"Nail Bats" and other (realistically) crappy weapons

[over9000nukez 199]

*clip*

I think the only reason the nail bent in the video is because it hit the immovable object below the skull, it essencially hit the earth because it went straight down onto the platform holding the skull in place.

[Deathlove 2280]

I think the only reason the nail bent in the video is because it hit the immovable object below the skull, it essencially hit the earth because it went straight down onto the platform holding the skull in place.

No there were other factors to such as lodging it in your back fucking up your spine and getting infected blood into your system. Not to mention all the extreme maintenance you would have to go to just to keep the bat in top shape during each fight.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Deathlove

[Sperglord 76]

Who cares about melee weapons? The melee system in DayZ is  comedy gold and no one cares if bat is better than a nail bat, in the game they're both useless trash like every other melee weapon

Edited November 25, 2015 by Sperglord

[Deathlove 2280]

Who cares about melee weapons? The melee system in DayZ is  comedy gold and no one cares if bat is better than a nail bat, in the game they're both useless trash like every other melee weapon

Thats true though to be honest. The melee system needs a more robust overhaul if its going to be taken seriously by anyone. Atm its just way to damn over the top unrealistic.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Deathlove

[star-lord252 83]

What it you were to put one main nail sticking out so I can puncture and slam a big ass piece of wood in someones head. Or a pank anything metal I don't know much how physics work I'm Better with chemistry.

[over9000nukez 199]

No there were other factors to such as lodging it in your back fucking up your spine and getting infected blood into your system.

I don't get it. Are you saying you would accidentally cut yourself with your own weapon? That goes for any sharp weapon that you killed a zombie with, in your pocket, on your back, pitchfork, spear, knife.

 

As for the keeping the bat in top shape I don't see any issues, the only reason the nail bent in the video you showed was because it hit the Earth through a hard object (the platform) so the Earth won that fight, not the nail was bent due to the force.

[buddy_cassino 69]

Trying to get a decent melee weapon going I´d actually try to craft something like this:

 

[q.S Sachiel 470]

I don't get it. Are you saying you would accidentally cut yourself with your own weapon? That goes for any sharp weapon that you killed a zombie with, in your pocket, on your back, pitchfork, spear, knife.

 

As for the keeping the bat in top shape I don't see any issues, the only reason the nail bent in the video you showed was because it hit the Earth through a hard object (the platform) so the Earth won that fight, not the nail was bent due to the force.

 

Most of those weapons listed either have an option to be sheathed, are long enough that getting yourself with them are quite difficult, and are generally carried in such a way as to not do damage to yourself.  With a club with barbs on it, the barbs are pointing in all directions (kind of like having a double edged sword or a pencil sharpened on both edges, it's just more dangerous to you by default) and if you're going to sling it to your hip or to your back you better not fall too hard on that side...

 

Pitchfork, spear, polearm: pointy bit facing away from you, at a distance.  If you carry a blade you're taught to sheath it or make sure you don't have the blade/tip facing towards yourself, and preferably down and away.

 

It's definitely a draw-back to have those things there for you, but at the same time it's going to scare off or do more damage to the other guy if you're disciplined and smart about it.

 

I'll definitely concede that it's diminishing returns over the standard bat, which is quite economic as a bludgeon, but if someone were to have a nail bat i'd be quite put off.

That said, something simple  like Buddy's above would be just as effective for the most part.  Edges to focus the force, if you catch a corner to something with bone underneath it it's going to gouge and shatter... The Indos/PNG/Malays have quite a few little weapons like these which are semi-blunt weapons and very nasty.

Edited November 28, 2015 by q.S Sachiel

[Deathlove 2280]

Most of those weapons listed either have an option to be sheathed, are long enough that getting yourself with them are quite difficult, and are generally carried in such a way as to not do damage to yourself.  With a club with barbs on it, the barbs are pointing in all directions (kind of like having a double edged sword or a pencil sharpened on both edges, it's just more dangerous to you by default) and if you're going to sling it to your hip or to your back you better not fall too hard on that side...

 

Pitchfork, spear, polearm: pointy bit facing away from you, at a distance.  If you carry a blade you're taught to sheath it or make sure you don't have the blade/tip facing towards yourself, and preferably down and away.

 

It's definitely a draw-back to have those things there for you, but at the same time it's going to scare off or do more damage to the other guy if you're disciplined and smart about it.

 

I'll definitely concede that it's diminishing returns over the standard bat, which is quite economic as a bludgeon, but if someone were to have a nail bat i'd be quite put off.

That said, something simple  like Buddy's above would be just as effective for the most part.  Edges to focus the force, if you catch a corner to something with bone underneath it it's going to gouge and shatter... The Indos/PNG/Malays have quite a few little weapons like these which are semi-blunt weapons and very nasty.

I also don't think ppl realize just how bad a situation with a nail bat can get with the person wielding it. You have to consider in the heat of the moment your going to panic and make wide swings and quick moves without thinking. Id much prefer something that doesn't have a chance of impaling me in one of those types of instances. And i imagine training helps calm those nerves but when your faced with a horde of infected ppl i would imagine rational thinking would go out the window at a certain point with caution.

[Bororm 1156]

What's a bit ironic is Whyherro in the past has gone on about dying from a splinter yet some how thinks getting hit by multiple nails, in god know's what kind of condition, is a nonissue.

[ZomboWTF 527]

Option A:  I hit you with a regular bat.

Option B:  I hit you with a nail bat.

 

Which do you choose?

of course A, because initially, the not-nail bat would not hurt as much, however it would also not get stuck in my clothes,

it would deal heavy blunt damage to me instead of some piercing wounds,

and zombies don't fear pain, and none of the nails would damage the brain at all

 

actually, the least favorite thing to be hit by would be a bat with one big nail in it

[mercules 1290]

there's like a dozen kinds of helmets and armor in this game.  look at historical weapons designed to mess up someone in armor, and see how many don't have pointy bits.

 

History disagrees with you.

 

[Red_Ensign 990]

 

History disagrees with you.

 

 

I was saying that they DO all have pointy bits (I guess the wording left it up to interpretation).  nice that you agree with me and provided illustrations. :-)

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

A bat hurts like fuck, bruises muscle and bursts or collapses capillaries, and risks breaking bone if the force remains strong enough after travelling through the muscle.

A bat with nails in it does all that, except now it pierces the flesh just before the bat hits, which means blood spurting and instantly lost, while the nails themselves can sever or clip tendons and nerve-bundles, skin is likely to be lost (the 'deflection' effect when an off-centre nail causes rotation in the bat is actually very likely to assist this), muscle might just be dragged out of position rendering the arm partially or totally useless, and I hope you remembered to keep your tetanus shots current.

 

And that's to say nothing about a shot to the back of the head - sure, you can kill someone with a regular bat that way, and even in one hit, but with the nails you're practically guaranteed to break through the skull, which means you're piercing the thin protective film that surrounds the brain - you don't want to know what happens when that barrier is breached by an infectious agent.

 

Someone else already pointed out that armour-piercing weapons are almost universally specially-crafted for the sorts of armours they're supposed to pierce, which is part of the reason spears remained a standard part of warfare up until rifles with bayonets displaced them - everything up to what we'd call High Gothic Full Plate has a reasonable chance of being pierced through by a good spear thrust. I mean, assuming you're not using a leaf-head spear, which doesn't do jack against chain armour.

 

So take a look at the military pick up there, second one in Mercules' post: notice the way the front of the head isn't just a flat surface? That's because it's designed to be used against plate armour, and the particular shape of that head is meant to cause spreading at four points (the pointy bits) with the intent of those forces being redirected to the middle of the hammer-head, causing compression. The transfer of forces is meant to cause the steel to crumple and break, or at least just break along four points. You could cut someone with a sword straight through steel armour without the steel armour breaking, as long as it bends into a shape similar to the sword - it'll still cut the skin underneath, in spite of being 'armour.' Anyone who wore plate also wore a concussion-absorbing arming coat underneath that could help with this, and did a great job of warding off purely concussive blows like a baseball bat without nails in it.

 

Now that you know that weapons are specially designed for their role (and can be largely useless outside their intended role, situation-depending), consider this:
Baseball Bats are designed to hit baseballs.
Baseball Bats with Nails are designed to hit people.

Your call.

[mercules 1290]

I was saying that they DO all have pointy bits (I guess the wording left it up to interpretation).  nice that you agree with me and provided illustrations. :-)

My bad, I read it the wrong way then. :)

[ZomboWTF 527]

well yes, but all these historical weapons have one thin in common: a very heavy head with FEW spikes on it

 

basically, you don't want your target to be hit by to many spikes, because then none will penetrate

 

and a baseball bat with nails is 

1)not heavy

2)not sturdy

3)like depicted, has way to many spikes

 

of course, against a target with no clothes on, this would be a serously terrifying weapon

however, with some thick coats, a tshirt under that, and maybe even a helmet, you'd basically just glance off of your target and thats it,

maybe a few scratches on the helmet, and clothes get ruined, but no big wounds like, for example, from a mace or crows beak

 

a baseball bat with maybe four big nails in it would be seriously dangerous, then again a crowbar would be far more dangerous

[trev186 389]

well yes, but all these historical weapons have one thin in common: a very heavy head with FEW spikes on it

 

basically, you don't want your target to be hit by to many spikes, because then none will penetrate

 

and a baseball bat with nails is 

1)not heavy

2)not sturdy

3)like depicted, has way to many spikes

 

of course, against a target with no clothes on, this would be a serously terrifying weapon

however, with some thick coats, a tshirt under that, and maybe even a helmet, you'd basically just glance off of your target and thats it,

maybe a few scratches on the helmet, and clothes get ruined, but no big wounds like, for example, from a mace or crows beak

 

a baseball bat with maybe four big nails in it would be seriously dangerous, then again a crowbar would be far more dangerous

I guarantee u if I swing a nail bat at your chest it isn't going to be a glancing blow it is going to hurt like a bitch

That said this is a videogame and we want nail bats cause it was cool in ff7

Realism sucks

/topic

[mercules 1290]

well yes, but all these historical weapons have one thin in common: a very heavy head with FEW spikes on it

Uh-huh....

 

with some thick coats, a tshirt under that, and maybe even a helmet, you'd basically just glance off of your target and thats it,

maybe a few scratches on the helmet, and clothes get ruined, but no big wounds like, for example, from a mace or crows beak

You would need something like a stab vest to stop a proper nailbat.

The maori used a variety of clubs made of stone and wood and regularly incorporated things like Shark's teeth into them to add tearing and ripping in addition to the blunt force damage. On the show "Deadliest Warriors" they did some "tests" to see what sort of damage weapons can do. To quote, "...the shark tooth club was able to not only cut its leg of beef, but kept cutting when the teeth broke off inside the target."

 

Ever here of a Tetsubo/Kanabo? Wood club with spikes/nails lining it to give it more heft and damage from the studs. 

 

 

[ZomboWTF 527]

Uh-huh....

 

 

 

yes, those are very effective weapons with few spikes, if you see the first post, the nailbat has so many spikes it looks like a damn hedgehog

these weapons have spikes in the four cardinal directions, the bat in the foirst post had a completely random pattern of stupidly angled nails

 

which is also why i said a bat with one or few spikes would be pretty terrifying

 

Realism sucks

/topic

 

i think you, sir, are playing the wrong game

[Dagwood 680]

The important thing is that you hammer the nails through to the other side of the bat so they protrude 1/4-1/2 inch. Then, you flatten the remaining "head side" of the nail flush with the side of the bat. This way, you don't suffer the deflection of force that OP mentioned, while you gain the benefit of pointy ends on your club. And pulling a few 1/4 inch nail heads out of bone or tissue isn't going to require more than a heavy tug leading into your next swing.

Hammering the nails in half way with the head of the nail hanging out may look more intimidating, but is ultimately pretty stupid. The nails could be put to better use in innumerable ways.