All practicality aside, if you’re leaping into the fray to rescue a group of scared survival-impaired victims that just wandered into a group of brain slurping Z-Boys, take a page out of the book of infamous X-Man, Wolverine. The Pantera hand claws (designed by Tom Anderson) send a clear message to those around you (well maybe not the zombies…they really don’t appreciate the zApocalypse style we’re trying to perpetuate here): “I mean business!” If you’ve got a pair of these puppies clutched in your fists, it’s clear that you’re not timidly looking around for supplies, you’re there to put holes in zed faces, sever necrotic tendons and remove fingers so they can’t get a grip on your sweet mutton chops and motorcycle jacket, bub. Don’t forget the cigars.
Whenever we here at ZPrepared look at knives, generally we’re looking for a knife that also has several utility functions, so you can minimize the amount of gear you’re carrying. But you know what? Screw that for once. We’re going to talk about a straight up fighting knife. The Ka Bar Next Generation Fighting Knife is a no nonsense knife made for killin’ or de-animating in our case. Sometimes you need to take a zombie out without attracting too much attention and a tactical folder just doesn’t seem like the type of blade that you can just plunge right into the brainpan of the unfortunate zed that shambled in your path. Ka Bar has a long standing tradition with the military, and is about as combat tested as a modern blade can be. The Next Generation comes complete with a stainless steel blade appropriate for use in wet conditions (which to us includes zombie spillins).
Nothing splits a Zed Head’s skull like a well made Axe. Sure, you can trust your life to a machine built one you picked up at Home Depot, but at ZPrepared we like our weapons to have a bit more flare.
The Best Made Axe Co. hand makes each and every Axe to order. Each one features a hand painted and polished 30″ hickory helve with a 3.5 lb fine grain steel bit. This type of craftsmanship and care doesn’t come cheap, the price ranges from $250 to $500 bucks. Just don’t come complaining to us when the cheapo axe you picked up cracks under the pressure.
That last post about the compound bow, talking about the throwing knives really made me curious about throwing axes. So a quick search brought up one of our favorite companies, Cold Steel. They really know how to bring some serious “cold steel” to the game, and the Bad Axe is no exception. Over 2mm thick and fully heat treated medium carbon steel for strength helps this thing really pack a wallop when it finds its mark. The Bad Axe has all the necessary weight for zombie skull chopping and throwing giving you an excellent weapon with serious attitude. It comes with a factory sharpened utility edge, but it can easily be sharpened to a razor edge.
Alright maybe zombies won’t be intimidated by your mean looking Ka-Bar Becker TacTool, but it’s definitely mean looking enough to give you a boost of confidence when facing down a couple of shufflers and crawlers. This “utility tool” is a great piece of hardware to pack when you’re moving through rough terrain or even urban sprawls.
Great for prying, smashing, hammering, cutting, slicing/dicing, caveman grunting and posturing, and more. Doors, windows, 550 cord and undead skulls are no match for the Becker TacTool. You don’t want to find out the hard way that our utility tool of choice has some serious limitations when you’re on the move in Thriller country.
The problem with most “off the shelf” and mail order swords is that they’re made to look at, not actually use. They’re usually poorly made, unbalanced, and never meant to be swung much less cut anything. Cold Steel Emperor Swords are made not only to look pretty, but also slice and dice with the best of ‘em. A fully sharpened 1055 carbon steel blade, heat treated to a spring temper, then hand polished to a mirror shine ensures a clean cut every time. The details are immaculate; only traditional materials are used for the fittings. Keep that Katana you bought at the flea-market on the shelf where it belongs and keep one of these at your side.
I could go on and on about this great Zombie killing tool, but there’s not much I can say that this video doesn’t:
We have a saying here at Zprepared.com: Never bring a knife to a Zombie fight. If you absolutely have to, the WASP Injection Knife is definitely the blade to bring. Made from surgical stainless steel, this 11 1/4″ knife comes equipped with a handle that holds an up to 24g gas cartridge. With a push of a button, a burst of cold compressed air about the size of a basketball is ejected out of the blade. Originally designed for divers to use against sharks, this nifty weapon has the potential to be a decent back-up, back-up weapon. If your back’s against the wall, and all other options are spent, just drive this sucker into a Zeddy’s head and just push the button. Just make sure your eyes and mouth are closed.
