A new weapon suggestion...

[syfy]

Rebar is the answer http://www.homedepot.com/p/Weyerhaeuser-1-2-in-x-10-ft-Rebar-05366/202094293?N=5yc1vZc7qm

 

not some weak knife that will break.

 

gonna take a bit of time to make a sharp point at the end, but the stuff is strong and durable.

good weight to it too

 

i leave it to you to figure out how to make it work, but i promise you that Rebar will be found in almost every town in America.

[Kajin]

I was thinking long sticks of copper ground. They're these long rods of copper you can get in any electrical store. Supposed to drive them into the ground and hook your house's electrical grid onto it in case something shorts out. They're pretty long and would probably be easier to work with than rebar. Would have less durability, though. Rebar would likely be the superior metallic rod for all your spearhead needs. Heck, it might even outlast you if you keep it clean.

[Fuji]

I was thinking long sticks of copper ground. They're these long rods of copper you can get in any electrical store. Supposed to drive them into the ground and hook your house's electrical grid onto it in case something shorts out. They're pretty long and would probably be easier to work with than rebar. Would have less durability, though. Rebar would likely be the superior metallic rod for all your spearhead needs. Heck, it might even outlast you if you keep it clean.

Copper wouldn't work so well, you can saw through it with a butter knife.

And to piggyback on what syfy said, rebar would work well, but not spear length rebar. You wouldn't even have to sharpen it (which is harder than it sounds), as its heavy enough to use as a short club. Weight would pose a problem, though. It can be swung easily, but carrying it around isn't something anyone would want to do for more than a few minutes.

[Kajin]

Dude, this is THICK copper we're talking about. I drive that stuff into the ground with a freaking sledgehammer whenever I have to install a ground into an electrical grid. It'd last a lot longer than whatever crappy alloy is in a kitchen knife, that's for sure. It'd be prone to deformation after moderately heavy use, but I'd still consider using it as a spearhead in the short term.

 

Dunno how heavy rebar is, so I'm unsure how easily one could use it. But if you could, I imagine it'd be pretty durable.

[Fuji]

Dude, this is THICK copper we're talking about. I drive that stuff into the ground with a freaking sledgehammer whenever I have to install a ground into an electrical grid. It'd last a lot longer than whatever crappy alloy is in a kitchen knife, that's for sure. It'd be prone to deformation after moderately heavy use, but I'd still consider using it as a spearhead in the short term.

Dunno how heavy rebar is, so I'm unsure how easily one could use it. But if you could, I imagine it'd be pretty durable.

Copper is still copper no matter how thick it is, and copper is still soft. It's notoriously bad at keeping any kind of edge. You could make a sheleighleigh out of it, I guess.

[deprav]

A solid spear would probably be one of my first choice in case of zombie apocalypse, but I'd sure keep a second weapon for close range, just in case. (probably something to shank eye-sockets, or some blunt weapon that can be easily swung).

But yeah, spears. I practice Wing Chun and there's a martial form using a long pole -which is now mainly used for body conditionning and developping muscles as it's pretty heavy to handle and you don't walk with 9ft poles in the street- and one of the first move you learn is a solid thrust at chest or head level. It requires a bit of training to aim it right and steady with the appropriate body structure and rooting to developpe enough power, but once you get that right no zombie would ever resist your head-thrusting spear, they do not even dodge ; you'd just be thrusting skulls all day long, comfortably standing 8ft further.

For the record, that's the kind of thrust move I'm talking about (the first 8 seconds) :

Keep in mind I'm talking about an actual spear, a thick, long piece of wood with a properly fixed pointy head, or even carved directly into the wood.. I sure wouldn't use a knife duct-tapped to a boomstick.

[Ivanhoe]

A solid spear would probably be one of my first choice in case of zombie apocalypse, but I'd sure keep a second weapon for close range, just in case. (probably something to shank eye-sockets, or some blunt weapon that can be easily swung).

But yeah, spears. I practice Wing Chun and there's a martial form using a long pole -which is now mainly used for body conditionning and developping muscles as it's pretty heavy to handle and you don't walk with 9ft poles in the street- and one of the first move you learn is a solid thrust at chest or head level. It requires a bit of training to aim it right and steady with the appropriate body structure and rooting to developpe enough power, but once you get that right no zombie would ever resist your head-thrusting spear, they do not even dodge ; you'd just be thrusting skulls all day long, comfortably standing 8ft further.

For the record, that's the kind of thrust move I'm talking about (the first 8 seconds) :

Keep in mind I'm talking about an actual spear, a thick, long piece of wood with a properly fixed pointy head, or even carved directly into the wood.. I sure wouldn't use a knife duct-tapped to a boomstick.

 

They're also called staves. A fighting staff [or 棍/槍] is specially made with stronger wood types like maple, purpleheart or even quality indian rosewood so they're so sturdy and not likely to break.

 

In order to deliver enough impact force, the staff needs to have enough mass too, which means the user must have certain strength in order to effectively use it in a fight. As you can see, the Wing Chun master looks pretty exhausted at the end of the video.

 

Not to mention the insane amount of training in order to master it. A martial art noob with nothing but brute strength would only tear his shoulder muscles if he fails to fully deliver the force from the body to the staff itself when thrusting.

 

Sure It's a good weapon, but not for average joes.

[Trojan_Turps]

I don't think duck taping a kitchen knife to a stick is the best thing to do IRL but as far as the game goes I think it works.

There are lots of things in the game that wouldn't work very well IRL but make the game more fun.

[deprav]

 

They're also called staves. A fighting staff [or 棍/槍] is specially made with stronger wood types like maple, purpleheart or even quality indian rosewood so they're so sturdy and not likely to break.

 

In order to deliver enough impact force, the staff needs to have enough mass too, which means the user must have certain strength in order to effectively use it in a fight. As you can see, the Wing Chun master looks pretty exhausted at the end of the video.

 

Not to mention the insane amount of training in order to master it. A martial art noob with nothing but brute strength would only tear his shoulder muscles if he fails to fully deliver the force from the body to the staff itself when thrusting.

 

Sure It's a good weapon, but not for average joes.

 

Yeah they are pretty sturdy and flexible, I don't know shiet about wood tho so I don't think I'd know which one to use tbh. My WC instructor bringed ours from China (well, he asked the guys he's training with when he's over there to send them, planes ya know ^^), I think those are made with some kind of oak from china, I could be dead wrong tho... But, I think they need to be flexible to absorb impacts when training against other poles/staffs, or circular movements being brutally stopped during martial forms, so if you're sole purpose is to thrust straight forward through skulls, the flexibility wouldn't be too much of a concern imo.

Also yeah, it does require some training but it's not that exhausting. Master Wong up there is going hard especially for the purpose of the video, to show people with what kind of energy those exercises have to be done ; gotta sweat to learn ! The movements that exhaust him the most probably are the wide circling ones and the "triangle" with both hands at the very end of the pole, those are harsh.

But yeah I agree, might be hard to use for the "average joe" without at least someone telling him how to use it properly. No need to be a pole-fighting master against zombies tho ^^

[King jjwpenguin]

I don't think duck taping a kitchen knife to a stick is the best thing to do IRL but as far as the game goes I think it works.

There are lots of things in the game that wouldn't work very well IRL but make the game more fun.

Well it consumes a whole thing of tape so im pretty sure its good for at least a few hits.

[Ivanhoe]

 

 

They're also called staves. A fighting staff [or 棍/槍] is specially made with stronger wood types like maple, purpleheart or even quality indian rosewood so they're so sturdy and not likely to break.

 

In order to deliver enough impact force, the staff needs to have enough mass too, which means the user must have certain strength in order to effectively use it in a fight. As you can see, the Wing Chun master looks pretty exhausted at the end of the video.

 

Not to mention the insane amount of training in order to master it. A martial art noob with nothing but brute strength would only tear his shoulder muscles if he fails to fully deliver the force from the body to the staff itself when thrusting.

 

Sure It's a good weapon, but not for average joes.

 

Yeah they are pretty sturdy and flexible, I don't know shiet about wood tho so I don't think I'd know which one to use tbh. My WC instructor bringed ours from China (well, he asked the guys he's training with when he's over there to send them, planes ya know ^^), I think those are made with some kind of oak from china, I could be dead wrong tho... But, I think they need to be flexible to absorb impacts when training against other poles/staffs, or circular movements being brutally stopped during martial forms, so if you're sole purpose is to thrust straight forward through skulls, the flexibility wouldn't be too much of a concern imo.

Also yeah, it does require some training but it's not that exhausting. Master Wong up there is going hard especially for the purpose of the video, to show people with what kind of energy those exercises have to be done ; gotta sweat to learn ! The movements that exhaust him the most probably are the wide circling ones and the "triangle" with both hands at the very end of the pole, those are harsh.

But yeah I agree, might be hard to use for the "average joe" without at least someone telling him how to use it properly. No need to be a pole-fighting master against zombies tho ^^

 

 

White oak is a good choice as it almost has the best bending strength among the common wood types but its toughness is rather poor. Rosewood has twice the toughness and the same flexibility as white oak, but importing that sh*t is illegal.

 

Try purpleheart wood if you want super bending strength. Also, it's tougher than oak.

[deprav]

 

White oak is a good choice as it almost has the best bending strength among the common wood types but its toughness is rather poor. Rosewood has twice the toughness and the same flexibility as white oak, but importing that sh*t is illegal.

 

Try purpleheart wood if you want super bending strength. Also, it's tougher than oak.

 

Thanks for the tips ! The staffs we have are essentially for training purpose more than actual fighting so I guess white oak does the work just fine for now. I'll keep it in mind for the day I want to craft an actual staff-weapon or a spear ^^

My main wood concern right now is for building a wooden dummy, with the help of my carpenter step-dad. That stuff gon' be hard !