RedGage

In my last post, I have discussed survival guns. Now we will look at the other types of weapons and what the best survival weapons or tools are. Some of thebows benefits of the more unconventional weapons are that they are quiet, in some cases passive, are reusable, and can serve different purposes. What we will look at are bows, crossbows, knives, slingshots, and traps.There are two types of bows: the recurve and the compound bow. A bow can be one of the best survival weapons as they are very quiet, have a decent accuracy out to 60-80 yards, and the arrows shot from them are reusable(as long as you can find them which can be a chore). I use a compound bow as it is easier to be accurate even without consistent practice. With the compound bow, you aim by looking through a peep sight and lining up your site pin with your target. Typically, there are pins for every ten yards. You do have to sight in a compound bow much like a rifle and they should be serviced every year. I have never used a recurve bow, but they can be quite handy as well. This style of bow has a single string and looks like the bows used in the Middle Ages. Aiming with a recurve is more like throwing a baseball rather than aiming based on a sight and distance. With a recurve bow, just from repetitive practice, you will learn how far to pull back the string and what angle to aim depending on where the target is located. Recurves are quicker for the archer to shoot, but require tons of practice to use it skillfully. These are definitely some of the best survival weapons and should be added to your weapon list for survival. I have a Martin Jaguar that I have been using for about ten years, but it has been a great bow. Some of the top compound bow brands today are Mathews, Hoyt and Bowtech.Crossbows
Crossbows may be the best survival weapons out there. A crossbow is quiet, can be used in place of a short range gun, and can be fired with just a squeeze of the trigger as opposed to a bow where you have pull the string back and hold it (can be quite tiring). If you have watched the Walking Dead, this is the preferred weapon of the character Darrell, and it seems to work well for killing zombies (yes it’s just a show). A crossbow projectile is called a bolt and is usually about half the size of an arrow from a bow. The Crossbow has dual purposes as it can be used for hunting or protection. The crossbow will not create attention when fired and can be loaded until it needs to be fired. If you are looking at a crossbow, you will want to get something with over 300 feet per second velocity to be most effective. The popular brands of crossbows are Barnett, Horton, and Tenpoint. Though I don’t have a crossbow I would like to get one and believe that it may be one of the best survival weapons.  Knives
A knife is one of the best survival weapons because it is so versatile. There really is no reason you shouldn’t have a knife, or many knives, in your survival stockpile because they can be purchased very cheaply. I carry my KA-BAR foldable knife in my pocket at all times (except for the airport and places that don’t allow them) and use it on a daily basis. Like I said earlier, there are many cheap knives out there but you will get what you pay for. Many cheap knives will quickly get dull or may not even be sharp right out of the box. There are quite a few types of knives, from foldable to fixed blade skinning knives, to Bowie knives, machetes and survival Swiss army knives. They each have their own benefits and uses, but having more than one will be very beneficial. You also will want to get a knife sharpener because over time your blade will inevitably lose its sharpness. One of the other very important knives is the leatherman or all in one tool. This is a foldable tool with pliers, knives, saw and many other tools all in one small package that will fit in your pocket. Some of my favorite brands of knives are KA-BAR, Sog, Gerber, and Leatherman. 
Slingshots
A sling shot is a great survival weapon because it is so compact, is very cheap and there are so many things that can be used as projectiles. Usually ball bearings are used to get the highest velocity and best accuracy, but rocks and acorns, or virtually anything
that is round and hard, can be used. I remember from my childhood, a friend and I decided to play war with sling shots. The projectile we used was dog food. I was the only one that got hit, but it left a welt right above my eye; with better ammunition and a difference of an inch I could have lost my eye. As you can see the slingshot can be a great hunting weapon and also used for protection. Although the slingshot may not be the best survival weapon it is definitely a great backup to other weapons and is good to have in a backpack. Daisy and Barnett are the names that come to mind regarding slingshots. Traps
While traps are not usually a weapon, they can be used for home protection as well as for hunting. A trap does not have to be just a bear or animal style trap, it really can be anything that subdues what you are hunting or trying to keep out of property. There are
many types of traps that are hand made and work just fine. For hunting a long spring or coil spring are some of the best traps. The best benefit of traps is that they are passive and once set, it is just a waiting game until an animal gets stuck in your trap. The only problem is that you may want to check your trap often as a coyote or other predator may come and take the animal you have worked so hard to catch. There are so many different traps that can be set for protecting your home from thieves and criminals that I won’t go into it now, but I will go into more detail in some future posts.There are so many different situations that will come your way that being prepared for as many as possible is your best bet. So having all these options at your fingertips really will be the best survival weapon. Trying to prepare for disasters or the end of the world as we know it can be difficult when on a small budget, so remember to get the items in order of importance.  The right tool for the job makes the job so much easier. If a good survival knife fills more needs then a slingshot, then this should be a higher priority. Just remember to get one  of the best survival weapons for the job.