Melee weapons for Z-day

The Classics:


1: The Crowbar.

No, not the flat, short stubby piece of bendy barstock- that's a prybar. a crowbar is between 2 and 5 feet long, made of round or hexagonal tempered steel, and weighs about 8-12 pounds.
Wielded like a sledge-hammer, using quick over head blows.
devastatingly effective against smaller groups of shamblers.
not all that effective against runners, as they understand that their head is their weak point.



2: The Axe.

the axe displayed here, while not the ideal axe. will do in a pinch, If you can- hunt down an axe with a solid, heavy glass reenforced polymer haft, usually the haft will be florescent yellow. the full poly haft allows you to use the haft as a quicker bludgeon then if you were using the blade. if your saying "What is he talking about"
well, if you have an axe, go get it, and hold it just above the head, blade out in-front of your knuckles- and swing it like a sword. see how fluid it moves and how the head counterweights the haft? now get a few water melons and bust them with the haft as fast as you can. now try that with the blade. see? Yes, busting the skull is easier with the blade, so use that against small groups of shamblers. but, if in a pinch- say fighting a runner- switch to the haft and beat the ever living snot out of 'em!

3: the shovel.

One of the most used anti-zeke weapon.

and also- the most impractical.

Blasphemy says you? well- chew on this since you're gonna be a zeke soon.
almost all shovels are is a thin piece of sheet steel wrapped around a wooden handle, why did I specify almost all shovels? well, I know A guy, who knows a guy, who is related to a guy who hand crafts the most wicked awesome combat spades on the face of this Zeke infested planet. 'course those are technically shaolin combat spades.


Bludgeons:


1: The Shillelagh.

basically any hardwood stick as thick as a grown mans wrist, and as one one-half arms length.
best used against small groups of shamblers while listening to celtic rock like flatfoot56.
Bring out your inner Celt and bust some 'heads!





2: Hammers.

the usefulness of a hammer against Zekes are usually governed by weight, handle length, and handle material.
while most folks don't own a 3 pound 30 inch handle war hammer, or a comically over sized mallet. but most will own a claw hammer or a sledge. for lunatic blacksmiths such as me, we have massive collections of sledge hammers, ball peen, cross peen, and lumps of steel put on blocks of wood that we call hammers.

your average 12-16 oz. claw hammer won't cut the mustard.
where as the 4 pound 20 inch handle cross peen I forge with is a bit much for most. I find a good, long handled Stanly, estwing, cobalt or other big name tooling co. (hickory or steel haft) 24-32 oz. framing hammer with waffle patten face and a modified pulling claw (welded together and ground to a point.) excels at head bustin.

3: Demo bars

the lovechild of a war-club, crowbar, and framing hammer.
some think that it was given to mankind by saint Eloi, the patron saint of metalworkers, Others that it was a gift from sammael, the arch-angel of destruction.
but what ever first thought of it, or what gave it to us- this thing freaking LOVES Zeke slaying and door busting. standard issue to all acquisition teams and recon squads, and Havoc approved weaponry.


Avalon's Swords:

Guess what? GUEST WRITER! Here's Avalon to tell us about swords VS Zekes.
Only one shot of these, because the light was fading, and Havoc was trying to steal my weaponry.
Generally speaking, we at point B prefer to use ranged techniques to keep Zombies far away from our bunker, but sometimes there's not much you can do and you must engage in hand to hand or melee combat. when this happens I'm generally one to carry steal [though a shillelagh is always nice].
I prefer two swords when standing against 'Zekes' or 'Zeds' or Zombies, mainly because I like the concept of attacking with one and defending with the other. I generally use the shorter to block with, and the longer to reach with, unless a zombie gets inside my guard.
The two swords shown in the picture are my fighting blades- The smaller is Kilgorn, 'The Sword of Darkness' by Kit Rae, the larger is 'Aletheia', which was designed after the sword of King Alphonso the X of Spain. Both are one handed weapons. I know a lot of guys who love the big bulky two handed claymore style swords- These are pretty, they look macho, and honestly- Who doesn't love Cloud's Buster Sword?? -However, I may need to point out that I was once eaten by zombies because my sword was 1. Too big for me, 2. Too heavy and 3. Not fast enough.
I don't care how fast you can bring it down: if it takes more that 0.25 seconds to get it into another swing- it's too slow. If you want to stake your life on being able to do that with a sword that is simply too big for you it's your business and I'll be seeing you soon, -probably in my rifle's scope.

If you have the option of swords- Go for a Rapier. They're springy and enable very quick motion, mainly stabbing, but they also have significant slashing power behind them. They're one handed, so they can be dual wielded.

Havoc Dual wielding Kilgorn and Aletheia

Also- even if you can dual wield, know your limitations. I don't carry both swords all the time, and this is why; I have a bad habit of being on sentry duty and being ambushed by zombies [A-Neg blood type = delicious for zombies- they like O-Neg too] -Because of this I've realized that I have limitations. I'm not as crazy as Havoc or Hammer, but the whole 'if you need to switch from Range to Melee in a pinch- Drop the gun' methodology just won't fly. I like my S&W too much- and havoc would probably feed me to my zombie self if I didn't bring the gun back. I won't just drop the firearm to pull the cold steal. I generally end up holstering the gun with my left hand and pulling the sword with the right. Over all, this is a good plan. There's very little tim that you're vulnerable between putting away and drawing. However- Because of this, I've been in several fights that I never even got around to pulling Aletheia out- it was only dead weight, that ended up slowing me down.
Therefore; If I'm not on sentry in an orange or red zone I'll generally just pack some heat and the smaller cold steal. Aletheia is prettier perhaps, and bigger, but I know my limitations. Kilgorn is smaller, lighter, faster- perfect for me.
Now, Back to Havoc.

Havoc's custom weapons


1: The Pig, Blade and bludgeon.(sounds like a pub...)

The Pig is a brick of sharpened steel, at 1/4th inch thick 11 inches long and 3 pounds of indestructible death. the pig is nearly perfect for dismembering Zekes and stoveing in skulls,
hand crafted in the forges of khazad-dum by the dwarven steel masters. [read: crudely carved out of a leaf spring with an angle grinder by yours truly.] it can punch through steel doors and pry off pad locks nearly as well as the Demo bar.



2: 'the Punisher'

simple, crude, handy, effective.
the Punisher is just 18-24 inches of 5/8th inch re-bar with parachute cord wrapped around the base to make a grip.
quick enough in the hand to take on a runner, hefty enough to put down a shambler. like a nightstick on steroids, it busts skulls like teeth bust grapes, easily turning the turned into the dead.