Best weapon available without a firearm license?

Originally posted by carnival_of_souls2047
I'd use a spork --- you know those white plastic half spoon, half forks you get in the cafeteria. Just unwrap and thrust into the neck of an unsuspecting target and watch the blood splurt. No license required. Improvisation at it's finest. The fleshy area of the neck is oh so fragile.

I give to you, the Titanium Spork....

The Titanium Spork

First I say just use your brain to out maneuver the opposing factor. Next I say make some poison darts and get a blowgun or rig up a soft air pistol to shoot your darts. But if youre the type to go out shooting, I say dont own guns you dont buy off the street. You can get a broader variety of weapons that way anyways. The next best thing? Having booby trapped your neighborhood or escape rout with explosives that can be triggered at your remote and mobile disposal.

[edit on 11/2/2008 by psychedeliack]

Modern Bows are Amazing

and Silent

and if you buy the extra string and know how to deal with one, will last forever, long after the ammo or working guns are gone

Can you imagine still having a real Hunting Bow Made from modern materials in 20 years after a sit X

You are King

That

and a Seriously expensive Katana made from modern metal folding techniques which...would never be replicated post sit x situation and likewise cut through anything someone assembled as armor

A longbow because it is easy to account for having it.

I have a long bow i am skilled with and have used as part of my costume and have shot them as a archer for Renaissance Festivals, Mountain Men Rendezvous. and even for a Scottish Renaissance fair.

en.wikipedia.org...

The renaissance faires i go as a Scottish archer in my highlander great kilt.
www.goldcoastfestivals.com...
farm3.static.flickr.com...

This covers any reason for having a longbow.

The fact it is also a weapon for your survival kit will never enter a cops mind.

In a SitX even if i have the best guns i will carry my longbow.

A longbow has to many uses like quiet hunting, Taking out sentry's,
Scaring the c**p out of any "unfriendly types" that leave there camp to take a leak. If you hit them there friends will be wondering where/who the next one will hit.
If you miss you will still get the POINT across.
It can also be used to drop fire or small explosive charges in someone camp at 0 dark 30

A good 75 to 90 pound long bow can lob a arrow over 200 feet into a camp and it will come straight down when it lands. making it hard to find the source.
This would give a unfriendly group nightmares after one was hit. Or even if no one was hit and they found the arrows in the morning.

I know this thread is about weapons and i'd suggest a bow, however i have an even better suggestion.

Trapping. Learning to build traps will be one of the best ways to get food. Think of it as a numbers game. When you're out hunting you hope to come across an animal by tracking it. You hope to kill it first shot so you don't have to chase it, and you have to expend an awful lot of energy following it.

Now look at a trap. You can set up multiple traps along trails or baited. You can set lots of traps quickly for small animals like rabbits, or you can make big traps for deer, boars etc.

Small traps for rabbits take only 2 minutes to set up for each one, if we're talking about snares. They're pretty reliable as well as you should set them up directly on well used trails. Set up 10 of them and you have plenty of chances.

Simply as the numbers go it's better and easier to use traps. The added advantage is that you can set it up, walk away and theres no more input other than to check it. Minimal energy expended. You can even set them up so that when they catch something it holds it out of reach of common predators like foxes.

So yeah personally i like traps and you could always supplement that with hunting if you wished.

Crossbow, ive used a regular bow and it takes alot of practive to hit a non moving target at 100yds let alone moving game or people. though myabe i just suck with a bow, anyways a crossbow would be good. Or a blowgun, you can get a good one for a decent price and if you take a bottle of rat posion or some poision it makes a damn nice hunting tool though i would not rely on it for big game. Otherwise just get a good handgun and shotgun, im pretty sure they still work without a licsense.

Originally posted by ImaginaryReality1984
I know this thread is about weapons and i'd suggest a bow, however i have an even better suggestion.

Trapping. Learning to build traps will be one of the best ways to get food. Think of it as a numbers game. When you're out hunting you hope to come across an animal by tracking it. You hope to kill it first shot so you don't have to chase it, and you have to expend an awful lot of energy following it.

Now look at a trap. You can set up multiple traps along trails or baited. You can set lots of traps quickly for small animals like rabbits, or you can make big traps for deer, boars etc.

Small traps for rabbits take only 2 minutes to set up for each one, if we're talking about snares. They're pretty reliable as well as you should set them up directly on well used trails. Set up 10 of them and you have plenty of chances.

Simply as the numbers go it's better and easier to use traps. The added advantage is that you can set it up, walk away and theres no more input other than to check it. Minimal energy expended. You can even set them up so that when they catch something it holds it out of reach of common predators like foxes.

So yeah personally i like traps and you could always supplement that with hunting if you wished.

Very sensible advice here. Tracking and hunting is a very energy intensive activity, not to mention the calories you will be burning just by maintaining your body temperature in a possibly very cold environment. If you don't know what you're doing you could be in for a few frustrating, and hungry days. If you do make the kill, you could be miles from home with a heavy animal carcass to drag with you.

Tracking is, as they say, the way forward. Hunting is not without it's merits though.

From a survival standpoint, you should never be without a quality fixed blade - as both a tool and a weapon.

I once had a 150lb draw crossbow and can verify the penetration that has been remarked upon by others. I used to use, amongst other things, acquired metal roadsigns for example, with straw bales behind, and very often the only thing stopping it going right through was the fletching.

Not much experience with long bows, however, one big advantage of the crossbow that has not been mentioned before is the ability to fire it from the prone position.

I also found it to be very reliable, if looked after and maintained like any other weapon or tool.


[edit on 18-11-2008 by CallSign]

Here in the UK if you're caught in possession of a gun you're instantly sent to jail. No ifs or buts. However, you can own a powerful crossbow without the need for a license.
I've just bought a 150lb crossbow with telescopic site and laser with bolts and broadheads. Apparently it is pin point accurate up to 65 yards, thats about 195 feet. If the bottom falls out of normality and the proverbial you know what hits the fan, 195 feet is about as near as I'm going to want to get near anyone looking for trouble.

what about...

blow gun and poison darts
harpoon gun/crossbow
compressed air sandblaster (gruesome!)

If anyone ever nailed me with a wrist rocket, I'd run him down and cut his head off. That would aggravate the hell out of me.

Weapons besides firearms. They need to be reliable, realistic, functional, reasonably lightweight, and one needs to recognize that different weapons provide different advantages.

If I had to choose one weapon, it would be a SOG Recon knife.

Next, a tactical tomahawk, such as by American Tomahawk. This is one of the greatest dual purpose weapon/tool combinations available.

I would then grab a Gerber machete with the saw spine.

Several "museum replica" spear heads with buttcaps. Several of these with a length of about 4 feet in length can be very, very effective weapons and carried in a quiver for easy access.

A longbow. Simple, reliable, functional, and with proper care and a supply of strings, a good longbow can give a lifetime of service. Arrows and components are cheap and easily stored.

Thin, braided cable. For quietly snaring game, including deer.

Trade pieces will enable you to trade greatly desire pieces such as knives for things you may need or desire. Stock up now while cheap. Salt, Lard, Cooking Oil, Sorghum, Honey.

The trick will be to avoid confrontations, and preferable go unnoticed. Even if you win sometimes, you lose. And without proper medical care . . .

Originally posted by Mintwithahole.
Here in the UK if you're caught in possession of a gun you're instantly sent to jail. No ifs or buts. However, you can own a powerful crossbow without the need for a license.
I've just bought a 150lb crossbow with telescopic site and laser with bolts and broadheads. Apparently it is pin point accurate up to 65 yards, thats about 195 feet. If the bottom falls out of normality and the proverbial you know what hits the fan, 195 feet is about as near as I'm going to want to get near anyone looking for trouble.

I think broadheads are illegal in the UK. I may be wrong though. I bought my crossbow nearly ten years ago, and the staff in the shop advised me that hunting with it was illegal and that broadheads were illegal too.

reply to post by CallSign


"I think broadheads are illegal in the UK. I may be wrong though. I bought my crossbow nearly ten years ago, and the staff in the shop advised me that hunting with it was illegal and that broadheads were illegal too. "
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It wouldn't surprise me as they do look pretty lethal. I was so surprised to find that you didn't need a license to own one! Now all I have to do is create a strong enough target so that the bolts don't just go straight through. I'm thinking along the lines of sandbags, etc.

reply to post by Mintwithahole.


Sandbags are good, or anything dense like that. Be aware of what is behind your target area too in case you miss or penetrate the target, as a 150lb crossbow will easily put a bolt through a fence or hedge and out into the public domain. And that is something you can get lifted for, not to mention injuring someone.

It would be interesting to hear how you get on, am thinking of getting back into the market for one again.

Originally posted by crgintx
In a full collapse, there will be no Game Wardens to bust you, so why be concerned about legalities? I seriously doubt that any remaining LEO will be concerned with how you obtained meat for your dinner. Most of our game laws in the US were created to ensure that game would remain plentiful for those rich enough to afford a license when they were first instituted. They did nothing to curb poaching. Poaching is relatively modern concept. There's no such thing as a game season in a survival situation. As a life long hunter, I can tell you that it's hard enough to get game under the normal circumstances much less when the local environment will be stressed by roaming hunter/gatherer groups. Trapping will probably yield you more meat for food than actual hunting. Stealth farming with natural crops like cattails, acorns or mesquite pods will be overlooked by most folks. Any one who believes they can easily support themselves by hunting is very ignorant of the realities of hunter/gathering.

You'd be amazed at how a thimble-headed bureaucrat would behave, even in a TEOTWAKI scenario. Some folks are just a**holes regardless. (Take me for instance, a**hole 31)

The best weapon you can have without a firearms license is probably a rifle...or a shotgun...or pistol.
IF SHTF, it doesn't matter if you have a license or not.

Originally posted by CallSign
reply to post by Mintwithahole.

 

Sandbags are good, or anything dense like that. Be aware of what is behind your target area too in case you miss or penetrate the target, as a 150lb crossbow will easily put a bolt through a fence or hedge and out into the public domain. And that is something you can get lifted for, not to mention injuring someone.

It would be interesting to hear how you get on, am thinking of getting back into the market for one again.

I've seen 150lb draw crossbows put a bolt straight through a car at 100 feet! Like you say, they are very powerful, and up to 65 yards (about 195feet) extremely accurate. As for targets! There's a guy on youtube who shows you how to build a target out of cardboard box's!!! He swears that his design works. I'm not willing to take the chance and am sticking with the sandbag option.

reply to post by traderjack


Oh, yes, Trader Jack, I've worked for the US gov't for 22 years and no quite well how retentive the hard-core bureaucrats can be. However, during times of crises, their fatal and permanently disabling accident rate skyrockets for some reason.