Zombies are here...what do you grab?

[Juce734]

No reason in this moment to grab much food or water. I will steal that tomorrow when I am in a safer place than here. Maybe grab a couple bottles of water and canned ravioli or something. Maybe make my gf grab food and water while I grab weapon type materials. I have some wood in my living room closet that went to my entertainment center. Maybe I would grab some of that, and a bat.

So gf has food, water, her clothes. She could also grab a few tupperware bowls.

I have wood, bat, and my clothes. Then grab the keys to her car since it is bigger and better on gas mileage than my Mustang. I believe we have a flat of water in her trunk and a few blankets too.

Food and water can be stolen in the next day or two.

[azazel1024]

No reason in this moment to grab much food or water. I will steal that tomorrow when I am in a safer place than here. Maybe grab a couple bottles of water and canned ravioli or something. Maybe make my gf grab food and water while I grab weapon type materials. I have some wood in my living room closet that went to my entertainment center. Maybe I would grab some of that, and a bat.

So gf has food, water, her clothes. She could also grab a few tupperware bowls.

I have wood, bat, and my clothes. Then grab the keys to her car since it is bigger and better on gas mileage than my Mustang. I believe we have a flat of water in her trunk and a few blankets too.

Food and water can be stolen in the next day or two.

That is a big assumption. Depending on how things go to pot, if you are heading for the hills you might not have the opportunity to scavenge or steal any food or water. Alternately, you might have weapons, even firearms...but unless you want to go around killing people, you might not be able to steal food/water from people. That or it could turn out those people are armed also.

There is more than 1 gun for every single person in the US, even assuming multi-weapon ownership for households, I'd wager at least 1 in 4 people you are likely to run in to would possibly be armed if they took what they owned with them. (this is a reason I don't like the colony so much, especially the first season. As common as guns are, in a group of a dozen odd surivors, unless they litterally made it out of their residence with nothing, odds are good at least one of them one have a gun).
-matt

PS why would you want to grab wood? A bat is a much better idea than a 2x4. Better to grab food, water, clothing, footware, containers (bags or water tight containers), survival/camping gear, weapons, medicine/first aid stuff, tools, all in no particular order of importance.

[Silveressa]

Azazel, I think Juce734 is from a country outside the USA (his reference to "a flat of water" leads me to guess England or Australia) where firearms are far, far more scarce, along with sharp pointy weapons and other tools of destruction in general.

Other then that small point I'd agree completely, wood is a rather poor quality weapon, compared to something mroe serviceable, say a crowbar (also good for breaking into abandoned structures)

Tossing a can opener into the supply list as well would be a smart move if you hope to eat the canned ravioli without difficulty, and some toilet tissue as well if you plan to be gone for more then a day.

[Juce734]

I live in Michigan actually. I said a flat because that is what I have. We buy in bulk from Sams Club (like a Costco). I don't have anything that would work well for a weapon other than the bulky wood in our closet and maybe some lamps. I actually don't have a bat in my house anymore but we have some golf clubs in the storage unit outside.

I asked my gf what she would grab and her only answer was... her 3 cats. Oh boy! I don't have a lot though in our apartment so really don't have anything for self defense.

EDIT: Just remembered we do have a hammer in the house. So that would probably be my weapon and if I can get to the shed maybe the golf clubs.

Also we live in a city so I think within a day we could get into a grocery store and take what we needed. I didn't mean we would rob people trying to survive of food and water. Sorry for that misunderstanding.

[Silveressa]

Also we live in a city so I think within a day we could get into a grocery store and take what we needed.

The problem with that line of thought is in a city there will be about 1-7 million (depending on the size of the city) with the exact same idea, and out of those million + people they'll be at least a hundred thousand plus with firearms, other improvised weaponry, and little if any care about those crazy concepts us normal folk cherish like "human rights," "the right to live" "personal property" etc.. (This is assuming whatever hypothetical disaster, in this case zombies, doesn't kill the majority of them off)

Even the ones with normal human decency are going to want the food, water, medical supplies, etc.. for their own family, and likely not feel like sharing equally/fairly/at all. (and someone may well have the in genius idea of annexing the entire store for themsevles and shooting anyone else who comes looking for a handout without something to trade in return.)

Beyond that, your credit/debit card will be of little use except as an improvised lock pick/frost scraper and money of no value other then as toilet paper, making acquiring goods through barter extremely difficult.

Assuming you have a rush of people stocking up before fleeing the city, after a day, you'd be hard pressed to find anything in many of those stores beyond empty shelving and non edible junk nobody cared enough about to run off with themsevles. One also needs to accept the reality a good many of those stores may be destroyed by the initial disaster or the fires/floods/fallout/chemical clouds (or in this case zombies) that follow in its wake.

Your girlfriend had a good idea with the cats, you could if desperate enough eat those, and possibly, (assuming they are skinned properly) use the hides in barter somewhere provided you can find someone that needs/wants them. (the meat would likely be more valuable) After a good 2 weeks without food, even stringy as hell cat meat, would start sounding mighty good compared to the reality of starvation.

Yes the above sounds harsh, and cruel, and unthinkable as ever being a reality in the USA, unfortunately many of the surviving victims of hurricane Katrina will vehemently disagree.

Prep for the worst, hope for the best, and chances are you'll be around afterward to mourn the deaths of those who didn't.

[Vrykolas2k]

No reason in this moment to grab much food or water. I will steal that tomorrow when I am in a safer place than here. Maybe grab a couple bottles of water and canned ravioli or something. Maybe make my gf grab food and water while I grab weapon type materials. I have some wood in my living room closet that went to my entertainment center. Maybe I would grab some of that, and a bat.

So gf has food, water, her clothes. She could also grab a few tupperware bowls.

I have wood, bat, and my clothes. Then grab the keys to her car since it is bigger and better on gas mileage than my Mustang. I believe we have a flat of water in her trunk and a few blankets too.

Food and water can be stolen in the next day or two.

That is a big assumption. Depending on how things go to pot, if you are heading for the hills you might not have the opportunity to scavenge or steal any food or water. Alternately, you might have weapons, even firearms...but unless you want to go around killing people, you might not be able to steal food/water from people. That or it could turn out those people are armed also.

There is more than 1 gun for every single person in the US, even assuming multi-weapon ownership for households, I'd wager at least 1 in 4 people you are likely to run in to would possibly be armed if they took what they owned with them. (this is a reason I don't like the colony so much, especially the first season. As common as guns are, in a group of a dozen odd surivors, unless they litterally made it out of their residence with nothing, odds are good at least one of them one have a gun).
-matt

PS why would you want to grab wood? A bat is a much better idea than a 2x4. Better to grab food, water, clothing, footware, containers (bags or water tight containers), survival/camping gear, weapons, medicine/first aid stuff, tools, all in no particular order of importance.

There's a lot of stuff about The Colony that I don't like; another example is, they're all chiefs, no little indians.

[Vrykolas2k]

Socom 16 and ammo in bugout bag, Gassan daisho, Mossberg 930 and ammo, Tommy gun and ammo along with Kimber .45, the puppy, the baby, the wife.
A couple of good knives are part of the bugout bag, along with food, water, and medical stuff.
As for unsafe storage... my house is kinda hard to break into, and I've good neighbors who watch out for eachothers' stuff. And for the kids issue, I knew better than to touch a fire-arm when I was 4 unless supervised. That included my toy guns, so no playing cops and robbers until I'd checked with my father or mother.

That doesn't mean all kids do, no matter the lessons they get from their parents...and plenty of kids under 4 accidently discharge fire arms every year. Each his own, but not a risk I'd ever consider with my kids.
-Matt

While that's true, it's also true that gun-locks work.

[Ronin Shinobi]

Weapon is all. Honestly, I don't want to spend another minutes trying to get what I might need that I can scavenge later. Just want something to protect my self and anyone that's with me as I try to run for my life.

[Juce734]

My gf thinks of the cats as her kids. Plus she is vegetarian so I don't think she would ever eat her cats. On the plus side there is always grass, leaves, and pine needles for her to eat. For another month then we have to go south for ready to eat grass and leaves for her. lol

[Hibik]

Based upon things I currently own... which is in no way ideal, but eh, you work with what you got.

My shotgun* (which is, amusingly, for archaeological purposes in the event I'm in a dig up north in bear or moose territory. Mentioning said shotgun and why I purchaesd it is greeted by the usual joke that a zombie will pop out of my site to kill me. A zombie apocalypse would make the purchase and use of this weapon ironic)
12 gauge shells for said shotgun, though I think I have a few slugs laying about too.
Some oil for said shotgun. Need to keep the thing working.
LED Headlamp
Coat (I live in the Midwest. It is not fun in the winter).
Maybe one spare set of clothes
Hiking Shoes
Canteen
Few cans of food and some granola bars (I really need to invest in some MREs or something)
Gerber Knife (I have one of those with the screwdriver and opener attachment)
Suburito (a heavier bokken. Basically it's a curved baseball bat and light enough to lug around)
Portable First Aid Kit (also archaeologically related, but hey, never hurts).

*I would note the jury is still out for me on whether the Remington 887 was a worthwhile purchase, but I would note this is all based upon what I have right now and questionable shotgun is good until I either iron out the newness or get a new one.

[azazel1024]

Socom 16 and ammo in bugout bag, Gassan daisho, Mossberg 930 and ammo, Tommy gun and ammo along with Kimber .45, the puppy, the baby, the wife.
A couple of good knives are part of the bugout bag, along with food, water, and medical stuff.
As for unsafe storage... my house is kinda hard to break into, and I've good neighbors who watch out for eachothers' stuff. And for the kids issue, I knew better than to touch a fire-arm when I was 4 unless supervised. That included my toy guns, so no playing cops and robbers until I'd checked with my father or mother.

That doesn't mean all kids do, no matter the lessons they get from their parents...and plenty of kids under 4 accidently discharge fire arms every year. Each his own, but not a risk I'd ever consider with my kids.
-Matt

While that's true, it's also true that gun-locks work.

That isn't unsafe storage then if they have gunlocks on.
-Matt

[Vrykolas2k]

Well, my response was to the person who implied that having fire-arms easy to get to meant they weren't stored safely.

[azazel1024]

Well, my response was to the person who implied that having fire-arms easy to get to meant they weren't stored safely.

That was me. The way you worded your post was that you don't keep gun locks on and just leaving them laying about (or at least not in locked drawers/cabinets/safes). That was the conclusion I reached when you pointed out that you knew better than to play with real guns starting around age 4...does it matter as much if a child knows that it isn't safe to play with your guns if the weapon isn't loaded and has a gun lock on, even if it isn't locked away?
-Matt

PS I am not saying gun safety shouldn't be taught to kids, just that it is a whole lot less important than storing them in such a manner as they can't be casually picked up and used by a child.

[Silveressa]

Yes. However, given the availability of empty forest space, I'd be okay for a bit.

A great idea, and one I see used a lot in post apocalypse rpgs, (at least ones that start off as the apocalypse happens) the one niggling detail that makes it fun in an rpg context is all the hundreds (if not thousands) of other people who will "run to the hills" as soon as the apocalyptic event in question starts. (even before it starts if there's any foreshadowing/evac the cities type orders)

One will soon find most wooded areas teeming with hunters, campers, backpackers, and city slickers who think the woods is a safe place to hide. (along with whatever friends/family members they drag along) Interacting with these various people, and their conflicting interests/moral & religious beliefs, and various (sometimes total lack of) preparation can make for some fun drama and adventure material.

The players who are survivors may have enough food/ammo/etc.. for themsevles for a week or two, but when 10-30 some odd people, show up in the same wooded area, some with young children/babies and look to them for direction/protection/supplies they have some tough moral decisions ahead that can lead to great rping. (Also the woods will quickly either be a) over hunted, or b) game scared off within the first week or two, making foraging for survival/living off the land very difficult.

Even aberrant evil groups that are more concerned with their own survival will have serious moral issues leaving young children to starve/be eaten by zombies, and some of the adults will no doubt have weapons and a desire to ensure their own families survive.

A awful scenario to ponder dealing with IRL, but for a post apoc game like DR, it's perfect material and a springboard for interaction/adventure (and introducing new pcs/npc's to the group.

[azazel1024]

The question is how far out in the woods. If you just head a few dozen miles outside of town, you probably will run in to a lot of people doing the same. Keep going and you might not run in to anyone. There is approximately 95 people per square mile in the contiguous US. That is fairly dense even if you spread them over the entire country. If you figure a lot of people bit the dust, or stay put, that thins things out a lot. A lot of people probably aren't going to go or make it more than 10-30 miles out from cities, so that still leaves a lot of wilderness.

I'd frankly make a bee line towards the largest state or federal park land, forest, protected wilderness, etc. Even if a bunch of people 'flood in' its going to be pretty low population density.

Looking in to it, survival rations aren't that expensive. a 10-pack of Mainstay 3,600 calorie survival bars off of Amazon is only about $60. That is enough food at 2,400C a day for a single person for 15 days, 2 people for 7 1/2 days, or a family for 4 (with teenagers) for about 4 days.

I am thinking I might pick a pack up. They last 5 years and tolerate high heat. Thinking I'd throw 8 of them in the pantry, and one each in the cars. Really I want them for the cars, because that is what I'd worry about the most. Not about zombies or anything like that. A more practical, "What if one of these days I break down in the middle of no where, with a dead cell phone or no reception. Especially in snow or ice". It'd be nice to have a day or two's worth of calories on hand.

Oh, and Mainstay also meaks sealed water packets (about 4.2oz each) that are also good for 5 years. Thinking about picking up a 36 pack box, around $30. Throw a few of those in the car as well for a winter/summer/anytime breaking down in the middle of nowhere scenario. Not as worried about needing them for a bugout bag, though I'd imagine some would be left laying around the house that I could throw in a bag. Even if the world was ending, unless I litterally couldn't take 2 minutes to fill water bottles, jugs and bladders, having a gallon or two of preserved water wouldn't help much. Even if the water supply went to pot suddenly, it takes all of 2-4 minutes to grab the bottles and bladders, run to the basement, shut off the water main, open a faucet, and then drain the hot water heater in to the water containers. I probably have about 13-15 liters worth of water containers (mostly water bottles and a couple of water bladders), not including anything like juice of milk jugs that I could quickly empty and fill with water.

I'd grab the bottle of bleach while I was at it for water purification later. A bottle of bleach, full, is good to purify about 3,800 gallons of water. That comes out to about 2 1/2 years of sterilized drinking water for a family of 4 using minimal water a day for cooking and hydration.
-Matt

[Silveressa]

B.O.B., kids (2), truck keys (its parked in the garage), .45 apc colt, springfield m-14 ebr, mossenberg 12guage. That's it, the old lady would be zombie bait.......................oh well!

I can't help but wonder how the kids would feel about you leaving mommy behind as zombie bait...

[Cybermancer]

Five minutes with Zombies at the door?

I grab my frag vest (no inserts), tac vest and helmet and put them on (30 seconds).
Then I use bungee cords to strap my ammo can and my 30.06 to my pre-packed ruck (currently with winter kit) (45 seconds)
I toss on my ruck and sling my duffel with packed 'follow up' kit. I can toss the duffel on top of the ruck and still move quite well over short distances. (30 seconds)
I uunlcck and load my shotgun (45 seconds)
I fight my way to my station wagon and climb in the back, closing the door behind me and dropping the gear as I climb forward. Then I gun the engine and head for the hills. My car has camping and hunting supplies so I should be able to maintain myself for quite a while. (2 minutes and 30 seconds)

See, I have a storage space located right in my apartment. That's where I keep my firearms and military gear. As it's set up right now, I can literally step in and turn in place while loading up. I also have a civilian camping/survival bag loaded and it was a tough choice between it and my Ruck but while the Ruck is heavier, it also have a lot more. Then I had to choose between my civilian bag and my follow up kit but that follow up kit would just be too important to have.

My apartment is on the second floor. The stairs lead down and straight out the front door to my car. This is important in the time savings it provides.

There's a great deal more in my apartment that I would like to grab (food, an extra tent, that poor neglected civvy bag, three more duffels I could fill with clothes, my RPG stuff, my laptop, a portable power supply, swords, some tools that I can't keep in my car, a large variety of knives and the list goes on. I could fit a lot more into my car then I'd have time to grab and could carry out the front door in one trip.

Given a chance, my apartment would be a high priority target to requisition additional supplies at a later date. If possible, I'd lock the door on my way out but the tactical situation would determine that decision.

[dante144]

I grab my crew. I arm them. after load out with water and food and out.

[Ravenwing]

lol.

Ok, bad answer I know, but. I take my family to the basement.
I live in tornado alley, so it's set up to be a storm shelter, lol. Zombies have fun getting through a solid steel door and concrete wall. Inside we have food, running water and gas ( As in natural Gas) generators with sealed storage tanks. I also have my guns ( Just a 12 gauge and a 30-06, and a 9mm but still. not even name brand stuff, just good reliable guns.)

[azazel1024]

lol.

Ok, bad answer I know, but. I take my family to the basement.
I live in tornado alley, so it's set up to be a storm shelter, lol. Zombies have fun getting through a solid steel door and concrete wall. Inside we have food, running water and gas ( As in natural Gas) generators with sealed storage tanks. I also have my guns ( Just a 12 gauge and a 30-06, and a 9mm but still. not even name brand stuff, just good reliable guns.)

Sounds like a good way to go stir crazy until you run out of food/power/water.

Since the zombie can sense life essence from around 20-30ft away, in the context of DR, they aren't just going to leave. Its not like they lose interest after awhile. They'll just wait around till you come out, and maybe attract a bunch more of them while you wait around a few days.
-Matt

[Ravenwing]

lol.

Ok, bad answer I know, but. I take my family to the basement.
I live in tornado alley, so it's set up to be a storm shelter, lol. Zombies have fun getting through a solid steel door and concrete wall. Inside we have food, running water and gas ( As in natural Gas) generators with sealed storage tanks. I also have my guns ( Just a 12 gauge and a 30-06, and a 9mm but still. not even name brand stuff, just good reliable guns.)

Sounds like a good way to go stir crazy until you run out of food/power/water.

Since the zombie can sense life essence from around 20-30ft away, in the context of DR, they aren't just going to leave. Its not like they lose interest after awhile. They'll just wait around till you come out, and maybe attract a bunch more of them while you wait around a few days.
-Matt

Without rationing, we have enough supplies for a month. With a little effort we can double it. By then someone else will have tried to escape and the Zed's will be chasing them, thus leaving me and mine alone.

Besides, like I always wonder evertime I watch a zombie movie, do you really think being in the middle of the woods, in a tent or flimsy camper is a safer alternative?

[azazel1024]

lol.

Ok, bad answer I know, but. I take my family to the basement.
I live in tornado alley, so it's set up to be a storm shelter, lol. Zombies have fun getting through a solid steel door and concrete wall. Inside we have food, running water and gas ( As in natural Gas) generators with sealed storage tanks. I also have my guns ( Just a 12 gauge and a 30-06, and a 9mm but still. not even name brand stuff, just good reliable guns.)

Sounds like a good way to go stir crazy until you run out of food/power/water.

Since the zombie can sense life essence from around 20-30ft away, in the context of DR, they aren't just going to leave. Its not like they lose interest after awhile. They'll just wait around till you come out, and maybe attract a bunch more of them while you wait around a few days.
-Matt

Without rationing, we have enough supplies for a month. With a little effort we can double it. By then someone else will have tried to escape and the Zed's will be chasing them, thus leaving me and mine alone.

Besides, like I always wonder evertime I watch a zombie movie, do you really think being in the middle of the woods, in a tent or flimsy camper is a safer alternative?

If you are dozens or hundreds of miles from the nearest population center? Absolutely. Especially if you intelligently locate your camp site so that there is limited access. If you live on the great plains maybe this would be hard, but at least out East in the mid atlantic where I am, I could find at least half a dozen good, very difficult to access sites to throw up a tent within 5 miles of me at any given time, and I could probably find one of them in less than an hour. Especially if I am near/in the Appalachians.

If zombies have any kind of instinct, they have no intellect, but if they have any instinct they'd tend toward population centers where they were created, or wander near signs of civilization. They wouldn't simply wander through the woods hoping the find a human meal...sometime in the next couple of years. In the context of the books and most movies, zombie do in fact do this (stay near population centers/where they were created).
-Matt

[batlchip]

Let's see my TT-33 Torkov with 3 boxes of ammo,two 12 packs of ramen noodles, gallon jug of water, 2 jeans ,underware socks, jacket, hat, sleeping bag(I use it for a blanket.)gym bag, survival kit in my CRV with one box of 5 MRE's and my pair of shock nuckle dusters(yeah I know they'er illegal but I bought a pair anyway.)

[psam_rage]

Brother's response:

Shoes, Baseball bat, Sword (Dead weight in my opinion),Backpack fill with food, run out the back

[dante144]

don't have to reload ammo on a sword.

[Silveressa]

A sword is never dead weight, as a anti-zed weapon it is relatively low maintance IMhO.

There was a discussion about this around here somewhere a while back, in short unless her brother happens to own a high quality sword (not some cheap replica or $40 catalog knock off) it won't last beyond the first dozen or so swings, before breaking in some fashion and likely getting the wielder injured or killed.

(The skill to wield said sword effectively in a combat situation would be a nice plus as well, otherwise it's likely to be even more dead weight and get the user killed by trying.)

[Silveressa]

As for a cheap replica or $40 catalog knock off, personaly I would not consider those to be weapons they are more akin to wall art or jokes depending on how you look at it.

I agree completely, sadly most people don't realize what their buying is a cheap knock off, and assume the "battle ready" B.S they include with the marketing spiel in the catalogs means it will survive combat more then a minute before breaking. (I'm pretty sure the catalog definition of "battle ready" means the piece of junk is "sharp" and thus more likely to maim the untrained person who swings it about like Conan trying to impress their friends.)

The real danger with a sword (or any weapon really) is an untrained person choosing to carry it will have a false sense of confidence/security that can lead to them getting in well over their heads and subsequently injured or killed. (Possibly taking the rest of their companions with them as well if they screw up badly enough.)

[Shawn Merrow]

A sword is never dead weight, as a anti-zed weapon it is relatively low maintance IMhO.

There was a discussion about this around here somewhere a while back, in short unless her brother happens to own a high quality sword (not some cheap replica or $40 catalog knock off) it won't last beyond the first dozen or so swings, before breaking in some fashion and likely getting the wielder injured or killed.

(The skill to wield said sword effectively in a combat situation would be a nice plus as well, otherwise it's likely to be even more dead weight and get the user killed by trying.)

Probably better off looking for a good machete, at least you have better luck finding one of those before a decent sword.

[azazel1024]

Machette>>>sword.

Shorter maybe, but designed to thwack things all day long, and most good ones can do it with minimal sharpeneing and are unlikely to break if you hit something particularly hard.

Swords can be fine, but unless you hare a particularly heavy sword, or are extremely strong, you aren't likely to decapitate a zombie in a single blow and you might not even cleave the skull enough to kill one in a straight downward swing or straight thrust...though I suppose you might.

An axe on the other hand is likely do all all those with a good blow, even someone who isn't super strong, and also makes a wonderful tool...for things like breaking through the back wall of a house that you got trapped in.
-Matt

[Illendaver]

Hm.... I live in a trailer park, so I would be doomed if they are literally outside my door and knocking it down.... If they are down the street tho.... I have a tent, roughly two cases of canned food, my camping gear, my toolbox, first aid kit, and spare tire/fuel/coolant in the back of my full sized van (No wonder I have no trunk space...) So really, my keys, the little league metal bat I have for "home defense", my wife, and I hope and pray that my 18 month old and my 7 month old stay quiet for once while we buckle them into their car seat (Um... yeah, I am so boned its not even funny)
Too bad I usually only keep the van around half full, I should work on this more so I don't have a problem when it does come down to the 5 min mark...

*Edit*
Just went out and re-checked the trunk, camping gear has two nice hatchets, a whetstone, ... Where did the bottle of Jack come from? And what is it doing in my trunk... Oh well, Malatov the Zed in my place/coming down the road, a tent, Brita water filter, two boxes of matches, 6 rolls of TP, and one of those million candle power searchlights and car charger. My cases of food equalls out to 15 cans of Spaghetti-os, 12 cans of formula (great, at least she shouldn't starve right away...) and 8 cans left of Ravioli I used to eat them at work. I guess I don't need the bat because of the hatchets, and I forgot to mention the diaper bag, but if you have babies, its kinda an automatic thing to grab before you move the kids. But this is all moot anyway, like I said, if they are at my door already, I can only hope that they get sidetracked by some of my neighbors dogs. I'm probly gunna die.

[Michael Barakofsky]

You have 5 minutes to grab what you can...the zombies are slavering at your door...it's about to be torn open...grab what you can and run.

Using what you actually have in your actual house as is.

What do you grab?

Guess I would have it kind of easy, I have moved so much over the last 10 years that all my clothes are packed into 1 duffle and my firearms, ammo, and cleaning supplies are in 1 back pack, add the 2 swords that are battle ready and I am good to go. It would take me all of 1 minute to grab my bags so that gives me 4 minutes to pocket some knives and grab all the chewing tobacco I can.

Now heres the down side: my house has only 1 door and 1 window (with a fixed swamp cooler in place) so I would have to fight through the zombies to get clear. the walls are solid so the doorway would be a bottle neck and I would end up killing a dozen zombies with head shots from my .357 & .45until I run out of ammo (unless I have a friend to reload while I use the other gun), then it would boil down to my sword use to finish fighting them off.

Dont know if that would be good or bad but I think I would end up being stuck with a new door made of rotting zombie bodies.

[Michael Barakofsky]

One can find decent machetes at any sporting goods store or wal-mart.

All the machetes sold in the wal-mart by me are junk. I have owned 5 and destroyed all of them within the first few hours of using them to whack through the forrest of weeds behind my old house. The handle goes first in 3 to 7 swings after 3 hours tops the blade is warped beyond use. I will stick with my saber which I have used to chop a tree down just for fun and it survived with flying colors.

[Chronicle]

My cable van "had" everything i needed, except a gun and food.

[Zer0 Kay]

Family (including dog), Swords (9 total), 2 Hunting Rifles (1 lever, 1 bolt), 3 shotguns, revolver, Tech-9, all the ammo, water, non-perishable food, can opener, flashlights, Toyota FJ and Saturn Outlook.

But why would I want to leave? The house is far more defendable than the vehicles and if we can get everything into the master bedroom fast enough we can baracade the door with the book shelf and we could even exit the window of that room onto a roof where we can take potshots at the zeeks without fear of retaliation. Plus we have a generator.

[Vrykolas2k]

One can find decent machetes at any sporting goods store or wal-mart.

Not really.
Most machetes you find at those places are basically sheet-metal and break/dull/dent easily.

[Silveressa]

i got my peppersrrpay on me, and if it doesn't work i can grab a diffrent kind of weapon on the way.

I'm about 99.99% positive pepper spray would do squat to a zed. (But could incapacitate you and your kids nicely if the wind was blowing the wrong way ) On the upside, once you confirmed this and tried to find a different kind of weapon in the middle of a zombie attack, chances are you'd be part of the undeads ranks soon after and not need to worry about it.

[MurderCityDisciple]

i got my peppersrrpay on me, and if it doesn't work i can grab a diffrent kind of weapon on the way.

I'm about 99.99% positive pepper spray would do squat to a zed. (But could incapacitate you and your kids nicely if the wind was blowing the wrong way ) On the upside, once you confirmed this and tried to find a different kind of weapon in the middle of a zombie attack, chances are you'd be part of the undeads ranks soon after and not need to worry about it.

Yeah I think pepper spray would just make you taste cajun style to the onrushing zombies.

One thing not to overlook is protection...make sure to cover yourself in something tough...at the very least a leather jacket.

One thing that really bothered me about the Dawn of the Dead Remake was the cop tearing off the sleeves of his shirt...dumb move. Heck looking at stills from it now...nobody was wearing long sleeves...one bite, one scratch and you're infected silly not to wrap yourself in a thick layer of duct tape.

[Silveressa]

its a chemical burn they'll feel that.

Zombies are bascially immune to pain, otherwise firearm blasts to their torsos would have far more effect. (Their nerves are essentially dead) If they could feel, the pain of necrosis/rigormortis would prove entirely debilitating, and a kick to the groin would send one to the ground in agony rather then a gross squishing sound and your leg being grabbed/bitten.)

and if not, like i said before, i'll just grab another weapon- like my wife's suburban. too many in the way to keep going forward? put it in reverse. run over some more. wash, rins, repeat.

Until the airbags go off from the impacts and other crash safety features render the vehicle inoperable/incapacitate the driver/passengers. (An air bag uses gunpowder to discharge itself, and having one go off in your face is a lot like being pasted by a star boxers hay maker, and can easily leave people with broken noses, and extreme facial bruising, not to mention several minutes of disorientation or even unconsciousness, during which the zombies will have ample time to make a meal out of the unlucky occupants.)

There's also some safety features on more modern vehicles that automatically shutoff the fuel flow to the engine after an impact/air bag deployment to lessen the risk of fire and further damage, making the vehicle battering ram option a dubious defense. (Assuming the first zed you hit doesn't roll onto the hood and into your windshield still very much alive, hungry, and wrecking your view of the road/turn/parked car/brick wall ahead.)

It's also worth noting by the stats as written, a Dead Reign zombie has the strength to punch clear through the windshield of a vehicle, or even rip the door off its hinges, making most modern day vehicles little more then canned meat containers if a zed with enough leverage can lay hands on it.

The real danger though is trying to locate a vehicle, and successfully gain entry while multiple zombies are attacking. If it's locked, you need something tougher then mace to bust the window, (Your hand will fracture nicely along with the glass however, and the busted window will leave a nice entry point for the zombies.) Once inside you need to attempt to hot-wire the vehicle (immensely harder in real life then the movies) while fending off the zombies coming in through the busted window, and hope the vehicles screaming alarm doesn't attract even more zeds in the process.

Not to sound snarky, but I don't get the mindset/logic behind "I'll just find another weapon while being attacked." Once you're being attacked you're busy on the defense, trying to avoid the claw, grapple, bite of one or several foes, during this trying to locate a viable weapon would be pure luck and chance if you're outside on a city street. (A garbage cans contents aren't likely to yield anything offensive beyond some discarded cans/plastic bottles and paper products, and the yellow pages from the phone booth won't be much aid either, or the contents of a locked car trunk you cannot access.)

It just seems to me arming up as best one can before heading out would make more sense. Even a basic kitchen has some downright deadly weapons against zombies, (A cleaver, rolling pin, or better yet, a cast iron skillet would work well in an emergency.) or raid the closet for a baseball bat, golf club, or perhaps a shovel.

When it's the life of ones self and especially their kids on the line, leaving anything to chance is the last possible option, especially when there's ample time to grab up a few essentials.

[azazel1024]

Yeah, pepper spray is a poor weapon at any time, even against non-zombies. At best you might hit someone in the face or blow some in to their eyes if they are within about 5ft. Much beyond that and there is just no way. Even close in, odds are good you'll get a piece of it yourself, especially if there is any wind. Talking to cops who use mace and pepper spray (or who have) both in training and real situations evey single one I've talked to has at least once gotten a piece of it. Course a piece is a lot better than getting it full in the face.

That stuff is so painful that unless you are whacked out on drugs you are almost entirely blind within seconds if you take a full blast and the pain is so excruciating it is hard to move in any coordinated manner.

My wife accidently hit herself trying to spray birds (such hates birds almost with a phobia)...long story, not worth going in to. Anyway it was 2 days before our wedding and her eyes were still a little puffy the night before. I took about an hour in the shower plus a quart of milk to, mostly, wash it out of her eyes.

A zombie however...it won't do a damned thing.

A vehicle is a poor weapon against a large horde of zombies. First off, if the horde is large enough, no car made is likely to be able to plow through. Plow into, sure. A single zombie isn't going to slow a vehicle much, 30 will. Plus even with 4wd having bodies falling under wheels, grabbing on to the grill, up on to the hood, etc is going to reduce traction and likely end up with a zombie passenger.

Lots of people are killed every year by dead going through their windshield, try undead thing that is going to try to chew your head off when it goes through the windshield.

Silveressa mentioned a lot of the other reasons why they are a bad weapon.

[MurderCityDisciple]

Something like this would be a brilliant zombie melee mauler. Add a shield of some sort and you'd be well off.

Oh and brilliant post silveressa.

[azazel1024]

machette, sword, etc might get you along for a while, but the srayping blood would eventually get on and in you and turn into a zombie yourself.
grab a baseball bat, it'll keep you asfeer.

They don't have circulation, so there'd be no more spray than there would hitting an animal carcass (IE minimal and/or none). A blunt object actually has slightly more chance of spray than a bladed/sharp object would in the case of something with no circulation.

I personally love a good old fire axe, or even a woodsman's axe. Fire axe can be best as they tend to have around a 3lb head, pick on the rear, axe head on front and a short enough haft to be useful without being unwieldly, and also great for breaking down doors in a pinch if you need to.

I'd rely on my 2.5lb wood axe. Rear doesn't have a pick, but it does have a nice flat surface for bashing (I use it for wedges to split fire wood on stubbron pieces when I don't want to whip out my sledge).

[azazel1024]

It could be. For every person the zombies get to, there is one more zombie roaming around that might come after you some day.

[Illendaver]

One thing that really bothered me about the Dawn of the Dead Remake was the cop tearing off the sleeves of his shirt...dumb move. Heck looking at stills from it now...nobody was wearing long sleeves...one bite, one scratch and you're infected silly not to wrap yourself in a thick layer of duct tape.

Thank god somebody else thought of that. I was starting to think I was a wierdo duct tape fanatic. I still might be... can't be too sure.

[azazel1024]

Except wrapping yourself in duct tape would significantly reduce your mobility. Its pretty restrictive stuff. Frankly I think you are best served with a nice leather jacket and leather pants/chaps as well as good calf height boots and leather or work gloves.

Now if zombies are truely supernaturally strong, as opposed to decaying versions of humans, that is still an issue. If the later though, a good leather jacket is completely bite proof unless you want to let someone nom on it for awhile. Now you might still get hurt, but it won't tear easily with a bite and get you infected. Same with leather pants, gloves, etc. Might have a nasty bruise and/or broken bones (I am thinking of a bitten hand), but you won't be all zom tastic later on.

[Silveressa]

silly not to wrap yourself in a thick layer of duct tape.

Another downside to this is heat retention. Duct tape is completely waterproof (non porous) so encasing even 75% of ones body in it will lead to death via heat stroke. (People have died from being duct taped to walls/ceilings as a practical joke.) Even just encasing the arms and upper torso will dangerously spike the body's core temp into the danger zone, and when combined with exertion from fighting/running heatstroke is sure to follow.

Heat dangers aside, one also needs to take into consideration the discomfort level of this tight wrapping against ones skin for any length of time. (I'm assuming it's applied over a long sleeve shirt and not to the bare skin, otherwise removal would be painful and messy.) The sweat and rubbing of the tightly bound sweaty clothing against the skin would be itchy and distracting at best, and lead to a painful heat rash and friction burn at worst.

Like Azazel suggested, leather (or denim) is an excellent alternative, or police/prison riot armor if one wishes to protect against melee weapons wielded by non Z aggressors, although once again in a hot environment exhaustion will quickly become an issue for the average wearer due to the weight and bulk of the protection.

[azazel1024]

Actually that is a good suggestion. You could fashion some pretty good armor out of regular old house carpet with a little ingenity. Certainly a back and breast "plate" as well as some basic leg and armor protectors. It would leave the joints pretty exposed without threading in some regular fabric and it would be stiff and bulky, but it would likely do a pretty good job against a zed or to a lesser degree a human trying to punch or club you.

[Gamer]

itll get you along though until you can get better (riot?) armor.

You'll most likely find motocross protective gear alot sooner than you will riot gear.
Toodling around as carpetman is not my idea of safe or mobile.
You going to run around like a carpeted version of tin man or C-3PO neither very mobile,then there is the 'snag' factor you will be easier to get snagged on something and i don't relish the thought of being the star in the amazing adventures of velcro man.
The sooner you get yourself in some motocross protective gear or riding leathers the better and it comes in kids sizes too so armoring up the kids while keeping them very mobile is a added benefit with it.

[Gamer]

Funny how it kept a real life pissed off german shepard from injuring me in the slightest but it fails in a 'larp' for you.
I'll trust my real life experience over something people throw tennis balls at one another while yelling fireball, fireball or lightning bolt lightning bolt.
I thought those people playing that frizbee golf thing in the park were nuts until I saw some people doing larp in the park, then it was ooook time to go now and don't make any sudden movements.

[dargo83]

i would personaly would go with something like chain mail or shark bite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_suit as an anti zombie armor.

[azazel1024]

It also doesn't keep you from getting a nasty, nasty bruise from it. As you mentioned, no blunt force or crushing protection. Shark bite suits don't protect against the larger sharks like Great Whites. It MIGHT stop the bite from going through, but they are strong enough to crush your arm and probably leg bones with a decent bite, and might still tear flesh off in a "nip" even if they didn't break the links.

That said, against a human strength zombie, it would stop the bite and it might not even hurt too much if you have some limited padding (thick shirt or pants) underneath the chainmail/sharkbite suit.

Downside is that chainmail (good stuff) weighs about 50+lbs to cover your entire body and is really, really noisy. Not something you'd want to wear all the time, but I suppose if you knew a swarm was coming I'd pull it on as fast as I could while trying to run away.