survival and a damn big knife

Kukri - A simple and elegant weapon can serve as a machete or a blade. I recommend it over a machete or a hatchet because of its weight and size. There are many manufacturers of every quality possible. Pick one that you like, is made of a good steel and has a full handle tang. The Smith & Wesson Kikris' are my favorite.

Katana, Wakisashi, Ninjato, Gladius - Yes, a sword. A REAL one, NOT one of those cheep home-shopping-network "display only" garbage blades. But a REAL and FUNCTIONAL sword. There are  reviews across the web and many forums that mentions this. A decent site for reviews on functional swords can be found at the "sword-buyers-guide". It's not easy to find a good sword. This is because most people don't want to spend the money, but also because most people never actually use them and when they finally do, or somebody else uses it, the cheap trash just breaks or deforms. Then your cheap decoration is just trash and doesn't even make a very good decoration. Generally the reason a good sword is so expensive is because the steel is worked in a very different process than a knife. The entire process is very labor intensive and costly and in general, and is rarely done entirely by machines. This means a good sword is a unique hand crafted weapon. Not willing to spend thousands of dollars on a sword, My sword of choice is the Cheness Cutlery "OniYuri". It's not as indestructible as we'd all want, but it's really quite durable and very strong. It sells for $200 - $250. Another good option for a sword is the roman style or 'Galdius' sword. I don't own one but having handled them I can attest to their strength. Again, do research. I also really like the Cold-Steel long handled Machete. These come in a few different blade shapes, mine is the katana/tanto style. They sell for $20 - $30 and are very much worth the price. In fact, Cold Steel could double the price and I'd still say they're worth the money. When I got mine I chopped down a tree that was about three feet in diameter then chopped off all the branches some thicker than a foot, then I chopped a cinder-block into pebbles. I really love this machete. The best thing about a sword is that they require no ammunition and are very quiet. If stealth is important a gun is the last thing you want to use and a sword is just as deadly. Granted this is in the zombocalypse category of weapons, meaning they're not all that useful on a daily basis, but remember when the lights go out forever, ammunition is no longer being manufactured and good luck making your own gun powder brass and bullets! In the long run, a sword is a better weapon than a gun.
 
   Within the small area of a household, a sword can be much more effective than a gun. This is because the attack range is so small (Any room is generally smaller than three or four square meters). The time it take to swing a sword is more or less equal to time it takes to draw a gun and mark your target. Also, the fact that a bullet only travels in a straight line from the gun across the room, while a sword swipe covers a much broader area means that if a gun meets a sword within a small room, the draw is more or less equal, but the chances of the bullet missing its target is much greater than the swords chance of a miss.