Anyone keep a sword handy near their bed?

glad someone enjoyed it tsafa

This had me amused for some time before I finally signed up.

I happen to store a small ("small") arsenal at bedside. Three katana, one, two...five or six mid-size knives, Windlass' old Viking Dirk (big, shiny, and sharp, that. (had to sharpen myself, gave up and cheated, one of those preset carbide deals. Bevel is ugly, but that diamond stone was scratching. ) Also featured prominently (front row, center) is a nepalese Kukri I bought at some gun show in Richmond (I get most of my stuff from these, you'll find, though I've not been to one in a while...).

Then comes my smaller bookshelf, which is just over a foot off to one side of my bed. In there are some 20 or more knives of varying shape, size, and quality, among them for instance a Cold Steel LTC Kukri (factory second), which the aforementioned Nepalese kukri has brought shame upon.

THEN THERE'S MY GUN CABINET!!! Also just over a foot off to one side, closer to the foot of my bed, is my heirloom gun cabinet, complete with heirloom guns, plus a few new. I forget the exact make and model of them all at the moment, but I've got one bolt-action (okay, for ease, they're ALL bolt-action, I wouldn't have it any other way. Speed comes with practice, but accuracy, power, reliability, and ease of maintenance are somewhat more important to me, besides, these are old.), a 20-gauge Mossberg (I believe), an old, single-shot .22 which was allegedly my great-grandfather's very first rabbit huntin' gun when he was but a wee lad, as well as two air rifles, I also have two of my favorite wallhanger katanas in there, one of which I wrapped the tsuka myself, and perched on top of all this is my most recent heirloom acquisition of a bow my grandfather decided the hunting permit for was too much of a hassle. So it's mine now. I should find an archery range...

Oh, and my Marshall and Godfred share the bed with me these days. I prefer to store them horizontally, as one night, ONE NIGHT, I left them both leaned against the wall, and the Godfred's sheath loosened drastically. I presented it with a pair of pliers and it doesn't argue with me anymore. Minor cosmetic damage, but at least my sword's not falling out anymore.

...is this a little...excessive? Did I forget to mention the Sykes-Fairbairn (I can never remember 1) which order 2) how to spell) that I keep at my desk as a glorified letter opener? Sheffield manufacture apparently means "good luck sharpening this thing." Granted they likely aren't intended to be terribly sharp, being a primarily stabbing knife, but if I own it, it's a knife, and it has an edge (of course it does), that edge will be sharp. Except in this case it was a bear to do and I destroyed the parkerized finish, but hell with it. It slices envelopes wonderfully now.

Now, to cover the legal portion of this discussion, my room happens to be on the second floor, which bears all of one way in or out, and that is the stairs down to the front door. Here in VA, last I checked, a person would be perfectly within their rights to maim and/or kill an individual who is in thier home, shall we say, "uninvited." Granted, that is, that the defending individual has literally run out of other options. I say this eying my window, and its 20-foot drop to an uneven brick patio. Frankly, if a ladder hits my window at night, that ladder's only falling once. If it comes back up, then it's whoever's climbing it who's falling next. I'll worry about proving self-defense when the authorities (finally) arrive.

Oh dear, I should have known better.

Yes, I do happen to have a (fairly mediocre, second-hand) digital camera, but I'm no good with photography. Also, the primary decor in my bedroom is my vast array of anime figures, wallscrolls, and other related merchandise, which may bear an odd level of contrast to my blades. Sure, some of the centerpieces that surround the Kukri and Viking Dirk are Gunslinger Girl and Shakugan no Shana gashapon, and would fit the theme somewhat (the former a collection of (adolescent, of course) girls with their respective choice firearms, the latter a sword-weilding heroine type. Naturally, her choice of sword is a katana, so she'd fit in well here, despite the overall irrelevance.)

Though I might be persuaded to attempt some level of photo shoot, if I can clean the place up a bit... I'm rather a messy type of person. I'll give it some thought. Sharing images here pretty much requires imageshack or similar, right? I've not yet discovered whether this software features attatchments, let alone multiple per post.

I have my wife next to me.....she is a tough one too... :-*Love you Baby!!! All kidding aside, I have a 12 guage and a Spec plus Navy Seal knife next to my bed.

When I receive my Gen2 Celtic Anthro sword I'll keep it by my bed, because it's a short sword and would be more effective indoors. Right now I have a masahiro Katana in my room, but my wife is less than impressed with the symbolism of a sword in the bedroom.

i quote the rick james:

"cocaine's a helluva drug."

jason

I don't keep a weapon near my bed. If i had to confront an intruder i would probably do it barehanded, i know way around my house in the dark better than an intruder and empty hands don't make any noise. If i was going to use a weapon it would be my Sai. Mostly non lethal and can be thrown effectively if necessary.

Swords i reserve for Jehova's Witnesses and the Schwanns' guy

Skalman - it's either that or the fact that you look like a caveman...

Skalman - so, that's a real picture of you in your avatar?