-WORK IN PROGRESS-

If you’ve made it this far in studying articles here, you’ve probably figured out the three big essentials for survival – food, water, and shelter. Depending on your level of preparation, you’ve stockpiled the first two or you plan on looting them post Z-Day (good luck with that, by the way), and you’ve already organized the third or you plan to find it after Z-Day. You may also be aware that guns and ammunition will be required – again, you either have these in significant quantities now, or plan to head to the police station/gun store and GET ALL DA M SIXTEENZ. If you’ve given it some serious thought, you might realize that painkillers and essential medicines will be highly valuable, if not, well, essential – and alcohol, cigarettes and drugs will be a prized trade good.

So, skip forward a couple of months. You and your merry band are still alive, and you’re managing well. Unfortunately, so are lots of others, including some very nasty men who do bad things to nice people. Also, consider the fact that there will be no canned food left in Wal-Mart, and not much in the way of painkillers left in the pharmacies. Even if you were quick, and went straight for items like medicine while the majority of the population was turning into zombies in the Wal-Mart car park, eventually pre Z-Day supplies will begin to dry up. What then?

Sure, food can be farmed, and depending on your location you can find a suitable water source, or collect rainwater. Pre Z-Day buildings will still be standing when humanity has recovered to the point where it is actively constructing new buildings. Hell, if you’re sufficiently talented, you may even make your own alcohol – if you’re insanely lucky/well-prepared, you might cultivate marijuana. However, for the majority of us, this is nearing the extent of our capabilities. Advanced manufacture of goods will be practically impossible*, and most of the advanced technology we have access to today will be unavailable. Unfortunately, this includes most medicines, and most explosives except for basic gunpowder (sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate – yep, everyone knows that one, a nutless monkey could do it, and most nutless monkeys won’t kill themselves doing it). Of course, these things can be produced by those with the sufficient education and experience, but these legendary beings will be few and far between after Z-Day, which leaves us with two options:

1. Educate yourself in ‘chemistry’ now (perhaps better described as applied chemical manufacture theory… but chemistry works). Oh, and if you plan to do this, you’d better lube yourself up – you’re going to be raped by the federal police of your country**. Remember kids, in the eyes of the government, every lab is a meth lab!
2. Get smart about what ‘chemists’ need, and keep an eye out for these things, so that when you get into contact with someone post Z-Day who has the know-how to produce ‘useful’ substances, you can supply them with the things they need… and end up with some very handy products.

I certainly endorse the first option, and I have done this personally to a significant degree. Furthermore, regardless of your prior education/love of learning (yeah, right), I recommend that you familiarize yourself with some basic manufacture methods – this topic has applications in every aspect of life, especially for a survivalist. However, let’s face it – most of us won’t be doing this sort of training. And, in the context of survival, especially Zombie Survival, there are hundreds of things more important than learning about bombs-n’-drugs – oops, did I say that out loud? – when gaining any sort of chemistry education is dangerous enough pre Z-Day as is. So, even though chemistry is a very valuable thing to learn about, the second option will be preferable for the majority of us.

So, should you start stockpiling valuable chemical reagents now? Well, unless you never want to see the outside of a prison cell ever again…

NO. HELL NO.

You may already be aware that there is a prevailing political attitude that chemistry is BAD. If you have a glass vase that even vaguely looks like a conical flask, you’re either a drug lord or a bomb maker – remember, there are zero legitimate uses for chemistry, and even showing an interest is serious crimethink. However, it's a totally different story post Z-Day - hence the need for a list of essential materials.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive ‘shopping list’ of substances to look out for, which leaves us high and dry. If only someone could write a list like that…


**: DISCLAIMER – I am not responsible for any laws you may be breaking in your country by reading this, neither am I liable for any harm that may come to you as a result of reading this article - any safety warnings are provided for informative purposes only, and should NOT be relied upon in lieu of a MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet). Furthermore, the purpose of this text is not to provide instructions on producing illegal substances, and none are present in this article - this is merely a list of ingredients in various chemical processes. This article is presented in good faith with respect to legality, and I will gladly remove it in line with Wetpaint regulations if it violates United States law.

And yes, you may spot a few factual inaccuracies or generalizations here on the chemistry. Please keep these brilliant insights to yourself - this article is about scavenging, not chemistry. Also, forgive my asides and my rambling. However, if you have constructive contributions, or I have made an error that hampers the purpose of this article, please send me a message.

(Also, I think there's a rule here that no such 'recipes' are hosted, as we're on enough watchlists already - if you want to find that sort of thing out, you'll have to find it yourself.)


Part 1: Highest Priority

These are the top 10 items (in no particular order) to look for in scavenging trips, in the context of 'applied chemistry'. You will have probably heard of most of them, and know about some of them – this presents a problem in itself, because although 90% of the panicked mob will be going for food, water and ammo, a couple of smartasses will go for the things like morphine and fertilizer. If you’re lucky enough to find these things, make them a high priority, but be warned… you won’t necessarily be alone.

1. Oven Cleaner/Drain Cleaner/Caustic Soda/Lye

Chemical of Interest: Sodium hydroxide
Where found: Hardware and gardening stores, cleaning supplies, supermarkets
Physical Description: Sold as lye, caustic soda, oven cleaner, drain cleaner. This is not the only chemical used for this purpose, so make sure you check the container.
Do Not Confuse With: Potassium hydroxide - also useful, for many of the same applications, but they are not entirely interchangeable (nevertheless, grab it anyway). Sodium hypochlorite - AKA bleach. Great for swimming pools, but no novel applications for us, excluding the infamous chlorine gas.
Used for: Oh boy. There are literally thousands of uses for sodium hydroxide. It is very useful for any sort of chemical extraction from plants, which will be necessary once pre-existing supplies of basic medicine expire or are consumed.
Notes: This stuff burns. Badly. Treat it as though it were acid (yes, even though it's a strong base. STFU), and do not, under any circumstances, get it on your skin. Or in your eyes.

2. Ammonium Nitrate Fertilizer

Chemical of Interest: Ammonium nitrate
Where found: Hardware and gardening stores
Physical Description: Sold as fertilizer. Comes in large sacks, as small pellets.
Do Not Confuse With: Ammonium hydroxide/"ammonia" - although useful chemicals, these are NOT ammonium nitrate. Also of note - 99% of products sold as "ammonia" (i.e, Household Ammonia) are ammonium hydroxide. Ammonia itself is a gas at room temperature, and it kills people.
Used for: Explosives. Possibly the best known explosive compound/ingredient, other than TNT, C4, or gunpowder. Before the Oklahoma City bombing, it was a widely available ingredient for the production of explosives, but bulk sales in the United States (and around the world) became heavily regulated after the bombing.
Notes: Some brands of ammonium nitrate fertilizer consist of ammonium nitrate pellets coated in ammonium sulfate, to make the production of ammonium nitrate-based explosives more difficult. While this can be overcome, ammonium nitrate without this coating is preferable.

3. Cold and Flu Tablets

Chemical of Interest: Pseudoephedrine, codeine (rarely)
Where found: Pharmacies
Physical Description: Sold as an active ingredient in cold and flu medication. Brands include: Sudafed*, Contac, Nurofen Cold and Flu, Codral (Original Formula), Genac, Aprodine, Wal-Act, Actifed*, TheraFlu, NeoCitran, Claritin-D. As there are hundreds of other brands, the best way to find out whether the medication contains pseudoephedrine is to check the ingredients printed on the box, for one of the following:

• Pseudoephedrine hydrochloride
• Pseudoephedrine sulfate

Do Not Confuse With: Phenylephrine. After the United States Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act 2005, many pharmaceutical companies began substituting pseudoephedrine for phenylephrine, which cannot be 'diverted' for other uses. This chemical is of little to no interest in a post Z-Day world, and its actual effectiveness in reducing flu symptoms is unclear. Again, make sure you check the packet - the brands marked with an asterisk can contain either.
Used for: In case the mention of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act 2005 wasn't enough for you, here goes: central reagent in the production of amphetamine and methamphetamine. Yeah, I can't really recommend meth for survival purposes, but amphetamine is regularly (and carefully) used by armed forces all over the world to increase concentration and wakefulness in critical situations (i.e, flying military aircraft, winning World War II, etc). Meth can be used for these purposes, sure, but the cons far outweigh the pros. And, bear this in mind: in World War II, Allied soldiers were given amphetamine to stay effective. The Nazis were given meth (hence the slang term 'nazi speed). Who do you trust? Keep in mind that meth will be an immensely valuable trade good nevertheless.
Notes: Most pharmacies keep pseudoephedrine-containing medication behind the counter, or in an area where only the pharmacist can access them. In many jurisdictions, the majority of stock must be kept in a locked container or safe.