Weapon Options Must haves for staying alive

[Alaska_Freedom]

If all of you now have a suitable weapons group from rifles to shotguns, plus ammo I
suggest move on to the next course of protection.

Crossbows, Compound, Conventional bows. Get plenty of arrows and books on tricks.
Practice all you can. These are silent hunting weapons that will pay off more then you know.
A clean kill and no one the wiser. NO SOUND...........
PLUS you can reuse the ammo automatically, can't do that with gun ammo.

Time is running out for any type of weapons since even these are on the chopping blocks
once the guns have been taken care of.

Now here is one more..........................sword. Right now you can buy them cheap. Buy several
and sharpening stones made for them, plus maybe a small grinding wheel.

Sharpen them and put them away asap. Get out only for practice but never let anyone know
you have them. As for t he bows the same thing. We know our guns will be a target and many here
will lose them when they come to get them but bows and swords will be all you have left to
keep you, your family separated from those out there wanting to kill you for your food and water.
Again if unfamiliar get some books while you can. Its that important. Even DVD's will pay off.

let me know what you think about this.

ALF


P/S Ladies, please never, ever get or put pink or bright colors on your weapons of any kind. That
will sign your death warrant. If your caught with them or its left behind, showing you female to the
hoard of male aggressors..................well pink is DOA.

[Bulldog11]

This reminds me of the show Revolution. They are 20 years past a global power outage and bullets are scarce. They use bows, but what is more fun is the swords they use. Maybe one day swords will be a great weapon again.

I plan to buy a bow, but a have more guns to buy before Barry declares I can't have them.

[Harvesttime]

Thank you Alf for reminding all to do this. Have been working on covering all area's. But not a lot but the middle area. Need more ammo, sharpening stones and arrows. Scarcely covered in variety of weapons but need to focus more on the refill supplies. I want that beauty in your photo Also, practice time has to be fit in for me better. Not good in that area. Rest of family is, but I gotta work on it. I also want to add to the list even that dart blower I think Graywolf mentioned and the hand held slingshots. I have been telling the family for some time now that we need variety and that ammo wont last long. Inahme had even mentioned the ymca possibly having classes on learning the basic bow and arrow usage. Sorry if I got that wrong Inahme. Thanks Alf.

[Starfire5]

Funny to see you post this, Alf. I just bought a crossbow this summer when I thought my hubby wouldn't let me have a handgun. Now he's changed his mind and I'm getting my handgun. So now I'll have both! I first saw crossbows on the TV show Revolution and decided I needed to buy one! LOL

[Swen_in_ca]

Picked this up about 6 years ago.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http...sch&itbs=1

Allows for better storage. Also have the 75 lb pistol with cocking lever. Great for rabbits.

Now for the real fact of archery. Yes, the arrows are reusable. Does that mean you only need a few? Absolutely not, they break/bend and sometimes just disappear. My storage for TEOTWAWKI was 3 dozen arrows for my bows with a dozen broad heads. I'm actually a little short on this and need 2 dozen more.

I learned at an early stage that it's better to turn your bow down and hope the arrow stays in the deer not punch straight through the organ cavities. 2 holes are not better than one. An arrow sticking out both sides when the deer starts running will usually result in a broken aluminum arrow, but then it's like two grinders tearing away. I have trailed deer a long way many times when I had my eagle compound turned up to 85 pounds. Hardly ever with my hoytt/Easton at 60, usually if it was stuck through the cavity they never made it more than 30 yards.

I even have a Flu Flu arrow if shooting at birds, etc. These arrow have funky looking Fletching (feathers) that slow down the arrow and makes it drop about 50 yards out when shooting into the air.

And of course I have my bow fishing kit from when I used to bow fish carp in Northern Wisconsin.

For my 150lb folding crossbow I have 3 dozen bolts (not called arrows) which seems ok, since I don't hunt with this yet, and mainly target practice.

For my pistol crossbow I have well over 50 little bolts. These are easily lost when rabbit hunting. But it is also easy to fashion bolts for metal rods.

Anyways, just wanted to remind people that if storing for an EOTWAWKI scenario have extra arrows, bolts, tips (field and broad head), an extra string for each bow, bowstring wax and other accessories.

[Swen_in_ca]

Added note about swords there are wall hangers and then there are swords.

If you buy a sword for under $50 I can guarantee you it is junk.

You can buy some carbon steel ones from $50 to $100 that will somewhat do the job. I do have a piece of junk cutlass that I actually like and would carry in an Eotwawki scenario, but I wouldn't trust my life to it. I like it because it's short and quick handling. Being made of Pakistani steel (basically reclaimed steel ships) it would break under any stress, however for cheap steel it will take an edge fairly good, just not hold it.

Now as for the carbon steel $75 dollar katana. Better but still not great. It was one of my first attempts at a higher quality blade.

Then I have my Damascus katana and damascus nodachi. I got them on sale for $99 each. Folded over 3000 times this swords are good quality and extremely sharp. Word of caution on a nodachi, they have no Tsuba (cross guard) so if your hand slides forward it will cut you. Something I learned the hard way, and being literally razor sharp cut two fingers to the bone. Not gonna get into the specifics of this but not one of my swifter moves. These will hold an edge and are extremely sharp.

Then I have my 1863 light infantry saber replica made of british 20 degree flex steel I used for Calvary reenactments, I bought for $150 now $170. This thing is made better than the originals. This is the one I would take into a combat scenario.

The next one on my wish list was a Navy Cutlass made of british flex steel that I was going to get for the fact that the saber gets cumbersome. The Cutlass is a much better sword for close quarters. Was going to purchase it for my retirement ceremony next week but with financial constraints looming on the horizon upon my retirement I figured I would save the $180.

Anyways, just brought this up for consideration. I have close to 15 different swords some bought for $12 and some bought for $170. Before purchasing do your research and qualify what you want it for. maybe even include a sword enthusiast in your decision. I would love to buy a sword in the $500 to $1000 range but alas, might as well buy another gun for that price.

Most of mine are for the wall and playing/training with. Even after all these years of being a sword enthusiast I still wouldn't take my katanas into battle against another katana, I would lose against anybody who has trained with them.

Now, I would take the saber and even my piece of junk cutlass into battle, but that is a whole different weapon not to mention when I reenacted, there was always the weak hand black powder pistol.

[Katmandu]

Have any suggestions for a good crossbow, in the $300 ish range?

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Just found your link @Swen_in_ca Is there anything you don't like about it?

[Swen_in_ca]

That is something I will have to ask one of my friends. He got into crossbow hunting in Wisconsin when they made it legal.

I myself just have that cheap one for $120. Mainly used for target practice.

[Swen_in_ca]

Was going to put this somewhere else, but it fits better here.

This is my saber for recreations. Very well made, In My Opinion, better than the originals.

http://www.atlantacutlery.com/p-1826-per...saber.aspx

It's way more inexpensive than it used to be. I paid $160 6 years ago.

My daughters Damascus Katana.

http://budk.com/catalog/product.jsp?prod...159690&

Once again, I paid $30 more, 5 years ago.

My Nodachi, same price.

http://budk.com/catalog/product.jsp?prod...159674&

My junk cutlass (pakistani steel), it says saber but really more a cutlass. Good training cutlass. BTW I would only recommend a cutlass for any person new to swords with no training. Personally I wouldn't recommend a sword for any combat situation really. I personally would go into a 'zombie situation' with a cutlass or saber using a sidearm in my weak hand. But that's under the impression that they aren't armed with anything but numbers.

This is the cutlass I wanted for my retirement.

http://www.atlantacutlery.com/p-1829-per...tlass.aspx

It's more traditional. But since I'm not getting it for my retirement, I'd rather get this one.

http://www.atlantacutlery.com/p-1883-1917-cutlass.aspx

Anyways, this are by no means true recommendations. Swords are mostly for wall hanging and recreations nowadays. If you really want to get one for a EOTWAWKI scenario, I strongly urge a cutlass for handling and close quarters. Then train, train, train. Then if you ever get into a combat situation still do not rely upon it for your life. Swords only work if your opponents are unarmed or against musketeers that are reloading.

[Swen_in_ca]

Now this too, isn't a recommendation just what I got and want someday

My archery hunting compound is a Hoytt Easton purchased around 1989.  Still an outstanding bow and going strong.  Have shot many deer, one bear and one boar with it.  However, it is in need of a new string.

When I go back to northern Wisconsin I probably am going to upgrade to a more modern compound and have been eyeing this one.  

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/A...t103967280

I'm a little limited to my choices in a compound due to my long (32" draw length)

My takedown recurve bow I bought.  Not a bad little bow for the price:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/ma...x?a=790128

  The reviews do mention that the string is low quality.  I've only shot mine about a hundred times and since I waxed the string really good it is still holding up.  The arrow rest is cheesy so strongly recommend replacing.  I had an extra one so that was done on the 5th shot.

I have $100 credit through cabelas and am thinking about getting this instead.  Reviews are great and it's only $20 more than what I paid for the Martin.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/A...t103969080

Well that's where I sit in the archery department. 



  

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My crossbows.  

Still working on a good hunting crossbow recommendation.

This is my foldable crossbow.  It's enough for what I use it for, and I like the folding option, although it's not easily collapsed and restrung. 

https://budk.com/product/Outdoors-Surviv...156486.uts

This is my sons pistol for practice.  Pretty much one step above a toy but does work on rabbits up close.

https://budk.com/product/Outdoors-Surviv...156471.uts

This is my pistol crossbow for small game.  This would actually come with me for a head to the canyons bug out/ live off the land scenario.

https://budk.com/product/Outdoors-Surviv...156482.uts

This is great for small game (rabbits) up close.

Anyways, still working on a crossbow in the $300 range for hunting purposes.  I know some hunting crossbows can go for almost $1000.  

But like I said I have a friend who is better for this recommendation than myself, but he is out of town for awhile.


@apocalypseguide I guess I would need to know what you are looking to do with it. If you have no bows/crossbows I would actually recommend archery first.  And for an apocalypse scenario toting around on a Bob I would recommend that takedown recurve if you can handle it, plus recurve arrows are more forgiving if you are making your own.  As for hunting I would recommend a compound bow, since all states have an archery season, not all have crossbow and it is a new thing anyways.  Crossbows are cool and I'm sure I may actually do some crossbow hunting someday but IMO they are bulky and hard to stow, thus my foldable one.  But then again I find it not so easy to string and unstring/unbolt for folding. Plus they have tips on them and spacers that get lost easily.