Using a Sword For Home Defense.

Now some of us might relish a chance to try and remove the hand of an opponent with a machete (McBane would have used a falchion), many other people suffer with "inhibitions". If you've somehow misjudged the situation, a hand dropping to the floor could really make you feel bad (particularly if it belonged to a relative). Your timing is so tight when you close for blade-to-BG contact that you can't afford inhibition. For those of us who might have hesitations a light axe handle might be better. Somehow a broken arm with most to the tendons and blood vessel still in place is an easier wound to inflict than actual amputation. I suppose you could use the back side of a bolo much the same way with the added benefit of scaring off the unarmed intruder real good.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">If you've somehow misjudged the situation, a hand dropping to the floor could really make you feel bad (particularly if it belonged to a relative). </font>
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If you live in an apartment you're likely to lose your security deposit, too, unless you can get the carpet clean again.

-Razor

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AKTI #A000845
 
Living in Nevada I hear more true to life stories about the cowboy/gunslinger era than most folks.

Lots more of them than you might think involved folks getting out of Goldfield or Tonopah without stopping fer nutthin when they heard Wyatt Earp was after them.

Maybe I recollect wrong, but the folks who backed down, grovelled in the street, and hauled ass back home lived longer. Especially if they came back with a shotgun, hid behind cover, and waited til their nemesis tried to stagger home from the bar and THEN gave them both barrels of buck in the back.

Dunno what I'd do, but I 'spect not too much has changed in a hunnert twenty-five years. And for heaven's sake, don't go and be interruptin' your enemy when he's making a mistake.
 
I'm glad I came back to the Sword Forum, now. This is really quite and interesting discussion. Personally, I'd say 'both.' Guns have their uses. Blades have their uses. It really depends on the situation. With young children in the house, for example, a gun needs to be more tightly protected than a sword. Both are deadly, but it's far easier to accidently kill oneself wit ha gun than a sword. Bullets can ricochet - blades very rarely do. Et cetera.

My advice? If you can, get both. Train with both. And train how to decide which one to use, so that you don't have to sit down and flip a coin to choose.

Based on the layout on my house, and the other people within it, etc., if I hear a bump in the night, I'm more likely to be carrying a blade when I go to check it out. But, in a slightly different situation, I'd much rather have a gun. In other words, I don't think there will ever be an answer to the question - other than 'it depends.'

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
just had to put my $0.02 worth in here... tho a little late...

I own a number of big knives and lots of little ones... and a sword...

However, even with a few years of MA training, I have no training with a knife OR sword.

That being said, I WOULD be in the right mindset to inflict serious damage on someone who invaded my home... however I would NOT reach for my sword or knives... I'd go for my baseball bat.

face to face, blade to gun is a pathetic face off... so the only option for me would be to rely on my better knowledge of my home and sneak around the BG and get him from the back. (anyway the gun issue is moot here in Singapore considering guns are not available for sale here at all and the only gun crimes here happen every couple of years and half of them seem to involve former cops. more likely that an intruder will enter with a knife os some sort.)

Stabbing a man in the back... well it just isn't kosher. But braining him in the back of the head just doesn't seem so bad.

Anyway, my wife doen't know how to use a knife either but she 'll have no problem swinging her aluminum bat at someone's head.

with that thought in mind, we have 4 baseball bats at home and neither of us play. Her's is an aluminum bat we got at Toys R Us and mine's an old scarred wooden louisville from my teenage school days.

another plus point, braining a guy shouldn't leave as much blood on the floor as stabbing him... and a guy with a stab would could still fight... but a guy with a dent in his head will probably lie down... hehehehe or I could take out his knee so he can't run... take out his collar bones so he can't raise his arms... take out his lower back so he can't... the list goes on.

one last point (I promise)... a bat isn't gonna get stuck in bone after you swing it at him the way a sword could. and I think blunt trauma's harder to heal than a neat cut that's easily stitched up... ruptured internal organs, shattered bones, dislocated joints... ahhhhhh...:p :p :p
 
There was a story out of Australia about 3-6
months ago about 6 men with pipes breaking into
a man's house. He happened to be home at the
time and was armed with a "Samurai sword".
There was little discussion of the encounter
except that one man was killed and either one or
two were being treated for wounds at a local
hospital.
Many times, those who break into houses are poorly
armed, and a sword would be a serious advantage over
them. I for one would choose a sword over a baseball
bat. It is the one hand weapon I have training with
and continually train on. It is the only hand weapon
where I would not have to stop and think about what to
do, because I will be able to react
automatically with that weapon.
That being said, I have NO intention whatsoever of EVER
USING A SWORD TO DEFEND MYSELF! I have pistols and other
firearms for that! I train with them routinely so that when
called for, I can react automatically without having to think
about it.
Agree with much of what Ken Cook has been saying. If I could
not afford a pistol, then I would buy a single shot shotgun.
They are still under a $100 new.
So as to what this thread started on, I believe a sword could
be a viable home defense weapon, but is not a weapon of choice
in the age of the gun, and if the bad guy has a gun (and more
of them are armed these days) using a sword to defend yourself
could be a deadly mistake.
 
I agree with everyone that think a sword is good as a real weapon but a gun of course is more effective, if not all the wars would be done with swords.
In this days the swords have their own beauty, and everyone here love swords as much as I do, but it can never stop a bullet...
;)
 
hello all: just reading your post's. You all have good point's. I have used both edged weapon's and firearm's in defense and attack in civilian and military combat.edged weapons: stealth, your at home the lights are out,have your better half try to find you![had a student hide under a coffee table, she grabed her husband's leg as he walked by! he he:}] Get the vidio "Surviving Edged Weapons " Calibre Press. I heard the same stuff for year's at my range. I got fed up brought the vidio in put it in the vcr and played it! THE RANGE shut down ! the LEO'S and other's all sat down and watched in silance The NYPD officer's had never seen this vidio and wanted it included in thier training program
 
im new here and im finding it very interesting. i dont know if this is the right post to mention this, and i hate to throw another wrench in the discussion but.... i was wondering if anyone has experience with air tasers for home defence. laser sight, no noise, no mess. once hes down, you can do whatever you want with him. quick tie him up and give em a shave with ya cold steel tanto...hehe.
 
There is a person, who lives in Ireland, who posts elsewhere, who was thinking about a sword for home defense for his flat. He was most interested in either a falcata, a cinquedea, or a shortish falchion. His thinking was htat he could reasonably explain to the Garda, the Irish police, that he had it hanging on his wall as a collector's piece when the BGs tried to bust into his flat and that he had grabbed what was immediately available, said sword. He had considered all of the various sized swords and had decided that one of the three named models would work best in the confines of a smallish apartment in the hands of one who was not an accomplished martial artist. I don't know what he wound up doing about it. I had suggested that he consider getting a well made reproduction of a Roman shortsword, since that is more of a cut and thrust weapon, allowing more options. This was pre-"Gladiator" and there wasn't this huge wait list for gladii at that point.
 
IF I didn't have firearms available(can't imagine
that scenario, but if), how would
I defend myself in case of a home break-in and it
pretty much comes down to swords and knives. I
also considered base-ball bats, axes, machetes,
and hatchets, but
some parts of my house (hallways) would severely
limit one's ability to effectively and efficiently
swing these implements, hence the most effective
tools would be those that could both thrust and
swing/slash/cut. This narrows the selection down
to swords/daggers/knives. A sword or a dagger
would seem to be the natural one-up-manship over
any other hand tool/implement. The sword/dagger would
get my vote over any other tool/weapon including base-
ball bats.

The only problem is its hard to get that scene out
of my mind from the original Indiana Jones movie
where he's suddenly confronted by a "master" swordsman
who make a big show out of waving his sword around.
About the time your thinking "Wow, this bad guy is
really dangerous with that thing!" Indiana pulls out
his revolver and shoots the guy dead!
 
L6,
Well said training is the key.I know that in our modern age of firearms, which I own as well, most people hava a tendancy to think
that it would be foolish to consider anything other than a gun for
defending the home.Just a thought what did people use to defend their
homes before firearms were invented.
 
yeah logos, but back then people breaking into your home were probably NOT armed with firearms either. so there was pretty equal footing.

the whole issue of home defence is kinda like thin ice isn't it? I mean, what's reasonable force? An american friend related this bit of advice from his uncle who was an LEO. If you encounter someone breaking in to your home and you're about to shoot him... and he makes it to the door and get shot one the porch, DRAG HIM INTO THE HOUSE before the cops arrive.

I couldn't believe it when he told me, but he said that was the advice given to him and given how the laws in the US sometimes don't protect the victims, it was the prudent thing to do.

< no intention to start a flame war but I'm just relating what someone told me.>

I wouldn't take too well to anyone trying to break into my home, especially now that I have a baby there. Kinda weird, but being a parent suddenly makes me more... territorial, protective. I don't think that's unusual, probably all you guys/gals out there with children of your own are shaking your heads at my 'new' experience.

Lost property can be replaced but I shudder to think about any harm that might befall my family. LOL one friend suggested keeping a pot of scalding water always ready, either in a thermos or airpot, and basically just throw it at the BG in an encounter.
 
Qew,
Please don't feel I'm picking on you. I've heard a thousand people tell this same story about advice a LEO gave them. Every time I hear it, I am compelled to blow this dangerous myth out of the water.

Originally posted by Qew71
An american friend related this bit of advice from his uncle who was an LEO. If you encounter someone breaking in to your home and you're about to shoot him... and he makes it to the door and get shot one the porch, DRAG HIM INTO THE HOUSE before the cops arrive.
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If you move a body, alter a crime scene, or lie about the circumstances of a shooting (or cutting) incident, <b>YOU WILL GO TO PRISON!</b>

If the Police or Prosecution catch you in one lie, your credibility is absolutely shot. You're a liar, they know you're a liar, and only the guilty need to lie to protect themselves.

<b>DO NOT EVER DO THIS!</b>

End of Lecture.
 
Originally posted by Qew71:

An american friend related this bit of advice from his uncle who was an LEO. If you encounter someone breaking in to your home and you're about to shoot him... and he makes it to the door and get shot on the porch, DRAG HIM INTO THE HOUSE before the cops arrive.
Click to expand...

Agree with Ken completely ~ let the bad guy lay where they've been gunned.

Keep in mind. . .there is a little thing called incriminating evidence (after a shooting/stabbing). Specifically, bloody drag marks that remain after a body has been moved. Oh, not to mention the "splatter pattern" at the scene that was caused by the projectile that exited the BG.

Besides, "perp's" ~ after being shot ~ generally don't crawl into the home of the one who shot him. They tend to "attempt" to get as far away from "the scene" as possible.
 
ok I have been flogged and I have learnt my lesson... I wasn't trying to encourage anyone to do anything stupid... just repeating something that was told to me as a point of interest.

I must say that I was rather incredulous when I heard it too and I raised the same points as you guys did; evidence, blood trails, etc.

no arguments from me... no sirree... please don't hit me again *whimper*
 
ill tell ya what. if a man enters my home at night with a gun. he better be a practised stress shooter. cause it can be stressful to see a very angry man, protecting his family coming at ya full force, full speed, swinging a sword with deadly intent. first of all, most people could not hit a fast moving man in the dark under stress. not to mention a cracked out dirtbag, holding his 9mm sideways, who has never been to a shooting range in his life. and if he does manage to get a round in me, it better be in my head or heart, cause otherwise im still coming and parts of his anatomy are coming off.
 
<b>"ill tell ya what. if a man enters my home at night with a gun. he better be a practised stress shooter..."</b>

That's the problem with taking a sword up against a gun.
He doesn't have to be a practiced stress shooter, he just needs to get one lucky shot as he sprays your general in panic.

<b>"first of all, most people could not hit a fast moving man in the dark under stress."</b>

That's true, but you're discounting the "Luck Factor" (It always works against you!) and if you plan on being attacked only by the incompetent and drug affected, that's all you'll ever be able to defend yourself against.

I train to defend myself and my family against people who are extremely good at what they do.

Something to think about.
 
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