Anyone keep a sword handy near their bed?

Skal - your nicknames are better than mine. For some reason, ever since 7th grade, I've been known as Dilbert. It's never been explained to me, and fortunately since most of my friends have graduated, the name is falling out of common use. Dilbert doesn't exactly inspire dread and awe.

I keep...oh goodness...

-A bowie knife
-a machete
-a Hitler Youth replica knife
-six or seven lockblades
-three throwing knives
-an 1896 Mauser bayonet
-a Kukri
-my CAS Iberia scramaseax
-and my Cold Steel Viking 'crowbar'
-my Remington 870, unloaded but with a full bandolier

...and that's just next to my bed.

In my room is an AK-47, an AK-47/22, a non-firing 1896 Mauser that makes a great club, a recurve bow with arrows, nunchucks, a Mosin Nagant carbine, a katana, a wakizashi, a dirk, a couple smaller knives and daggers, and a kite shield that I made myself.

My father reckons I'm the best armed minor in PA. And if all of those weapons fail, I'm quite adept at unarmed combat as well. Still, I hope I never have to actually employ my weapons in combat. If I do, I'm going right for the 870, nevermind the swords.

Yeah, but no one has ever said why I resemble/remind them of Dilbert the cartoon character. If the name catches on here, I may have to disembowel myself honorably.

In college my room mate dubbed me Milton, claiming I reminded him of the character from Office Space.

More people on that campus knew me as Milton than I even knew. Complete strangers would shout "Hey, Milton" out of nowhere. It got pretty old.

Which is why I keep adding sharp things to my Headboard Arsenal. The latest addition being the customized Gen2 dagger I bought from Mr. Dan Davis (wildwolfforge). It shares centerstage with my kukri and my Valiant Bosnian. The Windlass Viking Dirk that used to be here has moved off to the side a bit. Not that it's particularly bad, I just prefer the Gen2 dagger.

My bedside subsection has welcomed the Musashi Zetsurin into its numbers.

Mine is the 12th Century Norman dagger, with a few light modifications. I rant and rave on about it in the thread "semi-mini-review...thing" if you want to know more of what I think.

Overall, I'm very pleased and will buy more Gen2 daggers in the future, the Irish particularly catching my eye. I think my next Gen2, though, will be either the Maximilian or Witham sword. Unless I can talk Mr. Davis of Wild Wolf Forge into treating the Norman sword for me...

The Irish H&H is a lovely sword, too, but a little plain on the blade. I'd snatch it up in a hurry if it had a fuller. I don't quite understand my fuller fetish, but I can't bring myself to go against it.

You should, Sept. Daggers are awesome close-quarters weapons. Big enough to deal heavy damage, small enough for good control in those tight spaces. Best compromise I can think of.

I wouldn't buy a "real" dagger from anybody but Gen2 now.

No swords are "handy" near my bed. I do have a long table in the BR upon which I display two katana.

Keeping a weapon or weapons handy to deal with home invasion, even if unlikely, is an issue everyone should address. I don't leave guns laying around. However, I do have several weapons "in use" and my kids are trained. We vet all child visitors. We do not yet have their parents sign a release. Of course if you have wee ones, the guns must not be accessible to them, but that's a problem only you can solve. Fortunately we never had climbers. If that had been true, then a quick combo box might have been utilized.

I do make a distinction between weapons "in use" and weapons "stored." Weapons in use are always loaded. For long guns, this means a round in the chamber. When the time comes, racking your shotgun, throwing a bolt, etc., will only give your position away.

At night, unknown numbers of assailants, unknown weapon types--you are at a significant disadvantage. It's better to keep a dog by your bed than a sword. It can alert you to an uninvited presence, buying you time.

If you take a knife or sword to a gunfight, it had better not be your primary.

That's where the element of suprise come into picture...

You are going to sneak up on your home invader? Remember, you'll need to close to be able to use your edged weapon. But I would encourage you to try to sneak around in the dark (or low light really) and see how quiet you can be and whether your intended target can detect you. I think you'll be surprised.

I sleep with a cold steel Magnum Khukri on my side, got firearms but are locked. However I usually sleep in the kids room (to save energy by using only one A/C), and on my room is a vast cache of blade weapons, and wall hangers (very mean though), so if he can supply himself, he might stand a chance, however the kid's door is barricaded by my bed, and moving a bed containing 300 lbs ain't that easy.........