Cold Steel Gunstock War Club

[Panzerschwein]

Hey guys! Well I was searching around on the internet the other night and starting looking at the Cold Steel website. I like Cold Steel, the Russian Spetsnaz shovel they make is truly a great tool. I've had one for a couple years and it's great, in fact it's coming out in the field with me tomorrow. But on the Cold Steel website I come across an odd looking weapon:



Gunstock War Club (link)

It's called a gunstock war club, and this is Cold Steel's version of it. It is made of polypropelene instead of wood and has a steel spike on it. Apparently this was based on the Native American weapons that they made to resemble European musket stocks, or were actually made from musket stocks. It looks like a pretty interesting weapon, and I've found it for sale as cheap as $26 so I'm thinking of picking one up. However I have some questions before I do:

1. Is this a quality product? I like my Cold Steel Spetsnaz shovel but I'm not sure about this item. Any personal experiences with it? Will it break easily?

2. How effective would this be in hand-to-hand combat? Surly I would never actually use it for a defensive role if my firearms go down... or would I? Is this actually a good close quarters combat weapon?

3. Do you know any history about gunstock war clubs in general? I have heard that this weapon is used in the movie Last of the Mohicans. I will have to watch it soon.

Thanks guys!

 

[JShirley]

It was used in the movie.

This shape can be quite effective, but I'd suggest a CE stave between 7/8" and 1 1/8" diameter instead. What looks like a stick will be much more defensible than a club with a steel spike.

 

[hso]

I'm thinking of picking one up

Why?

I can easily understand getting an historical reproduction to hang on the wall, but why a polymer piece inspired by Last of the Mohicans that has none of the character of wood and steel? Look at the Crazy Crow products.

http://www.crazycrow.com/native-americans-war-clubs

As to whether it would be an effective defensive tool? You'll have to heft one to find out, but even at their best it wouldn't compare favorably to many other more practical items available today. Heck, a cricket bat would probably be superior to the CS club and John's suggestion would rank much higher!

 

[Zeeemu]

Sorta resembles a woman's leg - with knee spike.
Wouldn't want to encounter one of those.

 

[craftsman]

The Cold Steel line of UHMW-PE products are quite formidible - check out the videos on their website for the Sjambok, Irish Blackthorn walking stick and non-returning boomerang. I have all these, all are a bit heavy, but perform as advertised. They are quite intimidating. As far as a defensive weapon, due to their heft, you will need to practice extensively before you could consider using it for that purpose.

 

[Vonderek]

I think you would be in a world of hurt legally if you used something like that defensively regardless of how justifiable.

 

[CWL]

It is probably very durable if it is made from solid poly-p, but that doesn't mean it won't get banged-up as you beat on things with it.

It may be durable, but it doesn't really serve any purpose if you already own a long gun, why carry a second, non-working gun stock? Maybe they made sense during the days of single-shot BP guns where you don't want to damage your delicate flintlock mechanism, but they're rather silly to regard as a weapon nowadays.

 

[AJumbo]

I've made a few of those from trashed muzzleloading gun stocks and cheap knife blades; they're actually kind of clumsy and tough to control if whipped around vigorously. If I can find a pic or two, I'll see if I can post them.

I wouldn't want to face a determined adversary who was armed with one, but I can't say I'd reach for one myself if there was an option at hand.

 

[bikerdoc]

A novelty item at best. At the worst check your state law on clubs. Here you can own them but not carry or use.

 

[Sam Cade]

Perfectly legal to carry here, though twould be annoying to oneself and others to do so.

Speaking of warclubs, I've always wanted one like this as a martial objet d'art:

 

[Sam Cade]

Heck, a cricket bat

Ever notice the similarity between a cricket bat and some Polynesian warclub/paddles?






Anyway, the "gunstock" shape looks to be the maximally efficient shape since it puts the most mass behind the smallest contact area.

These are Polynesian:

 

[CWL]

Have you seen how big Polynesian men can get?

Living on the West Coast, I've met my share of Polynesian/Pacific Islanders and they sure love their poi! Grew up with some Tongans who were topping 300 by their senior year in high school. I did meet a Samoan nightclub doorman in San Francisco, who carried a cricket bat for work, looked like a walking stick in his hands!

 

[Dr.Rob]

Polynesian war clubs are usually studded with shark teeth. Ouch.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/e6/b0/94/e6b094733ba5fb766df24742c09aaf0d.jpg

 

[leadcounsel]

If it's just a self defense club you want and don't care about design or history...

If you shop garage sales at all, or hit the good will, you can almost always find a solid wood or aluminum baseball bat for under $5. These would make a poor wallhanger and have no real history to them, but a formidable weapon and not out of place in the trunk of the car with some cleats, a glove and a ball.

Can strike with jabs, it has long reach, and a full swing for the fence would make a serious defensive weapon.

If you wanted to get really nasty and creative and make a vicious looking warclub, you could drill into a wooden bat and put in all sorts of nasty spikes like nails and such, wrap it in a length of razor wire, etc. But I would not recommend that for legal and optical reasons...

 

[Panzerschwein]

Thanks guys, I'm thinking of getting one of these just for the hooy of it. Perhaps a "range report" will be in order!