Shovel Versus Zombies
A great weapon you can find in just about any backyard or garden is a shovel. A shovel can be used as a blunt weapon as well as a bladed weapon, plus the obvious digging uses. A shovel gives you good range away from a zombie and the handle gives a person great control to swing away. Because of the reach you can also keep zombies at bay away from your body from lounge attacks.
To use a shovel effectively as a weapon you must have a good stance, your feet should be placed about 1/2 a foot more than shoulder width apart. if you are right handed then your left should be up front and you right foot in back and you should feel sturdy in a comfortable position. Your hands should be relaxed and your right hand above your left much like a baseball batters stance. You are now ready to swing your arms and body back towards your right and when you have coiled up until you can coil no more swing forward with all of your might opening your hips and aim for the neck of the zombie! When you make a connection make sure to follow through the swing as to knock down or sever the neck of the zombie. This will take a lot of practice since you will also want to rotate your wrists as to turn the blade of the shovel sideways for precision cutting of the shovel blade but even if you are not able to get a good sideways cut the flat side of the shovel blade will be enough to knock a zombie over.
Another technique is to use the shovel as a stabbing weapon, with the same foot stance put your right hand below your left one the handle and thrust forward with your lead foot and back hand so that the blade of the shovel is forced forward. If you are accurate and strong enough, aiming for the neck you should be able to sever a zombie head right off. If you are not strong enough then this is still enough force to push a zombie back and since most shovel blades are not serrated you will be able to pull it back quickly for the next attack volley.
The best types of shovels to use are the ones with tempered steel round bladed shovelhead with about 1/4 inch thickness and hardwood or fiberglass handles. You can sharpen the edges of the rounded blade for extra cutting power and you need to have a hardwood or fiberglass handle so that it is durable enough for multiple swings. If the grip is too smooth or can possibly cause splintering use a good grip tape such as Duct Tape or Athletic Tape so that it doesn’t slide out of your hands or cause hand blistering.
Another type of shovel you can invest in would be a Crovel, much like a shovel but it is small and has over 40 uses. You can see more information about the crovel here in our pages or you can go to Gearupcenter.com where they manufacturer these in limited numbers and it was built by a doomsday prepper.
When you are in a bind a shovel is a great tool to pick up at the store or if you are on the run and come across one in a yard or garage then make note this is a pretty handy weapon and tool to have.