Preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse – I am not alone!

Last Friday, my wife (Gina the Gorgeous) and I went out on a "date night" (it's not my fault ... she makes me do it :-) After eating supper, we went to our local Monaco cinema to see Snow White and the Huntsman – this is the recently released British-American action fantasy film version of the German fairy tale "Snow White" by the Brothers Grimm.


To be really honest, I wasn't expecting much from this film, but it was Gina's turn to choose (this coming Friday we're going to see Prometheus, the prequel to Alien, both of which were directed by Ridley Scott … I cannot wait!)

Actually, if the truth be told, I have to say that Snow White and the Huntsman turned out to be a really good film. The scenery is incredible, the castles and countryside are great, and the special effects are wonderful. Snow White (played by Kristen Stewart) is beautiful; the evil witch-queen Ravenna (played by Charlize Theron) is scary, and our hero Eric the Huntsman (played by Chris Hemsworth) is as manly a man as you would want to meet (he reminds me of a younger version of myself, although he's not quite so handsome or brave).


Seriously, there were times when I found myself gripping my fists with excitement. One thing that did catch my eye was Eric's handy fighting style with his battle axe, which had a sharp blade on one side and what proved to be a very useful pointy bit on the other.

"Hmmm," I thought to myself, "a battle axe like that would be ideal for (a) home defense and (b) as a weapon of last resort should the Zombie Apocalypse ever arrive" (see also my blogs Zombie tales for people with brains and Preparing for the forthcoming Zombie Apocalypse).

The thing is that I keep on thinking about equipping myself with some sort of means of defending our home should the need arise, but thus far I've never actually gotten around to doing anything about it. The bottom line is that, until now, if marauders broke in at night, the best I could do would be to set Gina on them (she has a tongue that can flay a man at 50 paces :-)

So I bounced over to Amazon and did a search for "Battle Axe". Actually, I must admit that I thought this was a bit of a long shot (I remember those days deep in the mists of time when the only thing Amazon sold was books), so I was amazed by the number of hits I received.

Anyway, to cut (pun intended) a long story short, I decided to invest in a Cold Steel Trench Hawk Axe. This little beauty has is 19 inches long and weighs in at 24-ounces. Drop forged from 5150 carbon steel and differentially hardened, it has a razor-sharp 3-1/2-inch cutting edge on one side and a wedge-shaped spike (guaranteed to make someone's eyes water) on the other.


My axe just arrived and it's a thing of beauty to behold. I know that the chances of my ever needing to use it in anger are close to zero … but should that day arrive I am now armed with more than fluffy toys with which to defend myself and my family.

And one more thing that really cheered me up is to discover that I am not alone. Reading the comments associated with this product on Amazon I found comments like:

Ok this is an tool for men, very durable, strong and sturdy... its length is good even for self-defense or to stop off zombies.

… and …

I didn't really need this monster; my first line anti-zombie tools are a .40 Cal pistol on my hip and an M4 in the vehicle, and for emergency vehicle breaching I carry a decent size crowbar, but for the price, I just couldn't resist this bad boy!

And you all thought I was being silly... well, shame on you! (grin)

---

If you found this article to be of interest, visit Programmable Logic Designline where – in addition to my Max's Cool Beans blogs – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to programmable logic devices of every flavor and size (FPGAs, CPLDs, CSSPs, PSoCs...).

Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for my weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).