Zombie survival skills

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

Hi, going through allot of the zombie survival forums and video I noticed that most of the videos were Amercians showing off there firepower, surely there is more to the zombie survival then guns. In they event of a zombie outbreak one of your most valued things would be your car. But what happens when your car breaks down and you run out of petrol, you need another, right? That is when I found three very useful videos

1)how to hot-wire a car: link removed

2)hot to break into a car: link removed

3)how to Siphon fuel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4kXFR8eGRQ

If anyone else has any useful how to videos it would be greatly appreciated.


Mod edit: Removed links. I'll leave the last one in because it's not entirely illegal to siphon.

degrassinoel

Excellent thread, sorry i had to remove two of the links. The last thing anyone needs is for some eejit reading these forums to go and try it out on his neighbours car

You're right though, guns are a great defense but hardly the only thing that's going to keep you alive in a zombie apocalypse. Knowing how to do the three things mentioned above would improve your chances, but i'm pretty sure there are more important things to consider before wanting to know how to break into a car and hotwire it. Food and water, security and self-defense, farming, fishing and scavenging, first-aid, knitting.. (stop laughing, you'd be surpised how useful it is when you've got holes in your socks in the middle of winter!) and a whole heap of others.

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

Yeah no bother. Only came to mind the last day when my brother lost his car keys I just found it amazing the knowledge that is up on youtube and people use it to watch cats fall over xD. Though another one I found was a small non-electronicly used water filter, like a pump. What it does is when start pumping it filters sea water into water worthy of consumption. The best part is it's no bigger then your fist, Although I would imagine it would take all day for a glass of water. The only thing I am stumped for is farming techniques. Is there any videos for this??

ScumLord

degrassinoel wrote: »

knitting.. (stop laughing, you'd be surpised how useful it is when you've got holes in your socks in the middle of winter!)

I think I'll grow to really miss cotton after the outbreak.

Tzar Chasm

hemp, linen and wool, that's what we'll have, and leather of course.

weren't there threads started on this before,


farming is by far the most important skill, ad so thing anyone with a garden can at least practice. growing spuds keeping hens and learning to fish/for rage will equip you for post apocalyptic survival, and even if the zompacalypse dosrnt happen in your lifetime you will still have useful skills and a great feeling of satisfaction when you invite people round for dinner and everything on the plate is provided by your own work

ScumLord

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

weren't there threads started on this before,

Yup. there were skills threads started and forgotten about.

farming is by far the most important skill, ad so thing anyone with a garden can at least practice. growing spuds keeping hens and learning to fish/for rage will equip you for post apocalyptic survival, and even if the zompacalypse dosrnt happen in your lifetime you will still have useful skills and a great feeling of satisfaction when you invite people round for dinner and everything on the plate is provided by your own work

As long as they call around at harvest time.

I wonder is it worth investing in those things now? Your not going to be able to produce enough food to live on in your own back garden. Any garden I've seen is a hobby garden. They get a week or twos worth of food out of 6 months work. While you may have food in production it won't be nearly enough and makes you a target to anyone that knows it's there.

After the outbreak however there will be land up for grabs, which you could try and steal. It would be as easy though to make friends with a farmer now and when the time comes partner up with them and take advantage of their skill set.

Tzar Chasm

planning to partner up is no real substitute fof being tne person with the skills.

hobby farming the back garden isn't meant to to provide food in the same level as it would provide valuable hands on experience. the knowledge of planting schedules growth cycles and disease markers.

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

Well because Ireland has the sea on all four sides I would imagine fishing for things like macrel which are remarkebly easy to catch and store. Although to fish during the winter you need to be very close to the Alantic.

laoch na mona

surely a crossbow is better than a gun? you can make bolts a lot easier then bullets

robertpatterson

.22 calibre bullets are small and youd have two hundred on you without really feeling the difference
Crossbows arent that easy to load if i understand correctly
Id rather have the rifle youve got distance and theres literally loads of them around(assuming youre able to shoot)

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

laoch na mona wrote: »

surely a crossbow is better than a gun? you can make bolts a lot easier then bullets

Well if that's what your after I would say go for a bow and arrow Cheaper, easier to come by, easier to use, and faster re-load. P.S. not everything in walking dead is meant for the real world :P

laoch na mona

Ivanna Gorgeous Transmitter wrote: »

Well if that's what your after I would say go for a bow and arrow Cheaper, easier to come by, easier to use, and faster re-load. P.S. not everything in walking dead is meant for the real world :P

much harder to get a head shoot with a bow and arrow also more tiring to shoot modern cross bows have sights and can be carried cocked

ScumLord

How long will the string on a bow last? How many times can you shoot an arrow into a skull before it breaks? How would you find replacement parts?

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

laoch na mona wrote: »

much harder to get a head shoot with a bow and arrow also more tiring to shoot modern cross bows have sights and can be carried cocked

All of what you say is true, but because of Irish law you will need a gun liscence for a crossbow Makes no sense but that's the way it is. But I suppose it's all down to prefrence. These are the best sites I found for archery http://www.activehuntingireland.ie/archery/arrows.html
http://www.mcsport.ie/archery-equipment-!5-cat.html

thegreatiam

Skills to learn would be basic triage and medical aid (emt type training), and as mentioned farming, also any manufacturing skill, leather working, tanning, carpentry, bricklaying, knitting, sewing etc. almost any trade from the 1800's way of life.

metalurgy and blacksmithing would be very valuable. and eventually knowledge of how to generate electricity with generators and eventually how to reboot the grid would be sought after. even if you learn how to use part of the existing electrical network.

Cant imagine many people right now now how to generate and distribute electricity to a small living compound.

I think come zday, country farmers may be running whats left of the world.

TheUsual

Problem with cars/trucks/vans is that modern fuel doesn't last long and starts to degrade and go off quickly - it won't last a year in storage.
This will mean that engines will get harder to start with bad fuel, the same goes with petrol stations (even if the power is working to pump the fuel). There will be settlement of fuel out into unusable water and heavier muck at the bottom of the garage's tank.
It will be fine for months, maybe even a year and then you are going to have problems.
Same problem with generators that need fuel, it's just going to run out.

Charging batteries for cars and generators will need a working power grid too, which will fail at some point.

Maybe the best middle-term solution is to pick an abandoned existing farm that's right beside a heap of wind turbines, and try and get loads of large batteries to store the power while the wind is generating electricity. You need to re-route the power cables that are there and not get electrocuted in the process, maybe some high duty AC/DC converters as well (not simple stuff).

TheUsual

As for guns and ammo, going to be tricky to find. Army barracks ? Gun clubs ?

Thank God for Rednecks !!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNgX5ZByGi8

thegreatiam

TheUsual wrote: »

As for guns and ammo, going to be tricky to find. Army barracks ? Gun clubs ?

you wont need them. last thing you'd want to be doing is firing a gun. anytime it would be safe enough to shoot off a gun at a zombie then it would be safe enough to simply walk past or kill with another method.

The only time you would want to be firing a gun is when there is no escape, and then you only need the one bullet.

TheUsual

thegreatiam wrote: »

you wont need them. last thing you'd want to be doing is firing a gun. anytime it would be safe enough to shoot off a gun at a zombie then it would be safe enough to simply walk past or kill with another method.
The only time you would want to be firing a gun is when there is no escape, and then you only need the one bullet.

I agree with the Zombies.
The guns are for insurance from other humans.
"Better to have a gun and not need it, then to need a gun and not have one."

thegreatiam

TheUsual wrote: »

The guns are for insurance from other humans.
"Better to have a gun and not need it, then to need a gun and not have one."

Indeed. but with any luck the type of person youll need to protect your self from will have shot off their ammo early on and/or brought down a horde of undead on themselves and be in no shape for a fire fight anyway. the mentality of 'shoot first' will be terminal post zday.

While you will need some small stockpile of ammo, you probably wont need that much,and its not that hard to make ammo. (assuming you are not in USA when zday happens, in which case you will need loads but there will be plenty of places to get it)

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

TheUsual wrote: »

Problem with cars/trucks/vans is that modern fuel doesn't last long and starts to degrade and go off quickly - it won't last a year in storage.
This will mean that engines will get harder to start with bad fuel, the same goes with petrol stations (even if the power is working to pump the fuel). There will be settlement of fuel out into unusable water and heavier muck at the bottom of the garage's tank.
It will be fine for months, maybe even a year and then you are going to have problems.
Same problem with generators that need fuel, it's just going to run out.

Charging batteries for cars and generators will need a working power grid too, which will fail at some point.

Maybe the best middle-term solution is to pick an abandoned existing farm that's right beside a heap of wind turbines, and try and get loads of large batteries to store the power while the wind is generating electricity. You need to re-route the power cables that are there and not get electrocuted in the process, maybe some high duty AC/DC converters as well (not simple stuff).

Yeah true but I assume the hardest part of the zombie outbreak will be the first year after that yo will start to get into a routine and start to be able to live more comfortably.

Capt'n Midnight

guns are noisy and attract attention

how zombie proof is a coat of armour / chain mail ?

thegreatiam

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

guns are noisy and attract attention

how zombie proof is a coat of armour / chain mail ?

Id say quite zombie proof, they use chain mail for sharkproofing divers. and they are quite effective.
Bit of a pain to get hold of, cumbersome to carry and noisy. But if you are statically located and need to clear an area or room then one person with an axe dressed in this could do well.

Would prefer a one piece chainmail suit as zombies have fingers whereas iirc sharks dont. If you can make sure that no amount of space can be made at the joins then it would be near perfect.

Armour would be separate pieces and i would say not as effective, so you would need to make sure you're wearing something underneath that cant be bitten or torn, like leather tunic. As the pieces of amour can be lifted and pulled off. If the straps break on your breast plate and you have no secondary layer you're toast.

Of course, have armed back up at distance to offer assistance as soon as it looks like you're getting overwhelmed.

robertpatterson

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

guns are noisy and attract attention

QUOTE]


Guns arent that noisy
A .22 rimfire with a sound moderator fitted makes little or no noise its not the loud 'bang' people associate with firearms

opti76

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bow-The-Amazing-Bike-Wheel-Bow/


this could be useful

ScumLord

opti76 wrote: »

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bow-The-Amazing-Bike-Wheel-Bow/


this could be useful

That's excellent. The only gripe I'd have with it is the string being catapult grade. That's not going to be too easy to find and they say using the inner tube isn't as powerful, maybe not an issue though. I would imagine it's got a fairly short lifespan too, the rim isn't going to hold it's shape to well and I'm guessing it will collapse in on itself pretty quickly.

In a pinch though it would be all kinds of MacGyver awesome to just grab a bike wheel and turn it into a bow in the space of 20 minutes. If you practiced it you could probably do it quicker and with just a multitool.

Great find.

Capt'n Midnight

opti76 wrote: »

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bow-The-Amazing-Bike-Wheel-Bow/


this could be useful

Nope, have you ever tried to break a bicycle rim ?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/11/anti-zombie-perfume-keeps_n_2854109.html

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thegreatiam

ScumLord wrote: »

That's excellent. The only gripe I'd have with it is the string being catapult grade. That's not going to be too easy to find and they say using the inner tube isn't as powerful, maybe not an issue though. I would imagine it's got a fairly short lifespan too, the rim isn't going to hold it's shape to well and I'm guessing it will collapse in on itself pretty quickly.

In a pinch though it would be all kinds of MacGyver awesome to just grab a bike wheel and turn it into a bow in the space of 20 minutes. If you practiced it you could probably do it quicker and with just a multitool.

Great find.

You'd probably be better off using those 20 minutes running. or at least smashing a wall for bricks to throw.

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

True story, because I do have an intrest in weapons and the like I have tried a few of those things and my experience is that they can actually be fairly hard, time consuming and liable to break when you need them.

thegreatiam

Ivanna Gorgeous Transmitter wrote: »

True story, because I do have an intrest in weapons and the like I have tried a few of those things and my experience is that they can actually be fairly hard, time consuming and liable to break when you need them.

i guess about as accurate as they look,

Or if youve never used one then it'll take you longer to get good at it then it will last.

Cant see it having much penetration power either. would need to be pretty close to hit and crack open a skull.

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

Yeah the weapon I would assume to be perfect for Z Day would be a samauri sword. But of course I'm not a drug dealer so I can't find one :P.

thegreatiam

Ivanna Gorgeous Transmitter wrote: »

Yeah the weapon I would assume to be perfect for Z Day would be a samauri sword. But of course I'm not a drug dealer so I can't find one :P.

needs to be maintained kept sharp and oiled. can easily be snapped.
They are rare to find. and its very likely that the ones you will find will be junk and break on the fist hit, leaving you with a slightly less than useless plastic handle and egg on your face.

Also you will need some skill, swords are pretty tricky to use, you can just pick them up and start swinging, you're likely to take your own head off.

The nut weapons come the judgement will be found on your local building site/workshop and supply yard. look for any thing sturdy, with minimal pointy bits, not too heavy and not too long.

hand axes, crow bars, hammers, scaffold poles, and the like.

easy to find, minimal maintenance, heavy and usually well made, designed to be swung about all day so wont exhaust you nor break.

You won't need too much practice with them either, you're probably already familiar with most.

My choice will be an hatchet in one hand and a claw hammer in another

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

You are right in one sense the problem with them is that it's hard to find a really good one.

thegreatiam

Ivanna Gorgeous Transmitter wrote: »

You are right in one sense the problem with them is that it's hard to find a really good one.

Probably the only sense in not getting one is that the majority will be hunks of metal that merely look like samurai swords.

No doubt a real sword in the hands of a competent person could be quite effective. But the training will need to be there. Its too easy to bonk your self on the head swinging it about (believe me i've done it and seen it done, almost every noob who picks up a sword will smack himself in the face within 10 minutes) or it will get stuck between somethings ribs and snap.

also they have to be sharpened carefully, its easy to damage a sword edge, too sharp and it snaps, any nicks (which will be a daily occurrence) and they will potentially cause it to snap. sharpen it incorrectly and you can do permanent damage causing it to snap.


although...http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=84001258#post84001258

RiderOnTheStorm

not sure if this is the exact right thread, but came across these camping tips recently ..... very practical out door survival tips (fire lighting, hammock making, spider bites, how-to-pack a backpack .... even the perfect s'mores!)

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/absolutely-essential-diagrams-you-need-for-camping

q0d53kbvsi6rgy

Funny Coincidence about to go camping this weekend,

Thanks

AllthingsCP

A good Hurley or Baseball bat downfall not a great attacking weapon but more of a defensive weapon, Others i would pick Iron Bars, Tire Iron, Hand Hatchet, Spade, Iron Stake, Machete or Large Hunting Knives, Hammers,

Grizzly 45

Reckon on the sword line of things,something along the sword of Eli [More a bastard between a machete and a Kopis sword. They were the swords Alexander the Great used and are rumoured to have inspired the Kukri design.Ask the Gurkahs what can be done with a kurkri] So you have a nice thrust and cleave design.
Proably easier to put together too from a good piece of modern junk steel from our society than trying to make a genuine katana blade or some junk knockoff design.
Another cool design is the Cold Steel SPETNATZ combat shovel.A one piece very solid four edged shovel that no Russian infantryman would be without.This thing will cut ,slash chop,cleave,stab and flatten in a CQC situation with a bit of parctise.And it is quite handy for digging holes as well!:)
Another CQC weapon I am getting to like is the modern Tomahawk .This is becoming as far away from a hand axe as you can imagine.A bit of practise and it is a very versatile fighting weapon indeed.