Close Combat Weapons
October 1, 2008 by HQ
Filed under Close Quarters
In close combat, your weapon needs to be one that can penetrate the zombie’s skull without a great deal of acceleration or momentum, given your proximity to target and the inability to generate a great deal of centrifugal force, and still cause sufficient damage to its brain.
Your weapon needs to be compact, fast, and easily accessible while providing sufficient skull-penetrating power. As such, a knife, or similar stabbing implement is your best choice when fighting in CQC range.
Not every knife, however, will work effectively in a close combat situation with a zombie. There are certain characteristics you should look for when selecting the optimal edged weapon for close range engagements. In future briefings, we will examine each of these characteristics in careful detail.
I have a Vietnam issued ka-bar knife. It has a huge blade and the hilt is heavy enough to use as a hammer. I’ll be carrying it on Z-day for sure.
Of course I’ll also have my skinning knife.
one thing to remember when picking a knife is blade shape. serrated blades tend to get stuck in bone (known from dressing and butchering wild game and also general cooking). a 1/4″ thick long straight blade would do well when punching through the face into the brain.
In an outbreak, most people won’t be prepared and will have to look for household items as weapons. I would suggest a screwdriver (no longer that 12 inches), preferably phillips due to the point at the end. It’s light weight, relatively unobtrusive, and can penetrate some of the more vulnerable parts of the skull.