Do you think you'd be able to win, if you had a katana, against...

[fohfoh]

I think the idea is that although a katana is a stabbing weapon as well, it flexes more than the broad sword to be an effective stabbing weapon against an elephant.

[Klocknov]

I will have to say it would depend on the casting of the katana there, some were heavier for that exact reason.

[fohfoh]

I will have to say it would depend on the casting of the katana there, some were heavier for that exact reason.

There's the other weapon altogether that was designed to destroy calvary by being long enough to slash out a horse's legs from a distance. Forget the name though.

On a random note... would riding an elephant be a good idea during a zombie invasion?

[Enzedder]

I would win against all 3 because I am just that awesome.

And maybe. Riding an elephant during a Zombie Invasion may or may not be good. It would be good for the idea that you could run through the hordes however 1 surprise attack wound to the elephant and you have yourself a zombie elephant. I am not sure about you but a zombie elephant is not something I want to fight.

[fohfoh]

Well... a rotting elephant would be easier to slash than a normal one...


Zombie grizzly and Zombie lions... fuck that shit. Game over.

[Enzedder]

Yeah but a zombie elephant would rage and with tusks like that it would be a pain to deal with.

How about this? What if we airlift the elephant into the air then drop it on an upright katana or two. Could do the same for the lion and grizzly if they were bound beforehand. Simple.

[fohfoh]

That's silly. Let's just build a hwacha and launch the katanas at them.

Or a potato cannon that shoots katanas. Might be annoying to reload though... and ball bearings are cheaper and easier to deal with.

[Enzedder]

I see your point.

Well done with that idea.

[JoonasTo]

I would sell the katana and buy lots and lots of peanuts and other food that elephants enjoy.  Then I would befriend the elephant and tell him that if he can help me with my bear and lion problem, I will feed him peanuts and whatever else it is that elephants like.  If the elephant ever turned on me, I would send him to Norway.  Problem solved.

Best idea so far. 

Katana can easily damage a bear. It's just that there's no way you'd be able to stop the bear once it's bent on killing you. You wouldn't be able cut a leg off. You'd have to be pretty miraculous swordsman. Considering you'd need a perfect angle and it shouldn't change during the process. And swipes are circular in motion. So no go. If you manage harm it you can be sure it's going to come to finish you off. If you had ever hunted bears you'd know. When they're injured tehy won't stop until either of you is dead. They are not as dumb as you might think. They might even retreat and ambush you if their wounds aren't that severe. Not sure how they'd think about someone wielding a sword but they've done that against hunters. Oh and recovering from what have been full strenght blows? Yeah, I'd like to see you get up after that. Besides, a bear is faster than you are so the whole idea of making hits without taking any is absurd.

Concerning the Katana fanboyism...
It's not actually even a very good sword. You can't block with it because it's so thin. The shape very aggressive and leaves the user exposed. The whole fighting style with it depends on the owner being overly aggressive. If you accidentally or by dire need make a direct block with it the hard edge will crack from there and after a few of those cracks the sword becomes dangerously weak and easy to break.
The bad quality of Japanese iron ore forced them to make swords formed like that since the regular type swords made from it couldn't last.
Ironic that the Japanese learned how to make steel from the europeans around 1800 while chinese had been making steel for almost 2000 years.
Oh yeah, how many prisoners do you think the japanese had, hmmm? Now how many katanas did they have, hmmm?

[Spanks]

I would sell the katana and buy lots and lots of peanuts and other food that elephants enjoy.  Then I would befriend the elephant and tell him that if he can help me with my bear and lion problem, I will feed him peanuts and whatever else it is that elephants like.  If the elephant ever turned on me, I would send him to Norway.  Problem solved.

Best idea so far. 

Concerning the Katana fanboyism...
It's not actually even a very good sword. You can't block with it because it's so thin. The shape very aggressive and leaves the user exposed. The whole fighting style with it depends on the owner being overly aggressive. If you accidentally or by dire need make a direct block with it the hard edge will crack from there and after a few of those cracks the sword becomes dangerously weak and easy to break.
The bad quality of Japanese iron ore forced them to make swords formed like that since the regular type swords made from it couldn't last.
Ironic that the Japanese learned how to make steel from the europeans around 1800 while chinese had been making steel for almost 2000 years.
Oh yeah, how many prisoners do you think the japanese had, hmmm? Now how many katanas did they have, hmmm?

Yes it's true that they were not as good as some people think but you can block with them(but they chip), that's half the point of them.

[ZeroZero65]

Katana only looks cool. Its not so tough as you might imagine.

[Klocknov]

Katana only looks cool. Its not so tough as you might imagine.

More or less you are wrong, since the katana does have certain styles of fighting that some blades don't progress in. But part of using a sword is not only knowing the strengths but also knowing the weaknesses of the weapon. So to say that the katana only looks cool and isn't a tough sword you are wrong. A spear has it's flaws for combat but you give it to the right person it can be a severely strong weapon. It more so depends on the fighting style used by the person and how much time they spent in learning the quirks of their weapon and the strengths. Now as most people today yeah it may not be that tough of a weapon, but you get someone that trains in use and trains fully the katana is just as tough as any other weapon out there.

[ZeroZero65]

Katana only looks cool. Its not so tough as you might imagine.

More or less you are wrong, since the katana does have certain styles of fighting that some blades don't progress in. But part of using a sword is not only knowing the strengths but also knowing the weaknesses of the weapon. So to say that the katana only looks cool and isn't a tough sword you are wrong. A spear has it's flaws for combat but you give it to the right person it can be a severely strong weapon. It more so depends on the fighting style used by the person and how much time they spent in learning the quirks of their weapon and the strengths. Now as most people today yeah it may not be that tough of a weapon, but you get someone that trains in use and trains fully the katana is just as tough as any other weapon out there.

Some people think that katana is some kind of "super sword" It is not better than chinese Dao or suchlike. I did not mean that katana sucks. It looks better than it is.

[Klocknov]

Katana only looks cool. Its not so tough as you might imagine.

More or less you are wrong, since the katana does have certain styles of fighting that some blades don't progress in. But part of using a sword is not only knowing the strengths but also knowing the weaknesses of the weapon. So to say that the katana only looks cool and isn't a tough sword you are wrong. A spear has it's flaws for combat but you give it to the right person it can be a severely strong weapon. It more so depends on the fighting style used by the person and how much time they spent in learning the quirks of their weapon and the strengths. Now as most people today yeah it may not be that tough of a weapon, but you get someone that trains in use and trains fully the katana is just as tough as any other weapon out there.

Some people think that katana is some kind of "super sword" It is not better than chinese Dao or suchlike. I did not mean that katana sucks. It looks better than it is.

Okay for the most part I can agree with that statement.

[surdumil]

I will have to say it would depend on the casting of the katana there, some were heavier for that exact reason.

There's the other weapon altogether that was designed to destroy calvary by being long enough to slash out a horse's legs from a distance. Forget the name though.

On a random note... would riding an elephant be a good idea during a zombie invasion?

Would that be the Naginata, Foh Foh?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata

[AceD]

Katana only looks cool. Its not so tough as you might imagine.

More or less you are wrong, since the katana does have certain styles of fighting that some blades don't progress in. But part of using a sword is not only knowing the strengths but also knowing the weaknesses of the weapon. So to say that the katana only looks cool and isn't a tough sword you are wrong. A spear has it's flaws for combat but you give it to the right person it can be a severely strong weapon. It more so depends on the fighting style used by the person and how much time they spent in learning the quirks of their weapon and the strengths. Now as most people today yeah it may not be that tough of a weapon, but you get someone that trains in use and trains fully the katana is just as tough as any other weapon out there.

Some people think that katana is some kind of "super sword" It is not better than chinese Dao or suchlike. I did not mean that katana sucks. It looks better than it is.

You need to channel your powerful kai through your Katana for it to become godly.

[blubart]

i guess it depends all on the "version": the following should be pretty much doable:

(click to show/hide)

the "upgraded" versions of them though...

[mgz]

fuck you guys, elephants arent angry and aggressive by nature. So walk up and stab it in the throat and then RUN THE FUCK AWAY.

Pride of lions you just find the alpha and kill it in the most brutal way possible, winning over the rest of the pride since you are now the alpha mother fucker. Or go all ninja like and kill them in their sleep.

Bear i think would be the toughest of them all if its like a kodiak bear or a polar bear. Where in like alaska they force ppl to take a .50 cal rifle with them to do tv shows out there cuz if they dont they can be soooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooo fucked.

I once read a news story about a guy on a motorcycle who was cruising down a back like dirt road. And collided with a brown bear he broke the bears back and it couldnt move its back legs at all it was paralyzed. The guy tumbled/flew about 600 feet away from the bear and his motorcycle and broke his arms and legs.
Low and behold the bear was pissed off and making enough noise that the nearest farmer who wasnt terribly near heard the noise the bear was making as it was crawling up the road after him. The man with broken limbs frantically tried to escape since there was AN ANGRY FUCKING 800LB MONSTER CHASING HIM.

Farmer arrived in his truck with a gun and shot the bear  it was about 30 feet away from fucking the guy up.

[Proin Drakenzol]

Katanas are not stabbing weapons. They are slashing weapons. Hence curved blade. They are also designed to be used against lightly armored or unarmored opponents. They are also not really all that awesome in real life.

A pride of lions would kill you. An elephant, if you pissed it off, would kill you; might even kill you accidently anyway. A bear will definitely kill you if all you had was a katana.

People with guns specifically designed to kill these animals get killed by these animals. And guns are 10,000x better than a sword of any kind when hunting. That's "ten thousand times," by the by, not the gay European "we're going to use a comma instead of a decimal point to seperate the ones place from the tenths place, lol."

[Spanks]

fuck you guys, elephants arent angry and aggressive by nature. So walk up and stab it in the throat and then RUN THE FUCK AWAY.

You made my day.