Scientific Method - Survival - The Metagame

[Anim07734]

I've never said carry a gun instead of a melee weapon, but in addition to. There are plenty of situations where guns are impractical (you have one zombie in your path and need to kill it without attracting the herd around the corner, for instance). In any kind of apocalyptic situation, I'm going to adhere to the philosophy: "you can never have too many weapons, ever." If I load my hiking pack properly, I can carry 60-70lbs on my back (about half my current body weight) which would end up being a weeks worth of food, a change of clothes or two, cold weather/rain/outdoor gear, and whatever weapons and ammo I can get my hands on. And that's a worst case travel scenario; with a car, SUV, RV, or Semi, carrying capacity increases exponentially.

-Anim

[Khael!]

I suspect one of the bigger worries would be tracking the disease's progress. Since we've determined it is of a bacterial/viral nature, and not due to magic or parasites, there is the possible matter of it mutating. If it becomes transmissible by air, we're all pretty screwed.

So keeping check on the quality of your drinking water would be a good idea even if it seems unnecessary. Primarily if you're getting it from lakes, rivers, or the ocean, like on those oil rigs.

[Pip Boy]

Originally Posted by Anim07734

I've never said carry a gun instead of a melee weapon, but in addition to. There are plenty of situations where guns are impractical (you have one zombie in your path and need to kill it without attracting the herd around the corner, for instance). In any kind of apocalyptic situation, I'm going to adhere to the philosophy: "you can never have too many weapons, ever." If I load my hiking pack properly, I can carry 60-70lbs on my back (about half my current body weight) which would end up being a weeks worth of food, a change of clothes or two, cold weather/rain/outdoor gear, and whatever weapons and ammo I can get my hands on. And that's a worst case travel scenario; with a car, SUV, RV, or Semi, carrying capacity increases exponentially.

-Anim

I've personally gone backpacking through mountains before, and even assuming you have plenty of time ahead to pack, most of your carrying capacity is going to be spent on travel gear and food. There is very little room for weapons. You may have room for one firearm like a .22 or a handgun plus a few weightless things like knives (which are impractical anyway). Thats it. You're not going to be walking around like Solid Snake with 25 extra clips stuffed up your back.

As far as effective weaponry, I would say a handgun would be the best. Something small and light but powerful enough to kill on a headshot. If the zombies are far away, you can outrun them, and if they get close a large, bulky rifle will be harder to aim.

I would also like to add that some of you have been slamming on melee weapons, which makes little sense. The zombies are physically weaker and lack the intelligence to use weapons. With the proper training beforehand, a bladed weapon would make decapitating zombie after zombie easy. Aside from that, the infection risk is lower than in some hypothetical "Zombie apocalypse" scenarios because the bacteria is spread only through bite and blood. As long as you don't go chopping off their head and pressing the stump against a bleeding wound, you should be alright.

EDIT: While it would be easier to carry around weapons and things if you've got access to a vehicle that takes the weight off you, most people still have very limited access to guns. Once a zombie invasion starts, the first place thats going to get looted will be the gun store, and because of the nature of the things sold there I'd say its a bad idea to go anywhere near there. My family owns a .22 rifle and I plan to get a Katana after I have a chance to get boken training. I will also keep a knife more as a tool than as a weapon. Thats all I would realistically have as far as weapons.

And back to the .22. Like I've said before, if you see a zombie so far away that you can stop and take aim, you've probably also got time to run away and not waste your ammo. While I admit it would be a useful thing to have, any long ranged gun is going to be more for the off chance that you get cornered or as a last resort than as a first line of defence.

[Khael!]

Long-ranged weapons would be much better used for holding a defensible position. On the move, simple avoidance is the choice option. Back to defending a location though: a long-ranged weapon would not only drop a zombie far from the fort you're holding, lowering chances of infectious spread, it would also provide easy meat for fellow zombies. (Recalling that zombies can eat eachother for needed protein). Zombies that eat each other means less hungry zombies, and easier targets.

[Pip Boy]

Originally Posted by Khael!

Long-ranged weapons would be much better used for holding a defensible position. On the move, simple avoidance is the choice option. Back to defending a location though: a long-ranged weapon would not only drop a zombie far from the fort you're holding, lowering chances of infectious spread, it would also provide easy meat for fellow zombies. (Recalling that zombies can eat eachother for needed protein). Zombies that eat each other means less hungry zombies, and easier targets.

I agree that in a defensive situation where running away is impossible or unfavorable, a long ranged weapon would be a great line of defence, but even then just a little manpower can be applied to make a solution that uses fewer resources. Why not just dig a large trench with only one or two ways across, maybe even piece together some sort of crude drawbridge. The zombies will mindlessly and stupidly shamble into the trench and then can be easily killed with anything. Even a long sharp stick.

[CrazyBen]

I think that, if one can only bring one firearm, a long-ranged one would be the better choice when on the move. If your only objective is to get to a safe area then after you leave your city, you should stay in open areas and as far away from possible ambushes/dead ends as possible. And while running away from the slow-ass zombies sounds fine in the short term, they will most likely continue to head in the last direction they saw you until something else catches their attention. Unless you want to waste days worth of time zig-zagging to your final destination, you'll want to kill any zombies that start following you, if only so you won't have to worry about moving a mile perpendicular to your main direction of travel every time you ditch a ghoul. Also, it would be MUCH safer to neutralize any zombies you find before they spot you, as the moans they tend to make when they see prey can draw zombies from miles around in open areas. And anyone who thinks they're going to be able to take on 100+ zombies with a pistol or melee weapon is either dangerously overconfident in their abilities, or very unfamiliar with just how exhausting aiming and firing a gun or swinging a large piece of wood/metal over and over can be.

And in closing, just remember: You get tired, they don't.

[Pip Boy]

Originally Posted by CrazyBen

I think that, if one can only bring one firearm, a long-ranged one would be the better choice when on the move. If your only objective is to get to a safe area then after you leave your city, you should stay in open areas and as far away from possible ambushes/dead ends as possible. And while running away from the slow-ass zombies sounds fine in the short term, they will most likely continue to head in the last direction they saw you until something else catches their attention. Unless you want to waste days worth of time zig-zagging to your final destination, you'll want to kill any zombies that start following you, if only so you won't have to worry about moving a mile perpendicular to your main direction of travel every time you ditch a ghoul. Also, it would be MUCH safer to neutralize any zombies you find before they spot you, as the moans they tend to make when they see prey can draw zombies from miles around in open areas. And anyone who thinks they're going to be able to take on 100+ zombies with a pistol or melee weapon is either dangerously overconfident in their abilities, or very unfamiliar with just how exhausting aiming and firing a gun or swinging a large piece of wood/metal over and over can be.

And in closing, just remember: You get tired, they don't.

Now that makes a point, but I was saying that a rifle is a bad idea under the assumption that you have a better method of transportation. If you're in a car or even on a bike, you'll move so much faster that as long as you travel for any reasonable amount of time, you can escape with no trouble. As for zombies walking blindly in one direction for two days to get to you, they will undoubtedly find another dead zombie, a dead animal, or some other similar distraction before they follow you too far.