>>1619051A quarterstaff is a decent melee weapon in the modern day thanks to the fact that anyone attacking you with anything other than a gun is probably going to come at you with a knife or his fists rather than a sword, making the reach quite useful. A quarterstaff also has the huge advantage of looking normal to be walking around with, which is the other important factor with self-defense weapons; it's going to spend 99-100% of its time sitting in its sheath or otherwise stowed away awaiting action. Obviously it'd be best to walk around with a shotgun for defending yourself innawoods, but that isn't really practical or well-advised. OP's pick is less ideal for exactly this reason, because a shovel is a weird thing to walk around with and he can't hide it. For modernity, you either need something concealable, or you need something that doesn't track as a "weapon" if it's going to be visible.
