How to Survive a Zombie Epidemic.

[Tullaryx]

With Halloween just weeks from now I thought to ressurect, no pun intended, this topic. I know many don't believe the things this topic is intended to stop, but then those people who disbelieve will be the first to complain about why we weren't prepared when it does occur.

Having had another full year to study up on my survival skills for the time the zombie apocalypse does arrive I have more knowledge to impart. On the subject of crossbows as a viable weapon against zombies I'm 50/50 on its usage. I do agree that it does have its use but only when using the right kind. The crossbows that will get best use would be those that can propel a crossbow bolt faster than the normal crossbow that could be found in the neighborhood sporting good store. The extra power would be needed to propel not the wooden or composite bolts but one's made from steel or at least from some sort of sturdy metal alloy.

After having watched enough Mythbusters this past year I have learned that the human skull is a very sturdy nut to crack. So, in addition to having a much more over-powered crossbow the bolts themselves will need to be sturdy enough not to bend or get deflected by the skull's natural curvature. The steel or metal alloy composition with its weight should solve this problem, but the kind of bolt head will have to be just correct as well. Blunt heads may crack the skull surface but it won't guarantee through and through penetration into the brainpan. Maybe someone else knowledgable of the many types of bolt heads could recommend the ideal type.

It's these factors which make me hesistate from recommending the crossbow to anyone other than the most experienced in its use and even then I'd recommend with some caveats being the slow load time, the limit and rarity of the ammo needed. Experise in its use would also limit just who can use such a weapon to its best effect. One thing a crossbow will have over other types of projectile weapons would be it's silence. Not having a booming report from a gun or rifle being fired would keep the horde from converging in your position.
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[Bub]

Good to see this thread come back from the dead. My themed avatar and signature is perfect for this thread. :)

Having seen crossbows work, I would have to say that they are the most silent weapons in the world. Surely they are more quiet than a gun, but they still make noise when used. Not a lot, but enough to attract some unwanted attention, I'd wager.

And on the thought of the reloading factor of crossbows, I am pretty sure I have seen certain types of crossbows have magazines now. No more single-shot and loading, the clips hold a multitude of bolts. That would be a pretty good weapon to use, if you know how to use it. I could see crossbows jamming up a lot, and you don't want to not know how to quickly fix one when you are surrounded by the undead.

On the thought of bolts...I would definitely go with sharper edged bolts. You want the penetration, not a max factor, overkilled explosion that blunt edged bolts would probably do. You want a sure shot brainkill, and sharp ended bolts probably has the best bet to get through the skull.
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Kooluk's Resident Drunkard.

[Timbo]

On a zombie related note, but not talking about crossbows, I thought I would share a story with all the zombie enthusiasts. At my old job at an ice cream store, I was responsible for training all the new employees we hired and I made sure to always ask them what they would do if zombies attacked at that moment. most had horrible plans, like hitting them with a cash register or trying to barricade the huge glass window, but we did discover an amazing plan. Now this may seem silly to do, but I advise it to anyone who wants to survive a zombie holocaust. Since I knew which employees had horible plans and would die off quickly, I knew which people to stay away from or to let die to buy me more time. While they are off trying to kill zombies with chairs and cash registers, I'm running ot the back kitchen and barricading the door with the blast freezer then breaking its wheels, but setting up the freezer to have an escape route through the air ducts. No way a zombie can knock over a 800 pound blast freezer in a narrow hallway with six inches cement walls between us.

Had I not known that my co-workers were goners beforehand, I may have tried to save them or get them to assist me, leading to lost time and a dead me. So I advise everyone to find out who they work with that would live and die, and try to schedule a good mix to save your life.
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"There is no normal life, there's just life. Now get on with it"

[Tullaryx]

Timbo, you're idea is pretty much how Sailor Sexy and I have drawn up our own plans on how to survive. Find the weak-links in the group and make sure they're either in no position to screw up and hurt the group as a whole or situated in an area where they will be the first to go thus giving the true survivors time to get away.

As for the crossbows which have their own ammo box or auto-reload capabilities do there types have enough tension power to propel a crossbow bolt with enough for to pierce a skull at a decent enough range.
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[Septimus]

I'd say a decent katana would be my choice of weapon at short range. Not just because I actually know how to handle and cut with it, but because it's the best weapon there is.

I don't see the point of a crossbow, though. As opposed to a lower caliber gun, like .22 or something around there, which has enough power to penetrate a skull, but not enough to exit, meaning the brain will be nice mush with the bullet taking a couple of laps before it stops, makes it a great short range weapon. If not a shotgun. A bigger caliber handgun like a desert eagle is always also neat to simply blow away a head, pretty much.

You can be too unlucky with a crossbow. If you go for the head aim, which requires enough skill, you might just strike through some part of the brain that wont stop a zombie. I don't know if a crossbow is too thick, though, and that it is certain to ruin a brain, but I know it will only ruin the brain in its path, unlike a bullet that has the speed to ruin things in a greater radius, depending on the caliber.

If you need the silence of it, I'd say a silenced .22 caliber is better, though you might need to bring some silencers. The katana is a great option for CQC silent kills. The elegant curve of the katana is ideally designed to make an awesome cutting surface against even a human skull. With the right technique, you'll be able to cut through any part of anyone's body.

Best plan is easily to escape the city, and retire to a cabin and set up a perimeter defence, that doesn't need constant monitoring. It's not hard to get away from wherever a zombie'd ever try to go. Atleast not here in Norway. So I suppose the problem is 'how do you get away from the city'

[Bub]

I would never, ever use any sort of sword. In fact, I think that would be the absolute worst weapon to use during a zombie apocalypse. The blade would easily and quickly dull and become useless, going through all of that bone. Not to mention how hard it is to cut through bone. Also not to mention that the blade can get caught in the bone, and that will leave you with either trying to detatch it from a zombie, still "alive" and trying to eat you.

If you are in a crowd of zombies, you don't want any of that to happen. The best bet is a bludgeon weapon. A shovel or a bat or something similar. They don't get stuck or dull.

I wouldn't use guns, either. Way too noisy. And finding a silencer is relatively hard. Then include having to reload, and the ability to use one properly, and you have most people in the world screwed with that happen as well.
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Kooluk's Resident Drunkard.

[Septimus]

So a crossbow is better? It'd require you to have to hit them in the head.

Yes, a katana not used properly will easily go dull, or something to that effect. But if you take up 1 year of Kendo, or something in that line, or simply some sort of test cutting classes with a katana, you'd know how to handle it, and you'd see that a bat really wouldn't stand a chance. The way you're meant to cut with a katana is with a forward motion, not a downward motion. That way you easily cut through the bone, and use the curve to put the power into the cut, and also use the entire blade, not risking it going dull.

Of course a katana is not a frickin crowd control weapon, but if you'd have to go through some zombies in a quiet manner, then it's a nice way. A bat can be deflected with arms.

A bat may be a good backup, but it's nothing compared to a katana. If you just go for head-off cuts, or just brain-splitting cuts, then you'll have an everlasting katana.

[Amyral]

[Septimus]

I suppose learning how to use a crossbow efficiently is a better bet than a katana, but I'd bring one if the world was coming down today.

Though any plan should cover how to get around zombies, instead of facing a crowd of them. So yeah, if I have to hack through some to get to my escape route, then flee forever, then it wouldn't be a problem if it's even dull after that.

[Tullaryx]

I always thought that if one wanted a bladed weapon to use for close-quarter fighting then swords would be the last thing I want. Using swords take more skill than people think. I know watching movies and cartoons show how cool and devastating a sword can be but usually it takes years of practice and more practice to become a true expert in wielding a sword.

Now wielding and using a machete or an entrenching tool is something that is very good for defense and also well-built to take abuse. A machete can be as deadly to flesh and bone even when it's not at its sharpest since the blade itself has a heavy back-end to it which would help in bringing more force to the sharp end when swung. Even if the sharp end has been blunted a strong downward slash with enough force can turn an blunted machete into a light and balanced bludgeon that should be able to crack and smash skulls. Machetes are also designed to not get too easily stuck inside surfaces it hits. One can ask any jungle fighter just how well a machete works against thick brush and branches and one will be well impressed by how well it does.

Entrenching tools are also very good bladed weapons. They're built to last and the spade end has been used in past wars not just as a utilitarian tool but as a self-defense weapons as well. I've read many first-hand accounts of US Marines in WW2, Korea and Vietnam having to pull out their mandatory-issued entrenching tools and using it as an improvised axe.
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[Fu Su Lu]

Damn, damn, damn, how the hell did i miss this topic? :*laugh*:
Grrr...Well, i would try to control the zombies, i mean there must some way to do it, no matter if its flute melody or human flesh (Eden likely :*laugh*: )as reward for good behaviour. You cant destroy them folks, assume it and join them :P
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The drunkest cavalry unit in the world.
Who lights a candle casts a shadow.
Uncle Weirdo is on hoilidays... by now

[Sailor Sexy]

Please, do bring along a sword. Then you can stand and confront the zombie hoards whilst I make my swift and unmolested getaway. Granted, I'll have to hack you down with my machete, but that's for another day. It would be for the best if you just realize that swords suck. As has been pointed out, the machete or an entrenching tool are made to hack at very dense material and still maintain a sharpness to go through it. Machete blades are thick and hearty, and entrenching tools are made to dig through dirt and are expected to be able to keep an edge of sorts even after striking rocks. Plus, go to any army surplus store and you can find these items. Leaving aside the crapiness of the katana for zombie fighting, just where you do propose one goes to find one? Real, combat quality ones are not going to be found very easily, and most people won't own one. They might own a decorative one, but you'd be better off trying to punch zombies than use those.

As for me, if the zombie apocalypse occurs while I'm at work, then weak link, strong link, it doesn't really matter. Zombies don't float, unless they're wearing life jackets when they turn, so being out on a tugboat, we're pretty safe for awhile. Of course, eventually we'll have to land and take on supplies, in which case I'm bringing along the captain, because he's a long winded idiot who I wouldn't mind seeing being turned into a zombie. Besides, he's so annoying, I think even the undead would stay away from the guy.

Also, keep in mind that the zombie apocalypse will happen. There's no maybe about it. People are getting more and more complacent, and soon there will be precious few who can recognize the signs of an outbreak, and fewer still who will know what to do to nip it in the bud. I think at this point in time that the next zombie outbreak will rapidly escalate into at least a level 3 outbreak due to poor education on the matter. I can only hope that I won't be around to see a level 4 outbreak occur. The loss of anime might be too much for me to bear.
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~Uguu!~

[Metallingus]

[eXistence of Fly]

Crossbows are a bitch to aim, it's as much a retarded answer as it is a katana for such purposes unless you're using it in close range as it is, the thing with bolts is that regardless of how heavy they are they will be affected by aerodynamics which would then change the trajectory of the bolt the longer the distance it has to travel, assuming you're using one you'd want to be a fair distance away to compensate for any lock ups or reloadings which may need to be done in haste you'd be lucky to aim for the human skull and hit it to cause enough trauma to brain. I mean afterall we are forgetting that there have been instances in which men have used nail guns to fire into their brain, and lived without any loss of function to their motor skills. Instead, what you need is a level of splash damage to compensate for the off chance that the blow didn't sever anything that was critical.

As such, you fools with a crossbow will also fall easily, using a glorified nail gun with less punch to take a zombie, please. As for myself, since my family were predominantly farmers I became pretty nifty with an axe, which doesn't really rely on any sharp edge with which to pierce, yet also has a wider surface area for the impact of the slash when it strikes something outside of many other melee weapons without compensating for reach (it also combines well with a hammer which has pretty nice splash damage). Now, this works in the sense because what some of my uncles had at this time were pigs, which needed to be slaughtered for a reason beyond my recollection, and as Tull would know from mythbusters the pigs skull is closest to the same density as a human skull, and they don't use no machete to behead them manually.

As for projectiles, again reach is important, with a hand gun (perhaps not so much with long barrels) there's far too much flesh exposed for close quarters combat and unless you have some sort of anti personnel (meant to send shrapnel, in the case of mines usually ball bearings) you're limiting the splash damage again and also limiting limb shots, I mean it's not all about destroying them utterly as taking out 2 kneecaps will slow them down considerably. For this instance, since once again farming, shotguns, they have a greater range for hand to hand should you with to save ammo for whatever reason and have the splash damage in that the bullets aren't encased and compacted for singular penetration, that and ammo kits to actually make it, isn't that hard, finding the composite materials to do so probably would be a task, whereas making a fmj or a calibur bullet would be more difficult a process to undertake.

So, in closing, I would not need to pierce the skull with a type of blade in melee, instead I would focus on using the skull as the blade and providing impact hard enough so that shards would then pierce the brain and bone would break, with the flowing motion of such strikes when you use it so much, you can also then, with the momentum gained, gradually increase the damage inflicted, and unlike a sword, should the first blow falter the zombie would be lop sided a tad to progress on its current course, and on a well used axe it would be a simple wedging motion to release before either using the back end blade or in the case of a hatchet the solid back end to access multiple foes.

Of course, fighting off zombie armageddon is only half the battle, so I suppose I am just lucky in that I can actually count on my mates as we all "train" with melee weapons, and they also dabble in martial arts for the conditioning. So we'd be able to ensure electricity and supplies to wage a war instead of battles, because if those zombie bastards cross my path it will be just that and i'll settle for nothing less than their eradication. So I'm looking at you Fu Su Lu, stay out of Australia and you might get to live as the undead. :P
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[Bub]

You know, for a while I always thought that the axe would be a perfect weapon. Then I remember the days of camping and cutting wood, and I realized that axes can very easily get stuck in the items you are chopping. Furthermore, wielding an axe can get very tiresome, as most of the time you will have to use overhead chops down. Doing that over and over on a group of zombies will wear you out very quickly.

A chainsaw would definitely be a horrible thing to use, in my opinion. Noisy as hell. Messy as hell. Completely useless when you run out of gas (gas will be the biggest commodity in a zombie apocalypse, I'd imagine). Bulky, and not instantaneous. I think you were joking about using a chainsaw, though. :D

But I agree with you about not having to kill a zombie. To incompacitate them is just as good. This is why I will still stick with my bludgeoning weapons. If you can't manage to hit the head, whack the zombie in the knee or spine, or just anywhere that will cause a body to involuntary double over. Hit and run. I am not going to be out there eradicating the threat. I am going to be as quiet and dodgy as possible!
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Kooluk's Resident Drunkard.