You need a sword like that!

[bric]

So my wife and I have started watching the Walking Dead series on DVD (I know we're late to the party). We watched the last episode of the second season last night. Towards the end of the show, a hooded figure comes out of nowhere to save one of the main characters by beheading a zombie with a katana. The show is very well done and creepy so you really get into it... So when that zombie's head hit the ground my wife turns to me and says, "you need a sword like that!"

...then she must have pulled up in her mind an image of me delimbing the Christmas tree not too long ago with a tarwar (to get it out of the house...it was a very full tree) and corrected her statement to, "well you have a sword like that ... but everyone should have a sword like that!"

Sure, my eldest son is $&*@ing up at college, there's work to be done and bills to pay, but I mean (confusion between tarwar/katana aside) sometimes we just have to count the blessings in our lives, small or otherwise. Besides getting to watch the very engrossing show that engages my fantasies about zombies and using steel as I never will in real life and spending time with my favorite person in a mutually enjoyable activity, I never thought I'd hear those words cross my wife's lips...

and who knows, maybe I do need a Katana....it's not like the thought hasn't crossed my mind before....

Thankful for small things (did I mention she let me delimb the Christmas tree with a tarwar?) from the now frigid shores of lake Michigan, I wish you all the best.

PS - Jay/Steely, no spoilers from season 3!

 

[Steely_Gunz]

Ha! OK, no spoilers...but it's pretty dang good Can't wait for the next half season to start.

As for "needing a sword like that", yes we all should have a traditional Christmas Tree Limbing Sword. Hell, I chopped down a small 8' fir tree in front yard that was killed by the Christmas snow/wind storm with my 25" kobra

I do need a tarwar...and a falcata...and a...

 

[Ray Settanta]

I agree. Everyone does need a katana but not one of the stainless steel wallhanger types. A katana is a wonderful, agile sword that in the right hands, other than mine, can do amazing things.

 

[Ang-Khola]

A well made katana can cost up to 15000$ so i think we really should stick with our khukuris .if i have enough money left one day i will buy one but only the real deal !

 

[JFrame]

Hey Bric -- I envy you and your wife! I wish I could go back to "The Walking Dead" series "cold," and watch all those great episodes all over again for the first time.

As for the katana -- Max Brooks waxes ecstatic about that particular weapon in his Zombie Survival Guide as being just about ideal for close-quarter combat against zombies (along with the Shaolin spade and the humble but universally handy crowbar).


.

 

[Ray Settanta]

A well made katana can cost up to 15000$ so i think we really should stick with our khukuris .if i have enough money left one day i will buy one but only the real deal !

It is not necessary to spend that much for a serviceable katana suitable for tameshigiri or zombies. Should not cost more than $300 USD. Even a good Nihonto should not cost that much. I searched the net and found some from $3000 to $5000 USD.

 

[Steely_Gunz]

A well made katana can cost up to 15000$ so i think we really should stick with our khukuris .if i have enough money left one day i will buy one but only the real deal !

Auntie can have the kamis make you one that can cleave cattle spines for under 300 USD Traditional? Not really. Sleek and balanced like the ancient weapons of war? Not really. The kamis make their Everest Katana pretty beefy. Is it effective? Ohhhh Yeah

I've had mine for about 8 or 9 years, and it's still rocking and rolling along

 

[falar]

A well made katana can cost up to 15000$ so i think we really should stick with our khukuris .if i have enough money left one day i will buy one but only the real deal !

You could certainly get a real Nihonto for that much (or less, or far more) but a "well made" Katana in regards to cutting ability can be had for a small fraction of that price.

 

[RiverRat9533]

The best part is he was hacking up the tree INSIDE his house!

 

[davidf99]

For what it's worth, the Katana that the character Michonne wields so effectively in The Walking Dead does not look to be an "authentic" Japanese sword. The handle wrapping, while very grippy, is not like anything I've ever seen. Nevertheless, the blade lops off heads with no trouble, and I have no doubt that an HI Everest Katana would do likewise if it weren't against the law and against community standards. :grumpy: Of course in most social situations, lopping off a head would be considered an overreaction.

In combat the most important thing is you don't want your sword to break. I don't think an HI Everest Katana is more likely to break than an authentic Japanese Katana, no matter how many thousands of dollars the latter might cost. You wouldn't want to trust your life to some of the cheap imitation Katanas on the market, but HI blades are overbuilt and made of good steel. The other most important thing is the skill of the user. A Katana in the hands of a novice will probably lose to a 6" blade in the hands of an expert.

Needless to say, all of this is highly speculative and you shouldn't try any of it at home.

 

[abdelhazred]

For what it's worth, the Katana that the character Michonne wields so effectively in The Walking Dead does not look to be an "authentic" Japanese sword. The handle wrapping, while very grippy, is not like anything I've ever seen. Nevertheless, the blade lops off heads with no trouble, and I have no doubt that an HI Everest Katana would do likewise if it weren't against the law and against community standards. :grumpy: Of course in most social situations, lopping off a head would be considered an overreaction.

In combat the most important thing is you don't want your sword to break. I don't think an HI Everest Katana is more likely to break than an authentic Japanese Katana, no matter how many thousands of dollars the latter might cost. You wouldn't want to trust your life to some of the cheap imitation Katanas on the market, but HI blades are overbuilt and made of good steel. The other most important thing is the skill of the user. A Katana in the hands of a novice will probably lose to a 6" blade in the hands of an expert.

Needless to say, all of this is highly speculative and you shouldn't try any of it at home.

Killing zombies probably isn't illegal in very many jurisdictions, at most you might get charged with something about desecrating a corpse. And let's not forget extenuating circumstances, justifiable homicide, etc.

Let's not forget that The Walking Dead is a piece of fiction. Human bones calcify, and become hard and dangerous to fine-edged steel. In the end; I'd turn to khukri, hatchets, and hammers for my undead-slaying needs. Maybe even brass knuckles, I wonder what sort of trauma they would inflict on a stone-like but brittle skull.

 

[JFrame]

Maybe even brass knuckles, I wonder what sort of trauma they would inflict on a stone-like but brittle skull.

No doubt it would have tremendous bone-crushing capabilities on a decomposing zombie skull...But the greater distance I can maintain from the highly infectious zombie bites, the better I like it.

...Speaking within the fictitious realm of zombies, of course...

 

[davidf99]

Killing zombies probably isn't illegal in very many jurisdictions, at most you might get charged with something about desecrating a corpse....

The testimony in court would probably go something like this:

Defendant: "It was already dead."
Prosecutor: "Coroner's report says cause of death was decapitation."
Defendant: "I tell you it was dead."
Prosecutor: "How did you determine that? Do you have medical credentials?"
Defendant: "The smell...."
Prosecutor: "Do you decapitate everyone who smells bad?"

Prosecutor: "Why were you carrying a 3' long katana?"
Defendant: "Self defense."
Prosecutor: "Against what?"
Defendant: "Zombies."
Judge: "Remanded for psych evaluation."

 

[abdelhazred]

No doubt it would have tremendous bone-crushing capabilities on a decomposing zombie skull...But the greater distance I can maintain from the highly infectious zombie bites, the better I like it.

...Speaking within the fictitious realm of zombies, of course...

True, but I'd probably quick to armor myself. Surely it wouldn't be difficult to come up with some some low-weight protection from human bites.

Unless you want to stay quiet, firearms would always be my first choice. For hypothetical zombies of course.

The testimony in court would probably go something like this:

Defendant: "It was already dead."
Prosecutor: "Coroner's report says cause of death was decapitation."
Defendant: "I tell you it was dead."
Prosecutor: "How did you determine that? Do you have medical credentials?"
Defendant: "The smell...."
Prosecutor: "Do you decapitate everyone who smells bad?"

Prosecutor: "Why were you carrying a 3' long katana?"
Defendant: "Self defense."
Prosecutor: "Against what?"
Defendant: "Zombies."
Judge: "Remanded for psych evaluation."

Clearly the coroner is a ghoul or something.

I'm more worried about ghosts. I've PO'd a lot of people in my short time on this earth, and I hate to think of what they'll do to me once they shuffle free of their mortal husks.

 

[RiverRat9533]

Are you my kids logging onto the forum? I swear they were just arguing the same thing until it broke out into a real fight over who is the most prepared for killing something that doesn't exist.
Wouldn't surprise me at all if they were logged on here to continue arguing killing the dead, since they aren't allowed to talk to each other until after dinner. LoL