Apocalypse Gear

[Bard]

Have you guys ever thought of a "apocalypse setup" of weapons and whatnot? I'm not talking just bladed weapons but just weapons in general. I've thought of making an arsenal of sorts just for laughs basically and I was trying to get some opinions on what would be practical.

I'm not crazy into 2012 and all that but it's kind of a cool hobby just talking about it haha...

[wanderingmagus]

Most army surplus stuff like bulletproof vests, gas masks, camo suits,
rifles, automatic revolvers, and a couple cases full of ammunition,
definitely some durable multi-purpose bladed weapons like a Pukko knife or something,
a daypack or native american possibles bag for storing useful items,
a bicycle and bike repair tools,
a years worth of food in easy-to-carry army rations or better,
self-winding watch,
first aid medical equipment and supplies,
herbs and spices for both medicine and food (the rations get boring in a week)
an atladle throwing dart or shortbow of variable tension, both for defense after running out of ammo and hunting,
a pair of good gloves,
a pair of good durable and comfortable hiking boots,
several sets of spare clothes,
a flint and steel, char cloth, lighter, bow and drill, and waterproof matches,
a durable water bottle,
waterproof clothing (jacket, cloak, what have you),
some winter clothing (heavy jacket, sweater, parka, etc),
lots of spare socks and underwear,
a sewing kit,
a toiletry kit,
a swiss army knife WITH THE SAW FUNCTION (crucial),
a small hatchet,
any religious item that will make you feel better (cross, buddha, Koran, etc),
a couple books or pamphlets on any skills you don't think you have and will need (fishing, sewing, sheltermaking, SURVIVAL, hunting, firemaking, first aid, herbs, useful plants and animals, etc)
a book or two just to stave off boredom,
a notebook and plenty of pencils for your post-apocalyptic journal (LOL )
and any other items you think you will ever need in the future. You know, since it's the end of the world and all.

[Bard]

That's quite the list you have..
Lifted Nissan Titan black on black.
MRE's.
Hunting Knife
Rifle
Pistol
Machete
I've talked with some friends about it and we've all agreed that if shit hits the fan we're going to be armed to the teeth and have a badass caravan of huge cars and trucks pillaging gas stations for fuel. Maybe an RV to sleep in at night.

[wanderingmagus]

heh. read Dies the Fire by SM Stirling and go paranoid about your cars and guns becoming useless real quickly.

I'd stick to horses and bows myself. Easier to maintain and no need to scavange for more ammo.

[Bard]

i think we can compromise...i have a lot of room in the bed of the titan so ill put a horse and some old school weapons in there too.

question, why would guns be useless and arrows be effective?

[Greybeard]

Originally Posted by Bard

question, why would guns be useless and arrows be effective?

Ammunition.

[Bard]

Ammunition wouldn't really be an issue unless you plan on shooting your gun all the time. Remember, we don't WANT to use our guns. Besides, you could stock up with thousands of rounds and you'd most likely be golden.

[wanderingmagus]

try not to waste any

and get a war tactics book just in case.

[Greybeard]

Originally Posted by Bard

Ammunition wouldn't really be an issue unless you plan on shooting your gun all the time. Remember, we don't WANT to use our guns. Besides, you could stock up with thousands of rounds and you'd most likely be golden.

As always, it depends on the particular apocalypse scenario.

If 1/1,000,000 of the world's population survived, likely I'd spend my days in rural southern Ontario firing a dozen rounds a year at whitetail, moose and black bear, and three times that at ducks and rabbits and such. Given that, a thousand rounds of .303 and 12 gauge will last me a lifetime.

If 1/100,000 of the world's population survived, I might fire even less, because local survivors would be able to farm in in a small, self-sufficient community.

If 1/10,000 of the worl'd population survived, there would remain a serious potential for large-scale conflict, and I'd need to spend precious ammunition in combat. Combat eats ammo at a frightening rate.

If 1/1000 of the world's population survives, war becomes inevitable. That would mean about 3000 survivors in Toronto, and we likely wouldn't be able to feed ourselves until we could produce adequate food by farming and ranching. That means trouble. Again, combat eats ammo.

Alternatively, what about the modern Hollywood zombie scenario? Again, you would run out of ammo a lot sooner than you think.

What about Eric Flint's 1632 series? An American town is deposited in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, arguably the ugliest war in European history. Again, it's a scenario that involves a lot of shooting.

While I agree that you don't want to shoot more than you have to, you might be forced to do a lot of shooting in a short time once in a while. I like the idea of "one shot, one kill" and never want to shoot at anything that isn't food. But still, I'd stop at local police and militry arsenals on the way out of the city to pick up a couple of C7s and a couple of riot guns and Glocks and plenty of ammo. I'd also try to grab something a little more serious just in case, and pray I'd never have to use it.

[Bard]

Originally Posted by Greybeard

As always, it depends on the particular apocalypse scenario.

If 1/1,000,000 of the world's population survived, likely I'd spend my days in rural southern Ontario firing a dozen rounds a year at whitetail, moose and black bear, and three times that at ducks and rabbits and such. Given that, a thousand rounds of .303 and 12 gauge will last me a lifetime.

If 1/100,000 of the world's population survived, I might fire even less, because local survivors would be able to farm in in a small, self-sufficient community.

If 1/10,000 of the worl'd population survived, there would remain a serious potential for large-scale conflict, and I'd need to spend precious ammunition in combat. Combat eats ammo at a frightening rate.

If 1/1000 of the world's population survives, war becomes inevitable. That would mean about 3000 survivors in Toronto, and we likely wouldn't be able to feed ourselves until we could produce adequate food by farming and ranching. That means trouble. Again, combat eats ammo.

Alternatively, what about the modern Hollywood zombie scenario? Again, you would run out of ammo a lot sooner than you think.

What about Eric Flint's 1632 series? An American town is deposited in the middle of the Thirty Years' War, arguably the ugliest war in European history. Again, it's a scenario that involves a lot of shooting.

While I agree that you don't want to shoot more than you have to, you might be forced to do a lot of shooting in a short time once in a while. I like the idea of "one shot, one kill" and never want to shoot at anything that isn't food. But still, I'd stop at local police and militry arsenals on the way out of the city to pick up a couple of C7s and a couple of riot guns and Glocks and plenty of ammo. I'd also try to grab something a little more serious just in case, and pray I'd never have to use it.

Good post. I most definitely considered all of those scenarios, but I like to think of 28 Days Later style survival just because it is the worst scenario in my opinion and I still don't believe that there would be lots of combat because people that survived the initial phase would be smart enough to worry about themselves. That's just me, though, and I'm sure you'd do fine if shit hits the fan.

[Aatell]

Basically any thing i would need right now and whatever i would have an idea for id just make a bad ass house well upgrade a house hehe block windows ect and have a nice fast strong vehical a truck with a liquid carrying wagon for fuel knowing it would be hard to get i would get a very strong durable hachet and rock sharpining tools to make arrows and bolts for a bow and crossbow knowing id just shoot things all day a gun for emergencies a good large clip gun a revolver would be nice but if youve actully used one yep no id get a gun with large clip and are commonly used so ammo would be easy to get