Panga Sighting

The idea of using a panga as a primary weapon in the zombie apocalypse seemed obvious after reading what a horrifically efficient thing this thing was throughout the Rwandan massacre, among others. They’re stupid cheap, too.

Derek Grace acquired his panga from the weapons room of a man who may or may not be in the employ of the Powers that started the apocalypse. It’s not cheap:

I’m dressed and out the door before it occurs to me to wonder where the neon blue hell my enthusiasm for killing zombies has come from. The answer is gripped in my right hand. A walnut grip large enough for two-handed action. The business end is a 20-inch blade that widens and curves upward at the tip. The tempered steel is coated in black carbon. This is a panga, kissing cousin of the legendary scimitars used by the Barbary pirates....  Shorter, non-coated versions are used to cut sugarcane. This one was meant to separate people from their appendages.

For all its widespread use and abuse, you don’t see pangas popping up in photos and videos—at least, I don’t. So imagine my delight when Pulp Covers posted this on Google+:

March 1959 issue, cover by Vic Prezio, according to the good people at Pulp Covers.

The curve is a little extreme on this blade for my tastes, but it’s good to see this most silent-but-deadly slasher on the job.

Of course, you can read all about my dream cane-cutter in action in Bleeding Kansas, with more tempered steel mayhem to come in Grace Among the Dead. Just thought I’d put that out there. Happy Fourth of July weekend! When you’re not blowing your fingers off with fireworks, remember the wisdom of gangster John Gotti: Always charge a man with a gun, never a man with a knife.

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Above passage from Bleeding Kansas: Book 1 of The Saga of the Dead Silencer 
Copyright © 2013, 2014, 2017 by Lawrence Roy Aiken. All rights reserved.