Survival: More than just hoarding ammunition

[Michael Barakofsky]

On the subject of fuel, I am sure some of you have looked at my DR/NB/HU2 campaign thread. Well the player of Andy had this idea about setting up a kind of still. Not to make drinking alcohol but to make fuel for the vehicles once we have ran the storage tanks dry this still, in theory, would provide enough fuel to make at least a few short trips a week.

I honestly know nothing about the making of fuel and stills and stuff like that, so I am asking the board what do you guys and gals think?

[Michael Barakofsky]

On the subject of fuel, I am sure some of you have looked at my DR/NB/HU2 campaign thread. Well the player of Andy had this idea about setting up a kind of still. Not to make drinking alcohol but to make fuel for the vehicles once we have ran the storage tanks dry this still, in theory, would provide enough fuel to make at least a few short trips a week.

I honestly know nothing about the making of fuel and stills and stuff like that, so I am asking the board what do you guys and gals think?

What are your people trying to distill?

After talking to the player "any kind of grain most likely corn" was the answer.

[Razzinold]

I remember reading a book before about some guy in a post apocalyptic setting, he travelled around in a van with an engine that could run on pretty much anything. The guy would use fuel (i think he could use gas or diesel) or high grade liquor. I can't remember the book (anyone know it ? ) i think the van was either black or silver and he would kind of go from town to town and help people out and get paid in supplies like ammo and fuel, or alcohol, the main thing was his run on anything engine and had a cargo hold full of guns. I need to get me one of those engines

(guess I need to remember the book first though )

[Thinyser]

I remember reading a book before about some guy in a post apocalyptic setting, he travelled around in a van with an engine that could run on pretty much anything. The guy would use fuel (i think he could use gas or diesel) or high grade liquor. I can't remember the book (anyone know it ? ) i think the van was either black or silver and he would kind of go from town to town and help people out and get paid in supplies like ammo and fuel, or alcohol, the main thing was his run on anything engine and had a cargo hold full of guns. I need to get me one of those engines

(guess I need to remember the book first though )

Don't know of the book you refer but I believe that many of the Rifts vehicles that run on fuel rather than nuke or battery are designed to use gas/diesel/ethanol or damn near any flamable liquid that will ignite with a spark. They do not take into account different power or efficiency which would change depending on fuel but maybe you can adapt them to fit your games.

[Oberoth]

OK. I don't own the DR book, and have never played. But here's what I would do if a zombie apocalypse happened to me. Once the perverbial $@#& hit the fan I would gather my closest friends and family (non-zobified of course) and head to the remand center(Prison) in my city. It's about an hours drive from where I live and not near the urban center. I think It would be a perfect place to hole up from the zombie masses. It would likely be uninhabited (By the living), and if there were survivors they would be few. It probably has backup power generation systems, a good water supply and food that could sustain a small group of people for weeks maybe months. Also there would be weapons on site. The place would have to be cleared first though. This could be easy with zack behind bars. you could conceivably go systematically through the whole place within a day. Also there would be prison vehicles there ready to go.

Where as health and skills are concerned, I am in good health and able bodied. However, my skills are limited where as weapons and combat are concerned. I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to even get a gun and have never handled one. My biggest strength is that I'm an auto mechanic. (Note: Gas can and does go bad if stored improperly. But would take many years to become nonburnable (decades).) I can fix,maintain,repair most automobiles as well as many other types of machines. I also have the tools to do so. My hobbies would also be helpful. I have a backyard forge, I'm handy with a metal lathe and can melt,cast and work metal into just about anything I could need or conceive of(weapons). Given the time and supplies. These skills would become even more valuable In a post apocalypse world.

That's it in a nutshell.

[Michael Barakofsky]

OK. I don't own the DR book, and have never played. But here's what I would do if a zombie apocalypse happened to me. Once the perverbial $@#& hit the fan I would gather my closest friends and family (non-zobified of course) and head to the remand center(Prison) in my city. It's about an hours drive from where I live and not near the urban center. I think It would be a perfect place to hole up from the zombie masses. It would likely be uninhabited (By the living), and if there were survivors they would be few. It probably has backup power generation systems, a good water supply and food that could sustain a small group of people for weeks maybe months. Also there would be weapons on site. The place would have to be cleared first though. This could be easy with zack behind bars. you could conceivably go systematically through the whole place within a day. Also there would be prison vehicles there ready to go.

Where as health and skills are concerned, I am in good health and able bodied. However, my skills are limited where as weapons and combat are concerned. I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to even get a gun and have never handled one. My biggest strength is that I'm an auto mechanic. (Note: Gas can and does go bad if stored improperly. But would take many years to become nonburnable (decades).) I can fix,maintain,repair most automobiles as well as many other types of machines. I also have the tools to do so. My hobbies would also be helpful. I have a backyard forge, I'm handy with a metal lathe and can melt,cast and work metal into just about anything I could need or conceive of(weapons). Given the time and supplies. These skills would become even more valuable In a post apocalypse world.

That's it in a nutshell.

Beautiful, thats a great run down of viable skills and if it were to become a reality I would certainly try looking you up. I have good physical strength and can swing a mean sword (maybe you could forge one that wouldn't bend out of shape by the third swing in my hands ) also I have decent accuracy with both a .357 revolver and 30-30 rifle.

[Razzinold]

Ok I live in Newcastle Ontario, population about 10,000 (according to Wikipedia that is )

So here is my zombie plan, assuming that I am at home, I load the family into the car and head to my parents house, which is about 5 minutes away by car, and that is driving slow 80 km/h or slower, obviously I would drive quicker and get there in about 2. (of yeah I don't live in town I live in the rural part) so get to mom and dad's they live on 30 acres of property all fenced in and there are metal gates attached to stone walls that can close and lock over the driveway ( they are fancy looking ones that have spikes on them and are like 10 feet high easy. So roll in there, lock them behind me and head to the house (which cannot be seen from the road due to all the trees) So dad owns a few guns, plus my bow is there, also there is a variety of martial arts weaponry in the gym. For water sources he has two natural spring fed ponds on the property (close to the house) one of them is about 12 feet deep and stocked with trout and koi. So food and water, also there is a pool if he needed to boil that and drink it. He has a deer trail that runs through one corner of the property as well as coyotes and such. There is a large home gym to keep yourself in shape, a full garage set up including welding equipment, hydraulhic hoist and all the tools you need. plenty of cars and gas stored there, back up generators, oh and the stove is gas not electric so even if we lost power we could still cook for a while and his fireplaces are gas as well. He has three tanks he keeps full so it should last for a fairly long time. The only drawback is the garage/shop and gym are not in the house they are in a separate building accross the yard. As long as you check for Zeds before going out you shold be ok. Like I said the whole place is surrounded by trees, you wouldn't even know there was a house there except for the driveway and gates, but are Zeds smart enough to know that ? The house is very large and we could close of portions if we wanted too and there is also a tower we could go up into and block of the metal spiral staircase in times of emergency. I'm sure there is more but I'm at work and can't think of any right now.
p.s. Sorry for any spelling errors I typed this quickly

[Michael Barakofsky]

Ok I live in Newcastle Ontario, population about 10,000 (according to Wikipedia that is )

So here is my zombie plan, assuming that I am at home, I load the family into the car and head to my parents house, which is about 5 minutes away by car, and that is driving slow 80 km/h or slower, obviously I would drive quicker and get there in about 2. (of yeah I don't live in town I live in the rural part) so get to mom and dad's they live on 30 acres of property all fenced in and there are metal gates attached to stone walls that can close and lock over the driveway ( they are fancy looking ones that have spikes on them and are like 10 feet high easy. So roll in there, lock them behind me and head to the house (which cannot be seen from the road due to all the trees) So dad owns a few guns, plus my bow is there, also there is a variety of martial arts weaponry in the gym. For water sources he has two natural spring fed ponds on the property (close to the house) one of them is about 12 feet deep and stocked with trout and koi. So food and water, also there is a pool if he needed to boil that and drink it. He has a deer trail that runs through one corner of the property as well as coyotes and such. There is a large home gym to keep yourself in shape, a full garage set up including welding equipment, hydraulhic hoist and all the tools you need. plenty of cars and gas stored there, back up generators, oh and the stove is gas not electric so even if we lost power we could still cook for a while and his fireplaces are gas as well. He has three tanks he keeps full so it should last for a fairly long time. The only drawback is the garage/shop and gym are not in the house they are in a separate building accross the yard. As long as you check for Zeds before going out you shold be ok. Like I said the whole place is surrounded by trees, you wouldn't even know there was a house there except for the driveway and gates, but are Zeds smart enough to know that ? The house is very large and we could close of portions if we wanted too and there is also a tower we could go up into and block of the metal spiral staircase in times of emergency. I'm sure there is more but I'm at work and can't think of any right now.
p.s. Sorry for any spelling errors I typed this quickly

Sounds like a cozy "hideout a wait til it blows over" spot. As long as you dont invite too many friends over you should be set to survive. But I am more of the mind of "have a good fall back position and go out and hit the zeds with everything you got" then fall back to rest and recover.

[Oberoth]

So all this survival talk got me thinking. What if you were not able bodied? Elderly, handicapped, mentally handicapped or blind/deaf(WWZ covered blindness). This would pose a big problem for many of these survivors. Also some of these types require specific medication to live/function. It is likely they wouldn't survive long without help. But being handicapped doesn't mean an immediate death sentence. A good example of this is in Mad Max. At the desert oil rig where the story takes place there is a mechanic that is handicapped. He probably wouldn't have lived long without the help of the group. He was helped along because his knowledge/skills helped the group survive. But then again they never say how or when this happened to him.

Another thing I don't think has been mentioned is people with drug addictions. These survivors are likely to place themselves in bad situations to get their next fix and would take more risks so they could 'survive'. i.e. addict goes to his/her old dealers place to find his stash and runs in to him and his zombified buddies. Smokers and alcoholics are included in this as well. Personally I don't have more than a carton of smokes in my freezer per week. When I ran out I would be more than tempted to raid the local convenience store or gas station to get more. Also the withdrawal symptoms for some drugs can be quite debilitating.

Yet more usless information to fill your brain.

[Razzinold]

Ok I live in Newcastle Ontario, population about 10,000 (according to Wikipedia that is )

So here is my zombie plan, assuming that I am at home, I load the family into the car and head to my parents house, which is about 5 minutes away by car, and that is driving slow 80 km/h or slower, obviously I would drive quicker and get there in about 2. (of yeah I don't live in town I live in the rural part) so get to mom and dad's they live on 30 acres of property all fenced in and there are metal gates attached to stone walls that can close and lock over the driveway ( they are fancy looking ones that have spikes on them and are like 10 feet high easy. So roll in there, lock them behind me and head to the house (which cannot be seen from the road due to all the trees) So dad owns a few guns, plus my bow is there, also there is a variety of martial arts weaponry in the gym. For water sources he has two natural spring fed ponds on the property (close to the house) one of them is about 12 feet deep and stocked with trout and koi. So food and water, also there is a pool if he needed to boil that and drink it. He has a deer trail that runs through one corner of the property as well as coyotes and such. There is a large home gym to keep yourself in shape, a full garage set up including welding equipment, hydraulhic hoist and all the tools you need. plenty of cars and gas stored there, back up generators, oh and the stove is gas not electric so even if we lost power we could still cook for a while and his fireplaces are gas as well. He has three tanks he keeps full so it should last for a fairly long time. The only drawback is the garage/shop and gym are not in the house they are in a separate building accross the yard. As long as you check for Zeds before going out you shold be ok. Like I said the whole place is surrounded by trees, you wouldn't even know there was a house there except for the driveway and gates, but are Zeds smart enough to know that ? The house is very large and we could close of portions if we wanted too and there is also a tower we could go up into and block of the metal spiral staircase in times of emergency. I'm sure there is more but I'm at work and can't think of any right now.
p.s. Sorry for any spelling errors I typed this quickly

Sounds like a cozy "hideout a wait til it blows over" spot. As long as you dont invite too many friends over you should be set to survive. But I am more of the mind of "have a good fall back position and go out and hit the zeds with everything you got" then fall back to rest and recover.

Yeah it would be good, also have the German Shepards that bark at anyone who comes down the driveway so that is kind of an early warning system, plus one thing I forgot to mention is the type of alarm system they have. It is the early warning kind, as in if a window is smashed are a door bashed open we would know which part of the house was being broken in to. It is a large house and someone could be in one end and you would never know it unless you went there and looked.

for those intereseted here is a photo of their place with a few things labelle, It's from Google Earth and looks to be a little out of date.
http://s676.photobucket.com/albums/vv12 ... sHouse.jpg"

[Michael Barakofsky]

WOW , Razz that place is awesome, your folks have a very sweet spread. I think if the zed heads were to rise I might try to look you up and hole up there with ya, Not to worry I would bring my own guns but I think I might be out of ammo by the time I fought my way there . Sweet place.

[Razzinold]

WOW , Razz that place is awesome, your folks have a very sweet spread. I think if the zed heads were to rise I might try to look you up and hole up there with ya, Not to worry I would bring my own guns but I think I might be out of ammo by the time I fought my way there . Sweet place.

Well if you could make it, and make it without being A) infected or B) giving away the hiding spot then you would be more than welcome to join us.

Might be hard to find though, Newcastle is ont exactly big and like I said we live in the country not in the town. Tell you what if the Zombie Apoc happens I'll send the mapquest.ca instructions to your GPS or cell

[Michael Barakofsky]

WOW , Razz that place is awesome, your folks have a very sweet spread. I think if the zed heads were to rise I might try to look you up and hole up there with ya, Not to worry I would bring my own guns but I think I might be out of ammo by the time I fought my way there . Sweet place.

Well if you could make it, and make it without being A) infected or B) giving away the hiding spot then you would be more than welcome to join us.

Might be hard to find though, Newcastle is ont exactly big and like I said we live in the country not in the town. Tell you what if the Zombie Apoc happens I'll send the mapquest.ca instructions to your GPS or cell

Works for me

[ronekiln]

My new plan is to load up all my Eco-construction and sustainable living books, weapons and food, and head for Razz.

And along the way I'm stealing every single little solar panel on the side of the road that now powers the newer lit road signs.

[Oberoth]

A note on electrical power generation:

OK. So after the wave hits in full, power plants will go down quite quickly. Probably in the order of a few days. Coal plants will run out of coal, natural gas plants will run out of gas ect.. My guess is that 99% of utilities would be down within a week. The exceptions would be wind, solar and hydro. These systems would likely remain online longer than their carbon spewing brothers. But it must be noted that a continuous human presence is still required to maintain the grid. If no one is there to throw the right switches, any power generated will not be transmitted.

I know that not every survivor will be mechanically inclined, but there are a few simple ways to provide your own power that I can think of.

1. Obtain a gas power generator from a hardware store.
2. Produce your own power with one of those exercise bikes that power a little TV or radio.
3. Collect a bunch of those little solar panels that recharge car batteries.
4. Get a DC inverter for a car battery/Automotive electrical system.
5. This last one is in four parts:
1. Construct a human sized hamster wheel. Preferably from steel with boxed sides.
2. Hook up the wheel to a suitable electrical generator with pulleys or gears.
3. Capture a suitable sloucher.
4. Place said sloucher inside the wheel and let it shamble all it wants. And voila! a never ending supply of power.


A note on heat:

Survivors in the southern latitudes will not have a big problem with a lack of reliable heat generation. In fact they may have the opposite problem. However, in Canada where I live it gets cold and pretty much stays that way for a large portion of the year. For survival, if you don't have heat, you die. It's as simple as that. Sure, you could burn all the chairs in the furniture store your hiding in, but what do you do after all the combustibles are used up? Unless you were in a wooded area, you would never find enough material to burn to have reliable heat. Even if you were in a wooded area, chopping your own wood for heat/cooking is time consuming. Also having to deal with zack at the same time could make it harder or even impossible. Of course if you have a reliable power source(as stated above), this would not be a big problem.

[Smlawrence8]

Ok so i have spent about 3 hours reading all of those posts.....and while I doubt I will ever own DR (my wifes one true phobia is zombies..go figure) I have thought about what I would do in an apocalyptic situation.

I am an Army Reserve Combat Medic. I have done electrical work(my uncle is a master electrician and I have helped enough to have a good grasp). My stepfather used to be a mechanic so I have some basic knowledge of vehicles. Also I have help build sheds and done remodeling on my own home. My buddy and I love the woods so we used to camp and so I have more knowledge on how to survive in the wild....I work in a medical clinic in an automotive plant and it has 2 large cafeterias.

One thing I think people are forgetting is that there is one commodity (other than meds) that is very limited to most of us. METAL. You might be able to find it for a while but you probably wouldnt be able to mine for it and refine it .

Ok the plant here has all of the suitable items for first aid and many prescriptions. Antibiotics and mild narcotics. Sutures and braces. The plant also has places that are 3-4 stories high. The plant has HUGE water tanks for the cleaning and cooling processes. It has chemical that are so explosive that have to be put into special room so that if any smoke is detected the rooms seal(so basically great for explosives). It has everything from just rolls and rolls of sheet metal to leaf springs(great for weapons and tools). The cafes have some stores of non-perishable foods... It has large gates around the entire property. On the property are some deer. Across the street are 1-3 herd of cattle. The plant has back-up generator(though I dont know how long they last for). There are usually about 10-20 18 wheelers here at any given time. 3000-8000 cars and SUVs that have about a quarter of a tank (here is the mapquest look at it). Back Up fuel tanks.

Within a 20 mile radius are a few of those country hardware stores that carry just about everything. There are 5-10 gas stations. There is the coke bottling plant...that will tide the despair. 2-3 grocery stores. Auto parts places(if we need anything). Access to major highways and interstates including one directly to the ocean. Within in a Hundred miles there is a hydro electric dam if wee need to move we can.

I think better than hitting a pharmacy is hitting a small MD office. It more likely to not be raided and will have more of the first aid necessities. Baby wipes are essential and with the size of the building creating solar still should not be a huge problem. Libraries are a must. Hitting National guard and reserve units will be a must. Although the generally keep ALL of their weapons and munition seal in unopenable(at least to me) vaults. Humvees and deuce and a halfs will be great to load and carry stuff. Plus all of the manuals will be invaluable. Also in the MDs offices there will be the Physicians desk reference which will tell you what meds go with what conditions and their possible interactions.

For power I think car alternators would be great. Hook them up to where you biol the water and use steam to generate electricity. The plant is labyrinthine so it will be difficult for anything to come straight at you.....I know where plenty of gun shops are(hopefully they will have something left).

FEED STORES ARE A MUST TO HIT. Seeds, grain, animal food,pesticides and various tools.

After all of that assuming we are about 5 months in an would have had homes build on stilts on the plant then I would begin raids on home looking for survivors and supplies. However if you live in our group you MUST contribute. I will not support someone who can help and wont...

[velcRomanceR]

Consider the enrire plant has been overrun by the undead. Some of those folks in your town would have taken the Unisane inoculation and succumbed on Z-Day just like most of humanity.

If you can fight off 3000-8000 zeds, the plant is yours!

[Smlawrence8]

:lol:
Consider the enrire plant has been overrun by the undead. Some of those folks in your town would have taken the Unisane inoculation and succumbed on Z-Day just like most of humanity.

If you can fight off 3000-8000 zeds, the plant is yours!

there are about 1500 people here at any given time...And when panic breaks out then the majority of them will cut out.. I am figuring about 100-200 at the plant and very spread out. So I think with about 6 peopl eto start with.. roof top access being easy to obtain... and a couple of rifles to snipe with.. I think it could happen.. once the population of the zeds begins to dwindle then you can begin search and destroy missions on the plant and begin to secure the site totally

[Michael Barakofsky]

1. Construct a human sized hamster wheel. Preferably from steel with boxed sides.
2. Hook up the wheel to a suitable electrical generator with pulleys or gears.
3. Capture a suitable sloucher.
4. Place said sloucher inside the wheel and let it shamble all it wants. And voila! a never ending supply of power.

Sloucher Power, theres thinking outside the box for ya, or is that inside the wheel??? hmmmm.

[Razzinold]

OK Maybe I should come up with some sort of pre-approval form for people to fill out incase of an emergency ? That way people can be preapproved for citizenship (kinda like the CS) it will be based on what skills and or equipment you can contribute to our new community. lol

So everyone line up in an orderly fashion and you will be let in the gates as soon as you are cleared, like checking to see if you are infected, so if you so much as even sniffle, you may be shot So be carefull before aproaching. Make sure that you are not followed by humans or Zeds. We have to make sure our numbers don't grow too much, draws more attention and strains limited resources, so anyone have medical skills ? that would put you higher on the list, oh and a good GM so we can play Rifts during downtime when we are not farming, hunting or defending

Oh even if we do loose power (which is pretty evident) dad has a couple of generators and a fairly large pump and firehoses so we could still get water to the house (he uses it to pump water from the pond to the pool instead of paying for a water truck) and he has two one electric (which wouldn't work unless hooked up to the generator, but he also has one that is gas powered) One thing I thought of, they have one of those automatic lawn sprinkler systems set up (like gold courses, they are fairly high pressured (shoot a fair distance) too bad we couldn't drain the lines and fill the resevoir with gasoline and use it as a weapon. Some Zeds are shambling along the side yard, we turn on the sprinkers just in that zone (you can set it up by zone or turn all on at once) and they get soaked with gas, toss a couple moltov's and boom crispy zeds. Too bad we weren't being attacked by vamps, have a few priets bless the holding tanks, bam! instant holy water cannons!

[Oberoth]

1. Construct a human sized hamster wheel. Preferably from steel with boxed sides.
2. Hook up the wheel to a suitable electrical generator with pulleys or gears.
3. Capture a suitable sloucher.
4. Place said sloucher inside the wheel and let it shamble all it wants. And voila! a never ending supply of power.

Sloucher Power, theres thinking outside the box for ya, or is that inside the wheel??? hmmmm.

I figured that if your going to survive, you have to use your environment to your advantage. That includes the undead.

[Oberoth]

OK Maybe I should come up with some sort of pre-approval form for people to fill out incase of an emergency ? That way people can be preapproved for citizenship (kinda like the CS) it will be based on what skills and or equipment you can contribute to our new community. lol

So everyone line up in an orderly fashion and you will be let in the gates as soon as you are cleared, like checking to see if you are infected, so if you so much as even sniffle, you may be shot So be carefull before aproaching. Make sure that you are not followed by humans or Zeds. We have to make sure our numbers don't grow too much, draws more attention and strains limited resources, so anyone have medical skills ? that would put you higher on the list, oh and a good GM so we can play Rifts during downtime when we are not farming, hunting or defending

Oh even if we do loose power (which is pretty evident) dad has a couple of generators and a fairly large pump and firehoses so we could still get water to the house (he uses it to pump water from the pond to the pool instead of paying for a water truck) and he has two one electric (which wouldn't work unless hooked up to the generator, but he also has one that is gas powered) One thing I thought of, they have one of those automatic lawn sprinkler systems set up (like gold courses, they are fairly high pressured (shoot a fair distance) too bad we couldn't drain the lines and fill the resevoir with gasoline and use it as a weapon. Some Zeds are shambling along the side yard, we turn on the sprinkers just in that zone (you can set it up by zone or turn all on at once) and they get soaked with gas, toss a couple moltov's and boom crispy zeds. Too bad we weren't being attacked by vamps, have a few priets bless the holding tanks, bam! instant holy water cannons!

Here are some useful skills to have in the event of a zombapocalypse, or any apocalypse for that matter.

Any weapons or combat training. Military, Police.
Medical knowledge. Doctor/nurse/paramedic. Note: ALL military personnel will know first aid or better.
wilderness survival.
engineering knowledge. army/civil/Electrical.
Mechanical skills. Auto mechanic, blacksmith, gunsmith, arrowsmith .
Any tradesman will have useful knowledge and skills. After all, you will need a good drywall guy to board and tape that wall that was destroyed by slouchers last week.
As Razz so aptly pointed out above, men of the cloth can be useful too.
Communications(electronic). Ham shortwave radio, military.
Communications(Morse code). I recently learned Morse, just for fun. It has some advantages over high tech communications. no electricity is required to send a signal short distances. It can be completely silent(Aldis lamp or heliograph).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliograph
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal_lamp

With minimal electrical power a telegraph system could be hooked up (between two buildings for example). Also, most modern military organizations are still taught Morse.

Note: Though GPS satellites will still be in orbit, the service provider will be unavailable. so knowing simple navigation skills; Such as knowing how to use a Sextant and finding the north star will be useful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sextant
http://www.wikihow.com/Find-the-North-Star
http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/sunti ... t_tchr.pdf (how to build a sextant)

Alas, when all our modern technology fails us or becomes unavailable; these low tech skills may be a life saver.

[Michael Barakofsky]

Lets see list of qualifications (this is gonna be sad)
1) minor mechanic (quick study can figure most things out rather quickly)

2) minor electrician (if it sparks don't touch it, , without insulated pliers. Been lit up once cause a friend turned on the breaker to my trailer homes heating/cooling system while I was trying to re-wire it, not fun)

3) Redneck

4) no combat training but many years of experience in piping the hole in the "P" in sprite cans at 50 to 100 feet with my .357 and .45 revolvers. (give me a break I have to stay on my property and it aint that large the only place I can set up so as not to be point at my home or anyone elses for that matter don't leave me with a whole lot of range.)

5) I may not be an ordained preacher but I am a deacon at my church, and have some experience in prayers, leading others in prayer, and my friends say I have a soap box perpetually glued to my feet (given at how I can start preaching (not in a bad way) at the drop of a hat sometimes)

6) Redneck

7) fairly strong, if I can get myself under it I can lift around the 800-900 pound mark bymyself, I have lifted and carried around 400 lbs repeatedly in the past when I was younger.

8 ) I am blind in my left eye, so my other senses have compensated for it, a better sense of smell and hearing (even with a little ringing in my ears that last hearing test I had about 2 years ago the physician said that I hear better than most and that she wished her husband heard as good as I do )

9) Redneck

10) I am also a GM for the following systems: Rifts, Splicers, Dead Reign (living it might not want to play it though ), Heroes Unlimited, TMNT, Robotech, Systems Failure, Beyond the Supernatural, and Shadowrun.

[Razzinold]

Mechanical skills. Auto mechanic, blacksmith, gunsmith, arrowsmith .

Ha, ha that is funny, ok so far you are in

Same with Michael B. (Git-R-Done, ha just messing with you)

Anyones else wanna bunker down there ?

[Michael Barakofsky]

Hey Razz, its cool, I proudly lay claim to being a redneck and take no offense at the cable guy comment, I think hes funny too.

[Razzinold]

Maybe we will get along ok sine you have a good sense of humor, I feel I do as well, hell I may as well be a Redneck In Training (RIT). I live out in the country, in a trailer park, and some of the people here good easily be on an episode or two of trailer park boys!

I thought of a few more things for home defence, could also work for other people too. Now being on 30 acres that is a lot of grass so my parents have interlocking brick pathways that lead to different places (the shop, to the patio/pool in the back, to the pond on the side). I was thinking if we booby trapped all the grassy areas, every human would know to stick to the bricks. Step off the bricks and you are in "no man's land". This way we could really amp it up in the way of defending the place before the zeds even reach the house itself. Kind of like 28 days later where they knew that the other side of the fence meant a mine field. We could rig up snares or pits, wouldn't be too hard to camoflague them, I mean slouchers are pretty dumb right ? The only problem would be the runners and thinkers, thinkers might figure out to use the bricks, and runners might avoid the pits.

[Oberoth]

Ok I live in Newcastle Ontario, population about 10,000 (according to Wikipedia that is )

So here is my zombie plan, assuming that I am at home, I load the family into the car and head to my parents house, which is about 5 minutes away by car, and that is driving slow 80 km/h or slower, obviously I would drive quicker and get there in about 2. (of yeah I don't live in town I live in the rural part) so get to mom and dad's they live on 30 acres of property all fenced in and there are metal gates attached to stone walls that can close and lock over the driveway ( they are fancy looking ones that have spikes on them and are like 10 feet high easy. So roll in there, lock them behind me and head to the house (which cannot be seen from the road due to all the trees) So dad owns a few guns, plus my bow is there, also there is a variety of martial arts weaponry in the gym. For water sources he has two natural spring fed ponds on the property (close to the house) one of them is about 12 feet deep and stocked with trout and koi. So food and water, also there is a pool if he needed to boil that and drink it. He has a deer trail that runs through one corner of the property as well as coyotes and such. There is a large home gym to keep yourself in shape, a full garage set up including welding equipment, hydraulhic hoist and all the tools you need. plenty of cars and gas stored there, back up generators, oh and the stove is gas not electric so even if we lost power we could still cook for a while and his fireplaces are gas as well. He has three tanks he keeps full so it should last for a fairly long time. The only drawback is the garage/shop and gym are not in the house they are in a separate building accross the yard. As long as you check for Zeds before going out you shold be ok. Like I said the whole place is surrounded by trees, you wouldn't even know there was a house there except for the driveway and gates, but are Zeds smart enough to know that ? The house is very large and we could close of portions if we wanted too and there is also a tower we could go up into and block of the metal spiral staircase in times of emergency. I'm sure there is more but I'm at work and can't think of any right now.
p.s. Sorry for any spelling errors I typed this quickly

Hey Razz. You mentioned that there are spring fed ponds on your property. To me this means there is moving water. You could build a simple water wheel to supplement your gas generators.
If there is not moving water then there's always wind power. You should tell your dad to start working on that. Just in case.

[Razzinold]

Ok I live in Newcastle Ontario, population about 10,000 (according to Wikipedia that is )

So here is my zombie plan, assuming that I am at home, I load the family into the car and head to my parents house, which is about 5 minutes away by car, and that is driving slow 80 km/h or slower, obviously I would drive quicker and get there in about 2. (of yeah I don't live in town I live in the rural part) so get to mom and dad's they live on 30 acres of property all fenced in and there are metal gates attached to stone walls that can close and lock over the driveway ( they are fancy looking ones that have spikes on them and are like 10 feet high easy. So roll in there, lock them behind me and head to the house (which cannot be seen from the road due to all the trees) So dad owns a few guns, plus my bow is there, also there is a variety of martial arts weaponry in the gym. For water sources he has two natural spring fed ponds on the property (close to the house) one of them is about 12 feet deep and stocked with trout and koi. So food and water, also there is a pool if he needed to boil that and drink it. He has a deer trail that runs through one corner of the property as well as coyotes and such. There is a large home gym to keep yourself in shape, a full garage set up including welding equipment, hydraulhic hoist and all the tools you need. plenty of cars and gas stored there, back up generators, oh and the stove is gas not electric so even if we lost power we could still cook for a while and his fireplaces are gas as well. He has three tanks he keeps full so it should last for a fairly long time. The only drawback is the garage/shop and gym are not in the house they are in a separate building accross the yard. As long as you check for Zeds before going out you shold be ok. Like I said the whole place is surrounded by trees, you wouldn't even know there was a house there except for the driveway and gates, but are Zeds smart enough to know that ? The house is very large and we could close of portions if we wanted too and there is also a tower we could go up into and block of the metal spiral staircase in times of emergency. I'm sure there is more but I'm at work and can't think of any right now.
p.s. Sorry for any spelling errors I typed this quickly

Hey Razz. You mentioned that there are spring fed ponds on your property. To me this means there is moving water. You could build a simple water wheel to supplement your gas generators.
If there is not moving water then there's always wind power. You should tell your dad to start working on that. Just in case.

Yeah there are underground (hot and cold springs that feed the pond) he dug the pond with a huge excavator because he found out that there were natural springs under the ground. He also built a small waterfall (not sufficient enough to power anything, that leads into a man made river that leads into the pond as well, maybe if we increased the pressure to that we caould generate power ?

OK another thing, I kinda feel bad 'cause it seems to me that I sorta high jacked this thread so I am going to start my own thread called Building my "perfect" hideout and we can continue this there as well as other people's ideas about their "perfect" hideouts.

[Aku-Arkaine]

First off, I gotta agree with kilgore back on page 2. Warehouses and Distribution Centers. Those are so the place to hit up for supplies, especially considering that most people just don't think about them unless they live near a port.

As for what I'd do, I live in a small town in Ohio of about 300 people. I can probably figure on a quarter to a third being in the hospital or gone to the hills. That leaves about 200 people. I can figure on about 150 of the being zeds. That leaves around fifty country boys who have been gun toting fools since they were 10+ to organize and clear the town. The town is in a valley and the National Guard Armory is 1/4 mi. away. Most of us have wells we can hand pump, have gardens or farms that we can grow food in, have a wide variety of skills (i.e. electrician, volunteer firefighter/EMT, carpenter, etc.), and should be able to barricade off the town to limit access. Wouldn't hurt to talk to the local Amish for how to live without electricity, but even then we could rig something.

The problem is getting rednecks organized.

[Tricky]

Wow, haven't lived in that small of an Ohio Town in a while!

Aku-Arkaine, I don't think that organizing the "rednecks" will be a problem: first couple of sloucher attacks will more than likely galvanize any community into action.
Judging from conversations I had this weekend (about the situation the country is in, not zombie tactics sadly), I fear the more problematic issue would be channeling their efforts into worthwhile pursuits, and keeping them from letting their preconceived notions about "the world" color their actions.
For example, this weekend I 'learned' that: Obama is taking away our guns; Obama is destroying the constitution; the republicans are trying to break up our country; Rush is trying to start a race war; China is behind all our problems; the devil is behind all our problems; only being a Christian can truly save you in the comming months; and the bankers have successfully taken over our gov't.

So, the hard part won't be convincing them to fortify a structure, for example. The hard part will be convincing them about the nature of the enemy, and not to waste time going after percieved enemies that have nothing to do with the current situation!

[--Remi Diel--]

Okay, new question ( I actually need help figuring this one out):

SITUATION:

You arrive at the local grocery store to try and scavenge for food. When you get there, you find that everything is gone, except for the frozen food section. Somehow the entire freezer department has gone relatively unmolested and all of those yummy frozen pizzas, veggies and TV dinners are at your disposal.

PROBLEM:

What do you do with all of this food? The power will go out soon (if it hasn't already) so your refrigerator will not work. What would you do with hoards of frozen perishable foodstuffs with no conventional way of keeping it cold?




--Only thing I can come up with is digging a hole in the ground, maybe its cooler in a deeper place. Anyone got anything better than this? Because the thought strikes me that if we can come up with a decent solution it may benefit us come Z-Day.

In this case I would have to say look for a refrigerated box truck or semi trailer. If you can figure out a way to get the vehicle/trailer to whatever safe place you're staying at and manage to get power to it, you're set. Not that moving the vehicle/trailer or providing power to it will be an easy task, but it is an idea. With enough power, or several units on one trailer, you could have up to 53' of frozen storage space. And, if hunting, have a place to store fresh meat without having to dry it.

[GreenGhost]

Okay, new question ( I actually need help figuring this one out):

SITUATION:

You arrive at the local grocery store to try and scavenge for food. When you get there, you find that everything is gone, except for the frozen food section. Somehow the entire freezer department has gone relatively unmolested and all of those yummy frozen pizzas, veggies and TV dinners are at your disposal.

PROBLEM:

What do you do with all of this food? The power will go out soon (if it hasn't already) so your refrigerator will not work. What would you do with hoards of frozen perishable foodstuffs with no conventional way of keeping it cold?




--Only thing I can come up with is digging a hole in the ground, maybe its cooler in a deeper place. Anyone got anything better than this? Because the thought strikes me that if we can come up with a decent solution it may benefit us come Z-Day.

In this case I would have to say look for a refrigerated box truck or semi trailer. If you can figure out a way to get the vehicle/trailer to whatever safe place you're staying at and manage to get power to it, you're set. Not that moving the vehicle/trailer or providing power to it will be an easy task, but it is an idea. With enough power, or several units on one trailer, you could have up to 53' of frozen storage space. And, if hunting, have a place to store fresh meat without having to dry it.

This is true. I've seen plenty of resturaunts that have a small box trailer that they use as an outside fridge or freezer. It just depends on what temp setting you want it on, but like you said; it probably wouldn't be an easy task. However, if you were able to get it to work!

[Aku-Arkaine]

Wow, haven't lived in that small of an Ohio Town in a while!

Aku-Arkaine, I don't think that organizing the "rednecks" will be a problem: first couple of sloucher attacks will more than likely galvanize any community into action.
Judging from conversations I had this weekend (about the situation the country is in, not zombie tactics sadly), I fear the more problematic issue would be channeling their efforts into worthwhile pursuits, and keeping them from letting their preconceived notions about "the world" color their actions.
For example, this weekend I 'learned' that: Obama is taking away our guns; Obama is destroying the constitution; the republicans are trying to break up our country; Rush is trying to start a race war; China is behind all our problems; the devil is behind all our problems; only being a Christian can truly save you in the comming months; and the bankers have successfully taken over our gov't.

So, the hard part won't be convincing them to fortify a structure, for example. The hard part will be convincing them about the nature of the enemy, and not to waste time going after percieved enemies that have nothing to do with the current situation!

I take your point. Though people in town seem pretty reasonable about such things, fear IS the mind killer