Analyzing/Explaining the Best/Most Common Zombie Weapons

[Shrantic]

InterElli

Shrantic

InterElli

Fresnel

washu_2004

Melee:
Notes: Melee should always be a last option. Hand to hand combat against an opponent who knows neither fear or pain is not exactly practical. That said I would use these weapons.

Katana: good for close combat.

Not really, no.

For un-armored opponents, you can't do much better then a well made katana. But the level of care and maintenance a katana requires to keep it form falling apart makes it impractical as a survival weapon.

While I do agree that katana take an ungodly amount of maintenance to stay effective, I disagree that they're the best weapon against zombies. You want HACKING and CHOPPING, (if you're going with a bladed weapon) ergo, something like a falcata, axe, machaira, kukri, or if you're gutsy, a maul. The katana is a slicing and cutting weapon, and BONE DOES NOT CUT. You want something with a lot of weight and a thick blade that can break bone with as much "ease" as possible, as well as be easily withdrawn from the zombie after being struck. The katana simply does not fulfill any of these rolls.

Bone does cut, or more accurately it fractures along the path of pressure that the blade causes. I have done so with a Spada through a pig's spine, and the Spada I was using, by it's design, had less cutting power than Katana would have with the same blow.

Fracturing is not cutting. That's like saying "smashing" is the same as "slicing." The katana is a cutting weapon. Trying to cut a rock is much more difficult than trying to smash one with a sharp, thick, wedge.

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The problem with what you are calling chopping weapons, ie: end heavy blades like the Falshion, Kukri and the Falcata is that they need to be short to be controlable in a fight. A longer blade designed for cutting, like the Katana, delivers the same or more force when used in a cutting motion due to it's leverage, despite it's reduced weight.

You don't need to have finesse when using a large, heavy, blade at head level. ONE well-placed chop through the skull of a zombie, and the thicker blade means that you'll be able to retrieve it much faster.

And what the hell do you need a longer blade for, anyways? The longer the blade is, the more difficult it is to draw, and you shouldn't be using a melee weapon unless you need to swing it in an "OH SHI-" moment when your gun jams or a zed sneaks up on you.

[shinyspoon42]

What do you think is the single best weapon for melee use?

[Ninth Pariah]

shinyspoon42

What do you think is the single best weapon for melee use?

I say tomahawk. Simple, lightweight, versatile.

[InterElli]

Shrantic

InterElli

Shrantic

InterElli

Fresnel

Not really, no.

For un-armored opponents, you can't do much better then a well made katana. But the level of care and maintenance a katana requires to keep it form falling apart makes it impractical as a survival weapon.

While I do agree that katana take an ungodly amount of maintenance to stay effective, I disagree that they're the best weapon against zombies. You want HACKING and CHOPPING, (if you're going with a bladed weapon) ergo, something like a falcata, axe, machaira, kukri, or if you're gutsy, a maul. The katana is a slicing and cutting weapon, and BONE DOES NOT CUT. You want something with a lot of weight and a thick blade that can break bone with as much "ease" as possible, as well as be easily withdrawn from the zombie after being struck. The katana simply does not fulfill any of these rolls.

Bone does cut, or more accurately it fractures along the path of pressure that the blade causes. I have done so with a Spada through a pig's spine, and the Spada I was using, by it's design, had less cutting power than Katana would have with the same blow.

Fracturing is not cutting. That's like saying "smashing" is the same as "slicing." The katana is a cutting weapon. Trying to cut a rock is much more difficult than trying to smash one with a sharp, thick, wedge.

Oh, I am sorry. Which one of us is the geologist who deals with things like point of fracture and directional shear of crystalline structures? Oh, right, that is me. First of all, a CUT and a CHOP are the Same. Damn. Thing. They are both force applied along a (relatively) linear path. Second, very porous crystalline and mineral structures, such as bone, DO in fact cut. The structure of bone is tow orders of magnitude softer on the hardness scale than steel, making it relatively easy for sharp steel blades to CUT through bone when they have force and leverage behind them. The sharper the blade, and the harder the steel, the easier the cut is made.

When dealing with the softer molecular bonds in flesh and bone sharp edges, leverage and relative hardness of a steel long blades like the Katana really do shine.

.....

I can not believe I am defending the katana.

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The problem with what you are calling chopping weapons, ie: end heavy blades like the Falshion, Kukri and the Falcata is that they need to be short to be controlable in a fight. A longer blade designed for cutting, like the Katana, delivers the same or more force when used in a cutting motion due to it's leverage, despite it's reduced weight.

You don't need to have finesse when using a large, heavy, blade at head level. ONE well-placed chop through the skull of a zombie, and the thicker blade means that you'll be able to retrieve it much faster.

And what the hell do you need a longer blade for, anyways? The longer the blade is, the more difficult it is to draw, and you shouldn't be using a melee weapon unless you need to swing it in an "OH SHI-" moment when your gun jams or a zed sneaks up on you.

When you are dealing with any form of weapons, finesse is incredibly important. It allows for faster and more accurate attacks, as well as being less tireing.

A blade's balance is important to draw speed, and an Oh s**t! moment can happen when the zed is more than two feet away. I would much rather have two extra feet of reach than having to have to wait until the thing is within grabbing range to be able to strike at it.

[Shrantic]

InterElli

When you are dealing with any form of weapons, finesse is incredibly important. It allows for faster and more accurate attacks, as well as being less tireing.

You don't need accuracy to yell "OH SHI-!" and swing at head level. Melee weapons should be last resort, as in you would never goddamn use them unless one zombie sneaked up on you and they're close enough to smell. You're not going to get tired in one swing, as you SHOULD just swing it then get your sidearm out and kill the rest of them with that. Melee is not primary- there's the most blood spill, the most contact, and the closest range. You want to avoid melee unless it's absolutely necessary, because it is the combat most likely to get you killed.

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A blade's balance is important to draw speed, and an Oh s**t! moment can happen when the zed is more than two feet away. I would much rather have two extra feet of reach than having to have to wait until the thing is within grabbing range to be able to strike at it.

When the zed is two feet away, you can hit them with a 20" kukri. neutral

Now, if it's more than a yard away, you screw melee altogether and shoot them with your sidearm. Also, if you can't draw almost any weapon quickly, you're not going to survive anyways with that kind of handicap.

[Fracture and Fidelity]

1 Machete = crap
2 Machetes = awesomeness.


The wonderful thing about having 2 bladed weapons is that you can scissor limbs off easily. Anything that gets too close you can blade-wall and basically take away all the threat right there.

Not great tools, but very easy to have two of them sheathed on each leg.



Aside from that, a military-grade tomahawk or even a fire-axe would be absolutely phenomenal as both of them are extremely versatile tools, serving as hammers, pick-axes, the tomahawk can be thrown, while the fire axe can fell anything alive (or not so much) in one good crack.



A large metal or wooden pole would serve as a staff. Not only do you have a weapon which can keep distance between you and flesh-eating zombies... but also a prying tool, the ability to pole- vault up past say... a small flight of stairs (buying you OODLES of time, and allowing you to attack any clumsy zombies coming up.), and best of all, it only takes some duck-tape and a double-bladed knife to make a temporary spear, among other pole-arms.

[Fracture and Fidelity]

shinyspoon42

What do you think is the single best weapon for melee use?

For your average person?

A baseball bat: why? everyone knows exactly how to swing one well enough to drop someone to the floor.

For a person more skilled with blades and having some minor understanding of joints and anatomy... any kind of machete. They lop off limbs. A zombie with one leg is far less threatening than a zombie with two. Crouching to chop at the leg will also buy you precious seconds and distance if you happen to be jumped by a zombie.

Fire axe takes little skill, and has a pretty nice range (being an axe, the end of the weapon is the blade, giving you distance), but it is also slow.


Those are the best I can tell.

[Shrantic]

Oh, God. This is so terrible I don't even know where to begin.

Fracture and Fidelity

1 Machete = crap
2 Machetes = awesomeness.

No. You save melee for last resort, and you can't draw TWO weapons in a last-ditch effort. Also, duel-wielding makes everything WORSE.

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The wonderful thing about having 2 bladed weapons is that you can scissor limbs off easily.

No you can't.

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Anything that gets too close you can blade-wall and basically take away all the threat right there.

No you can't.

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Not great tools, but very easy to have two of them sheathed on each leg.

And screw with your running, as well as weigh you down. Also, machetes are made for clearing brush. Helpful for losing zombies, if you ask me.

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Aside from that, a military-grade tomahawk or even a fire-axe would be absolutely phenomenal as both of them are extremely versatile tools, serving as hammers, pick-axes, the tomahawk can be thrown, while the fire axe can fell anything alive (or not so much) in one good crack.

Eh. I'd prefer the kukri because it's almost just as strong as an axe and can actually be drawn in a last-ditch effort if your gun jams or if a zed sneaks up on you. Big 'ol fire axes cannot.

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A large metal or wooden pole would serve as a staff. Not only do you have a weapon which can keep distance between you and flesh-eating zombies... but also a prying tool, the ability to pole- vault up past say... a small flight of stairs (buying you OODLES of time, and allowing you to attack any clumsy zombies coming up.), and best of all, it only takes some duck-tape and a double-bladed knife to make a temporary spear, among other pole-arms.

A large metal pole weighs too much to do anything quickly, a large wooden pole sucks as a weapon against things that can't feel pain, and I'd like to see you actually pole vault up a flight of stairs carrying 40+ pounds of supplies on you. Also, why would you want to improvise a spear when you can just use a bayonet on your long-arm?

[Shrantic]

Fracture and Fidelity

shinyspoon42

What do you think is the single best weapon for melee use?

For your average person?

A baseball bat: why? everyone knows exactly how to swing one well enough to drop someone to the floor.

For a person more skilled with blades and having some minor understanding of joints and anatomy... any kind of machete. They lop off limbs. A zombie with one leg is far less threatening than a zombie with two. Crouching to chop at the leg will also buy you precious seconds and distance if you happen to be jumped by a zombie.

Fire axe takes little skill, and has a pretty nice range (being an axe, the end of the weapon is the blade, giving you distance), but it is also slow.


Those are the best I can tell.

You don't need to be skilled in an anatomy to use a machete. Rwanda genocide proves that.

However, NO weapon will lop off limbs easily. It takes a LOT of force to actually take off a limb, and if you crouch down in front of a zombie? Yeah, it doesn't matter if he doesn't have legs then, because he'll fall on top of you. And, obviously, bite you.

Also, machetes have thin, thin blades. If you swing one at a skull, you're not going to get it back out without excessive force. You want THICK blades, like that of a kukri, which will not yield to suction so easily.

Fire axes? Yeah, I guess they're okay if you don't have a gun, but other than that, you want something you can draw quickly. Melee should be last-resort.

[Fracture and Fidelity]

Shrantic

Oh, God. This is so terrible I don't even know where to begin.

Fracture and Fidelity

1 Machete = crap
2 Machetes = awesomeness.

No. You save melee for last resort, and you can't draw TWO weapons in a last-ditch effort. Also, duel-wielding makes everything WORSE.

What's the difference between drawing one machete and drawing two? Very little. Draw one as quickly as you can, and when you get some space, draw another.

Dual-weapons don't make everything worse, you just need to understand how they work. Take a look at Indonesian Silat or Phillipeno Kali, both are known for using dual sticks as if they were simply a 3rd extention of the arm. Silat tends to use machetes a little more often than sticks, though, being as everyone and their grandmother has to carry at least one if they live outside the cities.

The fact that you have two machetes means very little, if you have a need to have a free hand, simply drop, throw, or impale a zombie with it, and now you have your free hand. Wonderful thing about dual weapons is at any time you can get rid of your 2nd weapon. With one weapon, however, you do not have the inverse luxury.

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The wonderful thing about having 2 bladed weapons is that you can scissor limbs off easily.

No you can't.

Joints. Nuff said. Scissor the elbow, wrist, shoulder, throat, or ankle and you are almost certain to make any limb USELESS, even if it doesn't come completely off. Sever the muscles and they can't move. That's all you need anyways.

Chop a hamstring and now you have your classic floor-crawling zombie as opposed to one who can actually do something.

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Anything that gets too close you can blade-wall and basically take away all the threat right there.

No you can't.

How intelligent is it to walk into two machetes being swung around? It's not. You lose limbs. Zombie + limbs = grab and bite. Zombie - limbs = its your own fault if they bite you.

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Not great tools, but very easy to have two of them sheathed on each leg.

And screw with your running, as well as weigh you down. Also, machetes are made for clearing brush. Helpful for losing zombies, if you ask me.

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Aside from that, a military-grade tomahawk or even a fire-axe would be absolutely phenomenal as both of them are extremely versatile tools, serving as hammers, pick-axes, the tomahawk can be thrown, while the fire axe can fell anything alive (or not so much) in one good crack.

Eh. I'd prefer the kukri because it's almost just as strong as an axe and can actually be drawn in a last-ditch effort if your gun jams or if a zed sneaks up on you. Big 'ol fire axes cannot.

A kukri is hardly different enough from a machete to matter. As for a fire axe, you have that handle you can use to shove things back, as well as jam it into them like a hammer. Not every attack has to be lethal, positioning is key to survival in combat, and if you happen to shove something back with your axe, you are now in perfect hamburger range.

It's not my preferred melee weapon, but its certainly one I would pick up if I had the chance and was missing a machete. (or machete-type weapon)

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A large metal or wooden pole would serve as a staff. Not only do you have a weapon which can keep distance between you and flesh-eating zombies... but also a prying tool, the ability to pole- vault up past say... a small flight of stairs (buying you OODLES of time, and allowing you to attack any clumsy zombies coming up.), and best of all, it only takes some duck-tape and a double-bladed knife to make a temporary spear, among other pole-arms.

A large metal pole weighs too much to do anything quickly, a large wooden pole sucks as a weapon against things that can't feel pain, and I'd like to see you actually pole vault up a flight of stairs carrying 40+ pounds of supplies on you. Also, why would you want to improvise a spear when you can just use a bayonet on your long-arm?

You swing poles with your body, not your arms. You can drop your body faster than you can do just about anything else. A metal pole would be a fantastic weapon in the right hands. You have to realize people USED them in china for a reason, right?

Also, 2 seconds of youtube searching proves metal poles ARENT THAT HEAVY

[Fracture and Fidelity]

Shrantic

Fracture and Fidelity

shinyspoon42

What do you think is the single best weapon for melee use?

For your average person?

A baseball bat: why? everyone knows exactly how to swing one well enough to drop someone to the floor.

For a person more skilled with blades and having some minor understanding of joints and anatomy... any kind of machete. They lop off limbs. A zombie with one leg is far less threatening than a zombie with two. Crouching to chop at the leg will also buy you precious seconds and distance if you happen to be jumped by a zombie.

Fire axe takes little skill, and has a pretty nice range (being an axe, the end of the weapon is the blade, giving you distance), but it is also slow.


Those are the best I can tell.

You don't need to be skilled in an anatomy to use a machete. Rwanda genocide proves that.

However, NO weapon will lop off limbs easily. It takes a LOT of force to actually take off a limb, and if you crouch down in front of a zombie? Yeah, it doesn't matter if he doesn't have legs then, because he'll fall on top of you. And, obviously, bite you.

Also, machetes have thin, thin blades. If you swing one at a skull, you're not going to get it back out without excessive force. You want THICK blades, like that of a kukri, which will not yield to suction so easily.

Fire axes? Yeah, I guess they're okay if you don't have a gun, but other than that, you want something you can draw quickly. Melee should be last-resort.

She asked for melee weapons.

And as far as I'm concerned, wouldn't conserving ammo be of most importance? A gun seems more like a last resort weapon to me, ammo isn't easy to come by in a zombie apocalypse.

Find a weapon with boundless versatility, and a metal staff in the right hands is just that, you never get hit if you never let anything get close.


Also, limbs do come off rather easy at the joints. Even if you don't completely lop off the limb, you don't need to. Destroying the musculature, tendons, and ligaments insures you've made that limb useless in one direction.

Not all attacks must be lethal.


Also, about your "zombie will fall on you" statement, you can pounce on the zombie immediately after cutting at him. The safest place from a zombie's mouth is a zombie's body. They can't bite you if they can't reach you because of their of flesh in the way.

Scissor an ankle, and tackle the stomach while you recover your blades, now you have an injured zombie on the floor, and you don't even have to go for a kill now.


Being as far from something is not always an option, rather, being so close (in an intelligent manner... don't let the head reach you) they can't do anything but back up is also an option.

This is true in Silat where, mind you, it's a bladed art and the mindset is to assume your opponent has several knives, and often a machete from basic daily life. If it's safe enough for them, it's safe enough for zombies too.


Also, if you want to see some unconventional but very effective combat-machete work, watch this video. Watch it at 2:48 if you want to see where they get on to the machetes, before that is knifework which would also be helpful for zombies.

Cutting muscles vital to movement, watch very closely WHERE they stab and slash. It's not random, they are targeting any vital points for movement (though veins are often the main targets) that happen to be left open to attack.

I don't like this video because its stationary, but it gives you a good idea of what a knife and machete can REALLY be used for. Now if only they would tape one where it's in full motion and they aren't standing still scream

[The Figure 13]

My weapons:
Rifle - AK-47, due to the high caliber round 7.62x39mm and its ease of use in any situation. It can also take a beating submerge one of these babies in mud and it will fire without cleaning.

Pistol - .50 Deset Eagle, the sheer stopping power of this thing is enough to blow a Zombie's head clean off.

CQB - I would chose a steel bar the length of a broom stick, just because it is brutish and can hit from range and deal quite a bit of damage to limbs, it is quite limber and agile as a weapon that isn't a sword. The only problem would be carrying, although I probably would just strap it to my back and use only when needed.

[Shrantic]

The Figure 13

My weapons:
Rifle - AK-47, due to the high caliber round 7.62x39mm and its ease of use in any situation. It can also take a beating submerge one of these babies in mud and it will fire without cleaning.

While I do agree with your choice of an AK-47, I definitely would not call the x39 a "high caliber round."

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Pistol - .50 Deset Eagle, the sheer stopping power of this thing is enough to blow a Zombie's head clean off.

Yeah, and jam every other shot, and embed the front sight in your face. Also, have a nice time trying to find ammo for it.

Desert Eagles SUCK. PERIOD.

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CQB - I would chose a steel bar the length of a broom stick, just because it is brutish and can hit from range and deal quite a bit of damage to limbs, it is quite limber and agile as a weapon that isn't a sword. The only problem would be carrying, although I probably would just strap it to my back and use only when needed.

Not easy to go "OH SHI-" and draw a steel bar from your back in under a second. I recommend something shorter.

[Fracture and Fidelity]

If I had the luxury of firearms, I would probably go with a shotgun. Were I to come across a military weapon (highly unlikely), any kind of assault rifle would be welcomed.

I think handguns would be out of the question though. Anything less than a magnum doesn't have enough kick to do crap to something that doesn't feel pain.


Shotguns are brilliant though, it's a gun, a club, and a third limb to keep distance. One shot to the head and its a dead zombie. one shot to the spine and they're paralyzed. Every bit as good.

[Shrantic]

Fracture and Fidelity

Shrantic

Fracture and Fidelity

shinyspoon42

What do you think is the single best weapon for melee use?

For your average person?

A baseball bat: why? everyone knows exactly how to swing one well enough to drop someone to the floor.

For a person more skilled with blades and having some minor understanding of joints and anatomy... any kind of machete. They lop off limbs. A zombie with one leg is far less threatening than a zombie with two. Crouching to chop at the leg will also buy you precious seconds and distance if you happen to be jumped by a zombie.

Fire axe takes little skill, and has a pretty nice range (being an axe, the end of the weapon is the blade, giving you distance), but it is also slow.


Those are the best I can tell.

You don't need to be skilled in an anatomy to use a machete. Rwanda genocide proves that.

However, NO weapon will lop off limbs easily. It takes a LOT of force to actually take off a limb, and if you crouch down in front of a zombie? Yeah, it doesn't matter if he doesn't have legs then, because he'll fall on top of you. And, obviously, bite you.

Also, machetes have thin, thin blades. If you swing one at a skull, you're not going to get it back out without excessive force. You want THICK blades, like that of a kukri, which will not yield to suction so easily.

Fire axes? Yeah, I guess they're okay if you don't have a gun, but other than that, you want something you can draw quickly. Melee should be last-resort.

She asked for melee weapons.

And as far as I'm concerned, wouldn't conserving ammo be of most importance? A gun seems more like a last resort weapon to me, ammo isn't easy to come by in a zombie apocalypse.

I'd prefer to live to see another day rather than conserve all the ammo possible. Range is your FRIEND in combat, even if you have a limited supply of ammunition.

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Find a weapon with boundless versatility, and a metal staff in the right hands is just that, you never get hit if you never let anything get close.

And you can keep swinging that around forever, right?

Another problem with melee weapons. With a gun, the only energy I need to use is to hold it and pull the trigger. A steel bar? You have to swing it over and over and over again, and those things are HEAVY.

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Also, limbs do come off rather easy at the joints. Even if you don't completely lop off the limb, you don't need to. Destroying the musculature, tendons, and ligaments insures you've made that limb useless in one direction.

So? You've still got the rest of the zombie to deal with, and I doubt he was holding out his arm nice and steady for you to get that opportune angle to chop off his limb at.

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Not all attacks must be lethal.

They've got to put them out for the count.

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Also, about your "zombie will fall on you" statement, you can pounce on the zombie immediately after cutting at him. The safest place from a zombie's mouth is a zombie's body. They can't bite you if they can't reach you because of their of flesh in the way.

THEN THEY MOVE! God dammit! The safest place from a zombie's mouth is AWAY FROM THE ZOMBIE, WITH A GUN.

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Scissor an ankle, and tackle the stomach while you recover your blades, now you have an injured zombie on the floor, and you don't even have to go for a kill now.

Yeah, and you risked your life and used up at least thirty times more energy than you would just shooting the poor sod.

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Being as far from something is not always an option, rather, being so close (in an intelligent manner... don't let the head reach you) they can't do anything but back up is also an option.

One pull of a trigger or even the swing of a kukri is a lot less energy expended from a zombie that noticed you than running cross-country from it.

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This is true in Silat where, mind you, it's a bladed art and the mindset is to assume your opponent has several knives, and often a machete from basic daily life. If it's safe enough for them, it's safe enough for zombies too.

Only, there's probably MORE zombies right around the corner and you don't need to be TACKLING each one you meet.

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Also, if you want to see some unconventional but very effective combat-machete work, watch this video. Watch it at 2:48 if you want to see where they get on to the machetes, before that is knifework which would also be helpful for zombies.

Or, instead of learning new and exciting martial arts, screw it all and swing a kukri head-level. You make everything MUCH more complicated than it needs to be.

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Cutting muscles vital to movement, watch very closely WHERE they stab and slash. It's not random, they are targeting any vital points for movement (though veins are often the main targets) that happen to be left open to attack.

Or, just swing a kukri at head-level. neutral

You aren't fighting Jet Li, you're fighting zombies.

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I don't like this video because its stationary, but it gives you a good idea of what a knife and machete can REALLY be used for. Now if only they would tape one where it's in full motion and they aren't standing still scream

You know what a gun can be REALLY be used for? It can be used for making shots over 2,000 yards. But you DON'T NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT in this scenario, so it's ABSOLUTELY POINTLESS to bring it up.