Zombie survival

farmermick

Zombie survival rules
Number 1
You will need:
To learn how to ride a motorbike, you can do this by getting motorbike riding lessons unsurprisingly.*
You will need a bike to get out of the city and stay out.*
You will not need to buy a bike, you will however need to identify a local bike shop where on Z day you will either ' test ride' one or break in and steal one. Obviously there will be no law from Z day on so don't be afraid of this. No harm to test ride a bike before z day from the shop to familiarise yourself with the shop, build a rapport with the staff, identify where the keys and FUEL are etc. Talk about finance, if you think you are not going to be able to steal the bike then almost organise finance for the bike with the bike shop before hand, than on Z day morning walk in and sign on the bottom line without fear :-)
Obviously if Z day creeps up on you, which it could- we could all be in denial that day ,and you are only taking action Z+1 then if you have a vehicle and if you can get it that far, ram raid the bike shop.
Again remember the first point , if you can't already you WILL need to learn how to ride a bike.*

ScumLord

That's a lot of time and investment for a vehicle that's not really going to be the wonder transport you'd assume it is. The biggest draw back is the risk of injury, motorbikes are dangerous and it will take you a while to get familiar with a bike which isn't good when your panicked and if it's raining on the day you'd be much safer walking. Over all walking would be the best method of escape as long as you have a decent enough standard of fitness. You won't be restricted to roads and won't be stopped by barricades.

Knowing how to ride a bike would be very beneficial but I wouldn't depend on it for safety.

podgemonster

For me the best mode of transport is always going to be on 4 wheels. A heavy duty jeep or pick up truck would be the ideal vehicle.

Speed isnt really an issue against the hordes but brute power, durability and reliability are. It would also be nice to listen to some heavy metal music while clipping zombies on route to your safehouse!

Ginja Ninja

I'd agree with you that riding a bike is a crucial skill to have,but a normal pedal bike not a motorbike.Why? Silent,efficient,don't need petrol and are great for nipping through other obstacles[e.g crashed cars,fallen trees etc.]

That and the fact that this is ireland means it's pretty ideal.My plan to bug out if I'm caught in the city is grab some supplies[ few cans of beans or that] strap on my backpack and cycle for home in mayo.Why?at a decent pace[and I cycle everywhere so I can hold a decent speed for a while] I can cross the country in about 8 hours,less than a day.No gridlock,no petrol stations and it's pretty easy to hop across a few fields with a back to reach a back road and continue on.

Cyclists FTW

ScumLord

Ginja Ninja wrote: »

I'd agree with you that riding a bike is a crucial skill to have,but a normal pedal bike not a motorbike.Why? Silent,efficient,don't need petrol and are great for nipping through other obstacles[e.g crashed cars,fallen trees etc.]

With a fold up bike you could pack it up when the terrain becomes impassable. Which will happen.

The roads and paths we're used to would be eaten up by vegetation in Ireland if unused for any length of time. So all vehicles will begin to loss their effectiveness unless they're proper off road.

I still think foot is the best way to go, you don't need to run from zombies so the real threat is other people. Even a pedal bike will restrict you to commonly travelled roads which means more contact with living threats. On foot you can stay off the road but still follow it for navigation. It would mean finding somewhere to sleep as you may not be able to make it from A to B in one session.

Dan_Solo

Only one way to travel.

Probably set you back less than a Harley too.

This is what I don't get in most zombie movies. Just get into one of these and close the goddam door. Zombies wander off eventually, and even if they don't just go for a bit of a drive and they'll fall off.
They might be able to bash down front doors of houses, but 3/4 inch plate stell will seriously blunt their teeth!

ScumLord

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Only one way to travel.

Probably set you back less than a Harley too.

This is what I don't get in most zombie movies. Just get into one of these and close the goddam door. Zombies wander off eventually, and even if they don't just go for a bit of a drive and they'll fall off.
They might be able to bash down front doors of houses, but 3/4 inch plate stell will seriously blunt their teeth!

Because these aren't available, unless you live next door to the place where these machines are stored you won't have access to them. Even if you do manage to get past the trained killers that guard them and do get into one you probably won't know how to drive it. It's not a car, it's a tool that's designed to do a specific task.

Then of course there's all the practical limitations like the fact it probably has a fuel tank the same size as your home heating oil tank. It may not even fit down many Irish streets plus if you don't have the necessary training (which could take months) to know how to drive in certain terrain you could turn it over, drive it off a ledge or bring down a building on top of your head.

farmermick

Zombie survival rules 2
Number 2
You are going to need to be in the loop, you are going to need to become part of the system, for two reasons - it wouldn't be bad training for you city folk anyway and........ It gets you through road blocks.*
Ok 2 points there , first one first, training, either sign up for st john's ambulance, civil defence, or reserve Garda. Yeah I know it sounds daft but if you're serious about survival these would teach you stuff you need to know. Before I go any further I want to remind you I am talking about YOUR survival here, I am NOT suggesting you in any way help other people on Z day or stay part of the system. You are going to just use these organisations and on z day get out of there.*
Ok, training , first aid/ accidents / blood/ injured people/ dead people- you are going to need to get used of it, you may think you will be ok about it but unless you do a bit of it you might not.*
The system- if you join these organisations you will know the emergency plan for your area, know how the system works so on z day it won't look unfamiliar.*
Radios- all these use radios, you probably haven't , you will need them.*
Ok that's the training end covered now the second point, road blocks. If you want out of the city the only way through road blocks is .......... Wearing a uniform. Get it?
Again, *remember these points get trained, get informed,get a radio, get a uniform and you've got an excuse.....

Micky Dolenz

Maybe just keep it all in the same thread.

Fallschirmjager

i think the issue really will be with survival and how quickly modern medicines perish when not stored correctly and with power cuts thats is a definite. it would not take long before anyone with any type of modern controllable illness would be in serious difficulty. it would be back to medicine from your herb garden fairly quickly.

the other issue is and i always forget this, modern ammunition also has a life cycle as does fuel. so excluding diesel, most petrol cars or petrol based travel would (even with access to fuel) would be dodgy. i cant remember how long it takes but i seem to remember it a matter of months.

here is a deep question...are the survivors also a type of zombie? are they living off the corpse of a dead lifestyle that depends on 24 hour deliveries to sustain itself... ??

desperately depressing to think we are all going to become those really annoying pedal bike based couriers ...jeeze...

Dan_Solo

ScumLord wrote: »

Because these aren't available

Er, look at the source of that image...

Or here...

Dan_Solo

Fallschirmjager wrote: »

i think the issue really will be with survival and how quickly modern medicines perish when not stored correctly and with power cuts thats is a definite. it would not take long before anyone with any type of modern controllable illness would be in serious difficulty. it would be back to medicine from your herb garden fairly quickly.

the other issue is and i always forget this, modern ammunition also has a life cycle as does fuel. so excluding diesel, most petrol cars or petrol based travel would (even with access to fuel) would be dodgy. i cant remember how long it takes but i seem to remember it a matter of months.

here is a deep question...are the survivors also a type of zombie? are they living off the corpse of a dead lifestyle that depends on 24 hour deliveries to sustain itself... ??

desperately depressing to think we are all going to become those really annoying pedal bike based couriers ...jeeze...

I would put the shelf life of many basic antibiotics as years, whatever the official expiry date on them. Also, I've never heard of an expiry date for munitions, which is why WWII shells are still lethal to this day.
Day Of The Triffids probably covers a lot of the realities of post-apocalypse survival better than any zombie movie...

ScumLord

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Er, look at the source of that image...

Or here...

Have another closer look, namely the location of these things. If I could read Polish I think I might also find they're not even running. I don't think collectors of large military equipment are common either.

Fallschirmjager wrote: »

the other issue is and i always forget this, modern ammunition also has a life cycle as does fuel. so excluding diesel, most petrol cars or petrol based travel would (even with access to fuel) would be dodgy. i cant remember how long it takes but i seem to remember it a matter of months.

I know the Americans have a mountain where they store millions of gallons of oil for a rainy day. What state that oil is in I don't know, it's possibly crude rather than petrol. The big problem with petrol is it evaporates and eats through things given enough time. There is plenty of stores of diesel throughout the country.

Dan_Solo

ScumLord wrote: »

Have another closer look, namely the location of these things. If I could read Polish I think I might also find they're not even running. I don't think collectors of large military equipment are common either.

Yes, but you could get one now and be properly prepared! Google translate says they're running just fine too.
I'm off to rewrite my Santa letter.

RiderOnTheStorm

+1 for the push-bike
In the Stephen King book (The Stand?) the heros were faced with simular option, and went for motor bikes. But the roads were strewn with wrecks and when one guy fell off the bike (i think someone stepped out in front of him) he got injured. Serious injuries will be a big problem after z-day, as there will be no functioning hospital or trauma care. A 'simple' injury like a broken arm could become life threatening as you are seriously impaired in survival / gathering supplies / defence / running away, etc. So in the SK story the heros opted for push bikes. Risk of injury was much lower, and it was easier to get round road blocks / crashes , etc

I think there will be 2 phases to escape on z-day. On the initial outbreak, most of the services will be operating (but over-stretched) and the skill here will be knowing that z-day has arrived. It might not be obvious until a couple of days later. If you are clued in, then getting home / to safety will be relatively easy. A few days later (assuming a +90% infection rate) then society will fall apart, and there will be far less people (if any) manning road blocks / heavy equipment yards / shopping centres etc. At this point, getting to safety will solely consist of avoiding Z's. I think the real danger is in the grey area between the outbreak and the fall of society. At that point there will be armed road blocks to stop panic / evacuation, and Z-infection to avoid. There may be day-time cerfiews to stem the infection. Hospitals will be full. The army will be on the street. Looting will be met with lethal response, so getting supplies will be very very hard. And moving to safety of your planned outpost in the hill will be harder.

Fallschirmjager

Dan_Solo wrote: »

I would put the shelf life of many basic antibiotics as years, whatever the official expiry date on them. Also, I've never heard of an expiry date for munitions, which is why WWII shells are still lethal to this day.
Day Of The Triffids probably covers a lot of the realities of post-apocalypse survival better than any zombie movie...

seems you are right dude...guess i should stop listening to the fecken discovery channel..

punchdrunk

here's what you should be eating in the months & years after Z day!

http://hubpages.com/hub/ration-pack-testing

five year old rations FTW!!

also watched a program on Afghanistan a while back and US troops were using korean war vintage ammo,so thats not a problem!


not sure about fuel though

SmileyPaul

punchdrunk wrote: »

here's what you should be eating in the months & years after Z day!

http://hubpages.com/hub/ration-pack-testing

five year old rations FTW!!

also watched a program on Afghanistan a while back and US troops were using korean war vintage ammo,so thats not a problem!


not sure about fuel though

you shall be welcomed into the world of malnutrition within 60 days

Those ration packs (while handy and INCREDIBLY tasty) are not meant to sustain a person on a long term basis. it's not healthy and leads to the body to begin to digest itself because after so long it realises that your fat (and eventually muscle) are fresher than the ****e they have in those smelly foil packs.

you do get 2 packs of biscuits though :P one to stop you from pooping, and one to start you up again after an excercise :P
other little handy things in there, but yeah, my primary point remains valid

punchdrunk

SmileyPaul wrote: »

you shall be welcomed into the world of malnutrition within 60 days

Those ration packs (while handy and INCREDIBLY tasty) are not meant to sustain a person on a long term basis. it's not healthy and leads to the body to begin to digest itself because after so long it realises that your fat (and eventually muscle) are fresher than the ****e they have in those smelly foil packs.

you do get 2 packs of biscuits though :P one to stop you from pooping, and one to start you up again after an excercise :P
other little handy things in there, but yeah, my primary point remains valid

obviously I'd augment it with veg/fresh stuff where it was possible

looks like some lads managed up to 50 days at a time

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/onthefrontline/7535673/Troops-survive-on-spam-for-up-to-50-days.html

farmermick

Zombie survival 3*
Hide and sleep
When you get out of the city you're gonna need a secure remote place to sleep. Day 1 will have been very stressful and long, day 2 won't be much better but it will be a whole lot worse if you haven't slept. Remember, you will be out and ready before everyone else so night 1 won't have to be that secure, especially in a less populated area. *You must know someone, a relative with a farm or better still a remote shop, NOW is time to make contact with anyone you know who lives somewhere remote. You don't have to be that close to them, just have to know them, that way on the first night you can knock on the door and either claim to not know about what's happening in the city or claim to be just passing and have heard about the city and don't want to go back yet.*
All much easier done if you've called in previously.*
Failing that there are loads of new hotels in the daftest places and even old ones that have separate houses you can rent for a night. Bring a credit card and go mad!!!! Order everything , room service, films , laundry, breakfast.*
Remember if you get out quick, z night number 1 might not be too bad!*

ScumLord

farmermick wrote: »

Zombie survival 3*
Hide and sleep
When you get out of the city you're gonna need a secure remote place to sleep. Day 1 will have been very stressful and long, day 2 won't be much better but it will be a whole lot worse if you haven't slept. Remember, you will be out and ready before everyone else so night 1 won't have to be that secure, especially in a less populated area. *You must know someone, a relative with a farm or better still a remote shop, NOW is time to make contact with anyone you know who lives somewhere remote. You don't have to be that close to them, just have to know them, that way on the first night you can knock on the door and either claim to not know about what's happening in the city or claim to be just passing and have heard about the city and don't want to go back yet.*

It's a good plan for those in cities, I don't know how well you'll get away with saying you know nothing about the outbreak, I don't see any need to lie someone from a remote area will value the 1st hand gossip you have on the problem in Dublin very highly.

Failing that there are loads of new hotels in the daftest places and even old ones that have separate houses you can rent for a night. Bring a credit card and go mad!!!! Order everything , room service, films , laundry, breakfast.*
Remember if you get out quick, z night number 1 might not be too bad!*

There are loads of hotels all over Ireland many may be closing down now it may be worth making a list of hotels from some hotel comparison site now and doing a monthly check to see which ones shut down. The shut down ones would be a good place to hide out overnight if your stuck for money.

Sofiztikated

ScumLord wrote: »

It's a good plan for those in cities, I don't know how well you'll get away with saying you know nothing about the outbreak, I don't see any need to lie someone from a remote area will value the 1st hand gossip you have on the problem in Dublin very highly.


There are loads of hotels all over Ireland many may be closing down now it may be worth making a list of hotels from some hotel comparison site now and doing a monthly check to see which ones shut down. The shut down ones would be a good place to hide out overnight if your stuck for money.

Honestly, I'd be looking for a more secure place than a hotel.

Have you any idea how many ways in and out of a hotel there are, to make secure?

There's fire escapes everywhere, delivery areas, front doors, staff entrances, side doors.

ScumLord

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Honestly, I'd be looking for a more secure place than a hotel.

Have you any idea how many ways in and out of a hotel there are, to make secure?

There's fire escapes everywhere, delivery areas, front doors, staff entrances, side doors.

If the hotels been shut down all those doorways have been barricaded for you. Your also out in the sticks so your dealing with allot less zombies, find a good vantage point in the hotel where you can be safe. Your not looking to take over the hotel or stay there for any length of time.

Sofiztikated

ScumLord wrote: »

If the hotels been shut down all those doorways have been barricaded for you. Your also out in the sticks so your dealing with allot less zombies, find a good vantage point in the hotel where you can be safe. Your not looking to take over the hotel or stay there for any length of time.

See, this is where I missed out. I (for some reason) thought this was making a stronghold in the hotel.

It might do for a temporary place to stay, but personally, I'd still look for somewhere else.

Just from working in hotels, an empty or nearly empty hotel is a creepy enough place. Add to that the pedantic level of security most hotels have, meaning you need the master bunch of keys to get in most of the "secure" places, or a key card to open doors. While I have the knowledge of what program operates the key machine in this hotel, and a lot of hotels being fairly similar, do you? True, you could bust open the doors, but that creates noise and busting a door open once means its an awful lot less secure the second time someone or something wants in.

But that's just me.

Dan_Solo

SmileyPaul wrote: »

Those ration packs (while handy and INCREDIBLY tasty) are not meant to sustain a person on a long term basis. it's not healthy and leads to the body to begin to digest itself because after so long it realises that your fat (and eventually muscle) are fresher than the ****e they have in those smelly foil packs.

Um, no. People live for months on the stuff in space. They get muscle wastage but that's from the zero G. As long as the proteins, carbohydrates and fats are there with the required vitamins and minerals, your digestive tract really can't tell the difference.

farmermick

Zombie survival 4*
drugs*
Tamiflu- always gets scarce when there's an outbreak imminent , ask your doctor for a prescription*
Solpadol - good painkiller.*
Any codeine products are hard to get now so start stocking up, your pharmacist will ask a load of questions.... ( don't mention zombies)
Antibiotics- ask your doctor for a prescription and keep them.*
Any other medication you're on- stock up
Caffeine pills and red bull- sometimes you will need to stay awake for long periods, sleep will not be a problem.*
Sleeping pills- not for you but get them anyway, more about this in a few days.*
If you know a pharmacist or if someone you know knows one approach them now. While you're at it....... Not mentioning zombies of course but...... If you ask a pharmacist *how likely they think there will be a major epidemic of some sort in the next few years you will get a very very scary answer. In fact do it, ask every pharmacist you ever meet.*

ScumLord

Sofiztikated wrote: »

Just from working in hotels, an empty or nearly empty hotel is a creepy enough place. Add to that the pedantic level of security most hotels have, meaning you need the master bunch of keys to get in most of the "secure" places, or a key card to open doors. While I have the knowledge of what program operates the key machine in this hotel, and a lot of hotels being fairly similar, do you? True, you could bust open the doors, but that creates noise and busting a door open once means its an awful lot less secure the second time someone or something wants in.

But that's just me.

I wonder what the default state is on those locks is during an emergency? I wonder if you pull the fire alarm or there's a power cut would most of the locks disengage for safety reasons?
I would guess to meet fire regulations those electronic locks would default to open so people could escape, I'm not sure if they can leave some doors always locked but I could see it being a serious fire hazard as these doors lock automatically when they close behind you, so if a member of staff entered an office and there was a power cut they would be locked in the room.

Do you have any experience with power cuts and these electronic locking systems?

farmermick wrote: »

Solpadol - good painkiller.*

Get used to pain. Personally I don't use painkillers and I don't think Solpadol would be of much use, the kind of pain it numbs is minor, you'll be suffering on a daily basis from cold and hunger you just need to get used to that and "harden the **** up". Solpadol won't be of much use against real pain.

Antibiotics are the most important medications to find because you can die from infection fairly easily and it's a slow painful death. Many of us could easily be dead already if it wasn't for antibiotics I know I would be.

farmermick

Solpadol is prescription only, it contains 30 mg of codeine per tablet, your body metabolises codeine to morphine. Morphine is quite effective at numbing severe pain.

Sofiztikated

ScumLord wrote: »

I wonder what the default state is on those locks is during an emergency? I wonder if you pull the fire alarm or there's a power cut would most of the locks disengage for safety reasons?
I would guess to meet fire regulations those electronic locks would default to open so people could escape, I'm not sure if they can leave some doors always locked but I could see it being a serious fire hazard as these doors lock automatically when they close behind you, so if a member of staff entered an office and there was a power cut they would be locked in the room.

Do you have any experience with power cuts and these electronic locking systems?

Unfortunately yes, I do. The door locks are run of a battery, usually 4 AA batteries, in the panel just below the handle. Power outages won't affect the doors. Just the key machines, although they usually have an internal power source as well, and the computer on which the program is run.

The doors (most of them) are only key carded one way, so if you are inside, the door will open as normal. Its only if you are on the key card side, will you need the key. This is to prevent break ins, because if a power outage left the place open to swan into, it'd happen a LOT more.

The only thing that may happen is, if a fire emergency was pulled, lifts go to the ground floor, and most sliding doors open and stay open. Certain fire doors would also get released from their magnets, and swing closed, but can be pushed open. Same with power outages.

Sofiztikated

farmermick wrote: »

Zombie survival 4*
drugs*
Tamiflu- always gets scarce when there's an outbreak imminent , ask your doctor for a prescription*
Solpadol - good painkiller.*
Any codeine products are hard to get now so start stocking up, your pharmacist will ask a load of questions.... ( don't mention zombies)
Antibiotics- ask your doctor for a prescription and keep them.*
Any other medication you're on- stock up
Caffeine pills and red bull- sometimes you will need to stay awake for long periods, sleep will not be a problem.*
Sleeping pills- not for you but get them anyway, more about this in a few days.*
If you know a pharmacist or if someone you know knows one approach them now. While you're at it....... Not mentioning zombies of course but...... If you ask a pharmacist *how likely they think there will be a major epidemic of some sort in the next few years you will get a very very scary answer. In fact do it, ask every pharmacist you ever meet.*

2 Points I highlighted.

Antibiotics. Unfortunately, its not just as easy to ASK your doctor for antibiotics. They have a tendency to prescribe these things to treat illnesses, not just hand them out like smarties.

Caffeine tabs and caffeine products. I'd stay away from these, to be honest. I can easily manage being awake, especially under the stress of a zompocolypse. Caffeine like this would just end up making the crash a LOT worse, or you could keep taking them, building up a resistance and/or addiction. If you have time to feel tired, you are not in immediate danger. Get to safety, and get some rest.