A lot
of people consider it a bit of a joke, an internet phenomenon that
regularly does the rounds not just of conspiracy websites, but of
more mainstream social networking sites, but there is increasing
evidence that preparing a plan for the eventuality of a zombie
apocalypse is not such a bad idea. Let's look at the principles
behind it. Essentially what is being prepared for is a breakdown of
the support structures that make day to day life relatively easy.
Things like readily available food and clean water, protection from
the police and military, a regular social order, relatively easy to
access medical support and so on. The fact that you are declaring
that you are doing this to prepare for a zombie event is by and large
irrelevant. What you are actually doing is preparing yourself, and by
extension your family for the breakdown of society, something that is
becoming more and more likely as the pressure on the systems that we
have relied on, and the power sources that drive our lives and
economies, fossil fuels, increases.
So,
what does a typical plan of this type consist of? In creating the
plan there are a number of considerations, most of which are
relatively straightforward but are worth reiterating anyway. The
first is location. It is pretty much a given that population centres
are going to be challenging environments in the event of societal
breakdown from any cause. People will almost certainly band together
in gangs to protect themselves and their resources and are unlikely
to take kindly to individuals or small family groups. Gang cultures
invariable descend into violence and this does not match the criteria
that we are looking for. In addition, population centres are liable
to have the highest death rates and therefore the highest rates of
disease. Further, they have limited opportunities for long term food
production, so whilst initial resources from supermarkets may be
attractive, in the medium to long term these become less and less
viable and are not easily replaced. So, a rural or semi-rural
location is to be preferred. It is probably best to think in terms of
older hunter-gatherer communities initially unless preparations
include farming techniques and seed storage, since a hunter-gather
lifestyle is more easily prepared for and executed than any other.
Preparing
for this lifestyle requires an understanding of basic geography and
landscape analysis. High ground is a premium location affording a
defensible position with good lines of sight. High ground tests also
to be associated with higher rainfall, weather systems being forced
up by terrain, and depending on the underlying geology often offer
spring sides and clean water supplies. High ground overlooking a
river valley or flood plain is also a good choice, since fresh water
tends to draw game animals, a useful source of protein. Preparations
should include well scouted locations, and likely transport methods
to bring people and resources to these sites. An excellent
preparation exercise is the increasingly popular pastime of
geo-caching, where items are placed in remote locations and map
reading skills are utilised to find them. Having established a
location, and a variety of routes to the location, thoughts should
turn to acquisition of supplies. Given that there is currently no
clear timeline for this eventuality it makes little sense to begin
stockpiling now, but as part of the planning process, an analysis of
where supplies can be found and picked up in times of crisis is very
useful. Priority supplies include bottled water, canned goods, dried
goods, fuel, transport and potentially livestock, weapons and
ammunition. It is worth taking note at this point that firearms may
not be the best long term survival weapon given the specialist skills
required to produce ammunition. Making bullets requires the
production of propellant, the casting of the bullet itself, the
manufacture of the casing and the firing cap, all to high levels of
precision with low tolerances. More rudimentary weapons such as
spears and bow and arrows may be a better long term option, although
firearms are excellent in the short to medium term.
Having
established location and source of supplies the final initial
assessment needs to be on the human resources available, and the
skill sets that are currently available and those which need to be
enhanced. Small groups are easier to manage and move around quietly,
but can be easily out-gunned by larger groups. My personal preference
is for small groups up to ten strong, but others prefer larger
groups. Either way, priority skills are emergency medical,
particularly wound care, infection control and bone setting, hunting
and tracking skills, particularly including fishing and boat building
skills, basic outdoorsman skills including shelter building and fire
making, and some botanical identification skills to establish a safe
and reliable foraging regime for food gathering. These skills are the
bare essentials and at least two members of the group, no matter how
small should have good knowledge of each one core skill and everyone
should have a basic knowledge of all of the core skills. Any skills
that are not currently known within the group should be learned as
soon as possible, and once learned, kept updated. This can be
achieved without arousing suspicion by engaging in hobbies such as
historical re-enactment, archery, woodworking, field craft, foraging
and first aid, all of which are considered almost mainstream, and
groups found in most areas.
Being
prepared is not as difficult as it may at first appear, and certainly
doesn't require vast tracts of land purchase, underground bunkers,
huge stockpiles of food and weapons or vast expense. Start simple,
don't draw attention to yourself or your group, don't discuss your
plans outside your group. Whether you ever have to use them in anger
or not, whether the zombie apocalypse happens or not, these skills
are useful and could one day save a life, maybe even your own or your
loved ones. Worth thinking about next time you see a zombie
apocalypse joke, eh?
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