And check youtube. Everything except the exact sword review you are searching for can be found somewhere on youtube with proper phrasing.

As far as protective gear goes, I think the things to consider is utility versus weight. Of course, utility is situational, if you want to protect yourself on a forage or a guerilla attack, you’d probably dress light, but if you were preparing for a large-scale attack, you might want heavier armor. Ballistic vests are graded in terms of how high calibre rounds it can resist, and they usually afford some protection against cqc. Practically speaking though, I don’t think I’d wear any type of ballistic armor on my torso unless I was expecting people armed with small arms. Since I generally value mobility and agility over heavy protection, I think I’d just wear somewhat normal clothes, a good thick jacket with a comfortable snug t-shirt underneath, jeans or some sort of thick-ish cargo pants or khakis, and a sturdy pair of combat boots. Basically I’d just wear what I’d wear to a paintball game, or if I’m going backpacking. The snugness for me is somewhat important, so I don’t get caught on things and move easier, so not completely tight, but just fitted well enough.

I’d definitely wear some kind of gloves, but my personal preference is that I feel awkward wearing full-fingered gloves. I prefer bike gloves for many things, I can feel trigger pressure fairly well if I’m using a gun, and it still protects my palms and in between my fingers, which is important in cqc. I’m looking into getting some sap gloves, gloves with weighted knuckles. A lot of cheap ones bust after a few punches, but a good pair would do a lot of damage, although I don’t like the idea of going bare-handed against a zed, I imagine that it would probably still be more useful than a knife, less so than a machete. Wrist guards would be ideal, especially if using a melee weapon. It doesn’t matter how strong a person is, the wrist is too weak for multiple blows, so reinforcing the wrist is key in a close combat. Ideally I’d want some sort of guard similar to Japanese tekou, extending to just below the elbow.

Face protection is probably ideal, especially if the disease is transmitted by blood. A ski mask or a paintball mask would probably be what I’d use, something with maximum visibility, and minimal protection.

A question: does anyone know where one might get a riot shield, or would we need to just scavenge these? I just think a riot shield would be useful sometimes.