53 replies to this topic

[SpleenBeGone]

Because let's be honest, a forum like this needs to be prepared for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Also, for the sake of discussion, we're going to assume the classic slow moving zombies.

 

At 0 hour, I feel like most people are going to be rushing for supplies, and that's a mistake. After the initial outbreak all focus should be put on defending your location, or if not possible, moving to a less densely populated area.  You only need food and water to last you for a few days, after that most of the people that rushed to get supplies will have turned and you just have to take what you need from their slow moving corpses. 

 

Day 4-6 is when you should start looking for supplies, depending on the turned population. Food and water is a must, but the other supplies you need will vary on location. I'd like to suggest a few things.

 

First up, a hatchet. Now, there are a lot of different hatches, and to start with, take what you can get. Given the choice though, go to your local hardware store, kill the zombie clerk, and look for a roofing hatchet. 

Spoiler

Roofing hatches, unlike others are meant to be used every day, all day. They're going to be a little heavier, but the solid steel handle and vibration reducing grip will make it comfortable and guaranteed not to break off in a skull.

If you can't get a roofing hatchet, settle for any that has a wooden handle. Should the handle break, it would be easy to replace with a properly shaven piece of wood from any source.  

 

You're also going to want a good knife, if you don't already have one. Look for something that's full tang and made out of a good quality steel. If it's stamped China or Taiwan, replace it first chance you get. Old bayonets are a good choice, no one raids an antique store after zombies attack. I also suggest the American Ka-bar, or a kukri if you can find one. The British SAS knife is excellent for  stabbing things, but has little utility outside of that. If you get one, look for a secondary knife for other mundane tasks. 

 

Guns. Every zombie movie and show leads you to believe that you need a high powered rifle or shotgun to take out zombies, but I believe this is a mistake. Big guns mean loud noises, heavy bullets, and depending on what you choose, a less readily available supply of bullets.  I suggest a simple .22 caliber rifle. They're easy to find, even for our Canadian and English members. Bullets should be easy enough to acquire, and a standard ammo can should hold around 5,000 rounds. You shouldn't be engaging zombies past 100-150 yards, and at that range you can reliably hit a head sized target with a .22 and a low powered scope. Obviously you take what you can get in this situation, but I suggest either a Sig 522 for their out of the box accuracy and robustness, or a Ruger 10/22, because they are decently accurate and every gun store worth their salt sells magazines for them in 10, 30, and 50 round sizes. 

 

Vehicles. What kind of car you take is going to depend a lot on your situation. If you're in a city, look for an older model truck, or something large like a Uhaul. Your goal is to get out of the city, and the ability to run over zombies with a steel bumper should not be underestimated. Most modern cars are designed to crumple when you hit a person, you don't want that to happen if you need to drive through a zombie horde. 

 

Once your outside the city, you're going to want something capable and good on gas. I suggest something by Toyota. There's a reason every third world country and terrorist group in the world uses them. Durable, low maintenance engines are a must. You don't want to be changing a water pump and get attacked by zombies. It's worth noting that modern gasoline will degrade over time, and be almost unusable after a few years. Diesel engines get much more attractive over time because of how easy it is to make biodiesel. Better yet, most military vehicles have multifuel engines that will run off of pretty much anything liquid and flammable.  Just don't expect to get good mileage out of one. 

 

Solar power. Start collecting panels, inverters, and led acid batteries every chance you get. The amount of utility you can get out of a good power source is unbelievable. Something like the ability to charge an ipod and play music might be what keeps you sane. 

 

Month+

Once you have a good stockpile of supplies. I suggest you begin exterminating. Start at the edge of a city and work your way in. Find a good, solid rooftop perch and start pecking away at zombies. Set up a noise maker if you're in a position to, and lead as many zombies as you can to about 100 yards out from your position. A day of shooting will make a big impact on the local undead population. 

 

Suggest/add/discuss. 

 

 

[Silver_rose]

Personally, I'm all for the ranged weapons, because I'm under the firm belief that with classic, slow moving zombies, the virus would likely be transmitted via blood/other bodily fluids (don't think that way I'm talking saliva from biting). Rather than a hatchet, I'd be going for the bow and arrow, mainly because you can retrieve arrows if you have the chance, but they're also easily made.

[SpleenBeGone]

I can tell you from experience that arrows are anything but easily made, it's an art in and of itself. That being said, it shouldn't be too hard to keep a ready stock of them. 

[Grolli]

100% agree with your laid out plan.  I only have about 3K rounds of .22 at the moment.. and 3K rounds of .223.  Should be ok for a bit.

[SpleenBeGone]

That's still a pretty good amount. Looking at the same amount of .22 and .223 rounds, you can see why a 22 would be so desirable in a situation like this, right? 

[Grolli]

absolutely.  cheap, light, easy to use

[Wolf]

I plan on using my .44 "charisma" to convince a couple other people to help me evacuate the local hospital, peacefully or otherwise.

 

We destroy all the first story stairs, rest of the hospital is suddenly a safe haven. When the dust settles I can use small armed groups to gather the necessities and chart the immediate area, noting things like houses that have wells for personal water, possible safehouses, stashes, etc. Start to accept people on a case-by-case basis, only arming those I trust closest [close friends, family, coworkers, etc]. My ideal number of people for my starting crew is about 40 people, as many of them armed as I can.

 

Food being my biggest concern, I'll have to steal some cattle from any of the dozens of nearby farms, and bring it into the fenced-off area near the hospital, on constant watch. I'm no stranger to starting roof-gardens, either, with some simple plywood, nails, and hammers I could make a two-story garden for growing potatoes and other hearty-ish veggies. I know enough about cooking trash parts of animals, I can definitely stretch cattle a little further than the average joe [you can make ANYTHING into stew]. That with simple, non-perishable items should keep my small group fed [maybe not comfortably] for the short-term.

 

Long term, I would establish a couple other "havens" using any multi-story buildings I can manage to clear out [the nearby dorms and college buildings would do great, they can be networked with simple wood scaffolds], destroying the stairs on the bottom floors ofc.  If we manage to get to ~100 people, I would try to get a clear route to the heavily fenced Army Depot, using it to raise livestock. It's only current use is firing faulty/bad munitions, so I can't imagine it'd be high government priority, and it's far enough from any usable anything that I can't think scavengers would want to stay. That's incredibly risky, so we'll probably just stick with more roof gardens.

 

My biggest concern honestly isn't the zombies, it's the people I let into the havens. I'll need enough trustable people to make a small armed force, while trying to keep everyone from killing eachother.

[The Robstar]

Spleen. Your plan is flawed.

 

I mean it's cool and all but you forgot one important piece.......

 

Spoiler

 

A FEMALE!!!!!!

 

The first place I would go would be to the house of the hottest girl I know.

 

Then live happily ever after in my rape dungeon bomb shelter

 

 

 

 

[MCLemuelG]

The only thing I would add is a high quality slingshot and/or bow. The ammo is easy to find/make and a great way to hunt small game without wasting precious gun ammo or drawing attention to yourself.

[SpleenBeGone]

absolutely.  cheap, light, easy to use

And you can find it by the bucket. http://www.gandermou...ls.cgi?i=692057

 

 

I plan on using my .44 "charisma" to convince a couple other people to help me evacuate the local hospital, peacefully or otherwise.

 

We destroy all the first story stairs, rest of the hospital is suddenly a safe haven. When the dust settles I can use small armed groups to gather the necessities and chart the immediate area, noting things like houses that have wells for personal water, possible safehouses, stashes, etc. Start to accept people on a case-by-case basis, only arming those I trust closest [close friends, family, coworkers, etc]. My ideal number of people for my starting crew is about 40 people, as many of them armed as I can.

 

Food being my biggest concern, I'll have to steal some cattle from any of the dozens of nearby farms, and bring it into the fenced-off area near the hospital, on constant watch. I'm no stranger to starting roof-gardens, either, with some simple plywood, nails, and hammers I could make a two-story garden for growing potatoes and other hearty-ish veggies. I know enough about cooking trash parts of animals, I can definitely stretch cattle a little further than the average joe [you can make ANYTHING into stew]. That with simple, non-perishable items should keep my small group fed [maybe not comfortably] for the short-term.

 

Long term, I would establish a couple other "havens" using any multi-story buildings I can manage to clear out [the nearby dorms and college buildings would do great, they can be networked with simple wood scaffolds], destroying the stairs on the bottom floors ofc.  If we manage to get to ~100 people, I would try to get a clear route to the heavily fenced Army Depot, using it to raise livestock. It's only current use is firing faulty/bad munitions, so I can't imagine it'd be high government priority, and it's far enough from any usable anything that I can't think scavengers would want to stay. That's incredibly risky, so we'll probably just stick with more roof gardens.

 

My biggest concern honestly isn't the zombies, it's the people I let into the havens. I'll need enough trustable people to make a small armed force, while trying to keep everyone from killing eachother.

You might be better off just blockading the stairs. Something like that could end up being very hard to destroy.  Otherwise, seems like a pretty good plan. 

 

 

Spleen. Your plan is flawed.

 

I mean it's cool and all but you forgot one important piece.......

 

Spoiler

 

A FEMALE!!!!!!

 

The first place I would go would be to the house of the hottest girl I know.

 

Then live happily ever after in my rape dungeon bomb shelter

 

 

 

 

Channeling your inner casio there, I see.

 

 

The only thing I would add is a high quality slingshot and/or bow. The ammo is easy to find/make and a great way to hunt small game without wasting precious gun ammo or drawing attention to yourself.

Either would be good. Depending on the situation, it might be easier just to set snares though. 

[Silver_rose]

I'll have to steal some cattle from any of the dozens of nearby farms

 

I like this idea, not so much for the meat thing, but dairy cattle would be great. Meat is well and good, but you can live pretty well off milk and cheeses (unless you're lactose intolerant of course). However, if you can find yourself a good bull for breeding in the long term, you can definitely afford to butcher more cattle.

[No-Danico]

Spleen. Your plan is flawed.

 

I mean it's cool and all but you forgot one important piece.......

 

Spoiler

 

A FEMALE!!!!!!

 

The first place I would go would be to the house of the hottest girl I know.

 

Then live happily ever after in my rape dungeon bomb shelter

 

 

 

 

 

I hope to god that that picture is a random Google search result and not Jenny from next door.

 

I've always wondered how people in dense cities plan to survive. In the boonies there's way, WAY fewer people to compete with/zombie kill, better places to hide out, more animals to eat/use as bait. I'd honestly like to hear about this.

 

Also, crowbars are highly underrated. Any idiot can bash in a skull with a length of heavy titanium, they're durable as shit, and can be used for a hundred different, non-combat things. People get wet for katanas and other swords, but they'd just end up hurting themselves or not one-hitting a zombie and just get bitten. If you're just looking for a simple weapon to get you away from the danger zone, crowbar's a great option. Hatchet and machete are great too, but there's some shitty ones out there that people might grab when looting.

 

Also, I find it funny that zombie apocalypse plan has became a decent small talk option. It's a great icebreaker since everyone and their mom thinks about it from time to time.

 

Also, also, don't underestimate how much a single cow will eat a day. If you're after milk, a goat would be better. They eat much less, need much less space, and don't shit as bad.

 

Correct animal answer would be chicken. Simple grains for food, very small size, and fried eggs are the best food you could have. Combine with Spam and hot sauce for max effect.

 

Also, snare-wise, simple wire coiled around a tree can catch dumb squirrels. Make a noose and they'll jump right through them, strangling themselves. Redneck buddy of mine made a whole bunch of them in his backyard and I was amazed at how many of the little idiots he caught.

[SpleenBeGone]

I'm not sure I'd go for a crowbar. A full sized one is very heavy and swinging one all day would really wear you out. That's why real  medieval maces were just a simple iron ring around a wooden staff. If you're looking for a swinging weapon, I wouldn't do a sword either. A machete is more than enough to kill someone, and much lighter and easier to swing. 

[Photography Raptor]

I'd most certainly prefer blunt objects. Knives would be used for mostly self-preservation and convenience. Like building (cutting ropes, fabrics, etc.) and foraging. Defense only when you absolutely have nothing else.

 

Machete would be definitely preferred over kuhkris. Lighter, easy to customize, mount, and more for slicing rather than chopping. Chopping blades run the risk of being embedded in a single zombie and hard to remove.

 

I'd aim for a mini d-shovel. They can be very sharp, used for blunt force and when you can't kill your target or miss your mark, they can be used to keep your target past arm's length. Flailing zombie arms can scratch and spread the virus. Light and easy to strap on your backpack.

 

In a prepared or planned zombie apoc. I'd have only these objects:

 

1) Backpack retrofitted for my gear. It has to have clip straps, I'm not getting grabbed and dragged. I need to be able to break free from it fast. Obviously this is needed for gathering food, supplies, and camera. You never know when you're going to run into a hot naked zombie. When the world goes to shit we lose Internet too, people. Rope and emergency hand trolley for zip lining.

 

2) Machete. Can be mounted on a pole to serve as a spear. Classic hack n' slash for clearing obstacles and zombies. Ill-advised for showing off.

 

3) Mini d-shovel. If you get corned can be used to break drywall down, dig holes, break windows and clear the shards. Pretty much help with any escape. Getting cuts and bleeding is pretty much pointing an arrow to you.

 

4) Molotov cocktail. When you find hundreds of zombies you attract them via a rooftop (obviously one with an easy escape) and burn it down. 100 birds, one stone. When zombies are hungry, they don't care about fire or running from it. Survival is all about fighting back.

 

5) Hand crossbow. Because fuck you. No, really. Lightweight and the bolts are small and easy to fit in backpack. Bow an arrow is for elf's, hand crossbows are for awesome NOT feminine men.

 

Clothes optional.

 

That's pretty much it. This is provided I have a safe haven to return to.

 

In an unplanned, unprepared zombie apoc. I would be dead in an hour, you kidding me.

 

NOBODY IS GETTING MY CAT

[Affray]

I have a plan for hunkering down and a plan for evacuation, depending on which is required I would like to be prepared.

They are for zombies of course, but also for any apocalypse that doesn't result in the world literally on fire.

 

If staying put is an option I will do so, at least for a time.

I live in a town that has a population of about 1400, which includes a lot of the surrounding farms, so there would be considerably less zombies to deal with/competition for resources than the more metropolitan areas.

 

At the first signs of impending doom myself, my family, and a few friends will meet at my house if possible.

It is ideally located nearly outside of town, very covered from the main road and both sides so we can remain unseen more easily, field out back with clear line of site for a very good distance so nothing can sneak up behind us, small house so it is easy to defend, a creek runs through my yard which means fresh water within arms reach, one neighbour is a functional produce farm which means tools and many handy supplies and depending on the season a field full of corn/wheat/beans, the other neighbour is a municipal warehouse loaded with building/roadwork supplies, tools, gravel, salt, etc and at any given time heavy machinery like backhoes, front end loaders, transport trucks and various tractors.

 

My friend Reid will bring his camping gear for obvious reasons, his firearms(a few shotguns, a .22 rifle and a hunting rifle) and if possible he will grab what he can from the gun store that is down the street from his house. Not a guarantee that will pan out but worth a shot (tisk) for the extra guns and more importantly, ammo for the ones we have. He will also load his truck up with any food and water he has as well as any other supplies he can manage. My parents live across the street from me so loading everything they have supply wise up and moving it here is not necessary, it is well within reach. Just what they need to hunker down and arm up if need be. They have no guns, but my dad collects knives and had several machetes. Reid's sister is a PSW and has access to all sorts of meds and equipment for general medical practices. She is a must.

 

If zombies are the name of the game we fortify all windows and doors with flooring that I have collected from my work, which is all at least 1 5/8" thick oak or maple and therefore sturdy as hell. And I have more than enough to cover all entrances to the house so there will be leftovers for other building or burning for heat/cooking. Then I remove the stairs to the second floor and make that the place we all sleep and maintain it as a fall back for if the house is breached. My bedroom window exits on to the front porch roof which is perfect egress to the front yard with relative ease if the second floor is compromised.

 

If there are no zombies than I will leave the stairs where they are and fortify basically the same only with a few more escape points for if assholes show up and do a good old fashioned raid and we cannot defend.

 

Short term this works perfectly.

Lots of supplies readily available, building materials on all sides for fortification, familiar territory (lived in my town for twenty five years now) which means better chance of banding together with survivors and smaller chance of people turning on one another.

 

My long term plans are to either stay put or leave and make my way to Algonquin park up North.

If there are enough survivors left at home to group together and fortify on a larger scale than home is the place to be.

Lots of farm land and probably farmers around to work the land for food and lots of manpower to make things work.

 

If zombies are the threat and there are very few survivors at home I will most likely leave because though the number of zombies may be low compared to large cities there are still enough small towns nearby to make continued survival difficult. And if there aren't many left alive there wouldn't be the potential for a community and a bit larger scale fortification/rebuilding. Which means that getting my small group to a remote area is the ideal plan. Less people/zombies means less threat overall.

 

In this case the plan starts out the same with everyone gearing up and getting to my house.

Reid brings guns & ammo as well as some produce seed from his family's farm (corn and winter wheat so we can make bread like nobody's business), parents bring food and water mostly, I bring my camping hear and load up all food and such that I have.

There are almost always large water tankers next door at the municipal warehouse and also the smaller trailer style tanks.

We load up Reid's truck with whatever supplies fit with room for people, hitch up one of the smaller water tanks to it which we fill with water.

Do the same to my parents truck only the tank will be filled with fuel for the vehicles and the generators my dad and Reid have.

There are fuel pumps and a mainline water valve at the warehouse so filling them up is no problem to do quickly.

We then load up whatever building supplies we can get on to the trucks for when we get to our destination.

Mostly rolls of chain link fence and stuff like screws, posts and cable/wire. 

If need be I have lines on several other trucks that I can acquire to balance the load.

Then we leave, taking back roads through rural areas instead of the highway.

The highway would most likely be a cluster fuck of people trying to escape as well, or littered with abandoned vehicles and obstructions that are better off avoided.

It is a four or five hour drive from here to Algonquin park using the highways, so taking the back roads that run roughly parallel to those highways will most likely add at least a handful of hours to the drive, which is fairly easily done given the amount of fuel we will bring with us,

 

Provided we safely get to Algonquin park I plan on driving as far as possible in to a remote area that I haven't nailed down yet and setting up temporary camp around the vehicles. We scout the area for the best spot to more permanently dig in and start moving supplies there from the vehicles. Ideally I would want a small island that is within canoe distance from mainland, preferably elevated enough to provide vantage of the surrounding area and reduce the risk of flooding some rainy season. I have been around the park area a few times before and an island like that would not be tough to find. Then we use the chain link fence we brought to set up and underwater perimeter around the island so nothing can walk along the bottom and get to us, and make a floating barrier out of whatever debris/canoes are in the area. There are obscene numbers of boats and watercraft in cottage country so this should be easy enough. This is so no one else in boats and just romp up and make land. They would need to use the access points we set up for our own use which would be monitored for exactly that. The park is abundant in fresh water thanks to the great lakes and loaded with wildlife due to it being a giant untamed national park. The trade off on having lots of deer and rabbits and such to live off of at first is that there are bears/wolves/mountain lions kicking around in some areas. Which is not ideal, but people have lived along side these guys for a long time, and we will have weaponry and counter measures in place to deter their presence sooner or later. Well worth the hazard to live in a remote wilderness area that is far removed from zombies and people alike that we can easily hunt in and eventually farm a bit to establish more solid food resources. Also, there are caves all over the place up there so for the first few winters we can hole up there to offset the temperature (which is fucking cold) and in the summer the caves can be used to keep food refrigerated for prolonged keeping.

 

And those are my rough plans for if and when shit hits the fan.

They aren't perfect, but they are a good step in the right direction for keeping myself and my people alive for as long as I can.

 

On the note of weaponry, I think a mix of firearms and hand to hand weapons is the best bet.

Guns are great, but being quit is sometimes necessary and shit might get real close to you real fast and shooting may not be a safe or effective option.

A .22 rifle is the absolute best option for most situations I can think of.

The rifle is light and the ammo is crazy light compared to other options, it is quiet compared to other firearms (especially if you have subsonic rounds), and you don't really need anything more powerful than a .22 round to murder something in it's face, especially if that thing is a soft rotting zombie skull.

Everything else is super loud and not what you would want to shoot off in a zombie scenario because you will be up to your balls (or lady balls) in zombies in no time.

 

I have a re-curve bow that will definitely be in my arsenal for the scenarios that suite it best.

Most likely hunting so that I do not waste ammo.

I would also trap a lot for hunting because why waste time chasing things down when you can make them murder themselves and collect at a later time.

 

My hand to hand weapons are a bit varied, but I like to have options.

I carry two knives and my kukri machete on me when I go camping, which would also be on my person at all times in an apocalypse.

This is they:

 

 

The wood handle knife is my go to tool for everything and the black handle Smith & Wesson knife is my backup for if I fuck up my go to.

The machete is an awesome tool.

Mine isn't a big long clunker so it's easy to manage, and the kukri style blade is great for giving me some more weight and momentum at the end for a more hatchet like function than other blade styles. Awesome for cutting down trees, snapping brush, and mashing skulls.

 

I would also carry two crowbars with me if I were to end up in a more metropolitan area.

Not full size ones, the smaller half size jobs because that shit gets heavy when coupled with all of my other gear.

They would be ideal because they are simple blunt weapons that you will never break and never have to sharpen, can be used to pry open stuff like doors and windows for easy entrances and exits, and any other prying needs you may have. I would also rig wrist loops to the spiked ends of my crowbars made of this 200lb test rope that I have that is crazy thin. Triple braided it is about as thick as a shoelace. This way I can loop them on to my wrists and use them as climbing hooks for getting my ass off the street in a hurry if I need to go up a wall and can't quite do it by hand. Extra reach, hooks for hooking piped and ledges, wrist loops so I don't slip and let go of the bars whilst madly climbing for my life.

 

I think that's about it.

The rest would be a figure it out as I go romp through the apocalypse.

Luckily I am pretty clever and entirely confident in my ability to survive whatever bullshit gets thrown my way.

Above all survival preparation that someone can make, the will to survive and the stubbornness to not die is what really makes someone a survivor.

[Calvary]

Statistically I'll be in London when shit hits the fan so I'll be fucking dead.

 

Might eat some of you tbh.

[SpleenBeGone]

I'd be willing to bet surviving the initial outbreak in a city wouldn't be as hard as movies make it out to be. If you were on a construction site, you'd have a lot at your disposal. 

[No-Danico]

I have a plan for hunkering down and a plan for evacuation...

 

You heard it, guys. We just have to make it to Canada and stay with Affray.

 

I'm not sure I'd go for a crowbar. A full sized one is very heavy and swinging one all day would really wear you out. That's why real  medieval maces were just a simple iron ring around a wooden staff. If you're looking for a swinging weapon, I wouldn't do a sword either. A machete is more than enough to kill someone, and much lighter and easier to swing. 

 

I assume everyone smaller than me will be eaten in the first hour. Most of the teeny-tiney ones may hide, but if you can't swing a pry bar, you don't get to star in season two.

 

Statistically I'll be in London when shit hits the fan so I'll be fucking dead.

 

Might eat some of you tbh.

 

Humans couldn't taste worse than shepherd's pie.

[idk]

You heard it, guys. We just have to make it to Canada and stay with Affray.

Not if I get there first.

[Affray]

If any of you manage to make it to where I am you are welcome to join the settlement that I will almost definitely establish.

The future world will need intelligent survivors with knowledge of anime.