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Anonymous said...
After further research I've found that my state allows open carry of just about any bladed weapon, but no firearms.
What is your experience with this, Ferfal? Are you more likely to be left alone if someone sees you are carrying one of the machetes you mentioned or one of these?
http://www.coldsteel.com/gurkhakukri.html
Can be had for approx. $110 on ebay and obviously would need practice to use. Seems like a very large and very effective version of your El Hombre.
Open carry a machete? Unless you are in Camerun, or live in the Amazon I don’t think you could to that without attracting a lot of attention, mostly cops.
Of course I dont want to mess around with someone that carries a large blade, who would? But again, you’re stick out like a sore thumb and if there’s any cops around and you carry that thing all day you’ll eventually have trouble, sooner than later.
Having said that, did go backpacking with a very large machete strapped to the side of my backpack, but I was in the middle of Patagonia, a gaucho ( local version of cowboy) with a facon ( big knife, bayonet size) strapped to the back is a common sight, so a backpacker with a machete was something no one cared to look twice.
I also kept it well strapped and had a black holster so it didn’t catch that much attention, only the handle protruded from above ( ready access).
It’s all about understanding your surroundings.
If I did than in NY city or Buenos Aires, people would stare at me and someone probably call the cops.
Regarding the kuki.
You’re talking about serious chopping power.
By all mean, a kukri is a formidable weapon, no doubt there.
Big blade similar to the short machetes we talked about before, and has a recurved blade to boost. You sacrifice a bit of stabbing and thrusting since it gets harder with the kukri.
Keep in mind that it’s very hard to stab with the original kukri ( gurkas went for chopping, which they found very effective given the size, weight and shape of the blade)
Kopis
The kopis sword seems to be the best of both worlds. I’m sure many recently saw it in the movie “300”. In spite of the comic movie, the weapons and armor are historically accurate.
The kopis is no doubt a wonderful weapon.
Cold steel used to make a nice Kopis machete, but it’s now discontinued.
Personally, and specialy in a large blade, I want to be able to trust and stab with it if used in a fight.
This is something the Romans took into consideration with their Gladius.
Gladius
It’s a nice short sword, heavy enough to chop nicely but it has a strong narrow tip for stabing, which was the most common attack move when combined with the shield.
That machetes I mentioned and purposely attacked the links to Amazon, they are all good for stabbing and thrusting attacks.
Cold Steel took this into account with their kukris and straightened them out a bit more for better stabbing potential, though I’d still go for a bowie 12”, a spear point, or kopis instead.
Look at this Youtube review on the bowie machete.
As a concelaed carry fixed blade, take a lot at Cold Steel's reocn tanto with kydex holster.
I CCed a cold steel Kobun, stainless, serrated, adn with kydex holster, but it's not available any more.
No I dont work for Cold Steel but I have many of their products and they are very well made, reasonably priced ( machetes are downright cheap! but check the video above) and the steel is good quality , sharpens well.
FerFAL
3 comments:
Rather than wearing a sword and looking like a complete nutcase to every cop who passes you by, why not carry a cane and or an umbrella. These items if used properly can hurt an attacker but with a stick or a cane you can hold back on the force of your attacks if you need to. It's not so easy to do that with a sword.
If you want to cover your rear end, just find a doctor who will give you a perscription for your cane because of a sports or work related injury that you recieved.
Learning how to fight with a stick is imperitive in this case. But Fillipino and other martial arts (even fencing) can help you out here. Also a knife may still be carried as an off hand weapon.
A gun will probably trump a stick, unless the gunman is so inept or his weapon jams. But a stick, cane or an umbrella has a clear advantage over a knife... unless the knife-wielder closes in. In that case you'd better know what you are doing, but you might be able to keep the Knife-wielder at bay with the stick/cane/umbrella long enough to draw another weapon or escape.
Just my 2 cents.
Great suggestions, thanks.
I mentioned open carry in particilar because most weapons that are illegal to carry concealed can be carried in the open (no guns, sadly).
A concealed machete is illegal. A four foot long claymore (think Braveheart) carried in plain sight and for self defense is legal. There is no limit on length.
Only OC spray and pen knives can be carried concealed and I believe your Hombre/Vaquero would fall in that category. It just seems so tempting to carry something bigger when the law allows it. Carrying a gun around is highly illegal and almost no one is granted a permit for it. That's the kind of thing that would be good to make up for going to and from your car, etc. all those times you've said are your most vulnerable.
You are dead on about the cops, though. I don't think I want to make it onto their shit list.
Recently a man wandered into a convenience store in my low-crime, town of about 15,000 in western Massachusetts (USA) wearing a good sized sheathed knife on his belt.
Strictly speaking this was not against the law. But, he made the clerks nervous and the police were called. He was apprehended at gun point on the street, questioned and eventually released without being arrested. Though the police confiscated his knife.
Even if legal such conspicuously odd behavior will cause you a lot of grief.
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