We all love our guns and we can’t imagine life without them. We live by the survivalist’s golden rule, the 3 G’s : guns, gold and a getaway plan. But, if you’re a realist, you must take into consideration any plausible scenario and one of them (maybe the most disturbing one) is the following:
What are you going to do in a survival situation when you’re running out of ammo and you still have to defend yourself or your loved ones? I don’t know if you saw the movie “Snatch”, but if you didn’t, I highly recommend it. Don’t expect a survival-movie, but it contains one epic scene where Boris The Blade, a Russian weapons dealer, is trying to sell a big bad-ass looking pistol to some guy, and he says (after the customer noticed that the gun is pretty heavy): “Heavy is good, heavy is reliable, if it doesn’t work, you can always hit him with it”.
Basically, this sums it up: when you’re running out of ammo, use blunt force trauma! It always works, if you hit hard enough and are fortunate enough to beat your opponent to the punch.
Now, on a more serious note, in any kind of scenario including societal collapse or zombie apocalypse, you can find yourself in an unpleasant situation where you’re out of ammo for that nice AR-15 of yours and you have to protect your life or your property. Don’t worry, there are ways of surviving without firearms; humanity managed to endure for thousands of years without guns.
I don’t advocate relying on cold weapons as your primary means of self-defense, but here’s a list of “alternatives” that every survivalist should be aware of if SHTF and you’re out of ammo:
Knives
Consider carrying a knife on your person at all times. Knives are tools in the first place and they come handy in a multitude of situations not associated with violence. But, when the moment comes, you have to do what you have to do. Carrying a solid knife presents obvious advantages; blades don’t need reloading.
Aside from cutting rope and opening boxes, a knife may save your life someday. A word of caution though:, use it wisely and remember that knife fighting exists only in B-rated movies. In a real life survival situation, a knife must be use stealthily, quickly and decisively.
Meele Weapons
Besides knives, there are plenty of other “melee” weapons that can be used for self-defense in a survival situation.
Weapons like spears, swords, clubs, hammers, police batons, baseball batshell, even a fire extinguisher, a crowbar or a shovel will do the trick in close combat when absolutely necessary. They aren’t as portable as a knife but they’re still pretty good for home-defense in a pinch.
A high-tech melee weapon would be a Taser, but if you’re out of ammo and you can’t resupply, I seriously doubt that you have power available for charging such a gizmo.
Bows and Arrows
If you enjoyed The Hunger Games (the movie), then bows and arrows are familiar to you. The good thing about bows and arrows is that they can be improvised from scratch, even if you don’t own or can’t afford a high-tech modern bow bought from Sporting Goods. You can easily manufacture one and the same goes for the arrows. The hard part is to train yourself in the fine art of archery, but it can be done.
Aside from protecting yourself, bows are pretty useful for hunting game, so you should take bows and archery seriously if you’re into prepping.
Crossbows are basically high-tech, mechanized bows, just more powerful and more precise and also much easier to master and to aim with. They are easy to load and some of the high-end models available on the market come with scopes. Using them is childs play compared to aiming and firing a recurve or compound bow; they are reliable and make for a formidable cold weapon.
The biggest advantages when using bows and arrows are that they’re stealthy, silent, deadly and, perhaps most importantly, you can re-use the arrows(unlike bullets) and also you can build new ones from scratch.
The Slinghot
Another old-school cold weapon, used for thousands of years, is the slingshot. If you had a real childhood, like I had, you surely know what I mean when I say that slingshots are awesome! You can build yourself a powerful slingshot or buy one; they’re pretty cheap.
Getting ammo for a slingshot presents no significant problem, and if your aim is good, a slingshot can be as deadly as a firearm from close distance. If you aim for the head; remember the story of David and Goliath. You can use anything from rocks to scraps of metal for ammo and you can even hunt small game if you have the skill..
Last but not least, you must deal with the fact that sometimes you’ll have to improvise, in the heat of the moment. There are no definitive solutions (nor answers) to all life’s problems.
Training makes perfect and a positive attitude may save your life someday. Being able to think on your feet is perhaps your greatest weapon. When practicing, make a habit of thinking outside the box when you consider running out of ammo.
That way, your brain will already be in that mode if you actually find yourself in that situation.
One final word of advice: when using cold-weapons (or any other weapons for that matter), keep in mind that you’re not a ninja or a vigilante and don’t use them against fellow human beings unless it’s absolutely necessary. Use your best judgment at all times and be prepared for the worst!
This article has been written by Chris Black for Survivopedia.