Zombies are here...what do you grab?

[MurderCityDisciple]

You have 5 minutes to grab what you can...the zombies are slavering at your door...it's about to be torn open...grab what you can and run.

Using what you actually have in your actual house as is.

What do you grab?

[MurderCityDisciple]

For myself-
Longbow and arrows (gunless now cuz of 6 year old in house)
Battle Axe...yes I have one.
backpack filled with some clothing
leather jacket...hard to bite thru biker leather
flashlight and 6 pack of d-cells
pringles (honey mustard flavor)
long type lighter (all I have)
wood axe...good for chopping and pounding heads and nails
military folding shovel

any more I'd be slowed down and I only have 5 minutes.

[Beatmeclever]

Swords (three, all combat-grade) and machete
Camping gear (luckily it’s all packed in the truck already – this weekend being what it is and all [Memorial Day])
Clothes (for a week)
Food (for four days)
Tent
Fishing gear
Canoe
Rifle (M-14S, more than enough ammunition for several months)
Shotgun (SPAS12, again, plenty of ammo)
Pistols (TAC45, that ammo thing again)
WGP Trilogy Sport Autococker Paint Ball Marker (just for S&Gs)
Alcohol
Wife and Pets
All this in or on top of the truck (GMC Terrain), I should be able to get all the way to my friend’s ranch to hole up for a bit with him and a few others.

More would be nice, but you said five minutes (I get the bene of discovering this thread at the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend).

[Severus Snape]

5 minutes isn't all that long to start grabbing stuff. And the lists of stuff I'm seeing people grabbing here might be a little too much to take in 5 minutes. You have to remember that you're in a survival situation, where the adrenaline is flowing and you may not remember where everything is.

With that said, the most likely list of stuff I'd grab (assuming I started on the main level in my home) would be:

Take the stairs to the second level and grab:

• Backpack, into which I'd stuff an extra pair of jeans, 2 t-shirts, some undies and some socks
• Keys to the truck (2002 Chevy S-10 Extended Cab, ZR-2 Off-Road Package with the oversized off-road tires)
• My wallet
• The wooden rod in the wardrobe that is used to hang clothes from (it can be detached in one motion, less than 5 seconds, is about 3 feet long, and solid oak)

Take the stairs back to the main level and grab:

• Reusable shopping bag, with a couple days' worth of dried goods (cereal, grains, etc.) and some bottled water

Take the stairs all the way down to the basement and grab:

• Computer repair toolkit (sounds stupid, until you need a philips-head screwdriver or a socket screwdriver)

Take the stairs from the basement up to the garage and grab:

• A shovel (put into the bed of the truck)
• 2 spare gas cans, filled (put into the bed of the truck)

That's about it. That would take about 5 minutes to get that stuff together. At this point I'm in the truck, turning the engine over, and hoping that the driveway is cleared as I open the garage door. It should go without saying that my wife is following me the whole time, and I'm not sure what she'd be grabbing. So we may have a couple more sets of clothes for her, and maybe another reusable shopping bag of food and water. That's it. Time is short and ticking away...

[mrloucifer]

I get in my Glitterboy and prepare to throw down!

[DtMK]

My hat ... because if I'm gonna get killed and rise again I want to be wearing a jaunty hat!

Admittedly, this will earn you style points. But in the remake of Dawn of the Dead, you become sniper fodder and those style points become target points. Do you really want to be remembered as 'that jaunty hat zombie'?

[azazel1024]

For just myself...

If I knew we were talking zombies, I'd grab my backpacking gear as it is pretty much all assembled. Grab the axe and sledge out of the storage shed. Grab all my pocket knives (I've got probably a dozen different swiss army and other folding knives, plus a medium fixed blade knife for backpacking. I generally only take the fixed blade and a single swiss army knife in my backpack kit). Grab as much of the food and drink out of the pantry. Throw some clothes, jackets, shoes and boots from my closet in to a duffle. Grab the spare gas can out of the shed while I am there grabbing the axe and sledge. Grab the toiletry bag from the closet and throw a few extras in the clothes duffle.

On my own I could probably manage all that and get it in the car in 5 minutes if I didn't have to think about any of it while I was doing it (IE it was a 'ready, set, go' situation and not a dropped in my lap setup).

Since I have a wife and two young kids it would be a lot harder to do that, but we could probably get the kids in the car and grab most of the stuff in 5 minutes. I'd need the big tent (2 man backpacking tent will NOT fit more than 2 adults in it, and friendly ones at that) and some baby supplies (2 month old). Thank God for using cloth diapers, easy to clean and resuable instead of having to try to make do once you run out of disposables.

Really 10 or 15 would make the getting the family in the car with all the essentials much more workable.
-Matt

[Severus Snape]

If I knew we were talking zombies, I'd grab my backpacking gear as it is pretty much all assembled. Grab the axe and sledge out of the storage shed. Grab all my pocket knives (I've got probably a dozen different swiss army and other folding knives, plus a medium fixed blade knife for backpacking. I generally only take the fixed blade and a single swiss army knife in my backpack kit). Grab as much of the food and drink out of the pantry. Throw some clothes, jackets, shoes and boots from my closet in to a duffle. Grab the spare gas can out of the shed while I am there grabbing the axe and sledge. Grab the toiletry bag from the closet and throw a few extras in the clothes duffle.

Not to harsh on you about this, but seriously? You can carry all of that gear and get it in the car in 5 minutes? I'm also assuming your storage shed is outside, which means you've got to go beyond the zombies at your front door to get to it to get the stuff to bring it back to your car. And let's not forget this is a high-adrenaline survival situation where you are going to forget stuff.

But seriously - you can carry all of that stuff AND move fast enough to get it into the car in 5 minutes?

[Tearstone]

I actually have an action-plan for this.

First, I text friends/family. They have action plans for this of their own, with pre-set rendezvous. While doing that, I start the bathtub filling up, as well as the washer. (yes sounds funny, but it's very clean and can hold a lot of water).

2 5-gallon gas tanks from the garage go into the blazer. 30 seconds to get out of garage and into blazer
Leather jacket, front closet - even though it's texas in mid-summer, it is hard to bite through. 5 seconds to get
Clippers or Scissors - long hair is a liability, scissors double for cutting or stabbing. 10 seconds
Wooden rod from the laundry room, or shovel from the garage -staff/weapon and practice with both for years really helps. (hey I had to improvise when I was younger, and a sharp shovel can do some damage) - 20-30 seconds

There's not much canned goods, but I would grab the cereal, and what I could. 20-30 seconds.

2 spare pants, 2 spare shirts, handfull of socks, no undies (commando) - about 30 seconds

In my old apartment a few years ago I would have grabbed both of my good swords (katanas, live blades, combat quality), and at least one machete.

After that, I'm headed as far away from population centers as I can get. I'll pick up the rest of what I need along the way, since I'm smart enough to be the first of the first wave of refugees, providing I live long enough make it out of my town which is about 12,000 people. Thankfully I live on the very northern edge.

[Gamer]

You know if you make a bug out bag you can cut your assembling of gear time down dramatically, many people have them for things like evac from a hurricane for example.

[azazel1024]

If I knew we were talking zombies, I'd grab my backpacking gear as it is pretty much all assembled. Grab the axe and sledge out of the storage shed. Grab all my pocket knives (I've got probably a dozen different swiss army and other folding knives, plus a medium fixed blade knife for backpacking. I generally only take the fixed blade and a single swiss army knife in my backpack kit). Grab as much of the food and drink out of the pantry. Throw some clothes, jackets, shoes and boots from my closet in to a duffle. Grab the spare gas can out of the shed while I am there grabbing the axe and sledge. Grab the toiletry bag from the closet and throw a few extras in the clothes duffle.

Not to harsh on you about this, but seriously? You can carry all of that gear and get it in the car in 5 minutes? I'm also assuming your storage shed is outside, which means you've got to go beyond the zombies at your front door to get to it to get the stuff to bring it back to your car. And let's not forget this is a high-adrenaline survival situation where you are going to forget stuff.

But seriously - you can carry all of that stuff AND move fast enough to get it into the car in 5 minutes?

Didn't realize they were just outside already. I had assumed that you had 5 minutes before they were going to show up to your door.

If they were outside already and I had to dash I'd forget about the stuff in the shed.

As for that quickly, yup. All my backpacking gear is packed. My toiletry bag is packed. I don't have a stop watch, but I'd be suprised if I couldn't grab my backpacking gear, toiletry bag, duffle and grab a bunch of stuff semi-randomly from my dresser drawers, throw it in the duffle, run to the pantry and semi-randomly shove some food in the duffle and then run it all out to the car and hit the road.

The shed might take a little extra time if I didn't have to dodge zombies (it is about 12ft from my basement sliding glass door, I am in a townhouse, not 100ft away or anything). Its pad locked, but the doors on it are super cheap sheetmetal on sliders, I could kick it in with a single halfway decent kick (I know because I have accidently pulled one of the doors off the sliding track in the past).

So most/all of what I'd want to pack I could, and quickly as a lot of the stuff is pre-packed (IE I don't unpack it after I get home from trips except to air things out to dry if need be and then repack them) and everything else is going to be a dash to throw whatever I can lay my hands on in to a bag (how long does it take to open a few dresser drawers and litterally grab handfuls of clothes and throw them in a bag? 45-60 seconds to fill a duffle? 60 seconds to run to the basement and grab my backpacking gear? 60 seconds to throw a bunch of food in a box from the pantry? 60-90 seconds to grab the stuff from the shed and get it back to the front door? 30-60 seconds to take 2-4 loads of stuff gathered at the front door to the car 30ft away? I could maybe do it in 5 minutes).

Of course I might end up with 5 boxes of cereal, rice, spaghetti sauce, pancake mix, salt, flour, chocolate chips, corn startch, baking soda, etc because I quickly emptied one shelf in the pantry instead of deliberately packing stuff. Clothes I might end up with a few shirts, a bunch of boxers and shorts with no pants, socks, etc because I again just grab a bunch of stuff from a couple of dresser drawers.

Deliberate packing anything and everything I could probably manage in 15 minutes and I'd add my tool box, linens (can't go wrong with some sheets), shovel, spare oil and filters (I generally have 1-3 spare oil filters for each car and 2-8 quarts of 5w20 and also 5w40 laying around since I buy it when it is on sale at the autoparts stores), jack stands, TP out the wazhoo, extra matches, candles, batteries, solar powered battery charger, spare flash lights, rope, and a few other odds and ends I am not thinking of.
-Matt

[Severus Snape]

Let me explain why I'm questioning you on this. It's not the actual packing of stuff and stuffing it in the car. Heck, I could take an entire dresser full of clothes and stuff it all into a duffle bag in a matter of seconds. Anyone can do that. And I also know that a lot of people keep survival gear/camping gear/hunting gear in the same place all the time, all ready to go. So it isn't the packing I'm worried about.

What I'm questioning is your ability to CARRY all of that stuff at one time and still be able to move a little rapidly. You've got (and I'm just going by what you've written above) a backpack filled with gear, at least 1 duffle bag filled with gear, at least 1 bag of food, your toiletry bag (nice grab, by the way), weapons, and various other items. I know in your last post you mentioned taking a few trips to the car. But seeing as the original poster stated:

the zombies are slavering at your door...it's about to be torn open

I don't think you've got time to make multiple trips. So again, it's not so much what you are PACKING, it's what you are CARRYING.

[Tearstone]

Truth be told, I would tend to travel light and fast. I would probably just grab a staff. I wouldn't even worry about the coat in the end, because it's almost ten pounds, very dark colored, and very heavy.

If it's fast zombies, I know I don't have the speed or cardio to get away from them, and they're too quick to keep from getting swarmed. I'd try to bunker up.

If they're slow? I'll clear the ones nearest the house, then get in the Blazer and make the 12 mile trip to my grandparent's house. They've got firearms and of course are much better stocked and such. I'm pretty sure they've got some survival skills under their belt too, besides what I have.

As for making a bug-out bag... I don't have the money for it. I'm totally broke. Like destitute broke. But as soon as I can I plan to make one. I think there may be a need for it in the near future.

[azazel1024]

Let me explain why I'm questioning you on this. It's not the actual packing of stuff and stuffing it in the car. Heck, I could take an entire dresser full of clothes and stuff it all into a duffle bag in a matter of seconds. Anyone can do that. And I also know that a lot of people keep survival gear/camping gear/hunting gear in the same place all the time, all ready to go. So it isn't the packing I'm worried about.

What I'm questioning is your ability to CARRY all of that stuff at one time and still be able to move a little rapidly. You've got (and I'm just going by what you've written above) a backpack filled with gear, at least 1 duffle bag filled with gear, at least 1 bag of food, your toiletry bag (nice grab, by the way), weapons, and various other items. I know in your last post you mentioned taking a few trips to the car. But seeing as the original poster stated:

the zombies are slavering at your door...it's about to be torn open

I don't think you've got time to make multiple trips. So again, it's not so much what you are PACKING, it's what you are CARRYING.

Ahh I missed the slavering at the door bit. I was operating under a 5 minute time window. Kind of a "You see the zombies shambling up the road toward your house, you have 5 minutes to grab what you can and make it out the door/to your car before they arrive".

I certainly couldn't carry all that. If they were actually at the door/windows, if I thought I could make it I'd grab my backpacking pack with all the gear in it, stuff some extra food and a couple of changes of clothes in it, the toiletry bag and on the way out if I thought I could manage it I'd grab the axe and fuel can out of the shed (never know when a little gas can help you). If I thought I could make it to the car I'd still pack the duffle with some things also (extra clothes/food/water). I wouldn't want to make a dash for the car with more than the pack on my back, a duffle in one hand and an axe/sledge/shovel in the other.

The zombies coming up the street and you have 5 minutes scenario I was picturing the pack, a couple of duffles and a box of food, plus fuel can and a couple of tools (axe, sledge plus maybe shovel) getting collected by the front door/step and then probably two quick running trips to the car once it was all collected and getting the hell out of dodge.
-Matt

[Mech-Viper Prime]

five minutes as much food as i can to the garage attic and the chainsaw and wait until for a chance to make a break for it, yes i live a a bad area for a zombie attack less then a 10 minute walk to the hospital .

[azazel1024]

five minutes as much food as i can to the garage attic and the chainsaw and wait until for a chance to make a break for it, yes i live a a bad area for a zombie attack less then a 10 minute walk to the hospital .

Wow, you live pratically next door to me.
-Matt

[Gamer]

As for making a bug-out bag... I don't have the money for it. I'm totally broke. Like destitute broke. But as soon as I can I plan to make one. I think there may be a need for it in the near future.

You don't need to be a catalog commando with all the latest gear to make a bug out bag.
An old dufflebag/backpack filled with older common sense items works as well.

[Tearstone]

As for making a bug-out bag... I don't have the money for it. I'm totally broke. Like destitute broke. But as soon as I can I plan to make one. I think there may be a need for it in the near future.

You don't need to be a catalog commando with all the latest gear to make a bug out bag.
An old dufflebag/backpack filled with older common sense items works as well.

Dude, I don't even have a backpack, cant pay $20 that I don't have for even a backpack, nor any of the common sense items needed.

Like I said, I'm pretty much destitute.

Ugh, I never ever should have tried to move back in August. I would soooo not be in this situation.

[azazel1024]

Ok, gotta ask. Is the 5 minutes from the time the Zeds knock on the door or 5 minutes after you've torn yourself out of the paralyzing fear of seeing them out in the yard. I don't know about the rest of of you, but if I looked up from the TV or from a book, and suddenly saw some Zeds slobbering all over the big window looking in, I'd probably freak out, and there goes at least a minute or two (granted everyone reacts differently) while the brain recognizes whats going on and then kicks the body into gear. For me, I don't see enough of Zombies in today's world that I'm used to seeing them around. It's not like you can visit any at the local Zoos...

You obviously don't work for the gov't if you don't see zombies day to day
-Matt

[Severus Snape]

For me, I don't see enough of Zombies in today's world that I'm used to seeing them around. It's not like you can visit any at the local Zoos...

Then you aren't visiting the right zoos.

[Thinyser]

Other than my spouse and kids?

My dogs (though they would be useless against zed they can catch rabbits, pull sleds {one is huskey the other half husky half lab} and they are good companions though I would regret doing so I would sacrifice them to save my own ass if it came down to it.)
12 gauge
Ruger 1022 .22 rifle
Ammo for both
Camping gear (tent and sleeping bags, mess kit, small propane stove, 2 propane lanterns, and and my 4 pack of fuel for sure)
Canned/dried food (including my 44lbs of dried dog food... hey its fat, carbs, and protein will keep you going for a LONG damn time if you have to and it doesn't have much taste good or bad)
Frozen meats in cooler (get me through the first couple weeks with good protein until I can take down some small game with my .22)
My hand tools (wrenches, screwdrivers, hammer, ax & hatchet, hand saw,sledge hammer, etc... & drill & bit set)

[The Beast]

And this is when being a paranoid SOB comes in handy... along with being a Renaissance actor. First the backpack I have in the closet that is usually stock up for a camping trip (holds a few various supplies; tent, sleeping bag, trail rations, water purifier pills and pump, canteen, compass, axe and flares) then onto the gun closet in the basement to grab the ol' 12 gauge and the four boxes of ammo along with the Beretta and it's ammo then the peace la resistance; the two trench knives my blacksmith buddy made for me. Then its out the attic escape (yeah the place has one, that was like a deciding factor for me) then across the rooftops of the houses till the end of the block... then I'm screwed on how to get down lol

Wait a sec. How does being a Renaissance actor prepare you for the coming Zombie Apocalypse?

As for the OP, just my gerber, car keys, wallet, and cell phone. I'd then find a place to hide and hope I can head back there later for more items.

[azazel1024]

Practice with bladed weapons? Seems like martial arts training would be better for that. However I'll cop that with all the years of martial arts training I've had I didn't have much practice with bladed weapons.

Of course the forms I took don't highlight weapons, unless they are part of your body.
-Matt

[Tearstone]

Ah, see... I made sure to train with weapons from the start of my martial arts training. Sometimes, I think the body itself is a better weapon. Then there are other days when I wouldn't mind having a melee weapon. In the end though, a gun is still a perfectly acceptable stand-by, especially in Texas.

[azazel1024]

Well I started training when I was 8 and stopped when I was 13 except for a college class in Shotokan Karate. So most of it wasn't really self directed training.

I keep wanting to take it up again, but having a toddler and an infant doesn't leave me a lot of free time. I am looking at moving this fall and there is a studio that teaches Shotokan Karate about 15-30 minutes from the area I am looking at moving, so I might take it up again.
-Matt

PS My earlier training was in Taijutsu, but the only studio around here that teaches it is about 15 minutes from where I now live, or about an hour from where I am moving. Just too far.

[Thinyser]

And this is when being a paranoid SOB comes in handy... along with being a Renaissance actor. First the backpack I have in the closet that is usually stock up for a camping trip (holds a few various supplies; tent, sleeping bag, trail rations, water purifier pills and pump, canteen, compass, axe and flares) then onto the gun closet in the basement to grab the ol' 12 gauge and the four boxes of ammo along with the Beretta and it's ammo then the peace la resistance; the two trench knives my blacksmith buddy made for me. Then its out the attic escape (yeah the place has one, that was like a deciding factor for me) then across the rooftops of the houses till the end of the block... then I'm screwed on how to get down lol

Wait a sec. How does being a Renaissance actor prepare you for the coming Zombie Apocalypse?

As for the OP, just my gerber, car keys, wallet, and cell phone. I'd then find a place to hide and hope I can head back there later for more items.

Simple my good sir... have you ever tried to use a weapon like an halberd, bastard sword or other melee weapon? Trust me you need training to use them properly and being a Renn. actor gives you that training, even though we use it for shows because the basics are still there. Plus you have to care for a weapon,like cleaning and oiling it etc. cause it will rust or start to stick to its carrying area (people who sheath weapons after kills are morons cause that blood will make a weapon stick and under Vlad the Impaler a soldier with a dirty weapon was grounds for executions). Plus to even handle a weapon with a lot of the weapon masters you need some degree of martial arts training (2nd degree black belt) because you need restraint and the self-discipline

I'll take an aluminum baseball bat over a halberd for taking out zombies.

Stop by the chem lab and grab about 2-5 lbs of mercury, drill into the bat pour in the mercury and then stopper the hole. Now when you swing it starts off with the mass of mercury by the handle but then the force of the swing forces the liquid mercury to the business end of the bat giving you more mass at that end without needing to start all that mass moving while its already there. Swings start fast and with minimal input force but impact is amplified greatly.

[azazel1024]

You did read the rest of his post where he said all of it would go in/on his truck? Sounds pretty resonable to fit that all in and on a GMC Terrain. Heck I could probably fit all that in/on my Mazda 3...though the Canoe would leave some whicked scratches since I don't have a luggage/ski rack to mount it to (and I'd go for my wife's Subaru Forester, not the 3).
-Matt

[Severus Snape]

Swords (three, all combat-grade) and machete
Camping gear (luckily it’s all packed in the truck already – this weekend being what it is and all [Memorial Day])
Clothes (for a week)
Food (for four days)
Tent
Fishing gear
Canoe
Rifle (M-14S, more than enough ammunition for several months)
Shotgun (SPAS12, again, plenty of ammo)
Pistols (TAC45, that ammo thing again)
WGP Trilogy Sport Autococker Paint Ball Marker (just for S&Gs)
Alcohol
Wife and Pets
All this in or on top of the truck (GMC Terrain), I should be able to get all the way to my friend’s ranch to hole up for a bit with him and a few others.

More would be nice, but you said five minutes (I get the bene of discovering this thread at the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend).

I am not paying a whole lot of attention to this thread, but how do you expect to carry all this junk? A canoe!? Please.. you'll be the first to die.

See, that's my entire point of view on this. People are coming out with lists and lists of stuff that are completely unreasonable and invalid. I'm not saying that they don't own this stuff. I'm saying that it is near impossible given the scenario stated at the beginning of this thread (zombies are slavering at your door, and you have 5 minutes to bug out) to go through your house, get all of this stuff together, pack it into a vehicle, and then leave before zed snacks on you. Let alone having to carry it all at once.

[azazel1024]

Yup, unless you leave the canoe strapped to the truck I don't see attaching it in 5 minutes, even with an additional person to help, let alone loading everything else.

My list is predicated with having 5 minutes to get everything together and get to your car, not 5 minutes before the zombies start actually busting in the windows and doors (because they are already at the front door). I think if they were already at the door/windows you'd have to specify both that and "How do you plan your escape" as that is a bit more important than what do you grab in 5 minutes time.
-Matt

[Silveressa]

(Edited for spelling, to ensure I grab a 12 gauge shotgun and not a 12 gauge shitgun Whoever put the "I" and "O" keys next to each other on the keyboard was a evil, evil person.)

Given our outside door is a steel reinforced fire door, and we happen to live on the second floor I figure it'd take them at least a good 20 minutes or longer to pound down the door, but assuming I didn't notice until 5 minutes were left I'd grab..

-The 12 gauge shotgun and case of 100 rounds of #1 buckshot from next to the bed
-The army machete and collapsible steel baton in the living room
- Pass my lover the katana from next to the bed (she's fairly proficient with it, and its the second most lethal weapon in the house at this time)
-Grab the bug out bag from the hallway and use the rolled up metal escape ladder to evacuate out one of the windows then pay the visit to the car dealer across the road and "liberate" a shiny new hummer or other off road vehicle.

Or:

Depending on how many zombies were on the 2nd story porch I'd open the window in the living room that gives me a nice view of the porch while still being a good 5 feet from the railing and use some of the hundred 12 gauge rounds to clean the porch of anything undead. (Given thie dinky town closest to here has less then 100 people living it in I'd probably have plenty of ammo to spare after.)

[Rathorc Lemenger]

Hmmm...... Other then my family & 3 dogs I'd have to say that I'd grab my "Zombie Survival Guide" book, my sword/knife, batteries, a hatchet, flashlight (its actually a Maglight and can double as a weapon it needed), some clothes and blankets, some food, my cell (in hopes that I can get incontact with someone) and cell phone charger. That's about it for now, I think.

[MaxxSterling]

Armored bank car, my girl, my rifle and my rifts main sourcebook. Lock it down and forget about the stupid zombies.

[Anthar]

Besides grabbing my ankles and kissing my arse goodbye...
I have my survival gear and weapons packed in a military duffle in my closet, a basket in the bedroom near the kitchen that I can dump food quickly into and my truck is parked in front of my camper that has all the amenities that I could want/need. I figure I could get going in under 3 minutes.

[The Beast]

Armored bank car, my girl, my rifle and my rifts main sourcebook. Lock it down and forget about the stupid zombies.

You have an armored bank car at your house?

[Lord_Dalgard]

Chello!

Glad to see I'm not the only one with Mosin Nagant love!

Organize the kids, 2 oldest get the bug out bags (both of which are stocked with MREs for 2 days and each has a Henry survival rifle). There's always 2 cases of water in the van.

I get the M44 MN, my wife the M38. Out the back to the van and off we go. Might take a little longer than 5 minutes just to get the kids under control. Leave our cat to guard the front door.

[psam_rage]

If I saw zombies at my door? I would upend my couch move it over a few feet and shove it down the stairs. Go to my bed room stuff grab my Baseball bat, my Quarterstaff (hockey stick ,the 'blade' is gone), camping pack, my gaming bag, and empty my tackle bag. Proceed to kitchen stuff tackle bag with cans, cheese, and ramen packs(not healthy but they will keep you FEELING full), some duck tapes, and a few knives. Check the situation out front and back, go from there. (Probably deciding what to do as I tape a knife to the end of the stick, pity I can't get into my parent's gun case.)

[azazel1024]

You'd take your gaming bag?

In case the zombies attack...you can roll a d20 to see if they hit???
-Matt

[Aaryq]

If I can't stay in my house and "bug in" then I would take: My wife's and my bug out bag (72 hour SHTF kit), the go bags for our Yukon, My SKS, Ruger P89, Tokarev TT-33, Ruger 10/22 ammo can 1 (sitting next to the bug out gear, has ammunition and magazines for my bug out guns), the kids, the wife and the dog. Boom.

But I would always prefer to stay in my house if at all possible. I'm safer there rather than out in the open.

[Severus Snape]

Is it just me, or does an unusual amount of the people who troll this forum have guns? Everybody who has replied to this topic (except myself) has stated that they would grab multiple guns that they own in their house. Did I miss the memo that says all gamers need to have a firearm?

[Aaryq]

Is it just me, or does an unusual amount of the people who troll this forum have guns? Everybody who has replied to this topic (except myself) has stated that they would grab multiple guns that they own in their house. Did I miss the memo that says all gamers need to have a firearm?

I don't think the memo has been officially released. Expect it some time next week (lol).

I'm just a firearms enthusiast and a gaming enthusiast. Where I live, it's smart to keep a 72 hour kit on hand in the event of a hurricane. Yes I have a permit to carry the firearms included, no I don't plan on going on a shooting rampage, but if the feces hits the rotating object, one may be put in a situation where he will have to shoot 4 legged food or 2 legged predators (Katrina Looters as a great example) because at the end of the day, I'm responsible for my family, for putting food on the table and ensuring they're alive to eat it.

[Silveressa]

Is it just me, or does an unusual amount of the people who troll this forum have guns?

It all depends on where you live as well I would assume.

For myself living in the middle of the boondocks of Vermont with my partner Rosie, around here having a firearm/shotgun is really no more unusual then owning a surfboard is for someone owning ocean front property and living near the beach.

We mostly use it for blasting vermin (Skunks, Raccoons, etc..) and the occasional target shoot or hunting trip, as well as solid home defense. (With the police response time in this remote area being easily 20+ minutes being prepared to call Colt 1911 rather then 911 is the only practical option as they say.)

[azazel1024]

Is it just me, or does an unusual amount of the people who troll this forum have guns? Everybody who has replied to this topic (except myself) has stated that they would grab multiple guns that they own in their house. Did I miss the memo that says all gamers need to have a firearm?

Hey, I don't. I'd been thinking the same thing. Though less the ownership than it is in a lot of cases the large number owned. Not that it frigtens me, just bemuses me more than anything

Actually what really blows my mind is that it seems like 90% of the people responding have an actual bug out bag (or multiple ones). Now I could throw one together in a few minutes, but the closest I have is my backpacking pack, which just has all my backpacking gear in it (well most of it). I'd still have to pack food, fuel and a few other things to really call it a bug out bag.

That and it seems like almost everyone who has one and firearms could collect all of them in less than 5 minutes and be out the door. Now I don't exactly expect ya'll to have everything in a gun safe in a locked closet with the ammo stored on the otherside of the house all locked up as well, but it still sounds like either folks are maybe exagerting a bit how long it would take to really grab everything and get out the door, or else there is a bit of unsafe storage going on (especially the number of people with kids living under their roof and the number of fire arms and plethora of ammo some have mentioned).
-Matt

[Silveressa]

Actually what really blows my mind is that it seems like 90% of the people responding have an actual bug out bag (or multiple ones).
-Matt

I was a bit surprised too at first, but then again, a lot of us prone to "survivalist" mind sets likely tend to gravitate towards post apocalypse rpgs of any kind so perhaps it's simply seeing a larger then usual demographic represented here in this thread. Aside from that, since the whole "terrorist threat" scare from the early 2000's many people living in vulnerable areas to attack prepped themsevles to evacuate at a moments notice, and then there's the rest of us who keep such kits prepped for natural disasters and the like. (For myself around here we get some nasty blizzards in the winter, and there's a slim chance of a forest fire causing an evacuation order, so better to prep for the worst and hope for the best then caught with my hands in my pockets as the saying goes.

On the ammo bit, I store the case of roughly 100 some odd rounds of #1 buck in the gun cabinet right next to the shotgun, so getting the ammo isn't much harder then getting the gun itself, and unless someone knows the combination I doubt they can get into it with anything less then a welding torch making it as safe a place as any to store lethal weapons, and I pretty much assumed most people stored their weapons in a similar fashion if they had children or otherwise need to keep their weapons safely secured.

[wolfsgrin]

Wife packs the food and kid, and I'll grab my machete and kukri and favorite skinning knife and anything else that might help out, like extra socks (lots of socks). Dice bag, paper, pens, HU main. And a princess dress so I'm not tempted to feed the daughter to the Zs when she's freaking out because she has no friggn princess dress.

[MaxxSterling]

I think everyone that games should own firearms and a carry permit, ride a motorcycle and probably know who to fly a plane and pilot a boat. If possible log a little time as an over the road truck driver. Try to pick locks and also try to hotwire a car (Your own preferably). Should also be at least a shadetree mechanic or DIY home repairman. Know about computers and networks. Camping and Hiking and throwing weapons. And have a lot of common sense. Military experience would also be a huge plus.

The more of these real life experiences, the better, especially if you're a GM. That way when idiots try riding motorcycle and shooting guns/using swords - you understand how damn near impossible this is, and what happens when you gotta reload? I feel its always good to have an idea of what happens in a situation by having the experience yourself. I like to play with more mature groups, and it is damn tough to find people with an IQ over 80 that aren't on drugs or are alcohilics that like to game and are over the age of 20. But to each their own...

[azazel1024]

Is it scary that I can tick off just about all of those boxes except "Carry and permit" and "military experience"...though I've read enough field manuals, history books, theory and practice books, etc to cover most of a what you'd see in OCS or more. No CDL though, but a bit of big truck experience.

Oh, and I can't tick off "on drugs" "IQ below 80" "alkeyhaulik" or "under 20" boxes either.
-Matt

[MaxxSterling]

azazel, sounds like we have a lot in common along those lines. It's amazing the amount of useless skills that person can pick up in a lifetime, and I'm sure there's more to come. But I hope you'd agree that from a game dynamic, when some tells you they want to attempt some crazy B.S. they saw in a movie, that you can anchor them to reality and say... You know really, cause I've tried to shoot two pistols at once in rapid sucession, or yeah, I've tried shooting a desert eagle .50 or mossberg 500 one handed, and it didn't work out so well... Or at least it's just about impossible to have any percision in doing so.

[azazel1024]

My favorite are the players who go steal everything, including the kitchen sink.

Any then try to fit it in their pack, with 2 weeks worth of food and water, about 30 reloads for their rifle. A side arm with some reloads, a dozen grenades, a rocket launcher and a couple of reloads, body armor, survival gear, and now they want to try to fit some miscellaneous and sundry stolen items from a pawn shop somewhere in their magically capacious and lightweight pack that only appears to be 4,000cu-in from the outside, but is really 20,000cu-in on the inside and magically only weighs 40lbs instead of 250lbs.

I ground my players in a healthy does of reality, especially when it comes to just how much can a person really carry on themselves (and just hot much that REALLY slows you down).
-Matt

[Vrykolas2k]

Socom 16 and ammo in bugout bag, Gassan daisho, Mossberg 930 and ammo, Tommy gun and ammo along with Kimber .45, the puppy, the baby, the wife.
A couple of good knives are part of the bugout bag, along with food, water, and medical stuff.
As for unsafe storage... my house is kinda hard to break into, and I've good neighbors who watch out for eachothers' stuff. And for the kids issue, I knew better than to touch a fire-arm when I was 4 unless supervised. That included my toy guns, so no playing cops and robbers until I'd checked with my father or mother.

[azazel1024]

Socom 16 and ammo in bugout bag, Gassan daisho, Mossberg 930 and ammo, Tommy gun and ammo along with Kimber .45, the puppy, the baby, the wife.
A couple of good knives are part of the bugout bag, along with food, water, and medical stuff.
As for unsafe storage... my house is kinda hard to break into, and I've good neighbors who watch out for eachothers' stuff. And for the kids issue, I knew better than to touch a fire-arm when I was 4 unless supervised. That included my toy guns, so no playing cops and robbers until I'd checked with my father or mother.

That doesn't mean all kids do, no matter the lessons they get from their parents...and plenty of kids under 4 accidently discharge fire arms every year. Each his own, but not a risk I'd ever consider with my kids.
-Matt