Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Strife26]

Does anyone here think about what they would do in a zombie attack? I have a checklist of things to grab from my house.

1) Knife
2)TV =on
3)Guns and ammo in one spot
4)Duck Tape
5)Water
6)Food
7)Clothes and blankets
8)Useful stuff


Is this normal? I really have to stick to my no godamned zombie movies rule.

[Reasonableman]

Were you watching SciFi today too?

[Kagus]

Knife is useless.  Knives are used for stabbing and slicing, which are very effective against living opponents, but utterly ineffective against nonliving opponents.

I don't have a zombie checklist (for some reason, my fingers typed out "sledgehammer"), but I do spend my time looking around for common items that would make useful weapons in the event of spontaneous zombie invasion.  I find Home Depot to be one of the better places to be in such an event.

Also, it's Duct tape.  As in, used for the mending of ducts.


As an interesting note, there was a study a long time ago where they tested various brands of tape for mending ducts.  Duct tape came in dead (ooh, pun) last.

[Reasonableman]

Knives are extremely valuable in an apocalyptic situation. 'Specially if it's a Rambo-style knife. Not just in last-ditch melee, but more importantly, as a tool for basic survival.

[Torak]

I don't have a zombie checklist (for some reason, my fingers typed out "sledgehammer"), but I do spend my time looking around for common items that would make useful weapons in the event of spontaneous zombie invasion.

I've always felt a need to judge an item on its zombie apocalypse survival value. I think it's a type of OCD.

[DreaDFanG]

_____________________
[IN CASE OF EMERGENCY]
[               PULL               ]
=================
                  ||
                  ||
                 /  \
                (    )
                  =

1 Suit of armor
2 Wristblades
3 Plenty of shrapnal grenades
4 HIGH callabur guns
5 Wire cutters
6 Water (if water-born)
7 Rations (if food-born)
(Warning contents may contain nuts)
8 Big bullets

[Strife26]

My knife is really more of a comfort thing. It's a nice meduim bowie. Unlike a lot of the stuff on my list, it's always in the exact same spot, either right next to me, or under my pillow.

Knives are always useful. Anyway, due to my lack of real life zombie experince, I still assume that a careful slash could take a zombie down. I wonder what the bat by my bed would do to a zombie head.

The specific type of duct tape I know my house has is called duck tape. I annoys me too.

The only zombie movie I watched recently was half of Shaun of the Dead.

[Kagus]

Well, it depends on what kind of zombie you're up against.

Are you fighting a Land of the Dead zombie (also known as "classic"), which is slow-moving and can only be killed by severe brain trauma?

Or are you fighting a 28 Days Later zombie (also known as "original idea"), which is a fast-moving but otherwise unremarkable infected (and still living) human?

If you're fighting the first type (featured in Shaun of the Dead), then a knife is utterly useless.  Knives in combat are good for hitting vital organs, causing bleeding, and inflicting pain.  None of these are useful against a brain zombie, because none of it has any effect (I am going to resurrect and then murder the person who created two versions of this word) on the brain. 

For a brain zombie, you need either a smashing weapon or a hacking weapon.  A smashing weapon will be able to crack the skull, which is not only useful for opening the way to a good brain-mashing, but may send bone fragments into the brain right off the bat, taking the zombie out without further ado.  With a hit on a non-vital bodypart, you will smash bones that are physically necessary for moving around and attacking you, thus decreasing the zombie's effectiveness at killing you.

A hacking weapon can, with a sufficiently powerful blow, cleave through the skull and carve a swath through the brain.  This is not recommended when there are other zombies around however, as the blade may become stuck.  When a hacking weapon hits a non-vital bodypart, you can inflict crippling wounds similar to a bludgeoning weapon, if not hack off the limb entirely.

A useful way to use a hacking weapon is to slice through the neck of a zombie.  Although this will technically not kill them, it does remove a lot of the zombie's capabilities.  Just make sure you pay attention to where those heads landed.


If you're fighting the second type of zombie ("original idea"), then you can breathe a little easier.  You can kill them by either hitting a vital organ or through bloodletting, and you don't have to be as picky about what kind of weapon you're going to use.  However, remember that they will be significantly harder to kill than a standard human, because they will neither conserve energy nor feel pain.

[Reasonableman]

We could go even more in-depth if we wanted.

First, let us consider the manner in which the undead would propel themselves. Most undead rely on the flesh of the living for some bizarre reason, and since the supply of live humans would dwindle fantastically quickly, they'd be tired within a day or so and dead within a week of starvation.
Then, there's your run-of-the-mill 'magical' zombies who are able to somehow undergo cold fusion upon devouring a live human. They are the much more dangerous kind, since they can keep functioning endlessly with no apparent source of nutrition. Still, they hunger for human flesh; for no particular reason, perhaps, but we could still use it against them. The first order of business is determining what sense guides them to their target. Sight? Sound? Smell, perhaps? Any of these can be masked with the proper application of effort. Sight is easy enough. Deprive the zombies of light: buy yourself some NVG's and hole up somewhere nice and dark. Sound is a bit harder. Indubitably, the zombie's sense of hearing will have quadrupled in effectiveness, and they are more likely than not going to be able to hear your heartbeat through a solid concrete wall. So, if industrial strength soundproofing material is unavailable to you, create automated soundmakers of as many different kinds and tones as you can, blaring at maximum volume, effectively blinding them with a cacaphony of white noise. This may eventually drive you insane, however, so it might not be the best option. Set the devices to go off in sequence, if possible, leading the zombies from one location to the next, never allowing them to get close enough to any one emitter to realize that it is the source of the noise. They may not be intelligent, but then again, nothing is beyond the realm of possibility. Smell is altogether more difficult. It will be almost impossible to completely disguise your scent with perfumes, and most of the time the zombies would adapt to the new smell in rather short order. Thus, your best choice is to make sure that no smell of yours enters their nostrils: seal yourself in a completely airtight room, and only venture outside in an airtight biological containment suit extremely rarely and while avoiding contact with the zombies as much as possible. Also a good idea is attaching assorted semi-animated and severed body parts to the exterior of the suit, at least partially disguising yourself as one of them.

The most important thing that you must always remember is this: they cannot reproduce, so there will always be a limited number of them.

So long as you never lose a baby.

[Aqizzar]

Another peice of vitally important equipment that's being ignored is your mode of transportation.  Nothing protects you better from zombies than being able to stay away from them, and any single location will eventually become more a liability than a defense.  When choosing your vehicle, you must weigh many factors-

Speed: Surprising to many first-time survivors is that raw speed is of little use or need, so long as you can reliably maintain a speed greater than that of the zombies.  Higher speed is certainly desired for emergency rescue, but is otherwise a low concern.

Torque: Conversely, significant engine power has many uses - freeing stuck materials, towing more supplies, carrying large numbers of people, mounting heavier armor, and plowing through waves of flesh.

Rough Terrain Capability: Useful for immediately obvious reasons, and will become more obvious over time as man's great works crumble and fall.  Escaping into open country is also a good strategy, and having a vehicle that can take you there is just sensible.

Size: Obviously, being able to carry more survivors or supplies is desirable, but remember that being able to maneuver through tight spaces, or tight crowds, will be necessary eventually.  Even a single person vehicle will need room for your extensive lone-wolf pack of tools and crippling sense of guilt.  An ordinary four/five person vehicle is adequate for most survivors.  Large groups of survivors will need multiple vehicles for insurance and flexibility.  Finally, don't make the mistake of open-topped cargo space - even a dump truck can be climbed into.

Defensibility: This is much more dependent on the nature of the threat, but should always be in the front of your mind.  Against "classic" shambling hordes, a modern automobile is quite safe as long as the doors are locked and the vehicle doesn't roll.  If the threat possesses any great measure of strength, or god forbid intelligence, your improvement efforts must increase dramatically.  Anti-roll outriders, sweeper bars, and a spacing cage will likely be needed.  Never forget the utility of some simple angle-iron and chicken wire.  Also, it needn't be said, but however stylish and apropo it may feel, a motorcycle is suicide.

Fuel Economy: Almost mutually exclusive with all of the above is long running time.  Gasoline will immediately become painfully finite, and stopping your progress is never safe.  An alternative fuel vehicle is similarly problematic - lack of infrastructure will render most advanced engines useless very quickly.  Being able to carry abundant fuel with you is great in theory, but is heavy, and may wind up being just more bulk you can't eat.  One option often overlooked is animal power - a horse needs only grass from the roadside.  This still carries it's risks from frequent stops and possible injuries.  Of course, heavily urban areas may not have this option, and if the zombies are attracted to animals as well as people this is right out.

Ultimately, the best option would be a light-frame truck with a hybrid gas engine, or better yet diesel, stripped to it's bare essentials then built back up for defense.  Reproduce as many as needed and possible for your survivor group.

[Sir Edmund]

I would bring my step dads diving knife then grab the shovel from the garden, run upstairs get my empty rucksack oh and i would get my air rifle (never shot any animals but i bet it could take out birds or rabbits).

Then get on my bicycle, cycle up the shop that i work at (i have a key for it and its less than 2 mins walk from my house ), loot water and canned food and maybe a couple of bannanas. Cycle up the cycle path out of the city as i figure the roads would be packed with folks running and go to Dunnottar castle and hopefully be allowed in by the security gaurds (its got a big portcullus and some sweet doors) then hang about in the visitors center catching the occasional gull for munch.

[Sean Mirrsen]

GAAAAAH!!!

Wow, can I ask not to get this started here, too?

I mean, last time I participated in a zombie attack thread, I nudged it into a thousand-post chaotic realm of oblivion.

[Cthulhu]

You definitely need a knife, even if it's not for fighting zombies it's an essential survival tool.  Weapon-wise, probably an aluminum baseball bat, or something of similar size and weight.  If you miss with something like a sledgehammer or similar, you're screwed.  If they're "infected", not zombies, I think the best offense is a good defense, namely, hiding somewhere like the basement of a supermarket, behind a door blocked off by debris, but with most of the food down there, and a window through which I can escape when the zombies have died off.

[Duke 2.0]

 Knife + Baseball Bat = Success.

 Butchers knife + long stick = Double Success.

 You just need to be crafty, thats all. McGyver could survive a zombie apocalypse with a roll of duct tape, some tacks, an old shed, two bicycles and a bathtub.

[Cthulhu]

Bathtub, that gives me an idea.  Get a bathtub from a hardware store, and crawl around on the ground under it.  The zombies would never suspect a thing, you could get some food and just lie there until they died out.