Zombies are coming!!!!

In Dawn of the Dead, the refugees took shelter in a mall and took to the roof to look around and occasionally shoot at the zombies that had gathered below.  In all the other zombie flicks, the zombies eventually pushed through doors, windows, and any other opening/portal into a dwelling through sheer numbers and weight.  So, while the idea of running up a tree to temporarily escape zombies is ok, if you plan on shooting them from above and once they were all dead, climbing down and running... it's fine.

Has anyone seen the new "hurricane-proof" house in Florida.  Some guy designed a new house which was dome shaped, made mostly of reinforced concrete, and built upon pillars.  The idea was the house was elevated, with only the garage on the lower levels.  The main living areas were raised, and that way no flooding damage would occur or cause issues for the support of the house.  The roof was dome shaped to resist wind drag and not have anything that could fly off.


This idea could be used for zombie-home proofing.  Take out the front stairs or make them collapseable, and the house should be high up enough to be out of reach of the zombies, who cannot climb up.  If you have strong supports, the zombies cannot knock it over and you'd be fine. 

I suggest some reading up on decapitation.  Specifically what I'm referring to would be the executions via beheading.  Even when a person was bound to the chopping block there were severe issues, (at times), with beheading the condemned.  One such story I heard of was with the use of a huge sword, apparently the executioner made it through the neck on, (if memory serves correct), the 12th swing.  So, anyone who feels particularly gung-ho about trying to one shot a moving target with some sort of chopping device; good luck.

At the same time though, you just need to do enough damage to severely damage the brain.  So an axe would work nicely as far as damage goes, however the issue of trying to extract said axe from the head becomes quite interesting.  Also, undershooting your target isn't a big deal, you can always swing again.  I'm not sure who out there has had the pleasure of swinging an axe poorly at something and hitting your target badly, or over swinging and hitting with the actual shaft.  It ranges from rather unpleasant to ludicrously painful. 

ps: most mass produced "collector" swords and specialty swords, will break after a few sturdy swings, as they are generally poured into molds rather than made for practical combat use.

I just watched a movie called "Mullberry St" (2006) about a virus that turns people into ravenous "rat people" akin to zombies. in this movie the police, firedept, natnl guard and other first responders were wiped out within the first 30 minutes of the movie.. and in NYC @least the cops and Natnl guard are for all intents and purposes the only ones who have firearms. the survivors used bats, large kitchen knives and a machette to sneak out from little italy (where mulbery st is) to the east river where they got onto a houseboat and made for "safer waters" so to speak. EVERYONE who used a motor vehicle (cars/trucks) for transport died. the subways were "infested" so to speak and the airports closed.

Dawn of the dead was a social parody that goes over almost everyones heads. it was about how even at the end of the world people go "shopping" and even after death..the walking dead go shopping too!.. so to speak. NOT that a shopping mall with its high walls and maze like interior would be a good place to hide out. infact it wasnt.. while it afforded minor security for a short time (less than a week) they ran out of food and water and then electricity. and had to retrofit the shuttle buses into anti zombie tanks. which brings me back to the comment made earleri about 4x4 vehicle. these shuttle buses were adapted to be antipersonael tanks so to speak. with barbed wire, and slots to attack from.. and the sheer volume of bodies pressed against the vehicle stopped it cold. such that an exploding propane tank was needed to clear a large enough path to get the team moving again. which also brings up do's and donts of the caravan plan.

as for decapitation by axe or sword.. it depends more upon the skill of the wielder than the impliment itself. in tudor england exection by the axe was common place. and while yes a newb execituoner migh need a dozen or so strokes to get the head off.. a seasoned, experienced executioner could easily do it on the first stroke if not the second with the first being a deathblow and the second only to completely sever the head from the neck.  ... inspite of the axe that executioners of the time used was incredibly poorly designed for such a task being poorly balanced and all.
john is still right to a point however.. it is VERY difficult to behead anyone.. let alone a moving target unless one is experienced wielding a bladed weapon in an actual physical encounter. also.. when you're cousin comes up to you and is a zombie.. its going to be a real test of your survival instinct..
+points for being a cold blooded pathological homicidal sociopath to help u survive Zpocalypse

and charlie in refrence to the ak-47 having an effective range of  only about 100yd.. i would hope that i were stealthy enough to sneak by the zombies without being noticed were i that range from them. and if they do notice me at that range well then they are now inside my firing range. and yes the 1911 has a limited capacity for amunition before needing a reload but its ability to physically knock a charging soldier to the ground. and onto his back mind you with a chest shot and its ability to pop a human skull like a zit makes up for the limited magazine. also i would hope that i would be able to use a larger weapon first. handguns come right before hand to hand melee combat. and if we were discussing sniping.. im still happy with my M-1 Garand. which was the weapon of choice over the M-14 carbine during korea (when both were in use and issue) because of its reliability and kinetic energy transfer stopping power.
my father used to tell me stories about when he was in korea about putting an entire clip from an m14 into the chest of a charging chinese soldier and it barely slowed him down let alone stopped him. where as his M-1 was a one shot one kill deal..

If I may chime in here for a moment, first off to whomever it was who stated that Zombies aren’t real well I have to tell you you’re wrong on that count it has been scientifically documented that zombies are real. That is in the case those created by the practices of Voodoo and Hoodoo the Zombie state is caused by introducing 2 specially prepared Powders into the blood stream.

No

For the love of god, Zombies are not real. What your talking are not zombies. Zombies are undead. Undead are not  real. Undead are make believe like KR and this Thread. 

C'mon Quags, you've got your metal thread with Joe.  Let us have this.

Vis-a-vis the round house - one of my partners is building an octagonal house to cut back on the drag from hurricanes.

Ok … the truth of the matter is to some extent everyone is right, given circumstances any one of the weapons mentioned would be at least useful and better than nothing. Use what you have, ideally a .50 caliber and crate of ammo mounted to some sort of big ass vehicle would trump a double barrel shotgun and a box of buckshot, but realistically (and I use that loosely…lol) who actually has access to that kind of fire power, really. I am approaching this from the stand point of average Joe wakes up and hey it’s an apocalypse wow what do I do now; I want to survive, what are my best chances. So again that’s why I say go with the Shotgun… easiest to acquire, simple to use, and ammo is easy to get not to mention light weight so you won’t be slowed down. And you get a lot of bang for your buck…lol. But if you have a Ak47 or a M1 or a .50 cal. or 357 Mag, or any of the other guns mentioned laying around by all means grab it you can never have enough guns or ammo.  As for the Machete issue let me just mention my intent was not to engage the enemy that way it is more or less a last ditch effort, if and when the Zombies close in on you your going to have to fight your way out, I think you can clear a path faster with a Machete then an axe it’s not just for decaps but you can take off hands, severe arms etc. and get away. An axe won’t do that after 2 of 3 swings your done, and parrying away blows and grappling hands with the haft…seriously you have to be kidding me one on one sure maybe, but more than likely there will be several on you all that axe will do is get you killed. Just to add again the Machete very easy to acquire, and very useful… and if you have a little time try and get a quality Machete.  And yes eventually it will dull and not be as useful and you might not go through every time but it will slow them down and if it breaks get another one, that ‘s the point of easy to acquire.
So again ultimately use what you have or you know what you can get, if all you have laying around is a Shovel and a BB gun hell go for it maybe you’ll get lucky…lol I mean I can tell you without a doubt and without reservation exactly what I will be bringing to the party, because I have access to them right now from my Dad’s weapons cache…
1. A Browning 12 gauge pump Shot gun
2. Double Barrel sawed off shotgun that my dad modified himself “its badass” not sure the gauge though. I think it’s a 410 which is it’s bore not gauge anyway, not that it matters because like I said he modified it anyway and bored it out, all I know is it blast the hell out of stuff at close range… it has a pistol grip too…
3. Winchester Model 1892 lever action repeating rifle, the same model as featured on the show the rifleman (dad’s favorite show) dad fancies himself something of a Cowboy.
4. A Machete 
5. My pride and joy, a Katana; not one of these replica swords either, as someone mentioned before most of those swords like the 440 stainless/or surgical steel will bend or break and would be useless, mine is an actually Japanese Katana forged in the traditional style expensive but worth it and I can slice through a tin can like butter… and it’s just waiting for the Apocalypse.
6. And dad’s .38 smith and Wesson revolver (vintage)

Now I know the above weapons may not be as Badass or as powerful as say a .50 caliber (lol) but I figure this odds of winning slim, odds of surviving long enough to find safety also rather slim so I figure if I gotta go out I am going out with Style….LOL