The Smashing Coconut Test II: Arrows

Today we determine the effectiveness of standard flight arrows against the evil brain-eating coconut.

Why Archery?

A zombie hunter proficient in archery is an important asset to your team. 

He or she can take out the living dead quietly using ammunition that could be manufactured more easily than those used in firearms. 

Stealth missions, hunting for food, or just simply thinning down the horde a few zeds a day are important to long-term survival.

Equipment:

• SF Archery Recurve Bow, limb poundage is at 28 lbs.
• Easton Platinum shafts
• Saunders 145 grain field points (arrow points)

*My bow's draw weight is 28 pounds. This is determined by the limbs. This is what are lot of beginners start with. When I graduate to intermediate or advance-level proficiency, I can upgrade to 40 pounds or higher. 40 and above is the minimum standard for bowhunting.

Target: 

1 ripe coconut (juice suitable for drinking & salad) 

The Test:

• To find out if a flight arrow using field points (heavier tips) shot from a recurve bow with a 28 pound draw strength could destroy a zombie.

• To determine overall penetration or deflection against a round surface that is shaped like a skull.

with home-made silencers

Technique:

I was worried about the arrow deflecting in odd angles so the coconut was set on the ground to be shot at from my 2nd floor balcony at a distance of 15 meters & approximately 45 degrees or higher.

Bowhunting is most commonly done at steep angles. This is also ideal for Zombie Hunting.

15 meters is my usual practice distance, mostly because my yard only goes as far as 18. I've been working on hitting a head-sized shape at least 2x a week. So far it has taken me about a month to maintain a grouping of 6 arrows out of 10 in the zombie-killing head shot zone.

Results:

I shot a regular flight arrow (red & green fletching) using regular target points. It only penetrated through 5 inches of the coconut. This was deep enough to make it into the empty space that contains the meat and juice.

The second arrow (green & black fletching) quipped with the heavier field-tip points made it all the way through the coconut. Penetration measured at 8 inches, entering through one side and exiting through the near-middle portion of the coconut. Perfect zombie-kabob!

There was a neat sounding thunk! sound when each arrow landed. Killing a zombie this way will be very satisfying. 

No shot deflected, even if they landed slightly off-center. Awesome.

Conclusion:

You CAN destroy a zombie with a "trainer-strength" 28 pound bow with simple field-tips. I can't wait to upgrade to 40 or 50 pound limbs so I can take zeds out at longer range!

Quite interesting that the arrow dug in as far as it did. By comparison, my best attempt using a hand axe with my left arm only chopped into the middle.

I ate his brain. Yum.

Success is sweet, and so was the coconut salad! A happy ending for all.

Stay vigilant!

Armscor .22 TCM VS Steel Plate

On my recent trip to the Armscor Firing Range at the basement level of the Makati Cinema Square, I was delighted to find the Rock Island Armory .22 TCM pistol already being sold. 

I'm excited about this thing. And so is American Handgunner. 

The .22 TCM weighs only 40 grains but can travel over 2000 feet per second. Pretty impressive numbers for a tiny little package.

Check out this framed 4mm steel plate that shows the effect of various types of ammunition that were tested against it.

This is the same steel that protects each shooting bay. As you could see, only the 5.56 caliber bullet fired from a Ruger Mini-14 and the .22 TCM were able to penetrate. 

A pistol round doing what a rifle bullet does? Holey moley.

When I tried it out a few months ago at the Bolo Cup tournament in the ARMSCOR FIRING RANGE in Marikina City, I was just amazed at how fun it was to shoot. I felt hardly any recoil and it was very accurate. It did things to a watermelon that would put a .45 to shame.

Can someone please send a few samples to that truly awesome gentleman at The Box 'O Truth so we can see how it works against water jugs & denim, drywall, door locks, car doors, and other cool stuff?

I'm a bit worried worried about how this would perform in a personal defense scenario.  Over-penetration endangers you family members in your home, and also your next-door neighbors. You are responsible for all your shots, even if it passes through your target and into someone else!

Now imagine if someone would develop a submachinegun using the .22 TCM that would hold 30-100 rounds in its magazine. I'd say it would be a fantastic zombie-killer.

Stay vigilant!

Photos from the 19th Defense & Sporting Arms Show (part deux)

Yep. I went shopping. 

The 2nd part of this year's gun show has come to a close. I had my usual good time. Always fun to see old friends from the IPSC competitive scene, especially the Range Officers who make all the good times possible.

Click on the photos to zoom in.

The Israeli TAR-21, how I dream of this all the time. If I sold my Benelli I'd probably afford the one in the middle. :-(

Shooters Arms Manufacturing, Inc. features a semi-automatic 12-gauge shotgun that resembles the famous USAS-12 of South Korea.

The Rock Island Armory's MIG .22

As a whole, I feel that the Defense & Sporting Arms Show needs to step up its game for its 20th anniversary next year. It was a good exhibition but I feel that they need to break new ground. The big name companies are there like Jethro, Armscor, P.B. Dionisio, Trust Trade, Magnus, Twin Pines and more. However I think its time they choose a bigger convention center to feature a wider selection of vendors. 

Clockwise: The expensive but lovely SIG P238 .380 in rainbow finish, gold plated 20th Anniversary STI 1911, Ruger LCP vs Kel-Tec's P3AT, and the pink Taurus TCP.

I admire what the organizers have been doing over the years. The firearm safety and personal defense seminars are always top rate. If only we had more space, they could have way more speakers to tackle a lot of important topics. 

Knowledge is ammunition, and the organizers may be underestimating the potential attendance that could be generated from a more formidable lineup of speakers. From competitive sporting, safety, hunting, home defense, martial arts, celebrities, zombie killing, the sky is the limit. Putting these topics on the promotional poster and advertising campaigns will generate a lot of excitement. 

I'll send my suggestions to them alright. Looking forward to next year. Wohoo!

Stay vigilant!

Melee Weapons: Gerber APOCALYPSE KIT

Gerber is selling a limited quantity of its APOCALYPSE KIT. Its that nifty bunch of weapons that the kid found on season 2 of The Walking Dead. If you ask me, I'd grab the hatchet first, and then the Parang (machete) second. 

Personally, I'm not a big fan of this zombie-apocalypse marketing craze.

Its hard to separate the good stuff from the snake-oil gimmickry.

The good news is that I've had a lot of good times with Gerber products. Especially in my Boy Scout years. So if they wanna join the undead craze, fine with me.

The kit comes with the following goodies in a durable carry-bag thingy:

• Gator Machete
• Camp Axe II
• Gator Machete Pro
• Parang
• LMF II Infantry
• DMF Folder
• Epic (a small serrated knife)

              Price: $349

Thing is, with just $100 bucks I could buy whole family a bunch of axes from Ace Hardware or True Value, and still have a lot of dough for other survival essentials. Like food, ammo, grappling hook, toothpaste, etc.

• Will I buy the APOCALYPSE KIT? I'm on the fence because the price is a big factor.

• Will I use the APOCALYPSE KIT if I found it somewhere? YES! They make quality stuff.

I'm sure Gerber's goods won't let you down. If you can spare the dough, go for it. Don't mind me, I'm balancing my modest budget on a wider range of survival gear for my whole family. 'Coz I'm cool like that.

REMEMBER: The best zombie killing weapons can do the job with a single blow. Extra hits suck. Time is life. 

Stay vigilant!

Thanks to my brother for the heads up on this gear!

Huey's Gunsight - 5 Things you'll forget WTSHTF that could get you killed...

A friend of ours has a list of 5 things that you may forget when the Zombie Apocalypse hits that could get you killed.

Check it out over here at Huey's Gunsight.

I've been an avid reader of his since I started blogging and enjoy all of his articles. The cool part is he's a like-minded family man who's also preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse.

After reading his really cool suggestion, I thought more about Firearms, ammunition and medicine. 

When to use firearms against zombies:

• I agree that sufficient ammunition is needed. Problem is that many folks don't realize how heavy a bunch of ammo could be. Not to mention bulky. Try putting 400 shotgun shells in your bug-out-bag. Its like carrying a cooler filled with ice.  

• Having ammo & guns is one thing. Using them at the right time is another. We should only use firearms when it is a matter of life and death. We should use weapons that don't use gunpowder for daily zombie destruction. Why? Because bullets will be scarce! 

• Save your guns for missions that require maximum speed or for critical defense. This means emergencies like rescue missions, escaping from your fortress/home that was broken into by zombies, buying time for your friends, defending against human bad guys (there will be a lot of these, all the movies prove this), etc. 

• Ammunition may become a form of currency in a post-apocalyptic world. Trading some of my home-made shotgun shells for uncle Don's squirrel pie seems like a fair trade.

Imagine a world dominated by millions of undead. Now imagine yourself with awesome biceps from killing dozens of them every day with your trusty axe. This is how the war will be won!

Stay tuned for the TZH Guide to Hand Axe Combat.

Medicine in a Post-Apocalyptic World:

Huey's Gunsight bring up a lot of important points here. A toothbrush is important. I have also been advocating Dental Care as an essential survival tool for the whole family. It is possible to produce makeshift toothbrushes with a few twigs and the right shrubs. There are also a lot of bushcraft resources for homebrew toothpaste. I will share them later on. 

I was a pretty snazzy chemist back in grade-school and could whip up my own batch of soap. Don't neglect personal hygiene! 

Let's not forget medication. If your mom needs Lipitor, you may need to stock up or update your survival map. Identify potential pharmaceutical resources that you can loot for whatever ails your family.

Make new friends
Sharing survival ideas is awesome! Being a zombie survivalist does not have to be so darn lonely. None of us have all the answers, and you'll be amazed from what you could learn.




Stay vigilant!