLZozBVpM

[Barneyboy]

would be handy to have when the zombies come to feed

[Talon]

(18 May 2013, 13:01)Tartar Horde Wrote: I like your preference for a single handed type X Scandinavian blade, as a well made one would cut all day without any fear of damage, something like this would be nice, I'll pop it in the post for you
http://www.castlekeep.co.uk/gallery.asp?galleryid=212
Me personally I'd go with a good Type XIIIa. The FORTE of the blade "blunt" so it can be "half sworded", just before COP and to the tip i want the blade sharp enough to cut paper, but not to lift hair, as this is too sharp. At around 3-3.5Lbs it is light enough to use one handed, but when used with two they become very fast and agile. The blade profile is Lenticular and they are dedicated cutters like your Type X, but still retain excellent thrusting ability. You could slice n dice the undead hordes all day long with a good XIIIa
Now I am going to open a HUGE can of worms here and say a Katana would be the last sword I would ever reach for

Rob Miller is a genius, funny you should post a link to his type H as it's a sword I've been wanting for awhile,hopefully I can commission one next year.
The XIIIa is a favourite of mine (i have a great fondness for big two handed cutters) i own a XIIIa with a type R pommel (i had a bit of a Kurgan fanboy thing going on at the time) a lovely balanced cleaver of a blade,i agree on paper cutting sharp,anything more is too fragile for me,hell even blunt a large cutting sword would do major damage.
With regard's to the Katana,it would be my last choice, especially a traditional differentially hardened one.That's a bit of a raw nerve for me.
The katana is massively overhyped and has a (very false) mythical status as the supreme cutting weapon.
whereas our European swords are often touted as being nothing more than ill balanced poorly thought out sharpened crowbars, as ludicrous as the myth that knights had to be winched up onto their horses

[Metroyeti]

Sod the guns and swords my zombiedefence will be a combine harvester to turn them into mince meat