Shark vs. Man. Man 1; Shark 0

any big water makes me uneasy, even rivers. i feel like there's a whole foreign world full of dangerous creatures under me...staring, judging my flavour..it just takes one hungry enough to try
clearly, smith & wesson needs to make a diving gun!
so... what caliber for sharks?

kamloops67 said:

any big water makes me uneasy, even rivers. i feel like there's a whole foreign world full of dangerous creatures under me...staring, judging my flavour..it just takes one hungry enough to try
clearly, smith & wesson needs to make a diving gun!
so... what caliber for sharks?

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I think you're joking, eh?

But "bang sticks" that fire bullets into a shark come or came in 12 ga. and in .303. Maybe for other ctgs., too, but I'm sure about those. I think the .303 ones sold mainly in Australia and in South Africa. Are there enough Canadian divers to have sold them there? I was surprised to learn that some typical sharks range much farther north than I'd realized. When in Nfld., I figured that only Greenland sharks might be a threat...if we didn't just freeze in the cold waters. But blues, makos, and some others get up there! And the Pacific has salmon sharks, similar to makos.

I'd need to refesh my memory cells, but I think I found that even White sharks (Carcharodon carcharius) are in Canadian waters. (I hope I spelled Carcharodon right. May be charcarodon. Been a long time since I checked...)

Not up in the Arctic, but further south. I mean the Whites.

I knew a guy who had a 357 bang stick. It least he said it was. He put a 38 spl blank in it and split a 2 x 4 with the concussion in his garage for my entertainment.

As the poster above says, bayonets are for stabbing. I think that as they are also used for digging, tent pegs, and a variety of other around camp purposes, sharpening them probably does not make much sense.

I have read that Civil War sabers were designed to break bones rather than cut or slice, so not having them sharp would make sense.

A Japanese friend who, who practices iaido (居合道), or the traditional moves of Japanese sword fighting, told me that for killing a thrust was more effective than slicing.

Onomea said:

I knew a guy who had a 357 bang stick. It least he said it was. He put a 38 spl blank in it and split a 2 x 4 with the concussion in his garage for my entertainment.

As the poster above says, bayonets are for stabbing. I think that as they are also used for digging, tent pegs, and a variety of other around camp purposes, sharpening them probably does not make much sense.

I have read that Civil War sabers were designed to break bones rather than cut or slice, so not having them sharp would make sense.

A Japanese friend who, who practices iaido (居合道), or the traditional moves of Japanese sword fighting, told me that for killing a thrust was more effective than slicing.

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A British commission that convened after the Napoleonic Wars concluded the same thing. So British sword blades got straighter in most cases. The Patton saber was basically a near clone of the British Pattern 1908. The fancier Officers version was M-1912. These are pretty long for dismounted use. I found them awkward in a store that sold Wilkinson swords. Ditto for the Patton model. (Member Bob Bettis and I found some Patton swords in a collectors gun store near the SMU campus. Several looked almost unissued.)

The British Infantry Officer's Pattern of 1897 (still in use, I think) handled a lot better for me. I'm five feet, ten inches and about 165-170 pounds. That must have been the average size of men whom the designer had in mind.

Churchill was once fighting dismounted on the NW Frontier of India and mentioned the awkwardness of his long cavalry sword. Remember, he was a soldier before he entered politics. He was a graduate of Sandhurst, the Royal Military Academy.

But the ancient Romans and probably the Greeks and Macedonians could have told you that stabbing kills better than slashing. But the straight Viking and Norman swords could slash right well. Skeletal remains of their victims make that clear!

Texas Star said:

This WW II Kar 98 bayonet seems NOT to have the saw teeth that I've seen on some WW I German bayonets issued to Pioneer regiments. The saw teeth were ro cut wood, not to inflict more grevious wounds. But some Tommies and GI's probably shot Germans with these bayonets, believing the latter.

If well honed, YES I think this would kill a shark. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it has. A lot of surplus knives and bayonets were used by divers after WW II.

The 15-year-old boy with the trench knife that I mentioned probably hadn't sharpened his knife well. As Gary Randall told me, most divers use their knives to dig and pry. That'll dull an edge. That's why Randall Made Knives grinds their Model 16 Diver's Knife to a thicker edge profile. One can, of course, just use a Model 14 or 15 and have a sharper blade. But you then lose the special diving sheath. I think the answer is to have the shop hone the edge sharper, telling them you'll use the knife as it should be, not as some other kind of tool. I think a short crowbar is indicated for some of the uses to which some subject their dive knives.

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These werent made that way. The guy who used it in WWII made his that way, I also have another same type bayonet which has about 97% of the bluing left on blade and no serration.

Fredo Batali said:

Bayonets are not sharpened because they're not for cutting, but for stabbing. There's a regulation that prohibits sharpening them. As a an SF medic I wasn't authorized a bayonet because it's an offensive weapon. No problem, I carried a sharp M3 fighting knife

De Oppresso Liber

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Sarge Bill was also a medic narrowly missing Vietnam. Anyway, he loved carrying a 45 for personal protection, and had permission to have /ma Deuces in his tracks.

kamloops67 said:

any big water makes me uneasy, even rivers. i feel like there's a whole foreign world full of dangerous creatures under me...staring, judging my flavour..it just takes one hungry enough to try
clearly, smith & wesson needs to make a diving gun!
so... what caliber for sharks?

Click to expand...

There is a whole world of hurts in water. I can never go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to having a double staph infection in my legs. I knew a guy who slightly cut his thumb while fishing having got a hook stuck in thumb. A few days later, he had to go to the hospital-where he stayed for around 2 months-because of such a bad infection--split the skin open to the bone from what I saw.

And we haven't even mentioned pelagic crocodiles. Many think that Michael Rockefeller was taken by a saltwater croc instead of sharks when he disappeared off of New Guinea. Personally, I think the theory that he was eaten by cannibals is at least as likely.

I suspect that American crocs can endure some saltwater exposure and may attack off of beaches and in brackish rivers. And not only Bull Sharks (C. leucas) range up rivers. I read recently that lemon sharks can endure some fresh water for a limited time. The Ganges shark also ranges well up rivers, and is not a Bull Shark, although similar. There is also an Australian shark that manages fresh water well, but is pretty rare. I forgot what it's called. Jeremy Wade caught a small one on, "River Monsters." He had to handle it for just a brief period, then return it to the water. A scientist was with him to look out for the shark. I think it was called a Glyphis shark.

Jeremy also caught a world's record Bull Shark/Zambezi Shark many miles up a South African river. The sharks follow fishermen there and often snap a fish off their lines.
This was along a stretch of the river occupied largely by white people. Many were aghast that he returned that shark, over 13 feet, to the river, where some swim. They had no idea that these sharks were there. But the scientists with him insisted that it be returned to the river.
The Zambezi shark seems to just be the Bull Shark under a local name.

What we call the Sand Tiger, they call the Ragged-Tooth shark, and the Aussies call it the Grey Nurse shark. Definitlly NOT our "nurse shark", which seldom attacks people.

BTW, the Bull Shark secretes probably the most testosterone of any animal. This may account for much of its legendary aggression.

A few years ago a lot of Swiss stainless steel bayonets showed up at the gun shows. I think they were for the Swiss Model 57 (STGW?) rifle that had been rendered obsolete by adoption of a rifle in cal 5.56. A New Zealand friend imported a few for sale as divers' knives.

the ringo kid said:

There is a whole world of hurts in water. I can never go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico thanks to having a double staph infection in my legs. I knew a guy who slightly cut his thumb while fishing having got a hook stuck in thumb. A few days later, he had to go to the hospital-where he stayed for around 2 months-because of such a bad infection--split the skin open to the bone from what I saw.

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Could have been Vibro Vulnificus I know a couple people around here who have had infections and had a hard time getting rid of it, even numerous operations to remove infected flesh down to the bone. But it is not common and there is a very high percentage of this area's population who have lots of contact with the Gulf waters either sport or work related. I have been a salt water fisherman and boater all my life and no problem yet, knock on wood. Some have contracted it from a simple cut or prick from a shrimp or crab shell. Sometimes called fish handler's disease. Not only in the Gulf but cases have occured along the Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay even aquariums! It is recomended to carry a squeeze bottle with a 50-50 mix of bleach and water to wash out cuts and "sicks" when in possibly conaminated areas.
Good luck all!
Steve

Stevens said:

Could have been Vibro Vulnificus I know a couple people around here who have had infections and had a hard time getting rid of it, even numerous operations to remove infected flesh down to the bone. But it is not common and there is a very high percentage of this area's population who have lots of contact with the Gulf waters either sport or work related. I have been a salt water fisherman and boater all my life and no problem yet, knock on wood. Some have contracted it from a simple cut or prick from a shrimp or crab shell. Sometimes called fish handler's disease. Not only in the Gulf but cases have occured along the Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay even aquariums! It is recomended to carry a squeeze bottle with a 50-50 mix of bleach and water to wash out cuts and "sicks" when in possibly conaminated areas.
Good luck all!
Steve

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One bad side on having those infections-is once you get them, real easy to get again according to what the Drs told me. I spent 2 days shy a month in the hospital from my case. They say your skin gets weakened and infection sets in easier-or something like that. Parts of my lower legs are discolored badly almost looks like fresh 1st and 2nd degree burns.