Leave the Katana, Go Ninjato

Wow, hang on a minute there. Ninjatō of ancient Japan were of far lower quality than samurai katanas. A samurai considered his blade to be an extension of his soul; they were made to be so flexible for the very reason that a flexible blade is a more durable one. The flexing of the blade absorbs kinetic energy better than a simple hard steel blade would, preventing the blade from simply snapping under stress, as a ninjato would. The only "hard steel" on a katana was the edge, since that was the only sharpened part.

Ninjas, on the other hand, considered their weapons to be disposable tools; they were harder/more brittle than their curved counterparts because it takes far longer to make a folded-steel blade (katana) than it does to make a simple forged blade (ninjato). Ninjas didn't bother making durable, dependable swords mainly because they knew they could make another simple, brittle one in only a few hours' time.

To sum up: While a katana takes far longer to make than a ninjato, a real folded-steel katana is more dependable than a forged ninjato because flexibility = durability (at least as far as swords are concerned). The curved blade of the katana also means that a longer cutting edge contacts the target, increasing cutting power.

While a traditional ninjato is a useful tool, it doesn't match the katana for durability. The main advantages of a true ninjato are as a step (as you mentioned) and the hollow space inside the grip for carrying other small tools.

That said, a modern ninjato made with the same folding method as the traditional katana would be quite a useful weapon.

Thank you for your insight, my point was that during an outbreak I would prefer to have a Nnjato as opposed to a Katana. The Ninjato would be faster and easier to deploy than a Katana and also easier to handle. Plus, you could use this tool as a pry, step, or weapon whereas you could not do this without damaging a Katana. I would have a more modern version of the Ninjato Probably the 2 set in picture one. However, there are some cool (albeit probably less functional ones here: http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/ninja.htm

The second link is on the same site, just for fun: http://www.selfdefenseproducts.com/new_knives/swords/blackronin/swords.htm
I wouldn't want a Katana because you they are so damn expensive and that is a factor in my strategy. I am preparing and gathering items I need before. I will also build some defensive devices and structures or at the very least blue print them for protecting my home, vehicle, and some other things. I also have always loved studying the Ninja and their culture. They took everything that works and put it into their practice. They are very practical and very good at what they do. Plus, you gotta love that black Ninja suit. I couldn't remember the name of the ninja sword either so thanks again.

Well it really depends on if you have had training or not with either weapon, ninjato in my opinion are of far less quality than katanas and are quite easily destroyed ( I have broken more than one using it as a machete ).

Sure whilst they may be easy to make in terms of swords you will not have access to a forge large enough to create a new ninjato in a few hours time.

It is better to buy a high quality folded steel, clay tempered katana, the price may be exponentially higher than a ninjato but compare the effectiveness of both blades. You will find the katana outlasts and overshadows the ninjato on all fronts spare the speed of the draw, which can be easily fixed by wearing the katana over your back much like an o`dachi.

As well as that katanas are actually relatively easy to maintain, after a day of use just wipe down the blade using some thin oil (actual sword oil prefferably) after that spend 10 or so minutes using a sharpening stone on it then re-powder the blade and re-oil it. every once in a while you might want to rimove the tsuka, tsuba and fuchi to do some minor repairs but that is quite easily done.

Well, for my money, I could not foresee purchasing a 4000 dollar katana while I still need to buy a gun, ammunition, and a gun cleaning kit as well as some other accessories (gun safe, permit, shooting range time). However, paying much less for a good quality ninjato, (due to today's processes, they are much more sturdy than they used to be) that I can see happening.
My favorite in this category is the ninjato pictured in my original comment. It comes with 2 of them (always good to have a contingency plan).

Why settle? Buy a firearm/ammunition/accessories AND whatever the hell a ninjato is. You can get a decent SKS rifle for less than $200 if you look around. Brady bunch or whoever didn't call it the 'Saturday Night Special of semi-automatics' for nothing.

Then you're set until funding provides something better or even more modification which you will need if you're sticking with it long term. Accessories (bayonet, cleaning kit, sling, etc.) come with it even though I would prefer to modify it to accept a different sling. Ammunition is still cheap even though the copper and lead demand has caused the price to go up.

Safe? Permit? It's going to cost you a little more to get a Communist Commonwealth of Kalifornia legal SKS. Unless you make the legal mods yourself. Safe could be a county thing, but I always thought it only had to be 'secured'. Mossberg makes something cheap enough for that job. Don't know if it'll fit a rifle though. As far as I know (excluding AWs) for long guns there is no requirement for permit to purchase, no registration requirement, and no requirement for a license. Micro-stamping won't go into effect for ten years so it might die before then. All of which is good. Then again I could be rambling on and you happen to live in a different state that will cause me to ramble even more.

Think the little ninja thingamajig would be a good combination along with a semi-automatic rifle?

I will have to look into finding said SKS and thanks for the the info Sanchez. The gun safe thing is because I have curious cousins who like to snoop around in my room and even though I wouldn't keep it (the gun) loaded, I wouldn't want them to have the oppurtunity to play with it or something worse. I was thinking along the lines of a handgun, just to start target shooting and get in some practice. I want to learn all about how to take care, clean, shoot, store, load, reload, and shoot (did I mention shoot) so that I will be prepared and quite ready to take on zeds. Thinking about getting a Walther P22 (I like it because it look and feels more like a "real" pistol as opposed to the "space age" looking weapons in the same category. Probably something like this: http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd100/chilbert007/WaltherP22.jpg?t=11...
Have to check out some of that Mossberg merchandise though. I do think the Ninjato would be a good thing to carry, it is lighter in weight, there are two of them, and they are simple to carry.

A few things wrong with that arguement, the ninjato is an actual weapon that many martial arts schools teach people how to use.

Ninjas existed throughout both China and Japan and worked as hired assassins for both emperor of China and many wealthy Chinese and Japanese families and had become very well organised and created many unique ninja weapons from the humble caltrop to the famous shuriken.

And only the samurai carried katanas, only the samurai, anyone who wasn't a samurai who possessed a katana was severely punished, even regular police officers. The regular police officers resorted to a weapon much like a baton, but it had a hook near the hilt for the sole purpose of disarming people armed with katanas who were not meant to.

A person would've gotten by carrying a sword that wasn't a katana inconspicuosly compared to someone carrying a katana which was considered to be almost a relligious artifact and posssessing one illegally was considered worse than murder by many.

I have three books by credited Ninjitsu Master instructors Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, Dr. Haha Lung, and Christopher Prowant that prove you other wise. The book are: NINJUTSU History and Tradition (Hatsumi), The Nine Halls of Death: Ninja Secrets of Mind Mastery (Lung), and Ninja Shadowhand: The Art of Invisibility (Lung and Prowant). All suggested reads in my opinion. The thing about a Ninja's weapon(s) is that they were hidden from plain sight because Ninja were also masters of disguise. Get your facts straight and read a book.

A few things wrong with that arguement, the ninjato is an actual weapon that many martial arts schools teach people how to use.

Ninjas existed throughout both China and Japan and worked as hired assassins for both emperor of China and many wealthy Chinese and Japanese families and had become very well organised and created many unique ninja weapons from the humble caltrop to the famous shuriken.

And only the samurai carried katanas, only the samurai, anyone who wasn't a samurai who possessed a katana was severely punished, even regular police officers. The regular police officers resorted to a weapon much like a baton, but it had a hook near the hilt for the sole purpose of disarming people armed with katanas who were not meant to.

A person would've gotten by carrying a sword that wasn't a katana inconspicuosly compared to someone carrying a katana which was considered to be almost a relligious artifact and posssessing one illegally was considered worse than murder by many.

Look at it from a common sense point of fact.

You're a 'Ninja' (Akin to a Spy) who needs to infiltrates certain parts of Japan, namely unnoticed. Do you not think that the simplest of town watchman would notice a straight edged sword opposed to a curved edged one?

That's like James Bond trying to infiltrate the Soviet Union with a brief case full of obvious Q gadgets as opposed to a wallet full of cash.

The 'Ninja' sword is myth. All assassins used Katana's since everyone else did, and their purpose was to blend in with the crowd. If you don't think that next time you go out in public try lugging a long barreled shotgun around as opposed to a butterfly knife in your back pocket. Take note of which gets you noticed first.

You all know my attitudes about swords otherwise.

I have three books by credited Ninjitsu Master instructors Dr. Masaaki Hatsumi, Dr. Haha Lung, and Christopher Prowant that prove you other wise. The book are: NINJUTSU History and Tradition (Hatsumi), The Nine Halls of Death: Ninja Secrets of Mind Mastery (Lung), and Ninja Shadowhand: The Art of Invisibility (Lung and Prowant). All suggested reads in my opinion. The thing about a Ninja's weapon(s) is that they were hidden from plain sight because Ninja were also masters of disguise. Get your facts straight and read a book.

Where'd you get your Katana information from? BUDK?

The Katana sword blade averaged between 27" - 29" in length, with a 9" - 12" handle, depending on the overall weight and balance desired. Longer versions, namely the 'O -Dachi' or 'No - Dachi' swords ( 65" -75" in overall length ) seem to be what you're confusing with the Katana.

I own several "Real" Katana's. Not antique $2000+ weapons, but high-quality swords made with the best technology today, that are the equal, if not superior to, the historic Katanas of history. My 'Go-To' Katana of choice is the one I had custom-made and designed (Dragonfly), that slices through 4 inches of water-soaked,Tatami mat, wrapped around a 2" core of bamboo, which was the traditional test of Japanese blades for slicing through human limbs and heads ( that's 10 inches, in case you flunked math! ), almost without noticing you've hit something. As far as your $2000 statement, this one cost less than $400. Maintenance for Katanas, as for all quality blades are very easy and not time-consuming at all. It takes me about 20 - 30 minutes to restore my weapon to perfect after any real damage or hard use, and most of the time just a simple cleaning and touch of the stone after hours of cutting and Dojo work-outs works just fine.
Stop watching cheap movies.

You really need to get out more often.

The Ninjato ( 19" -24" blade ), which you seem to favor, on the other hand ( and I also own several of them, and use them for personal and home defense because of their designed purpose ), are pretty much as you describe them. Functional tools, good stabbing and cutting weapons. Basic and disposeable close-combat weapons, but not very high on the quality list. Although you can ( and I have ) get one today with the higher standards of todays swords.

However, the point of this site is to discuss a fictional zombie attack/invasion/apocalypse, and how to be prepared for such.

On the subject of choice of types of swords, I would choose the Katana over the Ninjato based on experiance. The Katana will sever a zombie limb or head easily in one stroke, even a one-handed one. It's that good. My best Ninjato will almost do the same, my K0 - Katana ( same size, better blade ) does better, although at the same shorter range, which kind of makes the likelyhood of getting infected with the zombie virus greater.

Bottom line is, I'd rather have a close-quarter combat weapon that can kill a zombie in 1 hit, than one that takes two - three or more hits.

( Let's not even get into ranged weapons. You're not qualified. ).

I totally forgot about this silly post from my earlier days as a site member where I had a different level of education and maturity than I do now. I had planned on deleting a few of my early disasters, but this one I think I'll leave alone for now.

In answer to the most recent user's questions, no, I did not get my sword information from BudK. Understand that at the time of the writing of this, I was still learning much about swords, weapons, and survival in general. At the time, this site was just something fun to do on in my off time but eventually helped to teach me much about many survival aspects I had not known.

As far as swords go, might I recommend that you read the article Japanese Swords and comment there upon the accuracies or inaccuracies of the information you read there.

As far as using a sword for home defense, that's nice and all, but now Ninja would likely use guns as well as tools of old. Keep in mind that the mentality of the Ninja was to use what works, not stick to tradition regardless of the times. For your self defense plan, I would, in your case, keep the Ninjato as a backup to the gun (if you used the sword at all). Honestly, I would go with a combat knife as a third weapon, a handgun as a secondary, and your choice of rifle or shotgun as a primary for home defense. Oh, please don't say that you "can't own weapons" as it has been proven on this site before that even in U.K. persons can own weapons, though limited they may be in choices and there is paperwork involved. Oh and you still have the bow and arrow option which is still better than a sword when it comes to range advantage.

As far as qualifications go, I am not quite sure you are qualified to tell me what I am or am not qualified to speak upon since: 1) this is the internet, you aren't likely to know the other person behind the other computer screen, 2) this is a site based in information sharing and discussion, and 3) your judgments so far are based upon more than two year old information without taking into account the possibility of change and learning for the individuals involved. I will have you know that in the years I've been a member of this site, I've written more articles that I'd like to mentioned, helped more members than you know, and have learned much about not only the subject of this thread, but of survival, preparation, self defense, writing, humility, civility, and weapons in general.

I must, however, thank you for the re-introduction of this thread into the recent posts category and welcome you to the site. I will be sending you a welcome message as soon as I'm done with this post. Thanks and have a great day. :)

Thank you for the question WD.

I have come to the realization that what I have will be what I will have to use. Therefore, I am working to acquire the equipment that I believe will be beneficial in a number of survival situations. While I still like the Ninjato, I would probably reach for the Gerber Machete Jr. first for a bladed option. Not necessarily for fighting, but for it's utility with the knowledge that I could indeed use it in a self defense role if pushed to do so. The Ninjato was basically a machete so that use point did not change. However, I will say that I will not be using the knife or machete first because as the times change, you must adapt. This stated, my primary weapons would be more along the lines of a rifle, sidearm, and knife. The machete, if it comes out at all, will not likely be the blade I reach for first as it may well be too long and big for the in-close and personal spaces that I may encounter. This doesn't mean that I wouldn't use the machete if I had the space or just made the decision to pull it instead of the knife for whatever reason.

This does not diminish the fact that a Ninjato could be put to good use, but I don't have a Ninjato. In fact, I have a set of Kamas that I do not plan to use because I feel they may well pose more of a threat to me than my possible opponent since I am not proficient in their use as I would like to be. This doesn't mean I wouldn't use them if they are all I have since preferences take a back-seat to immediate need. These facts in mind, I would say that I still believe that thrown weapons are viable depending on your circumstances and situation. A simple box of nails from a home improvement store can be extremely useful and usable for more than just building or securing. Here is a video demonstration: Throwing Nails. The idea of practicing with what you have is paramount. I hope this helps to answer your question.

Well, I wish I could say the idea was my own, but I got the idea from the video as I was perusing YouTube in search for information on different things. (By the way, Phil Elmore has excellent information as a resource to the survival minded individual, I highly recommend his videos, books, and his associated websites for your educational purposes. One book that was particularly useful was Flashlight Fighting.) If you aren't using YouTube or a similar video site for educating yourself on how to do some things or for ideas, you should, with a healthy dose of common sense and a grain of salt of course. Many people say (and they are mostly correct) that personal one-on-one instruction is better than watching a video or reading a book, but I for one believe that if you can't afford the one-on-one or don't have a whole lot of time, then the next best thing is the instructional book and/or video. Those who have done before and learned through doing who pass on their information in words and/or video can give you an edge when it comes to the point that you can afford and make the time to enroll in one-on-one instruction.

Throughout history, the students of the martial arts were the teachers as the master watched closely from the sidelines and intervened when needed. Specifically, I'm referring to the "best student" or the one right under the Master in ranking. This means that you can learn some basic things from that first or second degree black belt friend of yours regardless of their art. It also pays to study body mechanics and exercises as well as the plethora of survival videos with a good idea of who is spouting crap and who is speaking from actual experience. For example, a video of a twelve year old talking about how deadly awesome his soft air gun is may be something to avoid whereas a video of a mature former or current military person speaking about survival tactics that work(ed) for him may be worth listening to. The key is to stay mostly away from the lunatics, you know, the people who plan to steal and such from other people because they didn't make the effort before hand to prepare and will more than likely be met prejudice in the form of a gun pointed at them from people defending their hard earned goods. My advice is to watch more than one video or find a philosophy video for a person to see what they are about. If you feel they are crazy, you might be right or you might have just picked the wrong video. I hope this helps.