Jeremiah Johnson
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After The Complete Breakdown Of Society: 5 Ancient Weapons and their SHTF Uses
This article dedicated to A Arizonian: 360 24/7!
ReadyNutrition Readers, we wrote a piece on the warrior mentality in a previous article, and this was to return you to the basics that covered skills and a mindset that has enabled our species to survive throughout the ages. We’re going to add onto that by mentioning there is a time for technology and a time for the primitive. Well, there have been a number of comments suggesting such weapons, and we’re going to run with the ball here – mentioning a few weapons besides the standard bow and arrow, and the knife – and then suggesting how to go about using them in your arsenal. Let’s do it!
5 Ancient Weapons and their SHTF Uses
Spears
Yes, a spear. There are several different kinds, depending on the function you want to use it for. My personal preference is to make your own or have it forged to your specifications. You want to be sure of a head that is sharply-pointed and well-bladed, preferably three or four blades, and the base is about twice as wide as the shaft. This will permit the head to penetrate with a larger hole than the shaft. What use, you may ask? Hunting on the QT, and also defense in like manner. A heavy spear will penetrate deeper brush than an arrow shaft.
These had heads that tapered to a point, as you can see, but a middle grip with two formidable ends that enabled it to be thrown or used here in close-quarters. Watch the movie, and you’ll see how effectively it was employed.
Sword
A matter of preference here. The Scottish Claymore, the German or Viking Broadsword, the Arab Scimitar, or the Roman Gladius. All swords have different techniques for their use. Someone is bristling at my leaving out the Japanese Katana. There it is. Each sword must be trained with differently, as they perform quite differently in battle and require practice in varied methods to be effective. If you’re going to pick up a sword, you need one that is fully-functional and either comes edged or can take an edge. Pay particular attention to the type of steel offered in it and research it for its hardness and tempering. Such weapons can be worn strapped to the back, to the belt, or carried in its sheath and attached to a rucksack or backpack. Remember this: cheap you buy, cheap you get, to coin a tried and true phrase in the vernacular. If you’re going to a Halloween party, then it’s your call, but if you may use it to fight? You don’t want one manufactured in Pakistan for $20.
Morningstar, or Mace
The ones attached to a continuous handle are a little easier to use than the ones on a chain. Yes, these are the weapons you saw on Bugs Bunny as a kid employed by Yosemite Sam and friends. The ones on the chain can propel and swing the actual ball of the mace with great force; however, you need to practice with them, as you can seriously injure yourself if you don’t have control over the swing and arc. Purchase the ones with the spikes, made out of steel or heavy iron…they leave a lasting impression!
Boomerang
The “Feral Boy” in the movie “The Road Warrior” used one made out of metal. Once again, you need to practice with this to be effective, and in this, you need two of them…one for practice and one to use when the “S” hits the fan that is in mint condition. Give yourself a wide open area such as an uninhabited field as a practice ground.
Throwing Knives
Throwing knives are also considered an ancient weapon and if your accuracy is on point, they can be deadly. As well, the Chinese throwing star, also known as “Shuriken” are a part of any Oriental Ninja’s weaponry…a must-have for villains and heroes alike! Seriously, these things can be highly effective…if you practice with them and make yourself an expert in their use. I’ve heard plenty of comments about “How are you going to use that if you come under fire?” or “You’ll never be able to use that to hit a moving target in combat conditions,” yada, yada.
You are the warrior: you pick the time and circumstances of the encounter, and employ a weapon in the manner you’ve trained with it at the optimal time.
What we’re talking about here is the use of weapons after the complete breakdown of society, the complete collapse. You’ll want to save that ammo unless you know how to make your own smokeless powder, your own primers, mold your bullets and have a lifetime supply of brass. Even then, you’ll want to use weapons such as these in times that their silent employ could very well mean the difference between life and death.
Please keep this in mind: They can be just as dangerous to you (and others whom you do not intend them to use against) if you do not know how to use them properly and practice with them to acquire expertise in their employ.
Just a few suggestions, here, to get you started. There are plenty of armorers and arms manufacturers that specialize in authentic, fully-functional ancient and medieval weaponry. Do your research and find quality weapons and equipment, and train. Don’t buy that mace for $20 and then be surprised when the spiked ball comes off and goes through the windshield of a parked car. Don’t buy the $1,000 Katana, on the opposite end of the spectrum, and succeed only in cutting off one of your own feet while practicing. If you can, practice with “dummy” weapons until you have the motions and fluidity down, and master the weapon fully before employing it in a real-world situation. Be safe, stay in that good fight, and embrace “I can” as your core focus.
Oftentimes, the “I can’t/naysaying” crowd are telling you that you can’t do it…but they themselves have already done it…they just don’t want you to succeed with it. Or, they tried it and didn’t succeed, and therefore don’t want you succeeding when they failed. Either way, they’re not contributing to your success or survival.
The “I can,” is stronger than their “you can’t.” The “I can” will enable you to survive and succeed where others fail. If you conceive of it, study it, practice it, master it, and believe in yourself, you can do it: in anything in life. You can!
Train intelligently, and train without ceasing. Fight that good fight, and win it. JJ out!
Jeremiah Johnson is the Nom de plume of a retired Green Beret of the United States Army Special Forces (Airborne). Mr. Johnson was a Special Forces Medic, EMT and ACLS-certified, with comprehensive training in wilderness survival, rescue, and patient-extraction. He is a Certified Master Herbalist and a graduate of the Global College of Natural Medicine of Santa Ana, CA. A graduate of the U.S. Army’s survival course of SERE school (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape), Mr. Johnson also successfully completed the Montana Master Food Preserver Course for home-canning, smoking, and dehydrating foods.
Mr. Johnson dries and tinctures a wide variety of medicinal herbs taken by wild crafting and cultivation, in addition to preserving and canning his own food. An expert in land navigation, survival, mountaineering, and parachuting as trained by the United States Army, Mr. Johnson is an ardent advocate for preparedness, self-sufficiency, and long-term disaster sustainability for families. He and his wife survived Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Cross-trained as a Special Forces Engineer, he is an expert in supply, logistics, transport, and long-term storage of perishable materials, having incorporated many of these techniques plus some unique innovations in his own homestead.
Mr. Johnson brings practical, tested experience firmly rooted in formal education to his writings and to our team. He and his wife live in a cabin in the mountains of Western Montana with their three cats.
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