Most sought after luxury

[Oberoth]

What are the most sought after luxuries in DR, the things that make life little bit more easy.

As a smoker, Cigarettes would be nice to have. Sure, you could probably scrounge/forage them, but at great personal risk. This item would likely become one of the most sought after luxuries in DR. I imagine it like the early spice trade.

[Misfit KotLD]

Antibiotics

Almost a necessity. Of course, the alcohol can double as antiseptic in many cases.

[Misfit KotLD]

Antibiotics may be a necessity, but in a world where they are almost impossible to manufacture ... they become a luxury.

Same with the alcohol, though it is easier to produce.

[Misfit KotLD]

I'm gonna have to say electricity. Sure, anyone can produce it with the right equipment on hand. But not everyone knows how, and not everyone is going to have the proper equipment. Not to mention that it's easier to generate in some areas than it would be in others.

Because it isn't necessary to live, nor would all be able to have it, it would be considered a luxury. And this is one that I prefer to not have to live without. (I can hear princess vespa already - it's my industrial strength hair dryer, and I can't live WITHOUT IT!)

As cool as electricity is, I'm going to say toilet paper trumps it.

[Misfit KotLD]

I'm gonna have to say electricity. Sure, anyone can produce it with the right equipment on hand. But not everyone knows how, and not everyone is going to have the proper equipment. Not to mention that it's easier to generate in some areas than it would be in others.

Because it isn't necessary to live, nor would all be able to have it, it would be considered a luxury. And this is one that I prefer to not have to live without. (I can hear princess vespa already - it's my industrial strength hair dryer, and I can't live WITHOUT IT!)

As cool as electricity is, I'm going to say toilet paper trumps it.

Well, consider this: With electricity, you would have the capacity to MANUFACTURE toilet paper. Without electricity, you will eventually run out of TP. In fact, without electricity, we're going to run out of all kinds of stuff. Not everything - you don't need electricity to manufacture everything. But just about everything on that little poll list is bye-bye after a while without it.

Methinks electricity now trumps a lot of stuff - including TP.

You need more than electricity to manufacture anything.

[azazel1024]

+1 TP for a luxory.

Its going to take a long more then simply a runing factory and electricity to make TP, whole industrial supply chain to make it work.

I can streach out TP. Or almost as good, paper towls.

For antibiotics, you could manufacture basic penicilin if you knew what you were doing. You couldn't mass produce it without industrial scale equipment, but small doses you could culture the fungus, etc to make it. Again, I doubt even 1 in 1,000 people alive currently (IE real world) would have the know-how and ability to do it, but it is possible without a full pharmaceutical industry backing you up. Other alternatives to medicins are things like honey (on wounds it functions as a natural antiseptic releasing hydrogen peroxide and contains natural antimicrobrial substances), chamomile (mild natural seditive and soothes stomach aches), licquorice (soothes tooth aches and stomach aches), etc.

Man surived for thousands of years without modern medicine. Sure life spans were shorter, but good holistic medicine back with what modern science knows about holistic treatments can go a really long way.
-Matt

[Wōdwulf Seaxaning]

Booze.. makes life better ..hic.. LOL Plus it can be bartered for food n' such.

[rat_bastard]

Coffee.

[azazel1024]

Yes, I will agree that electricity isn't the only thing that's needed to manufacture stuff. And I also agree that TP is a nice thing to have when you have to have it. Heck - I'd rather have it and not need than need it and not have it. But it still isn't up there, in my opinion, with electricity. Why? Potential uses, plain and simple. Remember, this is a luxury item we are talking about, so take the following with a grain of salt.

TP doesn't have very many uses. You wad it up and clean your business. You can blow your nose into it. When wet down with water, it can be compressed and used as insulation. When wet down with a flammable material, you have a weapon. And this is about it. I may have missed one or two, but you get the idea.

Electricity has many uses. The ability to provide power to other items is of paramount importance. The list is almost endless, but it includes things like cars, lamps (with light bulbs), space heaters (try living in the north in the winter without one of these), rechargeable power tools, etc. It can be used as a light source, a heat source, and as a weapon. We don't need it to survive, but it sure makes life after Z-Day a whole lot nicer, doesn't it?

Again, electricity for the win. In my opinion. I can always find a leaf or a piece of paper to, well, you know. I can't just walk outside and find a power source.

You forgot that you can play "TP the shambler" as a prank. I mean, who hasn't had a bout of drunken hilarity by TPing the local shambler and taking off before the local runners show up to spoil the party???
-Matt

[psam_rage]

I voted nice car. Not Lamborghini or Ferrari nice, I mean good quality and useful for getting away from/splattering Zeds.

On the topic of TP... sponge on a stick anyone? Newspaper should be fine.

[azazel1024]

I voted nice car. Not Lamborghini or Ferrari nice, I mean good quality and useful for getting away from/splattering Zeds.

One the topic of TP... sponge on a stick anyone? Newspaper should be fine.

Something like a subaru outback or forester, maybe with a bit of a lift, some welded steel slats on the windows and some steel skid plates for underneath and your in business. Low center of gravity, good space for gear, supplies and scavanged goods, room for some people, great off roading, halfway decent fuel milage. You could mount a bike or even lighter motorcycle to the back or even throw it up on the roof.

That would be my choice.
-Matt

[Nightbreed]

Gotta go with the masses on the TP train. Electricity has its uses, but i'll be damned if i have to use a leaf (fates forbid that somehow it's poison ivy or something just as bad) to wipe with.

[rat_bastard]

If you whiny pansies get all worked up over having to do without TP you are never going to be able to make it against zombie hoards.

[Oberoth]

I have to agree with rat_bastard. TP, while nice to have, certainly won't help me survive. Putting my tobacco addiction aside, Leon is quite correct about the uses of electricity. The benefits far outweigh the difficulties in procuring/producing power, and the luxury of TP. With electricity you can build better weapons, shelter, and pump and heat water for showers. Certainly once you have reached that point, many items that were built with the ease and assistance of electricity can be traded for appropriate wiping paper.

[Nightbreed]

If you whiny pansies get all worked up over having to do without TP you are never going to be able to make it against zombie hoards.

Well considering that i'll die anyways (my health issues and all), i want to have as much luxery as possible.

[azazel1024]

By your definition then electricity is no longer a luxory, but a necessity. If you need it to survive, it is a necessity, if it would simply make your life nicer, then it is a luxory or a want. Needs you must have, wants are just nice.

TP is a big want, electricity is a need under your scenario (okay, almost a need).

I can live without electricity easier then I can live without TP. I've done both with backpacking and trust me, I was happier without the electricity then I was without the TP.

For electricity, they certainly aren't THE most common things in the world, but yank down a solar panel from a street sign and find a power inverter. Most street signs are working on 12v solar panels, so its easy enough to use a cigarette lighter car inverter. That will let you do thing like charge batteries, run/charge a laptop, run a radio, etc. A little dinky sign solar panel is probably only 20-30w, but that is more then enough to charge batteries and operate low powered electronic devices. Find a few and you can easily charge an array for car batteries and then run a more powerful inverter off of that to operate electrical power tools, run a water heater, etc.

As for a water heater...screw electrical, build a wood fired water heater. With some basic welding skills they are easy enough to throw together and hell, without even welding skills you could probably bodge together something from a regular electric/gas water heater using gravity to operate a shower.
-Matt

[J. Lionheart]

I'm going to agree with the electricity suggestion, at least if you're in the old United States or similar ex-industrial nation. Electricity simply makes so many things in life easier, and in the DR world, returns function to an incredible number of scroungable items that otherwise would be 100% useless. Having been without both electricity and TP at various points, backpacking and such, while TP is the thing I'd miss more in the short term, electricity turns the prospect of long term survival from a cold, wet, dark drudgery in to some semblance of civilization - which is what I feel most people would be missing most after a couple days. Take your average resident of an industrialized nation, and they're going to be crying for their microwave oven after a few days with a campfire. Dead Reign is 6 months after the zombocalypse - there are some people right now who would kill to simply flick a lightswitch, punch a couple buttons, and lie down.

Come to think of it, I feel like potable running water and soap might be even more sought after than TP within a very short period. If you've had some intestinal difficulties, sure you don't want to clean off with leaves, but I bet you'd rather use leaves and wash your hands, than use TP and have no way of washing before your meal. Soap can make many people feel ok no matter what junk they just got in to, and potable running water is something we're all just staggeringly used to. Back in ancient times, civilizations were founded based on the location of this resource. Today, the rivers and streams aren't all clean, and finding water to drink, much less cook or wash with, can be a huge challenge.

[azazel1024]

True, but I'd say potable water falls in to the 'need' catagory. Soap is also pretty close to a need as it assures continued health and hygine. For potable water, a pot and a fire can get it done, if not quickly and it doesn't take care of chemicals.

A roman well would also work if you expand the concept. Instead of sinking a well fill a barrel with as fine a sand as you can with a mesh screen to keep it contained with an opening at the bottom. This will filter a heck of a lot from the water, though not micro organisms. For even better filtering you can create activated charcoal. Basically make charcoal, which isn't to hard to do, then soak it in a water/CaCL2 mixture (calcium chloride, or chalk). CaCL2 isn't going to be the easist thing to do, but any school or supply store it likely to have a lot of chalk to raid and even without that if you live near limestone deposits it isn't to hard to 'home process' chalk from limestone.

Use the activated charcoal as a filter and then boil the water.

Just thoughts on potable water.
-Matt

[J. Lionheart]

Good point azazel, potable water definitely is a "need" rather than a "luxury." I should have limited my argument simply to "running water," which I meant to have as the key. I added potable to distinguish it from just finding a stream or something, but I just mean clean running water from a tap or hose, as opposed to having to having to get it via buckets, wells, boiling, tablets, etc. Simply turning the tap to get your clean water is a huge luxury, when your normally have to go through the process of manually gathering and prepping it.

[azazel1024]

Good point azazel, potable water definitely is a "need" rather than a "luxury." I should have limited my argument simply to "running water," which I meant to have as the key. I added potable to distinguish it from just finding a stream or something, but I just mean clean running water from a tap or hose, as opposed to having to having to get it via buckets, wells, boiling, tablets, etc. Simply turning the tap to get your clean water is a huge luxury, when your normally have to go through the process of manually gathering and prepping it.

Your damn skippy.

Maybe better then TP, a flush toilet with a seat. Oh man would that be nice.
-Matt

[Tags]

Toilet paper? just use yer hand. ;>

[Michael Barakofsky]

To all of you who said toilet paper is a must, speaking from experience I have used newspaper and pages torn out of magazines and even a few hankerchiefs when I was in a bad time 10+ years ago, and while it was not comfortable it wasn't a bother either you do what you have to to survive.

Now that I chew tobacco I must say that will be a luxury that is in high demand, not the highest but in the top 5, alcohol, ammo, and women (or men if you are a woman) (actually finding alone time in a safe place with said opposite gender) will also be in the top 5 of luxuries.

[jedi078]

Poop paper......just ask any deployed GI.

[rat_bastard]

For me, top luxury will be Coffee, Alcohol Keeps and can be far more of a hindrance, Toilet paper is plentiful and can be improvised but if I don't have my morning caffeine nothing else works right.

[azazel1024]

Poop paper......just ask any deployed GI.

Or any backpacker.

I've run out before and man it was ****



Leaves just aren't the same.
-Matt

[Tags]

Pfttt, if ya need toilet paper that badly I doubt that would be much of a problem, one has to wonder if ya could even survive. ;>

Coffee on the other hand, is a strict necessity, there can be no life without coffee, as long as it's good coffee, I'd rather then then drink bad... cheep coffee. Speaking of which...