During the zombie apocalypse three different areas will exist: the Base, the Wild, the Zone.
The Base is the safe area. It is as close to normal small city life as you will find during the height of the zombie apocalypse.

The zone is any existing city structure. Zone is short for war zone. Large cities are to be avoided like the plague. The will literally be war zones. More on this in an upcoming blog.

The wild is what we call the forest, woods, wilderness: basically anything non city. Roaming zombies and wild animals are the biggest threats in the wild. The wild won’t be as bad as the zone, but it will be no cake walk. Food will be in constant shortage. If you come upon a food source rest a while and regain your strength before continuing. Your survival will depend a large degree upon your pod. Get to know people now. Learn some skills about hiking, camping, wilderness survival, and escape and evasion. It would suck if you find a good pod but they refuse to accept you because you can contribute nothing. When your life is on the line you will be more picky about who you accept into your pod. Learn some skills so people will want you.

There are three major threats in the wild: zombies, animals, and accidents.
Zombies are sneaky little turds. You should always be on guard for them. Movement should be as quiet as possible and you should always be on the lookout for ambushes. Zombies may be undead, but they are not as stupid as some people think. They will set up ambushes either during the day along your path, or at night when they think everyone is asleep. It will also be difficult to tell a zombie from a human. After a few weeks with scanty food humans start to look and act like zombies. There should be a watch set up every night. You are always in danger. Be careful!

Animals will be a major threat. I know, today animals are scared of us and typically run away. But picture in your mind a time when wolves have large litters, and they all survive. Why? Because there will be lots of food. What will that food be? Humans! The death toll will be huge during this time. Wolves and other meat eaters will have litters that will grow up eating humans. The smell of human will no longer be something to fear, but something that makes their mouth water. There will be lots of big wolves. I have dreams about large wolf packs. They scare me. Learning first aid for animal bites might be wise.

Accidents during this time will kill you. A simple cut that gets infected can kill you just as fast as any zombie chewing on your brains. Be careful, move slowly, don’t take chances. I went canyoneering with a bunch of teenagers once, they came to a 13 foot cliff and instead of waiting for ropes they jumped off. No one got hurt, but that is the kind of thing that you should really avoid. How will you outrun a zombie if you break a leg or twist an ankle? Be smart. Also prepare now by getting a decent medical kit and learning how to use it. Hopefully your pod will have a healer, but not every pod will be so lucky.

Why write these blogs? Am I trying to scare people? No I am not. I feel compelled to warn people. This is what is coming and now you have a choice: prepare or not. Live or die. The choice is yours. Hopefully you are wise and prepare for this time. If you live in a big city or a place that you feel will be dangerous you will need to escape. How will you do so? Do you have your zombie plan ready? Get decent equipment and learn how to use it! A gun or some means of self protection would be really handy against zombies or animals. Guns scare you? Then get a knife. There will be groups of people with no guns, or where the ammunition ran out. These groups will have a very hard time with the wolves. Build a fire, keep the little and weak ones near the fire. Everyone else should have a spear and stand in a circle shoulder to shoulder to defend each other. Don’t freak out and break the circle! If you do the wolves will win. I feel for these people. The S&R teams will be out looking for you, but you have to get close enough for them to find and help you. Adapt, improvise and overcome! Do not give up hope! This will be survivable, and you increase your odds if you prepare appropriately.
Good luck!

During the zombie apocalypse three different areas will exist: the Base, the Wild, the Zone.

The wild is what we call the forest, woods, wilderness. Anything non city. Roaming zombies and wild animals are the biggest threats in the wild. More details in an upcoming blog.

The zone is any existing city structure. Zone is short for war zone. Large cities are to be avoided like the plague. They will literally be war zones. More on this in an upcoming blog.

The Base is the safe area. It is as close to normal small city life as you will find during the height of the zombie apocalypse. There will be many names for these places: cities of light, safe areas, civilization, places of refuge, etc. The S&R teams will call them simply the Base. There will be food, safety, law and order, housing, and medical care to some degree. Civilization will exist in the base. You may not think that is much now, but wait until things fall apart. Everyone will wish they were at a base. In these places everyone will be expected to work and perform some type of labor to help the society survive. There will be no grocery stores, no fast food places, food will still be in short supply but at least there will be some. Where will the food come from? The people will have to grow it. Remember, there will be no government bailouts or help during this period. People will be on their own. Everyone will need to pitch in to plant, weed, water, and harvest the food in order for the group to survive. Good sized bases will have animals to take care of. There will be a lot of work, but life in a base will be good. The people will be happy and safe. If you are not in a base you need to find out where one is, form a pod, and travel there. When you get close they will find you and escort you in the rest of the way. Do not try to travel by yourself!! These will be dangerous times. There will need to be watches during the night, you need a group in order to rotate this work and still get sleep. Wild animals will become a major threat. There will be many wild animals and they will no longer fear humans. By this time humans will have become their primary food source because of the number of bodies available to feed on. Hence the plethora of wild animals.

Between the base and the other areas will be mini-bases. A mini base is a tightly guarded smaller safe area. Its purpose is to keep unwanted things away from the base, making the base that much safer. The mini base is also where the search and rescue (S&R) teams are sent out from. Teams are sent out from the mini base into the danger zones. Their job is two fold, scout out any problems approaching and report them, and find good people to escort back to the mini base. Once at the mini base the rescued people will be patched up, healed, fed, clothed, and rested. Once they are fit to travel they will be escorted to the base where they will be integrated into the society. I will be spending most of my time during this period at different mini bases because I will be working with the S&R teams. What will you be doing? The universe will tell you if you ask.

Each S&R team will have a seeker (upcoming blog). The seekers job is to discern between the good people that are welcomed in, and the bad people that are warned away. You really want to be considered a good person during this time period . Trust me on this one.

What will you do for entertainment for children during the zombie apocalypse? At birthdays and Christmas what type of presents will you give? It’s not like you can just pop on down to the local mall and buy your kid some toys. I mean geesh, there is a zombie apocalypse going on!

At times like this it would be wise to learn how to craft your own toys, and the better the toy the happier the child. Now since I don’t like girl toys I will build boy toys. The main theme of toy building is to adapt, improvise, and overcome. Hey, that happens to be our store motto!!! What a coincidence

First the tank. It started out as a bunch of junk, add some imagination and work, and presto, you get a tank. This is modeled after the Bradley and is an APC, however, the turret comes off and can be replace by a tank turret. Two toys in one

Let’s back up a step or two. First the junk. I bought a sheet of latch hook material from the craft section at WalMart. This is 8 1/2 by 11 inch plastic sheet with tiny square holes in it. I use this for the tank tread. I collected various size straws, plastic tubing, tore apart some old cassette and VHS tapes for small parts, and used some thin card board and poster board. I have a bucket of small junk items to use for crafts like this.

The front of the tank has two tow points made of flower wire from the craft store. I cut off a short piece of wire, bent it into a U, poked two holes where I wanted it to be and super glued it in place. I do this all over the tank to create handles, tie downs, etc.

The tank tread is a cut section of the latch material. The spare tread is a section of this with another thin piece glued down the middle.
The hull gun and main turret gun are made of small straws of different sizes. I put nail in for stability and glued the straws over the nail.

People think that just because zombies are slow they are dumb, and can’t see. Well, the zombies that worry me can see just fine, and while maybe not rocket scientists are not stupid. Therefore it seems wise to devise a method of concealment. Hence the ghillie suit I will outline how I created my ghillie suit here and show pictures of its progress.

First the shirt. I decided to design my own shirt. Normal people use an old BDU shirt and turn it inside out to hide the pockets. Boring, so I designed my own, besides I wanted pockets on the upper arms and none on the front. You generally do NOT want pockets on the front because you will be crawling and pockets catch on things. I bought a canvas type material for the front. And a camo pattern I liked for the arms. The arms are not all covered so the material color is important. Originally I had a quarter zipper (installed) but the shirt was too hard to pull over. While it was designed to fit over a hydration pack there was no way I could without a full zipper. I ripped out the quarter zipper and replaced it will the full one. Much better.

I designed the back and armpits to be mesh to breath easier. I have a friend who was a marine sniper in Afghanistan and he gave me some good advice I will relay throughout this blog. This was the first. A ghillie suit is worn over your normal clothing so you want it to breath well to minimize sweating. Fishing net is tied to the shirt to provide a base to tie the burlap to. I bought some fishing net from Hobby Lobby that I tied to the shirt with fishing line. I then used shoe goo to glue the knots so they would not come undone. I put a knot about every 3-4 inches so it took a while. You want to cover the back of the body and half the arms.

I bought burlap in different colors. I ended up going to several different places to find the colors I want: Hobby Lobby, Walmart, and a fabric store. Each color was cut into 18-20 inch squares and then I pulled the threads out. This took a little while I found I liked the look of having 6-10 threads in a group which I tied in half onto the fishing net. I decided to do one color at a time to show the progress. I had two similar colors of brown which are shown in the first picture.

Then I added a darker brown for the brown highlights.

I found a sage looking green that I really liked and added it next.

I had originally bought a whole bunch of dark green because it matched the pine trees. Then decided I would not be wearing this in the forest, but more in the sage brush. So I ended up with just a few dark green highlights.

More advice my sniper friend gave me was to tie paracord onto the shirt so you can tie foliage from where ever you are. Seemed smart. I cut the paracord into 80 inch lengths and pulled the white strings out of the middle. I used these white strings in my survival kit . I cut the shell into 20 inch lengths and burned the ends. Then tied them onto the shirt and hat. I did about 24 of them total.

For the hat I started with a boonie hat and tied a piece of mesh to it. I then tied the fishnet to the mesh. Make sure the sides and back are long enough so the hat blends into the shirt. You do not want a ‘head’ profile. See the end picture to see what I mean.

Then I tied the burlap on in the same way until it looked the way I wanted.

I only wanted a shirt and hat so I did not do pants. Here is the finished product. I was pleased with my first attempt.

What if the Government knows the zombie apocalypse is coming, is actively preparing for it, but is failing to warn us? A wise friend told me that when dealing with government entities learn to connect the dots. Learn what they are doing, and piece together the information. Governments will never tell you the truth if it is bad, makes people panic and vote them out. So what are the dots:

DNS needs 1.6 billion rounds of ammo. Really? For “target practice”? News article

DHS has now purchased 2700 armored vehicles. Really? For terrorists, civil unrest, maybe zombies?

CDC has an entire section on preparing for an “imaginary” zombie apocalypse

It seems wise to prepare, or face the consequences.

interesting different perspective: Blog article

Update March 26, 2013:
DHS purchased another < a href="http://www.infowars.com/dhs-to-buy-360000-more-rounds-of-hollow-point-ammunition/">360,000 rounds of hollow point pistol ammo. I guess the 1.6 billion rounds they already had wasn’t enough.

Zombie movies generally start the same, you have some innocent people going about their lives when all of a sudden zombies attack – and everyone denies the attack is happening. As these people get fewer and fewer in number you feel like screaming “You are in a zombie movie you idiot, of course there are zombies!!”. Once the characters in the movie accept that the zombies are real they tend to live longer. Depending on the movie of course . How do you defend yourself from zombies? Everyone knows that, you arm yourself and shoot them in the head. Another important point brought to us by “Shawn of the Dead” – learn how to shoot. A head is a small target and if you have never shot a gun before you will miss it. Just like they did.

What can we learn from this? First, when you are in a zombie movie accept that zombies are real. Second, arm yourself appropriately and shoot them in the head. Third, whatever you arm yourself with you need to be proficient at using, otherwise you will be more of a danger to yourself and those around you.

How does this apply to us today? Easy, we are in a zombie movie. There, done, the rest is up to you. Will you admit it and take appropriate steps, or be like the extras in the zombie movies and be killed. Too quick for you? Let me back up one step .

Two questions that people often ask me about my site are:
1) Are zombies real?
2) Do you really think a zombie apocalypse is coming?

Let me answer these.
1) Are zombies real?
Yes, in the context of a zombie losing their humanity and trying to kill you, yes they are very real. They are not the walking undead trying to eat you. It is worse, they appear to be human until they grab gun and go on a shooting spree. This is not something a normal person does. This is an example of a normal human going Zombie on us and is happening all the time. Listen to the news. The latest example happened in Connecticut this morning. Some dude goes Zombie and kills over 20 people. Before that there was the theater in Colorado, and almost numberless other examples. People all over are going Zombie and killing those around them. With this definition zombies are very real and very dangerous.

2) Do you really think a zombie apocalypse is coming?
Yes, we are in one now and it will only get worse. Oh the government will deny it and try to control it the same way all powers do: deny, deny, deny, and ban the very thing you should be acquiring: guns.

This is background when I say that we are in a zombie movie. The zombie apocalypse is here now, and getting worse and worse slowly over time. One day it will reach critical mass and the whole system will fail. Those living at that time will finally admit to themselves the truth, but it will be too late for most people. At what point will you wake up and take the appropriate steps? When someone you know is killed, when someone you love is killed, when you are killed? Have you asked yourself why the people in the zombie movies always deny what is going on? It is so obvious to the viewers. They deny for the same reason those around you deny what is happening. Most people live in their protected world and do not want to face the dreadful reality that is approaching. It is frightening to face the truth. You may have to do things you would rather not do. You may have to not buy things you want in order to buy things you need. Yes, admitting the truth is always hard. It has always been this way, and always will be. It is sad to think how many of these zombie outbreaks could have been shortened by the people involved recognizing reality and being prepared? There was a mall shooting in Salt Lake City a few years back where the Zombie could have done much more damage, but there was an armed off duty cop present. Having others armed and prepared is useful, but do you want to delegate that level of preparedness to others? What if there is no one prepared, what happens then? Read the news and see for yourself.

We are left with a choice: accept and prepare for the zombie apocalypse or deny and face the consequences. I choose preparedness, what about you?

My children are starting to live home: college, work, marriage, etc. They do not have the money or space for emergency foods, yet I worry about them. Freeze dried foods take very little space and are very convenient for the types of emergencies they will have to deal with. If the full blown zombie apocalypse breaks out they will try to get home, but for other things such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, etc. they will stay in place and live through it. With this context I am creating a preparedness Christmas present for my moved out kids. No it is not a secret, I have already warned them this was coming. Some are excited, others not so much. The food I picked has a purpose behind it. I have talked to several parents who purchased 72 hr food supplies for their kids, focusing on can goods and other foods they eat on a daily basis. Results are always the same: within a month the kids ate all the food. It kinda defeats the purpose of have emergency food if you eat it all before the emergency. Based on this input I am purchasing a bucket of freeze dried food. I chose the 90 serving bucket from Lindon Farms. I chose this bucket because if its price, quality and menu selection. I opened one of these buckets and found it was only half full. I therefore supplemented it with 6 sample packs from Wise (1 of each of the 4 entrees and 2 cereals), and 1 fruit of their choice from the fruit buckets. This solved the food problem. My hope is the the sealed bucket and low expectations of the flavor will slow them down. Keep in mind the food is not bad at all, but that is not what I tell them. I know that if they knew how good it was they would eat it as soon as they were hungry. Therefore I tell them it tastes funny, but will keep them alive. Since they do not read my blog I am not worried about them learning my plan

My next concern was water. You need water to cook the food, drinking, and washing up. To help with this I got each of them a 5 gallon water container and water filter.

My last concern was starting a fire (assuming the power/gas could be out). The best I could do here was to include matches and a couple fire starters in their food buckets.

Everyone at some point has to own their personal preparedness. There is so much that could be done: shelter, protection, entertainment, sanitation, etc. Doing this type of thing for Christmas instead of the ‘normal’ presents is my way of teaching them what is important, and helping them acquire needed items.

You accept that the zombie apocalypse is coming and decide you had better start preparing. Where do you start? Where does the money come from? Are you ever finished? Let’s take these important questions one at a time.

Where do you start?
You start by recognizing that you have the responsibility to take charge of your future. This future includes the potential of a zombie apocalypse. Now whether you want to accept that real zombies will walk the earth, or merely recognize that the world as we know it will someday fall apart is not important. What is important is that you accept the potential of a world where no one is around to take care of you but you. We can now analyze what types of things you will need. Some of my information comes from someone who lived through the Serbian civil war. This is someone who does not conjecture about who people may react in a bad situation, but relates how people DID react in a bad situation. So let’s begin making our list:
1) The most important item is self protection. If you cannot defend what is yours, it will rapidly cease to be yours. All the supplies in the world are worthless if you cannot prevent the degenerates from taking them from you. If you decide on a gun you better store enough ammunition for it. They are pretty much useless without ammunition. This is something you can come back to. Start with getting a gun and some ammo, then revisit once other items below are addressed. The only people who need only guns are those planning on becoming zombies themselves – and killing others for their sustenance.
2) Water. Without a clean water source you will die within a week. You can live without food longer than you can without water.
3) Food. Food gives you energy to live and move. Dying of starvation is not a fun experience for anyone. Food is fairly cheap, if you buy the basics, and stores for a long time. Start with a minimum of 3 months and then circle back around. Depend on the universe to tell you how much is enough. As long as you have this uneasy feeling that you don’t have enough, you probably don’t.
4) First aid. First aid supplies will keep you from dying from getting scratched by a rusty nail. The simple things can kill you just as dead as the more complex.
5) Sanitation. If you do not plan for disposing of waste products, including human waste, you will soon find yourself living in the midst of it. This is an invitation for all kinds of germs to come live with you. Germs kill slowly, but you are just as dead in the end.
6) Power. Power is not critical to survive, but having the ability to enjoy a movie on your laptop, turn on a flashlight in the dark, or recharge your ipod to listen to music makes life much easier. This is why it is number 6 .
7) Pod. You should not plan to do this alone. Find your pod. Live will be so much easier if you have your pod to help and support you through the zombie apocalypse. We are not talking about a short (weeks) period of time. We are talking about months and potentially years. Get a good pod together and you will not regret it.

Now that you have read this you need to make a prioritized list for yourself. What do you need first, second, etc. Create your list and make it very specific. Some items may be research items such as: determine what type of gun to purchase. Other items will be more specific: buy 200 lbs of wheat in buckets. Do more research to create your personal list, then start to execute on it. Cross off items as they are accomplished so you can see your progress.

Where does the money come from?
Getting prepared is not free, nor rarely cheap. Where does the money come from? First of all do not waste the money you have. Track all expenses for 2 months and see where every penny goes. Once you know where it is going you can make decisions about controlling that. Too many people have no clue about how much money gets spent where. Do you eat out? Stop and save that money. Buy a coffee or coke on the way to work? Stop and save that money. Go to the movies and get a popcorn and drink? Stop, or slow it down, and save that money. If you really believe that getting prepared is worth while you will find the money once you track down where it is currently going. For years we have been using Christmas, Fathers day, Mothers day, Birthdays, and any other event for acquiring our preparedness materials. It slowly adds up as long as you control where you spend the money you have.

Am I ever finished?
Being prepared is a way of life, not an event. Once you have accepted your responsibility to prepare for your future it becomes a way of life. You will not view money the same again. You will not view wasting time watching sitcoms on TV again. Your priorities change to preparing mentally by learning more skills, preparing physically by both exercising and preparing needful things, and then to helping your neighbors and family start to take ownership of their future.

More information:

SHTFplan.com a monetized blog from someone who lived through the Serbian civil war.

If there is the possibility of evacuation because of a disaster, and this could be anyone, you should prepare ahead of time. Where will you go? How long will you be gone? What should you take with you? Who will you evacuate with? These are important questions. Here are some steps to follow to maximize the chance for a safe evacuation.

1) Planning
Before evacuating you should have your plan and disaster kit prepared and ready to go. You should have a specific place in mind to go – this should be part of your plan. If it is with relatives or friends they should be aware of your approximate arrival time. Make sure that your water and electricity are turned off. Do not turn off the gas unless you anticipate being gone for a long time or there is a chance for a gas leak. Once the gas is turned off it should only be turned on by a gas company representative. Ensure that your possessions are as protected as they can be. If you are in a flood zone put valuables upstairs, if in a tornado zone put them in the basement. Use your head and be smart.

You may want to expand your disaster kit with sleeping bags and tents in case it takes longer to get to your destination than you thought. Hotels will be full and you may have to sleep in the car. Blankets or sleeping bags will make a big difference.

Emergency cash should be part of your disaster kit, but do you have enough? What if electricity goes down and you are unable to use your credit/debit cards? Do you have sufficient cash for food, gas, supplies, hotel, etc? A little planning goes a long ways. You want to be first out in an evacuation. Those that are last will have a much harder, longer journey to their destination.

If you have younger children bring games and toys for them. Listening to “Daddy are we there yet?” enough times will drive anyone nuts.

2) Leaving
You should have your pod prepared so that you can leave together. You do not want to evacuate by yourself. If you do so you leave yourself open to mechanical problems or robbery attempts. An evacuation is a stressful time and the unprepared may be tempted to take advantage of those wiser than they. Be even wiser and evacuate with a group of people so you can help each other out as required. You should prepare food, water, and sanitation supplies for the evacuation journey. What would be a 3 hour drive under normal circumstances could be 6-8 hours under evacuation conditions. Having thought ahead and prepared food and water (and having bathroom concerns covered) makes a world of difference. Stay with your pod during this time. If one needs to stop you all stop. That is what pods do.

If you stop and get out of your vehicle be wary about letting those around you see your food and supplies. Pulling into a rest stop and having lunch is relaxing – until 15-20 very hungry families show up at your table begging food to eat. Most people will NOT be prepared, and will expect/demand that you share with them. It is better to anticipate this behavior and avoid dealing with it. Stop at rest stops to use the bathrooms, but eat in the car. Do not show food unless you plan to share it. You have been warned.

Make sure your gas tanks are full before you leave, and you may want to carry an extra 5-10 gallons with you just in case. Gas stations may run empty because of the unexpected influx of customers and you do not want to be stranded.

3. Waiting

You evacuated for a reason. How long will it be before you get to return home? This could be anyone’s guess, but is determined by the type of disaster that caused it. In a hurricane you may be gone a couple days, or a couple weeks. In a zombie apocalypse you may not come back for years.