Guilty Pleasure: Zombie Tools Reaper

DanR217

DanR217

Joined
Sep 6, 2010
Messages
1,721
Not sure if this goes here or sword forum...

First off this is meant to be a discussion about the blade, not the company or their marketing. If you can't keep yourself from posting snide comments or passive-aggressive rhetorical questions, please move along...

I mentioned I had a Reaper in a thread a while ago and I have gotten several e-mails asking about it. This is in no way meant to be a full review, for one I am in no way shape or form qualified to do so and second I haven't used it much, this is just a little general info.

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So the thing is about four feet long and weighs about six pounds. From what I can tell that's more than twice the weight of a decent katana. Heavy is the name of the game with this guy is what I'm saying. The 1095 is all one piece from the tip of the blade to the bottom of the handle. The center of gravity is dead center in the handle, the idea is that the back end can be used as a bludgeoning weapon according to a guy from their shop.

I've swung it around some and chopped into a little wood to make sure the edge wasn't crap, but to be honest its a little too heavy for me. I have a jacked up left shoulder and its been quite a while since I've done any upper body exercises. So number one on my list would be to lighten it up. Maybe drill holes in the 1095 under the handles or something, at 6lbs. I know there's room to work with. Also the flat spot on the lower tip on the edge (pictures 3,4) bugs me. It seems like it needs to be sharp to avoid snagging.

So there you go, a little info from a Zombie Tools product owner who isn't afraid to admit that they have at least one guilty pleasure.
 
I like it!!...is it full tang?????......FES

Sorry!...just reread your post...no wonder its 6 pounds...if it was 4-4.5 pound it would be better IMO.....FES
 
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That is awesome! Lots of haters on this board that make fun of ZT but you know what? Who cares? I've got a couple myself and I love them. And if you ever want to trade that bad boy away, just let me know.
 
Looks like it would be super heavy to me, but also a lot of fun. :p
 
Looks fun. I'm a bit mystified as to the blade shape myself. Seems like its meant as a chopper of sorts, but a crescent shape would be more conducive to that end. Like you said, the base of the blade should, at the very least, be sharpened. Perhaps it's intended more for thrusting? It so, that seems to go against the handle shape. That's an odd one for sure. Thanks very much for sharing!

EDIT: In fact, I think it might make more sense if the blade were flipped around 180 degrees, like a long-handled cleaver.
 
I think it's based on the "war scythes" used by peasants/agricultural workers during uprisings. The tang of their scythe blades would be straightened by the local smith so that it jutted straight out from the snath rather than being oriented 90 degrees to it.

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I get a lot of funny looks because of the hawk i carry. I wonder what they would say I carried that thing. Cool zombie tool.
 
If I owned that, I'd keep it in my car, with a Grim Reaper's cloak and mask. Next time I saw an ambulance, I'd just sort of stand there and point at the injured person(s). Then again, I might get arrested, still a funny concept.
Ed, I imagine you would get some interesting looks, from everyone. You might even see some criminals piss themselves, might depend on how you dress, get a cloak.

I'd want to lighten that Reaper up. At 6lbs. I imagine that it's pretty slow for most normal sized humans. Sure, if you weight 350, and your strong as an ox, then maybe it's just fine. I'd be better off with the same blade mounted to wooden pole, lighter=faster, faster=more attacks.
 
Shorttime said:
Naginata.
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I thought those were mostly wood with only the head being steel? I'd personally make the shaft out of 6061-T6 aluminum to shave off the weight significantly without trading off strength. As much as I would admire having a heavy hunk of steel to swing around, I feel a weapon should be light to carry.
 
The original Naginata was a short-tang weapon. I like this one better, because the weight would give it phenomenal penetrating power.

Yes, but what about the speed of the thing? Well, are we talking about regular zombies or Rage zombies?
 
DanBo82 said:
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I've swung it around some and chopped into a little wood to make sure the edge wasn't crap, but to be honest its a little too heavy for me. I have a jacked up left shoulder and its been quite a while since I've done any upper body exercises. So number one on my list would be to lighten it up. Maybe drill holes in the 1095 under the handles or something, at 6lbs. I know there's room to work with. Also the flat spot on the lower tip on the edge (pictures 3,4) bugs me. It seems like it needs to be sharp to avoid snagging.
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Looking at the thickness of the steel and the bevel they put on it, you could improve that edge 100% if you took the bevel up a bit by resharpening, probably into a convex edge. Most of it could be done with an ax sharpener "puck" before you do the finish work with finer files or hones.

Oh yeah, you need to vacuum your carpet.
 
Shorttime said:
The original Naginata was a short-tang weapon. I like this one better, because the weight would give it phenomenal penetrating power.

Yes, but what about the speed of the thing? Well, are we talking about regular zombies or Rage zombies?
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I wouldn't consider the naginata a short tanged weapon. The tang was as long as (sometimes longer than) the blade itself.
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Well, considered next to the length of the handle....

Or call it a "stub tang" if you want. The Zombie Tools version is what I would consider a "full tang" Naginata.
 
To me that means that the balance would be horribly off, while making the rotational inertia of the tool much greater so it would be harder to start, harder to stop, AND have comparatively reduced striking power. :o
 
My father collects guns primarily and has very good taste in those. Where knives are concerned though he has a very strong lean towards mall ninja. Lets just say I've seen a fair bit of old frost cutlery and united stuff floating around in the junk drawers of his collection room. So one day he sees me looking at Zombie Tools and asks what it is and I show him and he promptly hands me his credit card and says he wants a squid axe and a set of spikes, Dad doesn't order things on the internet, he will literally hunt me down when he wants something he can't find in a store. I wasn't sure what to expect really. I had been looking at the machetes more as something crazy to hang on a wall that would still likely be functional if I really so desired it. So the stuff comes in and it's incredibly well made. I had a blast throwing the spikes when he brought them camping (probably a half an inch thick with no edge just one big sticky point) and the little squid axe he got was shaving sharp and would probably make a half decent last ditch edc. I don't think their designs are for everyone but the two things I saw were very well made and pretty fun to screw around with. In the end I was definitely impressed and glad my dad didn't buy another united cutlery machete for too much money at work. I'll try to get some pictures up when I have the chance.
 
Edwood7 said:
I get a lot of funny looks because of the hawk i carry. I wonder what they would say I carried that thing. Cool zombie tool.
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In the recent wild boar hunt i couldn't find anything suitable but a RMJ Kestrel strapped under my arm. I felt that was the best weapon i can find to introduce a lethal wound with great force should there be any danger. Take it with a handy back-up 9" blade and you are good to go.

Ed,
Thanks for getting us to the Winklers. Cool SOG avatar too.
 
foxx said:
If I owned that, I'd keep it in my car, with a Grim Reaper's cloak and mask. Next time I saw an ambulance, I'd just sort of stand there and point at the injured person(s).
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Lol, that's awesome....

Glad I came back to take another look at that bad boy because that post made my night.
 
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