Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 4

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 4

In previous blogs I’ve stressed the importants of keeping your torso free of gear. Wearing too much gear on you does three things: First, you are broadcasting to everyone you have a lot of things to help you survive and more of a reason for them to attack you. Second, if another human or zombie attacks, you are going to be encumbered by all of that gear on. Lastly, it’s more things for someone else to grab onto in a confrontation. So where do you put all of your essential gear then? Simple. A backpack.

Backpack

Here is what a backpack should have: It needs to be super durable, have a large carrying capacity and, most importantly, it needs to look like a normal bag. Some people go a little crazy when it comes to bags and think they need to go military style… Bad Idea. It may not seem like a big idea if you are wearing normal clothing and keeping on the down low.  However, it will stick out like a sore thumb in a city if you are carrying around a camo military style backpack. Even more so if you ARE wearing normal clothes. It’s just one more thing that could separate you from the masses of survivors and make you a target… If you can ignore the risk altogether, do so by carrying a normal looking bag.

BDS Tactical 3-Day Pack

This is the kind of backpack I would carry. It has the shape of a normal school style bag but has a lot of awesome features. It has a capacity of 3100 cubic inches so it can fit a ton of items; it comes in colors that are NOT camo (black being my preferred choice), has a slot for a 100oz water bladder and it has MOLLE webbing so you can hang extra things on it. The waist strap is removable or you can tuck it in which is nice. Some people may argue the MOLLE webbing is military. True, but it doesn’t have near as much as most military bags and I think the normal shape and color off-sets it enough to justify having the extra storage/MOLLE option. http://www.bdstacticalgear.com/pd-bds-tactical-three-day-pack.cfm

On a side note: What is the obsession/logic behind camo? Seriously think about that. Camo is made to help whoever is wearing it blend into the environment similar to the camo pattern. It tricks the mind and blurs the human shape into the surroundings thus keeping you concealed. If you are in a city, which is made up of mostly concrete, brick, and metal…. How does wearing multicam or ACU prints help hide you? Even if you had on UDC (urban digital camo) or A-TACS, you will stand out walking amongst others and people will think you are Military/Police personnel, which is illegal like I mentioned in a previous blog if you are not. You will definitely stick out MORE wearing any other camo pattern in a city because you don’t match anything in your surroundings and are just drawing more attention to yourself. In an urban environment you should wear neutral colors that let you hide in plain sight; blend in with the people around you and make people pass over you. To me that makes more sense then looking like a tool wearing woodland camo in the middle of New York City.  That is unwanted and stupid attention that could have easily been avoided.

/Rant

Be Prepared. Be SMART. Be Incognito.

                                                (8bit) Brandt

Too Much Info Tuesday

“Teepee” Fire

This is the most common fire and the majority of people have seen it. Basic idea is to lean pieces of wood together in the shape of a teepee with the kindle in the center. Light the kindle, it catches the wood over it aflame and, boom, you have a fire. Pros: This fire is quick. Cons: This fire is quick. What I mean by that is this: The fire is easy to set up and get some flames started. The problem is that it burns out and loses heat quickly. This happens because of the shape/layout of the wood. Since it is teepee shaped and the wood is leaning against each other, it has to be perfectly balanced. When the wood burns the shape collapses. You have to constantly rebuild the teepee, poke the embers, and add more wood. This is a time consuming and wasteful process that doesn’t give you a fire that lasts through the night. When you need to make food, setup your tent, etc. you don’t have time to waste on a crappy fire.

The “Upside down” Fire

This fire layout is the way to go. For the same amount of wood used in the Teepee fire, it will burn longer, you will have to mess with it less and it will give off more heat. The key is in the layout of the wood. The upside down name comes from how it burns. In the teepee fire, the kindle is on the ground in the middle and burns the wood from the ground up. In the upside down fire, the kindle is set on top and burns the fire from the top to the bottom; hence the upside down idea. The other big difference is the wood layout itself. In the teepee, the smaller wood is in the center near the kindling and the larger pieces are leaning against each other on the outside. In upside down fire; the biggest pieces are on the bottom and each crisscrossed “layer” of wood gets a little smaller and a little closer together until you get to the kindling and tinder on the top. The benefits of the kindle being on top, the layers coming together at the top and the bigger wood on bottom are huge.

Benefits of Upside Down Fire

1)   For the same amount of wood used in a teepee fire, the upside down fire burns longer, burns hotter, and holds it shape.

2)   Burning hotter means it burns cleaner. This means there is less smoke so your fire isn’t as noticeable during the day due to heavy black smoke associated with lower temperature fires.

3)   Since you don’t have to mess with it and add wood as often, you have a fire that will burn longer through the night and you won’t have to worry about banking your fire to make it last until the morning.

4)   The layers burn through each other stopping all the wood from burning at once. The reason the layers get closer together at the top is so when one layer collapses, it falls on the slightly bigger one below and ignites that wood. That layer burns away and the pattern continues. By the time you get to the bottom layer, you have a huge pile of hot embers that ignite the logs at the bottom, which eventually make even more hot embers. These hot embers make it easy to start a quick fire in the morning to cook food or warm up.

Here is a video of a guy showing a perfect example of an upside down fire and how long it lasts. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing I’ll give you the summary. 3 layers with kindle and tinder on top, burned through the night and he was able to add some more logs to the embers in the morning to start another small fire. 10+ hours later he made ANOTHER fire. That’s legit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjBfzyz-xM8&feature=related Skip forward to about 1:00 to see him start building the fire.

Heat Reflection

Last thing I want to go over is how to get the most heat out of your fire. This is especially important if the temperature drops at nighttime to freezing or below freezing. Quick lesson on heat from a fire: They emit IR or infrared waves. Those waves hit us and we feel heat. However, some of the IR waves only hit the side of us facing the fire and a lot miss us completely. Something you can do to warm your backside is to hang a heat reflection blanket behind you. Heat reflection blankets have a foil like side that reflects radiant energy (body heat) back to the person it is wrapped around. You can use this to reflect the radiant energy from the fire as well. You can do this by hanging it from a tree or mounting it between poles/tree branches. This will reflect all of the IR waves back that missed you and it will hit your backside. You are now being warmed from both sides. This will also block the light from your fire a little bit more keeping your campsite from being seen from a distance as easily. You can build up rocks on the other side of the fire to reflect heat on that side back to you and shield the light some more. http://www.rei.com/product/407106/space-all-weather-blanket

Thank you for making it through the first TMIT.  Like most things that are over looked while preparing, this is a simple and intuitive idea, but it will save your life. Surviving an emergency situation isn’t all about having badass guns or crazy armor; It’s about being prepared for anything, including Mother Nature. If you can’t stay warm or feed yourself out in the wild… how do you plan on doing anything else?

Be Prepared. Be Smart. Be Incognito.

                                                (8bit) Brandt

Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 3

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 3

Today I’m going to focus on the head and neck. Pretty important area to protect and I have some cool pieces of gear that do that.

Hearing Protection

These are a 3 in 1 headphone system that is low profile. First thing is that they protect your hearing (duh) from high decibel sounds such as gunfire and explosions. The second (and coolest thing to me) is they have a built in mic that does this. The mic automatically blocks out any high decibel sounds while simultaneously boosting lower decibel ones. The lower sounds boosted are footsteps, heavy breathing, clothes rustling, etc. They also have an audio input jack so you can hook in your radio. They run on just 2 AAA batteries which give you around 500 hours of operation time. Pretty badass pair of cans that look like regular DJ headphones.

http://www.opsgear.com/index/page/product/product_id/1968/category_id/274/category_chain/26,274/product_name/PELTOR+Tactical+Sport+Hearing+Protector

Eye Protection

If you have to bash in a zombie brain or fire a gun while wind is kicking up dirt, you need your eyes protected so you can see what you’re doing. Some people will say to use goggles, which is fine by me. Any protection is better than no protection. My only complaint with goggles is they are uncomfortable and have a tendency to fog up. For me, personally, I prefer some large lens sunglasses; specifically these WileyX Pt-3 two lens sunglasses.  They fit tight to the face and have large wrap around lenses, which offer great front and side protection from zombie goo and general debris. They are also military grade. This means they meet the High Velocity Safety standard and the military’s Vo Ballistic Standard. They WILL protect your eyes. Other cool feature is they come with smoked and clear lenses so you can have eye protection in all lighting conditions without worrying about not being able to see. Can’t do that with goggles. http://www.opsgear.com/index/page/product/product_id/600/category_id/272/product_name/WILEY-X+PT-3+Two+Lens+Sunglasses

Neck Protection

           

One of the biggest veins in the human body is in the neck. If that get’s bitten into or cut… That is a very bad situation you don’t want to be in. So I offer you another great piece of gear from our friends at Blade Runner. This is a half balaclava with a drawstring you can use to tie it in place. It has a mesh-breathing panel over the mouth so you can breath but the rest of it is lined with Kevlar. Like the hoodie, it has reached an EN388, 6.2 blade cut resistance level of 2. The microfiber polyester outer layer is wind and water (or infected saliva) proof as well. The other things I like about it is the weight and how discreet it is. It is very light and, when not tied up, looks like a scarf. Full balaclavas will draw a lot of attention to you because you look like a burglar. Even when it is not tied into position, the half balaclava still offers you protection. Full balaclavas don’t have that ability. 

http://www.bladerunner.tv/neck-protection-p-844.html

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how to protect your head. Pretty simple stuff but it goes unchecked by some because of its simplicity. Any little gap in your armor is one more place for a zombie to take advantage of… Your head is no exception so guard it so people don’t have to shoot it.

Be Prepared. Be Smart. Be Incognito.

                                                (8bit) Brandt

Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 2

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 2

This blog will be over the importance of protecting your torso from zombie and human attacks alike while still keeping with the Grey Man idea. I’m going to show you some gear, give a brief description of them, and then close with how they all coincide with the Grey Man Theory; Max protection, minimal detection.

Slash Proof Hoodie

Created by Blade Runner in the UK where knife attacks are prevalent, these hoodies have a level 2 EN388, 6.2 blade cut resistance rating. Thanks to the 180-gram Kevlar lining, these hoodies can stop most knife attack slashes that occur during muggings and knife fights. This means you have a lightweight armor alternative that is on the down low and can help stop a zombie’s bite from ripping through your arm causing infection. Their bite may still hurt since… ya know… you’re being bit… but at least skin wasn’t broken and you aren’t going to turn into a dead head.

Chest Rig

A chest rig is a great piece of gear to have to carry all your combat and first aid items, walkie-talkie, knife etc. Only problem is it makes you look like military/police personnel, which (if you aren’t military or police personnel) is illegal. The one in the picture is a lil to bulky for me. The reason I chose it though was to show one of the main features I love which is the center chest pistol holster. The one I would actually use is lower profile with not as many bells or whistles. Pix further on.

http://www.bdstacticalgear.com/pd_bds_tactical_land_warfare_chest_rig.cfm

Multi Proof Vest

This is more for protection against other people. In a situation where people are probably going to kill you for the shirt off your back, you need all the protection you can get. Another product of Blade Runner, this vest has an NIJ protection level of II; it can stop bullets up to .357 JSP magnum and FMJ 9mm rounds going 1400 FPS and 00 buckshot. It is soft armor and only weighs around 4 pounds so it’s light. This can also stop attacks from edged weapon stabs using up to 16 Joules of force AND stops 100% of all slashes. http://www.bladerunner.tv/Ballistic_Chart.htm

http://www.bladerunner.tv/covert-vests-lightweight-bulletstabproof-vest-threat-level-p-834.html

Bring it all together….

So how does this work in conjunction with the Grey Man Theory?  It’s simple. You have all of your tools at your disposal in a discreet, easy to access set up and you have all the protection you need without broadcasting it. Wear the multi proof vest, throw on a shirt, put on the chest rig and wear the slash proof hoodie over that. When not fighting you can zip up your hoodie and look like a normal person walking the streets. However, as soon as shit hits the fan, you can easily access your weapons or, God forbid, take a bullet from the majority of the handgun and shotgun rounds you will face or a slash from a broken bottle.

The biggest concern I get from people when I talk to them about this set up is this: “But it looks funny wearing my hoodie over my chest rig/tac vest. I look like I’m obviously hiding something under it.” My response to that: You’re carrying to much stuff on your torso. The majority of your gear should be in a sturdy, weight-distributing backpack (which will be in another blog) that allows the rest of your body to move freely and look like you’re not carrying anything.

Here’s a picture of the chest rig I want. It allows me to carry 4 AR15 30 round mags (more than enough), 6 pistol mags, and a 7” knife while staying low profile enough that it doesn’t look funny under a hoodie. Combine this rig with the side body upgrade (picture to the right) that adds 2 extra pockets and a handgun holster, this is an awesome incognito setup. You can build your own chest rig here: http://www.bdstacticalgear.com/pd-bds-tactical-molle-vehicle-operators-chest-rig.cfm

Not convinced that it won’t look funny or will be hard to work with? Try it yourself sometime. If you streamline your rig to the essentials to surviving a short firefight, you would be surprised at how normal it looks. Here are some pics of me as proof.

Now, I’m 6’4” and around 215 pounds. This is a random hoodie in the size I normally wear.  Don’t believe I’m not wearing anything underneath it?

                               

Underneath the hoodie I am wearing a cross draw TAC vest with 4, 30 round mag holders and 3 pistol mag holders. In the cross draw holster I have a full size 1911. This setup is WAY bulkier than the rig I talked about earlier, and even this doesn’t look or feel weird wearing a hoodie over it. If I can pull off a bulky tac vest with a full size handgun; imagine how inconspicuous a low profile chest rig with a subcompact handgun would be.

There you go guys: My thoughts on how to protect your torso and arms and carry some gear. This system will allow you to become more inconspicuous to other survivors. You will look like an unarmed survivor making his way to safety and if the need arises where you have to protect yourself, you will have the element of surprise. If a zombie surprises YOU and tries to bite the arm you used to open a door, you will be confident in the knowledge the bite will not break skin and infect you. All of this while staying lightweight and streamlined, which will allow you to travel faster, travel further, and feel less encumbered by a mountain of gear.

Be Prepared. Be Smart. Be Incognito.

                                                (8bit) Brandt

Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 1

How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse; Blog 1

I’m thinking, for the sake of keeping people interested, I’m gonna do 2 or 3 different pieces of gear, ideaology and/or weapons per blog. Pretty sure if I did 5 blogs in a row about camping gear or clothing people would stop reading. So, I’ll mix it up.

Weapons

I know there are people out there who HAVE to have a firearm going into the Zombie Apocalypse. That’s fine by me. But some people go a little overboard and think they need a Gatling gun or rocket launcher or some other crazy weapon. My questions to those people: How do you plan on affording one? How are you going to run carrying a 250 lb M61 Vulcan rotary cannon? Did you know 100 20mm rounds that a minigun fires weigh over 20 pounds? No? That’s why I’m here. My vision of a weapon is a little smaller but still packs a punch.

My weapon of choice is a handgun, more specifically, a Glock. The gun in the pic is my favorite: A Glock 30, which is a .45 AUTO subcompact zombie stopper. Fits in your hand and has the accuracy and power of a full size .45 Glock. Let me tell you why I prefer a handgun and then I’ll get into Glock itself

      

       

Handguns

1)   Handguns are cheap: You can get a decent handgun for a few hundred bucks.

2)   They are light: An average semi auto handgun weighs around 1.7 pounds loaded.

3)   They are easy to hide: You can buy a compact or subcompact handgun and carry one without anyone every knowing.

4)   They are legal: If you go to classes and get a concealed handgun license, which I highly recommend, you can carry your weapon on you, HIDDEN, without getting in trouble with the law.

Equally important is this helps you look like a normal, harmless person trying to survive. This is one of the facets of the Grey Man Theory. You look unimposing and can hide in plain view. However, the moment someone comes up and tries to take your supplies or hurt you, you have the element of surprise and can pull out your weapon to defend yourself. Best part? You can do this LEGALLY since you have your CHL.

Glock

1)   They are accurate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWgYIef1ZUE skip to 8:10…The Glock he is using is stock… ‘nuff said.

2)   They are built like tanks: http://www.theprepared.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90 The Glock in that article had been buried in dirt, mud, cement, and submerged in salt water. It was ran over, thrown on the ground and even SHOT. It still fired accurately. That’s what I’m looking for in a gun. Especially in a situation where I might not be able to clean it properly on a regular basis.

Gloves

Your hands are important and are vulnerable to a zombie bite during close encounters. You need a good pair of gloves that protects your wrists and hands. The Wiley X combat assault gloves do just that.  Made of FR treated goat leather with a Nomex-Kevlar blend, they are durable, fire retardant and slash resistant. Although they are made of leather, they are supple and thin enough to give you great finger dexterity and “feel of touch” so you don’t compromise controlling your weapon. They also have injection-molded knuckles for added protection and striking power. Zombies and knives alike will have a hell of a time getting through these. http://www.botachtactical.com/wicacoasgl.html

So there you go; your first look about what I think about when it comes to gear selection. I hope this was helpful and gave some ideas of your own for what your arsenal needs. Thanks for reading.

Be prepared. Be Smart. Be Incognito.

                                                (8bit) Brandt

An Intro on How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

Hey everybody, welcome to the first installment of my blog on the Zombie Apocalypse and how to not become a part of the walking dead.

I wanted to start with an introduction to let everyone know my standpoint or philosophy on how to survive in a world overrun by zombies. The basis of it is this: If you are prepared for a zombie outbreak, you are prepared for anything.  Everything I say; be it what to wear, how to not draw attention to yourself, or survival gear you should have, can be carried over to other scenarios. Natural disaster, power outage, and socio-breakdown (riot) preparations are all very similar to preparing for zombies.

That is one thing I want you guys to remember while reading my blog: I look at this as a realist. As humans IRL, we have certain restrictions and needs put upon us by our body and physics. We can’t carry 30 weapons at the same time like in GTA; we can only handle so much weight. We don’t have an infinite ammo cheat we can type in every time we run low. If we get hurt we need hours of rest and proper care; picking up a med kit and chilling in a safe room for 5 minutes won’t do any good.

So, if my weapons aren’t as badass as the chainsaw launcher or the machete with laser sight attachment you have envisioned, or as glorifying as your idea of sitting on top of a crane and sniping zombie faces off with a .50 cal… That’s because I don’t waste my time on things that won’t help me actually survive an emergency situation, including a zombie infestation. I will show you guys some awesome things, but they all serve a legitimate purpose. I go for tactical, not tacti”cool”. My goal is to pass on viable knowledge to my fellow zombie enthusiasts.

Physics and weight aside, there is one other thing that has had a huge impact on how I have prepared for an emergency situation. That thing is called the Grey Man Theory. Here is one of my favorite definitions; “The Grey Man NEVER draws attention to himself by word, dress, action, or mannerism” (http://westernrifleshooters.blogspot.com/2007/05/next-steps-grey-man.html).

If you take only one thing from my blog, let it be the Grey Man Theory. Here is my take on it: Don’t let on you are a badass. Pretty simple and is common sense if you think about it. If you were walking down the street in a shady part of town, you wouldn’t fan yourself with a stack of money. That is unwanted and suicidal attention. Same thing holds true in an emergency situation. If people are dying on the street after months of a zombie barrage and you are walking around in body armor and BDUs, proudly displaying your sawed off shotty and mountain of ammo, odds are people are going to want that and will try to take it by force. A Grey Man has all the weapons, knowledge, and supplies needed but looks just like any other person trying to survive. People think, for reasons beyond me, that the only issue they will face in a zombie apocalypse are zombies. No. Other starving, scared and/or crazy humans will be just as dangerous to you and your own. 

Real life example: The earthquake that hit Haiti. They had no home, no way out and had to resort to looting to get by until help arrived.

People walking around with guns ablazin’ were stopped by police. People with supplies in plain sight were beat or killed… It was chaos, it was real and it was recent. A zombie apocalypse will not be any different. People will do what they think they have to do to survive and you do not want to give them anymore of a reason for them to want to victimize you. Be prepared, be smart, be incognito.

So with that said, I hope you guys will enjoy the blogs to come. I know I’m going to have a blast writing them. I will talk about weapons, defensive gear, clothing, camping gear, how much a person should carry, bugging in, bugging out, fighting tactics, how to stay incognito, and much, much more. My goal is to pass on information to help you survive a zombie outbreak in the safest and most down-to-earth way possible. If you can prepare for zombies successfully, you can prepare for anything successfully.

Here’s to surviving.

Be Prepared. Be Smart. Be Incognito.

                                                (8bit) Brandt