What is the best Katana for a zombie apocalypse?

[obdigore]

To be quite brutally honest, ANY melee weapon is going to require serious strength and endurance if you plan on swinging them for any length of time, even a simple two pound gladius. And how do you know I'm not already in training for 12/22/2012?

Also, keep in mind that the .22 I have in mind is a bullpup-style rifle. The machete is for the close-in work, which was why I listed three weapons. By far, though, I'd try to stick to ranged whenever humanly possible.

ETA: In high school, my introduction to helping my dad with carpentry was 1) Grab hammer, 2) Use hammer for 20-30 minutes, 3) Down asprin before I could start feeling my arm again, 4) Try not to scream. Yeah, I know what kind of bitch swinging heavy objects can be.

The problem is that you (and I) have no military training. I understand that the .22 can be used, even in melee range, but you are going to panic and not be accurate until you become 'used' to the situation. If you are conserving ammo and at a point where only one zombie can come at you at a time, a melee weapon is a better choice. Meh, a Machete would work, but you would do better to be cutting heads off instead of trying to break through the skull, imo.

[Seegtease]

.22 is for headshots. It's big enough to scramble the brain sufficiently for a kill, yet recoil is minimal. I have no illusions about bullets to anywhere but the head being effective, but a gun lets me fight from outside melee range, which every movie has shown to drastically favor the zombie horde. I'd actually go for the Red Jacket Firearms anti-zombie AK-47 selectible ROF with full auto and laser sight, bayonet, and integral grenade launcher, but I have no military training to speak of (which it really requires), and no permit to allow me to acquire it ahead of the zompocalypse. The .22 allows me to carry a TON more ammo, too.

The sledge is simply because pulling a blade like a machete out of bone (after a successful headstrike) is a gold-plated bitch. Specifically, I'd prefer to use a long-handled ten pound sledge rather than the standard twenty-pounder. It would allow me to crush skulls without having to worry about working a blade free of a skull in the middle of a melee.

A claymore could work instead of the sledge, I suppose, but then you still have the 'sword stuck in bone' issue.

And yeah, machete is a very nice backup weapon.

Who says they even have functioning brains? Shooting them in the head could do nothing. And headshots are not particularly easy or reliable, as I'm sure you well know, which is why most are trained to hit the torso. Of course, that would be useless on zombies, thus I find the gun to be... inefficient. Even if it DOES stop them, you have to hit a moving target with erratic movements in the head. Doable, but hard. Might be better trying your luck in melee.

A shotgun, on the other hand, does end up being useful because of the huge impact spread all throughout, possible causing the zombies body to fall apart to uselessness.

So much hinges on the nature of the zombies!

[Taliesyn]

The problem is that you (and I) have no military training. I understand that the .22 can be used, even in melee range, but you are going to panic and not be accurate until you become 'used' to the situation. If you are conserving ammo and at a point where only one zombie can come at you at a time, a melee weapon is a better choice. Meh, a Machete would work, but you would do better to be cutting heads off instead of trying to break through the skull, imo.

I do have experience shooting, and luckily I don't panic easily at all (even when I really should), but yeah, accuracy can be problematic. Still, my goal is to stack the odds in my favor as much as possible, so if I can snipe them down as they move single file down a hall at me, so be it. There's an insane amount of 22 ammo out there.

The only problem with trying for decapitations in melee is you really need to get inside their guard, you need to be VERY accurate to hit the neck, and you need to hit it with a ton of force, especially with as short a blade as you find on a machete. Maybe if you could get your hands on a claymore it would work. That's another reason I was going for an impromptu warhammer instead - I just have to hit the head rather than catch the neck and sever the spine, and it's much easier to pull free.

[Deleted]

I suggest the Mighty Kilij, Weighted tip so when swinging its going to cut right through anything it hits. also Used by Vlad the Impaler, clearly nothing cooler. Wanna see what it can do? google kilij deadliest warrior.

[Taliesyn]

Well, to be fair, if the zombies are of the 'all disassembled parts still keep trying to kill you' variety, you're really going to need a flamethrower. For now, I'm just going to prep for the Romero and RAGE variants, since flamethrowers are kind of out of the question for me atm.

[obdigore]

Well, to be fair, if the zombies are of the 'all disassembled parts still keep trying to kill you' variety, you're really going to need a flamethrower. For now, I'm just going to prep for the Romero and RAGE variants, since flamethrowers are kind of out of the question for me atm.

Lighter and a bottle of hair spray.

[Deleted]

A mofoing halberd?

[Taliesyn]

The problem I see with the Kilij is that it's still a cutting/thrusting weapon, which would only be effective against RAGE-style zombies. Against undead, you really need something more likely to flat-out either destroy or remove the head.

And don't read too much into the weapons used by unbeaten warriors: Yes, Vlad used a Kilij. However, Miyamoto Musashi never lost with either katana or bokken, and William Marshal defeated over 500 knights over the course of his career, mostly using lance, bastard sword, and mace.

---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 02:05 AM ----------

Lighter and a bottle of hair spray.

Good call, but I think I'll look for something slightly more...intense. Know where I can rig up some thermite?

[NoSalvation]

Katana looks cool and all but... no... just no... to much upkeep and severing the spine would blunt it to ineffective very quickly. Also it only has one cutting surface so you would have to redirect the angle every stroke. Also to be effective you would have to keep your arms horizontal a lot which would tire you out faster.

Guns pretty much also a no.. not only do you run out of ammo and are loud thereby drawing the attention of more zombies but also in real world situations it has been shown police have about an 11% hit rate so 9/10ths of your shots would miss... and thats just aiming at a whole person not something the size of a canalope also thats people(the police) who are trained and have an average of 95% rate in target shooting. Panic, adrenaline and increased heart rate will throw off shots.

Bats are kind of inefficient since there is a pretty good chance that it would not break open the skull on the first hit. Unless perhaps you hit them with all your might gut then again you would tire yourself out relatively quickly.

Crowbars are to heavy for extended use as well. They are also slow so you would be overwhelmed a lot quicker.

Personally I would choose a riot shield and a Mace. Something with Spikes to concentrate the force of the blow to break apart the skull easier. Also a Mace is only 3lbs or so and gives you better reach than a hammer and you don't have to pay attention to which way it is facing. It also uses an up and down motion for the most part. Which is a lot easier to do then the side to side you would have to do with a sword. Riot shield would be used for pushing back and giving yourself breathing room if there were more than one.

[Taliesyn]

Shields are indeed awesome. I guess I just wanted to keep a bit more range even in melee.

Spiked maces, by the way, are morning stars. Just thought you might like to know.

Anyway, it's 2am, so bed time for me. Night folks.

[Deleted]

Shields are indeed awesome. I guess I just wanted to keep a bit more range even in melee.

Spiked maces, by the way, are morning stars. Just thought you might like to know.

Anyway, it's 2am, so bed time for me. Night folks.

Good night AMERICAN bro

[Kimbald]

You have 2 categories of katana's:

1. the ones you can afford and are dull, of bad steel that will break or bend on you, and that look shiny but are utter crap.

2. the ones you can not afford and are incredible weapons that require a ton of maintenance of which you usually have no clue in the first place.


And than there is the Cold Steel 2 handed katana:
basically a machete in a katana form. Strong, durable in rather good steel. And most of all: dead cheap.
Only issue: you might have to resharpen the edge, so some knowledge is required. As with any blade.
I hate advertising for any one company, but as far as the sillyness of this tread goes: that one...
And if on a slightly bigger budget, the warrior series.

So much for the fun.
Now for the real stuff. Since zombies aren't that common in real life, this is all a fun and hypotethical 'what if' tread.
Do NOT get these things as toys! They are not toys and will surely put you in the hospital if you goof around with them.
Only order one if you see a zombie, just make sure to ask for express delivery

[Deleted]

Do you guys hear yourself speaking?? Seariously!!
The only thing what would happen i f you buy a katana sword is that reality hits you and you realise you just trew away lots of money. wich you could have used to buy more beer!

[Deleted]

The problem is that you (and I) have no military training. I understand that the .22 can be used, even in melee range, but you are going to panic and not be accurate until you become 'used' to the situation. If you are conserving ammo and at a point where only one zombie can come at you at a time, a melee weapon is a better choice. Meh, a Machete would work, but you would do better to be cutting heads off instead of trying to break through the skull, imo.

Taking off a head is much harder than it looks, it takes great skill and strength to completely remove the head from the spinal column. Much easier just to crack the skull and destroy the brain that way.

---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 11:28 AM ----------

The problem I see with the Kilij is that it's still a cutting/thrusting weapon, which would only be effective against RAGE-style zombies. Against undead, you really need something more likely to flat-out either destroy or remove the head.

And don't read too much into the weapons used by unbeaten warriors: Yes, Vlad used a Kilij. However, Miyamoto Musashi never lost with either katana or bokken, and William Marshal defeated over 500 knights over the course of his career, mostly using lance, bastard sword, and mace.

---------- Post added 2012-05-30 at 02:05 AM ----------



Good call, but I think I'll look for something slightly more...intense. Know where I can rig up some thermite?

Very, very easy to make. Recipe can be found on your fave search engine.

[Rork]

Do you guys hear yourself speaking?? Seariously!!
The only thing what would happen i f you buy a katana sword is that reality hits you and you realise you just trew away lots of money. wich you could have used to buy more beer!

You wouldn't last a day during a zombie apocalypse...

[ptwonline]

Any weapon that requires on muscle power for it's killing force will be of limited usefulness in something like a Zombie Apocalypse. How long do you think you can keep swinging a sword, or a baseball bat, or a knife, or firing arrows? A few hours and you'll be completely exhausted.

Weapons relying on muscle power also require physical space to operate, but also require close contact to inflict harm. A man with a sword can be overwhelmed by unarmed opponents. Realistically, you might kill a few dozen and then you're toast.

[banan163]

Ppl watch to much anime/games where the protaganist cuts ppl/zombies as if they were paper
If you want a Katana, then you should ask Sephiroth

[Deleted]

What is it with people going for katanas? A longsword is superior, elegant and can be used in more than one way.

[Deleted]

What is it with people going for katanas? A longsword is superior, elegant and can be used in more than one way.

Agreed, although if you want a Katana type weapon the Scimitar is so much superior.



Easier to maintain than a Katana too.

[Lysah]

Did you see the latest Living Dead movie? They're dead - they don't need to swim to cross water.

Antarctica might start looking good come the Zompocalypse.

Don't be silly, being submerged in water would vastly increase the rate of decomposition, there'd be nothing left of them by the time they got to the other side.