I'd say you covered most of it. However, while I do understand the logic behind not packing water itself, I think it would be foolish to ignore the stuff entirely. That said, since we are assuming you are in the middle of a city, there should be several sources of water nearby, however I think it would be prudent to plan in case that water source is not clean. Therefore I think a few water purification tablets would be a good idea, small, easy to slip into cracks of your duffel and infinitly useful, just in case.

Also a small bottle of alchohol (the medical kind) or antiseptic couldn't hurt.

Yeah, I'd replace some of that food with water. You can go weeks without eating, only days without water. And think about it, if all public utilities were shut down tomorrow, where would you find clean, drinkable water? Where would you find food? I think it would be relatively easy to loot the thousands of 7-11's in the world for twinkies and what not. I don't know where I'd find water after those first few days.

Otherwise, I'd add a flash light with a red gel (so as not to wreck one's night vision), a shovel, and some kind of Leatherman multi-purpose tool.

EDIT: Oh, and if necessary to be separate from the Leatherman, a can opener. It doesn't take up much more space but will give you access to all that food in those abandoned grocery stores other people won't be able to get to just because they didn't think of it.

Last edited by Brian (2010-10-15 02:33:00)

My Brother-in-law bow hunts, and last week he bagged his first Deer of the season.  I bring this up because as a society we have forgotten how to live off the land.  We think of how to survive one of these hypothetical apocalyptic scenarios  in terms of how much food and ammo you can carry, but what happens when all the food on the shelves is gone?  Who here knows how to hunt and prep their own food?  I agree with Kyle, have a compound bow ready to go in closet, and as many arrow shafts and tips you can practically carry.  The Deer he shot, that arrow went through the fucking Deer!  That's some powerful shit!  Sure you can take down an animal with a gun, but sooner or later your going to run out of ammo; arrows can be reused, and bow hunting is silent, so you won't alert the zombies to your presence.

Bear in mind that you can't just pick up any old compound bow and use it; it has to be set to your draw length and weight.  I went out target shooting a couple weeks ago using my Brother-in-law's spare bow, which was set to a 60 lb draw, and since he's a bit bigger than me, the draw was about two inches too long for me.  I got it drawn fully 3 or 4 times, but never with an arrow knocked; the only shot I made I had to have him load the arrow while I held the bow drawn.  I did score a "kill" on the target Deer though, so I feel good about my abilities with a properly set up rig.

As part of my survival plan, if I'm still in the area next season, I'm going to get my hands on a bow and learn to use it.  In the meantime I've at least seen one Deer gone from hanging from a tree to steaks in the freezer, but I'd feel better having done that once myself.  I'd also like to get more handgun training.  I'm comfortable with my rifle marksmanship, but pistols are a different animal. 

Not to re-enforce a stereotype, but I really believe that when the day comes that society falls apart, it's going to be the good ol' boys like my Brother-in-law that are going to be able to take care of themselves.  He can fix anything, and get his own food.

Back on topic, and until I can get a bow fitted to me, I'll be on the lookout for an abandoned M16 for defense.  Some sort of multitool for sure, as well as duct tape and parachute cord.  A regular 4-6 inch knife would also be a good idea, as well as a tomahawk, though preferably one with a hammer end.

Water can be filtered with an old t-shirt, then boiled, so matches / lighters will do for a while, but I'd have one of those flint fire starters as well.  Carry water in a CamelBak for easy of access while moving.

For first aid what I'd really be worried about is some scratch getting infected, or a bout of diarrhea.  Also, two words from an old GI: baby wipes.  I'll add proper clothing to this area as well; long pants, jacket, comfortable durable shoes, hat, sunglasses and rain gear. 

As someone who's had to carry shit on foot over long periods, I have to say this: duffels are a bad idea.  Pack in a backpack! Remember, you have to be able to carry everything with you, and be able to cover ground on foot, so weight is a factor.  Try to keep your pack as light as possible; even as little as 40 lbs can wear you out before long.  A duffel might hold more, but you'll be looking for a Wal-Mart to pick up a new bag within a week.

A small flashlight would probably be a good idea.  In the Army a flashlight was part of your uniform in the field, but the issue "elbow" ones are heavy, and pretty crappy.  I used to carry one of these on me instead; they're light, bright, last quite a while, and you can carry a few different colors and even spare batteries if you plan ahead.  Nice ones even have emergency blinking functions for signaling.  A signal mirror for signaling / grooming as well as a compass also go in the bag.

As far as a general plan, have as much of this stuff ready to go in your bug-out bag, and when the time comes grab it and go.  I wouldn't do to well in the north north, but I agree the best idea is to get as far away from populated areas is the best way to go.  I'd probably head for the mountains and just lay low.  Ideally I'll also have a little AM/FM radio to monitor periodically, but I don't want to carry around a lot of batteries.  I like the idea of books, but again, weight is an issue.  I'd go with some sort of outdoor survival manual.

I'd make my way to a marina and grab the biggest yacht and travel the oceans until this ZA nonsense is over. Maybe 130ft, big enough that it has a water-maker. Enough weapons for when i have to get food and gas.

If zombies can't swim there's probably some domestic islands that would be pretty safe, while allowing access to the coast for raiding. Grand Island, between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, would be perfect except getting rid of the four steel bridges would be difficult. You'd even get farm land.

...

Dibs on Jeffery in the apocalypse. I get him.

Just put out the sign and get the snowplows and Soylent Green trucks.

So what weapons would be appropriate? I was thinking a sword or a spear. Hiding away in a remote place isn't a long-term survival option. Ultimately, to survive a zombie apocalypse, you have to kill them all. So you need to be able to kill them quickly and safely, preferrable without making too much noise or getting too close.

A bow may be suitable for hunting (assuming the animals aren't going to be zombies as well) but it'd be a poor choice for taking down zombies. Your ammo would be too limited (and would run out much faster than bullets, since you will rarely be able to secure an infested area long enough to wander around and retrieve them) and you'd have to be very skilled to hit heads. With a slow reload time, you'd also get overwhelmed too easily.

To start with, a back-up pistol is a necessity. You may not want to use it as your main weapon but it'd would come in handy when things get a bit more hectic than you bargained for.

As a long range weapon I'd take a sniper rifle. With the approach to survival being a matter of eliminating the zombies in your area, you'd need to park yourself in a secure position and practice taking them out, killing as many as you can. The danger of zombies is their melee attack, and a sniper rifle removes that by putting you as far away as possible.

But eventually you'll run out of bullets for your guns, so a melee weapon is a must. But you need to keep yourself as far away as possible so a knife or hammer is suicidal. A big axe is too unwieldy and slow so that's out as well. I was thinking a sword, either a viking type or a bastard sword, one that can be used both one-handed and two-handed and is relatively simple and quick to use. None of this samurai sword crap. You want a weapon that you can swing both ways and that stabs as well. Unless you're trained, you want the weight of the sword to do a lot of the work for you.

And speaking of stabbing, you'll want an edged spear. One of the oldest weapons, the spear is perfect for medium range combat. Allowing you to stab or make short swipes at exposed targets about 4 feet away. You don't have to be a martial arts whiz to use it proficiently.

If you were serious about living through this, you should think about armour too. Especially on your legs, arms and shoulders.  Even the most crude forms of armour can ward off bites, human teeth aren't the most dangerous weapons out there.

And grab a shield if you can too. Nothing fancy or overly large, just something you can use to bash or push zombies without putting your hands on them.