blade for "safe room"?

Cato

Cato

Joined
Dec 28, 1998
Messages
120
Hi!

I guess the concept of retreating to a safe room in case of a home invasion is well known to you all. Without a doubt, most of us rely on guns, even long arms, when it comes to defending this room. This is the reason I never spent much thought on the issue of a "blade for the safe room", til Ken Good mentioned at his Strategos Forum, that he is keeping some katanas there "for limb removal".. :eek:

So I would like to ask if you keep "cold steel" there too and what kind would you recommend? Here in Europe in many countries (thank God not in Austria) you can't keep guns for home defense, so for those poor souls it may even be a primary weapon.

Thanks for any input

Cato
 
Are you trained to use a katana?

If not, they can be quite cumbersome especially if you're trying to swing it in a small room. Not to mention that most of the mass manufactured ones are lard ass heavy.

I have some aiki-kenjutsu training, but even I wouldn't want to use a katana.

I also have training in Chinese style swords like the broadsword (darndao) and actually prefer it since they can be wielded with one hand.

It's difficult to buy a sharp Chinese broadsword as most of the MA ones are made of light aluminum and only for demo purposes. A close approximation would be a machete or a short saber.

These can be wielded dangerously even by someone with limited skill. Not to mention you can buy a cheap machete at any hardware store. They are a highly underrated edged weapon in my opinion.

Other alternatives are a wakizashi (short sword), a ninja sword (which is much smaller than a katana), a big kukhri knife, or a long bayonet. I like my 16 inch Toledo steel bayonet...wicked!
 
Get yourself a large bowie knife. They're big enough to "remove limbs" yet small enough to work well in a tight space.
 
I second that "large bowie knife"-still-it's a poor substitute for a large caliber missile weapon.
 
I think Bill Seigle or Jerry Hossom could help you out on this one . . . .
 
A thinner, fighting khukuri is a good one to choose. It has the chopping power and, though it's often overlooked, excellent thrusting ergos. The point is usually perfectly in line with your wrist, allowing for an intuitive, accurate thrust...
 
If you are interested in pruning off offending limbs, why don't you get one of the Fiskars Pruning Shears, mentioned in one of these threads.

Yeah, I know (it's horrible).
 
My entire knife collection, including a real khukri from Nepal, is kept in the 'safe room.' It seemed like a 'safe place.'
 
I would choose in no particular order:
Tomahawk w/ spike
Tomahawk w/ poll
Khukuri
Large Bowie
Short Spear
Chef's Cleaver
Chef's Knife
Gladius
Pointed Stick (TM)

-SB

Ok, maybe there was some order...;)
 
While I don't have a "Safe Room" persay, when things get dicey I wouldn't hesitate to grab my Tressitu TZ-99 9mm Automatic, my BK&T Combat/Utility 7, my Spyderco Chinook, my 2-D Cell Maglite (if it's dark), and of course my cell phone and find myself a good position.

Although it should be noted that the melee weapon I seem to perform best with is a Tomahawk, alas, can't seem to dig up the cash for one (or the cost justification).
 
I'd like to offer a couple of other non-firearm suggestions that I have handy on premises:

1. Keep a canister of mace/pepper spray in a hidden but easily accessible location. Perhaps not the best idea to use in a small, enclosed room though. You may want to consider a high-powered airgun as a non-lethal alternative. A face full of steel pellets flying at 400fps from close range will really, really sting! Next, go to step 2.

2. A retractable steel police baton, or a sipo whip (which I've been told can break bones). I have this as a back-up to my pepper spray/bayonet combo.

I like the idea of a bowie (or perhaps a Sykes) as others have suggested. It would lack the reach of my preferred machete, but would be easier to hack and slash if you could draw them into range.

It's also harder to dodge and disarm a knife in an enclosed area like a safe room.
 
While it's not my intention to belittle Full Tang Clan... realistically, if things have gotten so bad that you need to retreat to your safe room and STILL the home invader continues his intrusion, I don't think annoyance weapons like pepper spray and weak airguns (400FPS isn't squat, btw) are going to do the job.

If a home invader is breaking into your safe room with you in it, trust me, that invader means to kill you, respond appropriately.
 
Originally posted by YoungCutter
While it's not my intention to belittle Full Tang Clan... realistically, if things have gotten so bad that you need to retreat to your safe room and STILL the home invader continues his intrusion, I don't think annoyance weapons like pepper spray and weak airguns (400FPS isn't squat, btw) are going to do the job.

If a home invader is breaking into your safe room with you in it, trust me, that invader means to kill you, respond appropriately.
Click to expand...

You bring up a valid point but I don't think you quite understand what I'm saying.

I'm not saying to solely rely on the pepper spray (or airgun). I have no illusions that that would stop someone dead in their tracks. It's only a deterrent to afford you the time to use the cutting or bludgeoning weapon, or to get the hell out of there.

It's no different from the self-defense trick of spitting in someone's face, or an eye-jab so you can momentarily blind them to launch an offensive attack.

If you have 10 to 20 feet from your attacker (whether it's a robber, or a mean black bear in the forest) are you in range to use your bowie knife? No. If you have both pepper spray and your bowie, which would you do under the circumstances, given the attacking range:

1. Zap the attacker/bear with the repellent and hope they either retreat or blinded enough that you have a momentary upper hand and can launch a counterattack, or get the hell out of there. Risk: you piss them off even more.

2. Wait for the attacker/angry bear to come into your attacking range, and hope that you can make a decisive strike first only using your knife. Risk: you get badly injured to during an exchange or are disarmed.

My point is that there is no "one way" and there are no guarantees. It's about having options at your disposal depending -- and I stress DEPENDING -- on your situation including fighting range, and depending on the opponent (his motives, his violence level, etc.). If he is on you then screw the pepper spray, kick in your survival instincts, and kick and hack and slash like hell.

If he has a gun, well, you're chances pepperspray or not has got you at a big disadvantage. Don't even think of a long range attack.

Some of you may have seen the video footage of an attempted bank robbery in South(?) Korea where a thug wearing a motorcycle helmet entered the bank and accosted the teller. She had the wits to zap him at point blank range with pepper spray, which confused him, and then she started beating on him like a tom-tom drum. Now, I wouldn't have used pepper spray at that range but she did and it worked for her.

So you can't say it wouldn't work because that's proof it can (note I say "it can", not "it will").


FTC

BTW, if steel pellets in the face at 400fps from 20 feet wouldn't phase you one bit then you obviously have a much higher pain threshold than I do.
 
Bowies, Fighteres and hawks are all good choices. Heck, might as well pick up a Cold Steel Boar Spear and get yourself about 7' of reach :eek:
 
Originally posted by blademan 13
Bowies, Fighteres and hawks are all good choices. Heck, might as well pick up a Cold Steel Boar Spear and get yourself about 7' of reach :eek:
Click to expand...

YES! The blademan understands what I'm talking about.

It's about using options, including range and your environment to your advantage.

However, although I have expertise with the short staff, and long staff, I wouldn't use a 7' foot spear because I wouldn't feel confident with one in a critical situation. However, if you do, go for it!
 
A SOG Tigershark "bowie", and a Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri...That's what I have next to my 10mm Glock and 12-gauge shotgun.
 
Originally posted by glockman99
A SOG Tigershark "bowie", and a Cold Steel Gurkha Kukri...That's what I have next to my 10mm Glock and 12-gauge shotgun.
Click to expand...

Glockman,

With a 12-guage and your 10mm Glock, the only thing would you need a bowie for is to scrape the remains of the bad guy off your floor!

FTC
 
...And the Kukri to chop-up the remaining pieces so they fit into the garbage bag.:D.:D.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top