Ideally I would like to get a couple dozen sheets of expanded steel (shown below) and a few dozen 2x4s so I can secure all the windows without obscuring visibility and making a dark, stale house. Cost and availability of materials will most likely dictate that I will get a dozen sheets of plywood and a mess of 2x4s and trade light and visibility for higher security. Maybe I could cut some ventilation slits in the plywood to allow some air circulation when I open a window. I used to be a metal fabricator so I could easily build cages for the windows and a steel gate for the doors, but I don't have a welder or enough raw materials here at home to make that figure into my practical plan. I will be using some leftover exterior paint to cover all the raw lumber so it doesn't weather, warp and weaken and leave me vulnerable in the event of a prolonged siege. My yard is fully fenced front and back with galvanized steel cyclone fence. It is a 6' fence in back, but only 4' in the front where I would be doing any food farming because the back yard is completely shrouded under a giant cedar tree that makes growing even grass impossible. This house is only a rental though, so this whole part of the plan will have to be revisited before too long because my landlord is selling this house next spring.


I want to install rain barrels on all my downspouts so I can take advantage of our regular rainfall here in the NW and save water for irrigating crops in the summer and of course for drinking and hygiene. I am going to start collecting 5 gallon water cans from the army/navy surplus store nearby so I can keep a nominal supply of drinking water ready at all times.



A company called Mountain House makes fantastic freeze dried food that comes in 10# cans and only requires adding water, no heat is necessary if you are out of fuel. I plan to stock quite a few of these cans along side the drinking water. I currently have quite a bit of canned and dried food already stored in my garage, but would need to supplement it with some high calorie freeze dried food with a long shelf life. MREs are a gien, but from what I understand, real US Military MREs are not for sale to the public unless they are misappropriated, so I'll likely have to settle for some civilian brand MREs. Vacuum sealed meal bars that provide high calorie value and are light weight will be a must to carry on excursions outside of my fortifications.



1) NEW!!! - Springfield Armory XD(M) .40 w/5-16 round magazines and 5-19 round 9mm magazines for use with EFK Firedragon 9mm conversion barrel. The conversion barrel is extended and threaded for use with a silencer which I will be building very soon. I also have an in-the-waistband soft holster, a tactical nylon holster with room for flashlight/laser, and a STAR QD M6 LED Flash Light & Laser.


2) IZMASH SAIGA 12ga. Semi-Automatic Shotgun with Tapco Inrafuse Pistol Grip/Collapsible Stock - It came with a 5rd mag and I bought two 12rd mags (as shown in the pics). I also managed to finagle a tactical sling from a Marine at the range. I just asked where he got it and he said he gets them for free from "work" and pulled it off his own gun and fitted it on mine... that's a swell guy in my book.


3) Remington 870 Express Pump Action 12ga. Shotgun


4) Winchester Model 94 Lever Action .30-30 w/Leather Sling


5) Marlin Model 60SP Semi-Automatic .22 Rifle w/Scope and Leather Sling


Once it seems like things have calmed down I will begin to scout around my neighborhood working slowly in the direction of the nearby retail center (as seen in the archive section at the bottom of the page, called "the ark"). I will be watching for Zeds and unfriendly non-Zeds. Once it seems safe enough I will take my Trailblazer down to the shopping center and see if there is anything useful I can scavenge and take back home to facilitate either digging in deeper and staying put, or bugging out.




As you can see I have standard backpacks for extended hiking trips. Most of this gear is used for that purpose, but when we get home I clean it all, restock what has been used and pack it right back up for immediate use. When I go camping I don't bring the framing hammer and crow bar hanging from the side of my bag (not pictured) or the BB gun strapped to my fiances bag, just the machete. :)



These items are divided between our BOBs, so where you see redundance it is so if one of us loses our bag we still have certain essentials. Not pictured: Sleeping bags, clothing and Nalgene water bottles.

Left: Tent, Poncho, Tarp, Hammock Tent, Mesh Water Bottle Tote containing Hefty Bags and Microfiber Camp Towels.
Right: Katadyn Guide Water Filtration System, TP, Ruff Wear Collapsible Dog Bowls, CamelBak Hydration Pack w/Water Purification Tablets, Flashlight and First Aid Kit.


Left: MSR Gourmet Cook Set, MSR WhisperLite Multi-Fuel Stove, Fuel Bottle, Silverware (two sets), Bowls x2 and Plates x2.
Right: Yo-Yo Auto Fishing Reels, Fishing Line, Brass Snare Wire, Gerber Folding Trench Shovel, Hand Chain Saw w/pouch, Wrist Rocket Slingshot w/ Spare Band and Steel Shot in Foam Padded Tins w/ Electrical Tape.


Left: WetFire waterproof tinder, Hand Warmers, Dry Bags, Bug Spray, Lighter Fluid, StrikeForce Fire Starter, Disposable Lighters, Tinder Sticks, Zippos and an Old No. 7 Cigarette Case containing spare Zippo flints, wicks and a sling I made when I was a kid.
Right: Rappelling Rope, Compression Sack, Paracord, Zip Ties, Flex Cuffs and Tent Stakes.


Left: The "Liberator" (aka Bolt Cutters), Two-Way Radios, Duct Tape, Playing Cards, Petzl LED Headlamps, Hand Crank LED Flashlight and Super Glue (fixing stuff and suturing cuts)
Right: Laminated Map of Washington State, Extra Ziploc Bags, brass clip and nylon cord for hanging food out of reach of bears.


Left: Screwdrivers, Pliers, Utility Knife incl. Spare Blades, Smith & Wesson SWAT III Folding Knife, Muela Bowie Knife Set, Leather Work Gloves and Gerber Folding Knives.
Right: Spanish made 8.5" Molybenum Vanadium Steel blade, rosewood handle and brass fittings with matching 4" blade version.


Top and Middle: Machete made in the Philippines from the leaf spring of an old US Army Jeep. Handle made from Water Buffalo horn handle and water buffalo hide sheath. The blade is roughly 1/4" thick and about 14" long. Since it's spring steel it won't easily break, but may need sharpened more frequently which is fine with me. I would rather have to sharpen it every night then have it snap in two when I needed it most. I also blued the blade and keep it oiled in it's sheath to help resist rust. I am looking into making a custom kydex sheath for it soon.
Bottom: Gordon Freeman Special


We have two English Mastiffs named Atlas and Stella, and though some may consider it a bad idea to try to bring along pets, but these aren't just pets, they are a part of our family and could prove beneficial in many ways. The idea here is to figure out how to equip them to carry food and water for themselves, and maybe some other gear as well.

Left: Atlas 145 lbs. 32 in. at the shoulders.
Right: Stella 135 lbs. 30.5 inches at the shoulder.


04 Chevy Trailblazer LT EXT 4x4 w/5.3L V8 Eventually I am going to add a K&N Performance Intake Kit and hopefully going to get it lifted just little (2"-4") and put some bigger wheels and tires on it so its not completely useless on anything but smooth asphalt.


81 Yamaha XS1100 Special This is a great motorcycle that just won't quit... as long as I keep gas in the tank anyway, I will be upgrading to a cruiser (Yamaha Roadliner Midnight) sometime in the future, but I will always keep this bike because it's great for a relatively quiet runabout to do scouting and keep my fiance behind the wheel of the Trailblazer with our dogs and gear while I range ahead to find a good route.



Thule Transporter (Left) - Bug out bags and other gear and essentials are stored in this cargo box right next to my garage door so I can simply back up my Trailblazer and pop it on in no time flat.

Thule Weekender (Right) - This cargo box is out back next to the shed and will only be utilized if I have enough time to put it on and gather secondary resources that might make life easier on the run or starting fresh far out in the wilderness. (Shovels for digging a shelter, chainsaw for building shelter, hoes for farming etc.)



These two tool boxes contain some of the bare necessities for maintaining vehicles and building shelters.


Upper Tray - Hack Saw Blades, Sharpened Round Stock, Sharpened Square Stock, Screwdrivers, Carpenter Pencils w/Sharpener, Grease Crayon, Sharpie, Crescent Wrench, Chisel Putty Knives, Chisels, Gorilla Glue, WD-40, Needle Nose Pliers, Utility Knife and Assorted Size and Shape Files.









This was my first attempt to draw up a survival plan, and after thinking a lot on the subject and doing a lot more research it is walking too close to that line between fantasy and reality. Sure this plan could still work, but it would have to be under almost ideal conditions. So I archived it here at the bottom because I still like the idea, but it is like more like Plan D or E instead of Plan A.

The Ark

This map shows what I am calling "The Ark", a consumer hot spot that puts a lot of necessities within reach. Below the map I have listed what I have in mind for each of the marked facilities and while I am sure it is obvious enough, it might help someone else see something in their plan they were missing before, or point something out to me that I missed.

This is where I will hunker down when Z-Day hits. While friends and quick adapting strangers maintain an armed over-watch perimeter, anyone else on hand would erect a barricade around the 25 square block "compound". Now I know it is going to be hard to keep zeds out of such a large area, but I plan on doing it one piece at a time. I am sure there will be looting and such before, so this plan is TOTALLY contingent on a quick scouting trip to the location to see if it is even worth the attempt.

First I would take any food stores and essential supplies from my home and head for the Home Depot. Once there I will blockade all vulnerable entrances, leaving only one sturdy steel man sized door and of course the big steel roll-up door. Of course they will be fortified, but still easy to open/close form the inside. The roll top door is necessary for mass exodus, eventually bringing in loads of supplies and survivors and for expanding our perimeter.

Once a strong foothold is in place inside the Home Depot, we will try to push a perimeter fence to connect to the building between the Home Depot and the Costco. Once the fence is up we can work to construct a foot bridge between the two roof tops.

With a secure means of moving materials forward, we can then push from the middle building to the Costco and once again barricade any unused entrances and build a bridge across. Any pillars that support the bridge would be made of PVC and greased down. This serves two purposes: a large diameter PVC can take a large axial load, but if we are forced to retreat we can more easily weaken and destroy the bridges, and if it is greased down, no zeds are going to be able to climb it.

Once these three buildings are connected we should have the means to hold out for an extended period and begin to slowly envelop the rest of the area. Instead of using bridges everywhere, I would more likely resort to building tunnels between the buildings, and there is quite possibly a sewer system that will serve quite nicely. I would of course need to block it off to prevent unwanted entry, and we would most likely need to set up shifts patrolling the sewer area. I plan on having noisy **** on strings all over the place so nobody gets taken by surprise.

The primary resources are initially all we will need, but the secondary ones will come into play in a protracted event. They are also outside the magic square of safety, so they are higher risk.

PRIMARY
· Costco – No windows and only two entrances, the front steel roll up doors and the loading dock in back. (Maybe a few other small doors, but most likely all sturdy steel doors which will be easy to control.)
· Costco Gas – I think if we get a generator set up in the pump house we can keep the gas flowing... while it lasts.
· City Bus Depot – As mentioned above
· Home Depot – Great source for fortification materials, power tools and hacking/bludgeoning implements.
· Univ. of Wash. Med. Clinic – Um, medical supplies.
· Petco – I have two big dogs and I am not deserting them to the zombies, and I am not going to leave poop all over the place, so I will need poop bags and dog food at least.
· Big 5 Sporting Goods – Various Rifles, ammunition, baseball bats, golf clubs, and various other bludgeoning implements. I for one hope they have a few cricket bats around too.
· Bank of America - If the vault is open, it could be a good fall back point to make the "last stand”

SECONDARY
· Super Pawn – More guns
· 76 Station – Gas of course including one of those giant propane filling tanks. The attached service station could also come in handy
· Volkswagen and Nissan Dealership – North of “the Square”, these dealerships offer more resources for barricading and who knows when we’ll need a brand new car.
· Parking Lot – Whatever section of pavement isn’t occupied by the inevitably necessary shelters for survivors; will be broken up and carted off to make way for agriculture. We will use seed from Home Depot Garden Center to grow food so we are not caught unawares when the vast stores of the Costco are spent.