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ender42
From the barricade page: re:wood Flammable, one good molotov and you've just been burnt out of your hidey-hole.-- Ender42 re: sandbags Conversely, crowds of zombies may get enough rear support from a crowd of other zombies, for then to wedge their hands and feet into the ridges of these, and climb them. Unclimbable and bulletproof would be best, but unclimable first.-- Ender42 Concrete Safety Barriers (perhaps aka Jersey Barriers): http://www.css-rental.com/images/2.jpg Concrete. Solid. Easily available, go to your nearest freeway... Con: too short (but stackable), requires heavy equipment to move or position easily.-- Ender42 Highway metal plates: These are used to cover trenches in the roadway, when they work on the road over repeated days. They're tough enough to hold up thousands of cars day in and day out for weeks or months of construction. They come with only two holes in the huge plate (5 or 6' by 10-12'), but they're *very* heavy. You will need crowbars to take one out of the ground (usually they're asphalted in place), and probably 10 strong men if you're man-handling them. Otherwise, you'll need heavy equipment.-- Ender42 re:concrete 3' of concrete is not going to dry in 48 hours. You should be keeping it wet (for floors and stuff) to get the optimal drying surface on it. Concrete structures are usually prepoured in forms, and then erected with heavy equipment. Each one of those columns was premade and lifted into place with a crane, see the dot at the top where the cable was attached?-- Ender42 Going with the low number for the weight of a cubic foot of concrete (143 vs 150+lbs), creating a 3' thick wall 10' high (and only one foot wide) in-place would require you to create forms that could hold up 4,290lbs of dead weight. 429bs of vertical strength at the top part of the form. Then of course you'd have to wait for it to dry. Otherwise you need a way to lift that much weight (with man-power and logs it is possible, see Stonehenge), if you placed your forms on the ground (and then your forms would only have to withstand that 429lbs. Unless you just dug holes of the specific depth, and then poured into them... In any case, you're still going to need *tons* of lime, aggregate, sand, water, etc. This is going to be many, many semi-trucks worth of stuff, probably from some construction area (dry river bed, gravel pit?). Which means as much in gasoline/diesel to run those, and security on each rig to prevent zombie attacks. So, tell me again what's not to like?-- Ender42 re:wrecked cars Sure you can stack them, you just need enough strong jocks. Haven't you ever had several guys lift a subcompact, and re-position it? You can also stack cars with any medium or larger forklift. You can hook a tow-cable up to one, and with proper ramps hand-crank/winch them in stacks several cars high. That said, they're not of much use oriented like you drive them. There's slither space underneath a car unless you dismount the wheels, and people can get thru every interior if you just stack them. However, zombies shouldn't be able to open doors... Ideally you should be placing them on their side or on their end, side-by-side. That's a lot more work, and you won't be winching them into place (because there's no easy rollling tires) nor easily forklifting them, and man-handling will get a *lot* harder (fewer places to put people to grab the thing, balance becomes an issue as well). A crane would also be useful, even if less quick than an electromagnet.-- Ender42 re:trenches A sloped inside wall is a bad plan, unless it is a severe slope, which would be unclimbable.-- Ender42 Standing in a trench is for dodging bullets and HE - agreed, not something to do when Zed is around, and diving in your trench to get at you. Standing on the other side of a trench is a good place to kick their heads in, or get a good swing on a golf-club to the forehead. A trench makes a good obstacle, and if they can't climb, a deep enough trench will have to fill up with Zed before it becomes a problem, meanwhile getting them close enough to you that you can use melee weapons, but not so close that they can actually reach you.-- Ender42 re: barrels Food-grade barrels (and hand-pumps, how are you going to empty that barrel?), are good for blockages. You can block a door, fill a barrel, and the door won't be opening anytime soon. Every gallon == 8 lbs. But, should you change your mind, you can always empty the barrel, and move it away... instead of tear down that cinderblock wall you made, or move all those damn sandbags.-- Ender42 re: welding And it requires correct undamaged, and new supplies.-- Ender42 General commentary: If you're not worried about other survivors, then anything thrown up outside will be fine. Meaning zombies won't pull a sheet of metal *away* from your door, they will just push in on it, and attempt to punch/bite/headbutt/kick thru it. This means you should be able to make zombie-proof but human accessible doors that open outwards. The same goes for barricade construction.-- Ender42 Some info from the bugout bag page that may have gotten written over? Organization: Top of your go-bag:
GUNS: You need one. You need ammo. You need a cleaning kit. Handgun for starters, maybe a rifle.-- Ender42 If you're on the move, use a carbine or a .22-- Rambo-117 I didn't want to get into a weapons discussion, but I think we can all agree that if you're not doing a daily carry of your handgun, you will need one in your go-bag. :D-- Ender42 Water Storage: With out a clean source of it, you're dead in a week, zombie bite or no. How are you going to carry it? you can have multiple items. if you pick an item that has other functions too, all the better. I'll Start: Nalgene bottles(4): these wide mouth bottles each hold a 32 oz. of liquid and are super tough. (They also sell bottles with survival kits- jeffcee) (wide-mouth bottles are easier to put ice into, easier to freeze solid (Nalgene does well at this, and doesn't crack the first 20-30 times you do it), and fill faster in a stream, and easier to fill when you have to dig out a wetspot on the ground - have you ever tried to fill a camelpack/bladder from a non-faucet source?-- Ender42) Hydration bladder  Hydration bladder is probably best bet.They eliminate the sloshing sound of Canteens plus take up less space when empty plus the last I looked my walmart had about 30 for 5 bucks each.-Emperor_of_the_Nerds Bladders get punctured. Nipples and lines quit working, or fail. They also get unclean, if you use them for any length of time. Ever tried bleaching one? That said, sloshing noises suck. However, screw-tops don't fail too often. Bottles can hold more than just water (like black powder, gatorade, gasoline). A bladder, less-so. -- Ender42 http://www.designverb.com/2007/09/13/life-saver-nano-water-filter-bottle/ http://www.blonnet.com/businessline/blnus/34065012.htm A nano-filtration unit would be ideal. But some type of water treatment besides boiling will be necessary if you're using non-tap sources of water. Iodine tablets are the chemical solution. Reverse osmosis. Solar distillation (cheap == dig a hole, cut plants, place rocks and dirt (making it humidity tight) around a *large* *tough* sheet of clear plastic membrane with a rock in the center (creates downward cone) which drips into a cup set in the center of your hole).-- Ender42 First Aid Kit  There are many kinds of First Aid Kits but they all serve the same purpose. To supply medical supplies for quick use so that you can help until officials arrive. Seeing as there will be very few officials that can help (Stress, Not one in your group, ETC) Then you will need to add a few items. Here is a list of things that you should start with. 01. Gauze 02. CPR/Breath Mask (Most First Aid Kits don't come with these but they are findable and can sometimes be pricey but if you don't use one you could be vomited on during CPR) -- (Also, for treating someone whom you don't know their zed infected status, or HIV status -- Ender42) 03. Antibacterial Soap/Ointment (antibacterial soap is almost pure advertising, regular soap is as effective. I like the Dr. Bronners Organic Liquid Soap, however while that is useable as both soap and shampoo, it's not in bar form, and thus is a leak/spill hazard -- Ender42) 04. Baking Soda (For See Sickness) 05. Adhesive Tape (duct-tape or 100mph hour tape elsewhere? -- Ender42) 06. Alcohol Wipes/Swabs (Conversely use real alcohol for disinfectant, and your gauze or bandana for wiping. Stupid packaging is weight that you don't get to re-use, and means you can't take another item -- Ender42) 07. Cotton Balls (why do you want this in addition to swabs, gauze, and a bandana? -- Ender42) 08. Disposable Latex or Vinyl Gloves 09. First Aid Guide (Comes in Handy during Hurry Situations) 10. Hydrogen Peroxide (Very Handy for Cleaning Wounds) -- (Why're you carrying alcohol swabs then? -- Ender42) 11. Insect Sting Swabs (Sometimes these are hard to find but they're worth it) -- (I don't think these are worthwhile. Check the back of the package, I bet that they're nothing more than alcohol swabs with different packaging, and perhaps a numbing agent.-- Ender42) 12. Moleskin (For Blisters) -- (and other foot issues, bunions, etc-- Ender42) 13. Scissors (To cut the Gauze and such) -- (Get the super-scissors that cut thru anything.-- Ender42) http://www.crocodilecutter.com/ - too expensive, "as seen on TV", but like the ones I was thinking of... $3.70 http://www.macgill.com/productDetail.aspx?catId=10&subcatId=112&product=7777 - cuts thru leather & metal 14. Tweezers (Sharp and pointy, so you can dig out thorns with them, pop blisters, etc. -- Ender42) 15. Nail clippers -- Ender42 16. Needle and thread, large gauge needle + surgical thread (useable for sutures, clothing repair, rough medical work) -- Ender42 17. Multi-tool or Needlenose pliers (too hold onto that needle when you heat it in the flame, to grab your pot from the fire when the handle breaks) -- Ender42 18. Drinking Alcohol 180-200proof -- wood alcohol is typical for medicine stuff, because they don't want the tots drinking it. Both will kill germs, and flush out wounds. Both evaporate faster than water, and can cool off overheated people (heat exhaustion). Drinking alcohol can also be used to deaden pain, and as a cheap method of anaesthesia (get them blind drunk/unconcious and then cut 'em open, or pop that shoulder back in). Also, it's the only trade good that has real value in a post-money society. It's also long-term storable.-- Ender42 19. Flexible cutting board (I'm still evaluating this - so it's something to look at, not a recommended solution)-- Ender42 After you have acquired these things you will want to put the things that can leak in small bottles (Maybe Film Bottles)(These pop open under duress, but are better/tougher than many other plastic containers - but they're also increasingly not available, most camera shops I know of have gone under, and those that are still running aren't doing so with standard film. Hoard the containers you do have. However, I recommend nalgene screw-top bottles as an alternative.-- Ender42) and the things that are sticky (Antibacterial Soap, Etc) in small Plastic Baggies. Then you will want to put all of this into a large plastic baggy so that you have it all in one place. While assembling, think about what you will likely need first and put this near the top. If you put your gauze at the bottom then you'll have to pull everything out to get to it and that's not fun. You can add onto this list personally if you have a skill in a certain area of the medical profession that requires tools to perform. Do not add tools that you don't know how to use because having that tool may force you to use it. ---Cylon1994 Don't be shy about bringing tools that you don't know how to use :P.-- Ender42 I saw this thing a while ago in a catalog that would be a good thing for a group. if you're in a group, get the one member who's the most skilled in medicine and get them to carry the "portable hospital." It's not just a first aid kit, it's a freakin' medical backpack, which can treat everything from gunshot wounds to amputations. The only problem might be that it's too bulky. -Rambo-117. http://www.macgill.com/productDetail.aspx?catId=12&product=73901 'All your eggs in one basket' - have someone *else* carry the hospital. Also helps because your medic can go up to them (facing away) and start accessing items - without having to stop, put down their backpack, open it, etc. That said, that's not a go-bag item - thus it belongs in a different list, a list for group preparedness.-- Ender42 SHELTER A Tent:  (btw: this is probably not a man-portable tent - those are heavy metal poles-- Ender42)Because when you leave your home you're gonna need a place to stay until you find a permanent shelter, and it should be big so you can fit other survivors in it. In addition there is a lot more work room before, that is if a zombie gets into the tent. Screw the tent. Use a tarp and sleeping bag, then you've got all the room you need - the whole of the outdoors. You don't need your vision impaired by a tent, nor your exit routes blocked. Large tents weigh upwards of 10lbs apiece, and require setup and breakdown times. Even small ones are 3lbs, and definitely don't have any space in them for you and a zombie. If you're on the move, you're not going to have either setup or breakdown time. Crawl into your sleeping bag, and roll up in your tarp. A tarp can make a roof with your twine/rope and some branches. A tarp makes a cleaner floor (than dirt! or dead leaves) to lay out small machine parts/stuff on, or to clean your rifle on. Tarp makes a shitty second backpack w/twine when your first one gets fucked. And you don't want to be outside if you can at all avoid it. Sleep within walls. -- Ender42 Sleeping bag, rated for your climate's winter. Waterproof stuff sack (for rivers, streams, rain, sleet, snow, bloodbaths, etc). Durable outer sack to keep your waterproof sack from getting punctured by rusty nails, wayward branches, thorns, etc. If you're not warm, you won't sleep. You will catch hypothermia, you will die.-- Ender42 Hammock -- learn how to string it, and practice sleeping in it, and not being a flailing sleeper, and how to get out of it without using your knife, if you're upside down.-- Ender42 Double-size emergency blanket-- Ender42 Folding shovel - Conversely this is heavy, unweildly, etc. Pro, can also be used as a weapon. It depends how close I'm located to rural areas, whether I'd put this in my go-bag.-- Ender42 Crowbar (possibly) - mentioned other places, you may need to be a breaking and entering type of person, depending on the situation. Extremely heavy, not super-useful in other situations.-- Ender42 Heat: Matches: Because your gonna need something to start the fire. Take it from personal experience; rubbing two sticks together takes a lot of time. (Most people can't do it, and you need the correct types of wood -- Ender42) Matches get wet. You need waterproof ones if you're going to go that route. Instead try magnesium and your knife. Starts a fire in the fiercest sleet storm. -- Ender42 http://www.magic25filter.com/how_to_refill_your_lighter.html Refillable butane lighters and/or Jet-flame, windproof lighters.-- Ender42 Fire Starting Material: Because you don't want to go wandering around to get wood to start the fire. This why you need to have tinder and such ready. (Conversely, with magnesium you can use wet-wood. In either case, you are going to wander around getting wood to start a fire, unless you're going to carry some logs in your go-bag... Use writing paper as your firestarting material, and hatchet off some splinters instead of twigs - you did sharpen your hatchet, correct?-- Ender42) Something to cook on/with. Metal, holds a substantial amount of water (for heating up/boiling), should be lightweight. I like something big enough to be a wash-basin as well, cleaning the feet, and with the help of a partner washing your hair and/or bathing is super-nice. Should have loops for a pot-hanger, or a rope replacement handle, and grab points for pliers/pot-holders.-- Ender42 A stove, or canned heat is good to have. You won't always have access to firewood. Fires also cause light and smoke. They are dangerous, and they ruin your night-vision.-- Ender42 Disposable hand warmers. Not useful for heating or cooking, but a small burst of heat on your hands or feet can really help.-- Rambo-117. I'd say, depending on climate - however, if it is below freezing (when you might need these) we shouldn't have to worry about the walking dead, as they should be frozen solid... now the walking infected is a different story. Also, they're disposable - anything disposable is not worth carrying IMHO.-- Ender42 OTHER: Flashlight: So you can see. Conversely: red LED shake flashlight. Also, get the micro LED keychain lights, and a headlamp. Headlamp == hands-free light when running in the dark, so that you can carry a gun, and push branches out of the way/grab for support with the other hand. All of these are smaller/lighter, and less likely to break than a flashlight bulb - also last longer on less power, or self/solar-powered. Red light doesn't impair your nightvision, but white light is better for reading/fine detail work - have both.-- Ender42 KNIFE - MUST, MUST, MUST have this, you can do many things like make fire (if you get the correct wood), have warm sleeping (cut pine branches and angle them correctly), shelter, etc. with just a knife.-- Ender42 Hatchet - cutting wood with a knife sucks (it can be done), those abrasive wires suck almost as badly as a knife. A real axe is better, but upwards of 10-12lbs, and unwieldly in a pack. A hatchet is around 2-3lbs. Also good if you want to make a climbable tree unclimbable (after you've gone up it). Possible weapon as well.-- Ender42 Sharpening stone - sharpen all the time while cutting. 1/2 of your time cutting wood should be spent sharpening. Most store bought hatchets are crap; grind yourself a real edge on it with your dremel, then sharpen it. You don't want to start this project when you're on the run from zombies. Also use this to sharpen your knife.-- Ender42 Cord/Twine/Rope - extremely useful for keeping gear together, and making things, as well as pulling stuff up into trees. Make snares for catching food, tripwires/alarms. Shutting doors/closures. Handles. Investigate climbing rope used for rappelling as a part of your cordage needs.-- Ender42 Large bandana - makes a sling for a broken arm, works as a dusk-mask, can be used to staunch wounds, as cleaning rag, head cover (90%? of heat loss is thru your head), signaling device, cooling neckscarf (w/water), etc, etc, etc.-- Ender42 Towel - Didn't you read hitchiker's guide to the galaxy? If you get wet, you will need to get dry; or you will suffer hypothermia, or grow fungus on your toes (depending on the climate). This also means you need a waterproof bag to put it in. Microfiber towels dry quicker than regular ones. I'm also partial to silica gel dessicant bags, which can be (carefully) heated to drive off moisture, placed inside this bag to help keep it dry/help it further dry off after use - if you need to pack and run right after a shower.-- Ender42 Whistle - long-range signaling device. Carry a morse-code breakdown.-- Ender42 Mirror - metal, hole in the center == signaling device, look around a corner, personal care.-- Ender42 Extra socks - at least two pair. In a ziploc'd bag. And another pair of wool (which are warm even if they're wet and very poofy which aids versus blisters). If you're on the move, your feet are the most important part of your body. Your feet will see hard use, and they must be clean, dry and protected. An extra pair of shoes would be good, in case the pair you're wearing get wet, burnt, broken, etc. I'd say your go bag should have goretexed boots (that you've broken in!) in it, unless they are your daily wear. If you do daily wear your goretex boots, check them in water monthly - because after several/many months the goretex will fail, and then they're no longer waterproof. Enclosed toe so that you don't get hit with heavy/sharp stuff - this is no time for sandals.-- Ender42 Shoe-goo and extra shoelaces.-- Ender42 http://sports.ciao.co.uk/Optimus_Fuel_bottles__Review_5687243 Fuel container (159grams) - picking up extra fuel is only possible if you have a container to do it in. Metal containers only, plastic containers are probably not seriously UV resistant, they're created as disposable products, not as use products in our current society. A small fuel container will get you enough gas to run a moped, a motorized bicycle, or a motorcycle a medium distance. If you've got an alcohol-based stove, you could leave this container filled with appropriate fuel (remember to ROTATE your stock on schedule), otherwise leave empty of liquids, and instead stuffed with your socks in ziplocs. Once you've stored fuel in this, do not store anything you wish to drink.-- Ender42 A 5gal gasoline container is 40lbs when full. Many cars have a 1-5gal emergency gas can. Don't worry about finding one of those, they should be available. However, if you've got a car... but this is not the car-prep page.-- Ender42 Basic navigation by the stars instructions for your hemisphere.-- Ender42 Compass - get a real one, not a shitty cheap not-accurate one that screws into the bottom of your Rambo knife.-- Ender42 Local terrain maps (USGS) for your area. Road maps for your area.-- Ender42 GPS unit - Unlike other hypothetical preparedness situations, zombies are unlikely to take out satellites.-- Ender42 Shortwave radio.-- Ender42 Satellite phone.-- Ender42 Cellphone - may or may not survive much past the power outages. Some cell-phone towers are on independent power/backup generators, which are automatic. Most of those are man-less installations, and thus there's no lure for zombies to cause malfunctions in those installations. Unfortunately, the telephone grid may get locked up with too many calls, however if an infestation is rampant, there will (eventually) be many fewer users on the grid, so that problem should dissipate.-- Ender42 Writing implements - charcoal from a fire-burnt stick will be passable, but you don't always have that with you, and that only works on some surfaces. Greasepencil is very useful - write on windows, boxes, textured surfaces, etc. A (micro-)Sharpie is good as well, except that it dries out (ROTATE this item). Also, get a toothbrush container, or the like to protect your implements from being sat on, or otherwise smooshed/crushed/mutilated. You've already got paper for firestarting material to write on.-- Ender42 FOOD: Salt - if you're sweating a lot, you can lose too much salt. We don't notice it because our current fast-food/mega-chain grocery store/pre-prepared food diet is super-rich in salt, but if you're living off of nuts, berries and squirrels, you can run into serious problems with a lack of salt.-- Ender42 Vitamins - several weeks of multivitamins, lots of vitamin C (prevent colds - try some Emergen-C), and vitamin E (for skin repair/abrasions), maybe Calcium - ROTATE these on a bi-weekly or monthly basis.-- Ender42 You can go 3 minutes without oxygen, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks without food. But if you're doing hard work (traveling, fighting, building, digging, etc), you're going to need food sooner.-- Ender42 Canned goods are bad - too much salt, too much water. Water is heavy. dried goods are better. Jerky (if homemade, otherwise too salty, and not fatty enough). Dried fruit. MREs. Backpacking dehydrated foods. ROTATE these. Make sure you can (and like) eating them, make sure you know how to prepare them. -- Ender42 Candy/energy bars: Though they aren't healthy, the extra burst of sugary energy can be helpful. -Rambo-117. Sugar is bad, it's like drugs - feels good at the time, but it will let you down later. That "extra burst" (if it is in fact real) isn't worth being impaired later. How many Olympians do you see 'getting that burst' right before they try to break world records? If there's any time in the real world that someone would want a boost, and to hell with the consequences, that's the time.-- Ender42 No-doze - speaking of meds, this may be good to have.-- Ender42 When I started thinking way too much about zombies: What started my zombie fixation: Favorite zombie book: Favorite zombie movie: Favorite quote in any zombie movie:
Latest page update: Oct 2 2008, 8:09 PM EDT
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