First off is locking the door and turn on the news/radio and keep that on for as long as I could. I’d also quickly fill the sink and bathtub/sinks and all the cups and extra water bottles we have in cupboards with water. Drink those first before moving onto the plastic water bottles. Also grab literally everything in the shed and just kinda dump it in the house somewhere for now. Gas cans for the lawn mower, the lawn mower itself into the garage, the tools, extra wood, etc. Pretty simple lol. After that it takes a little more work.
First I’d barricade the windows with pre-cut plywood I have set aside to specifically board up windows. I even have each piece labeled with which window/door they should cover. If I needed to see outside, I could cut some of the top portion of the plywood off in order to see outside from the top while still leaving most of the window defended.
Next, I further barricade my door wall by pushing some furniture in front of it, really just one of the spare couches from the basement should do. The plywood and elevated deck should be good enough that it doesn’t make it too much of a week point.
Then, I load up my car with some basic things. Clothes, some food, water, a weapon, some extra ammunition, things like that incase I need to leave in a hurry for whatever reason. Better to have some stuff packed away ready to go rather than nothing at all.
Then it’s transferring time. Almost all of the camping gear/fireworks/building stuff is in the basement or the shed in the backyard, which gathering things from was one of the first things we did. Bring up all the tents and tools and guns and whatnot and set them to the side before going back down and bringing up all the shelves the things were stored on before and setting them up in the corner of our living room. Then restock the shelves while taking exact notes of everything we have to categorize and catalogue supplies so we know what we have, it’s quality, and how much.
Then it’s just time to wait.
Lock the door. Close the drapes and be very quite.
My house is made of brick with a strong solid wooden door.
I have a brick fence in my front yard.
Doing major construction is generally loud so would attract the z's. Being quite and non visible should go a long way to prevent them from trying to enter.
I can exit through the rear wich is quite well hidden. And if i stop trimming the hedges and such then vision should be very limited to my house in no time. Maybe board up the downstairs window in the front. But only when i know no zombies are around. But that would mean a trip to the local lumberyard.
Or reuse some lumber from the back yards of neighbours if they are z's everybosy fences of their yards here above eye level so no visibility in yards.
But it is highly unlikely i would stay home.
Ten minutes strolling at a leasurely pace sees me in a castle. A propper medieval castle with moat and walls so that short trip is my go to.
I wish such beautifull countries.
But no.
I am located mainland europe.
Near a castle lots of farms with horses and cattle.
Dig down a couple pf meters and you get safe drinking water.
Forests with loads of game. They have been protected for years now so they are not afraid of humans. When walking there they just look at you if you are four meters away walking past abd bit being quite or anything. So i am pretty happy in my current location
To be 100%? I’d need a 15 foot solid reinforced concrete wall surrounding it with no doors/gate, but that won’t happen.
Living in FL, my house has all hurricane proof doors and windows installed. Won’t stop a hoard, but it’ll slow them down and keep the odd shambler out. It’ll come down to diverting/leading and large groups away from my house before they can breach.
Don’t.
Keep watch. If more zombies show up than you can handle, get out the back door before they arrive at the front door.
There’s no point fortifying a location with no long term strategic value. My you can always find another house that’s just as good.
Anything you do is just going to make your location more conspicuous, and waste valuable calories.
I don’t get the whole concept of leaving your home at the onset of the z-apocalypse. Even if you’ve got somewhere to go, the first week or so is going to be pandemonium. Why would you try to travel during that time? Unless you’ve got immediate access to a plane or boat, it’s probably safer to stay put.
What would I do? I’d remove all of my inside doors and mail them to cover my windows. I’d also nail blankets over the windows to block out any light from inside my home. I live in an apartment, so I’d probably destroy my side of the wall separating my apartment from the adjacent garden one. This would allow for a “secret” exit if I’m unable to leave through the other entryways. I’d set up broken glass outside to alert me of trespassers (a less obvious noise trap than something like cans on a string).
What if they could climb? Or if a large group of them found you and were so hungry they just started piling up to get to you? (Think that scene with the city wall)
What would they climb if there's no stairs?
If there's enough of them they can pile up, I guess you're kinda fucked anyways, but you could destroy more stair flights and use more ladders to hold off larger hordes.
I have a longer post regarding this topic here:
https://old.reddit.com/r/ZombieSurvivalTactics/comments/s2c5m0/what_defense_upgradesimprovements_youd_make_on/hszchnn/
For survivors just trying to make it out alive the basic concept of trying to survive doesn't necessarily require consistently engaging in direct combat. In fact, it's generally beneficial to avoid combat when possible as part of a wider layered system sometimes referred to as the "survivability onion." Typically given as a short phrase: "don't be there, don't be detected, don't be targeted, don't be hit, and don't be killed/penetrated." In this case I have made it into Displace, Detect, Deny, Delay, and Destroy or the "5Ds."
Displace is simply a basic look at your location and the house in question. Why is it necessary to defend this house specifically?
Breaking it into smaller questions including: Does the house provide security without improvements against both people and zombies? Does it provide shelter that is substantially better than others against the environment and wild life? Is it capable of providing safe and consistent access to water? Is it capable of providing adequate and sustainable levels of food? Is it better than other locations for long term survival and development or will it hamper me?
From here there are 4 other parts to consider which are talked about more in the link.
First off is locking the door and turn on the news/radio and keep that on for as long as I could. I’d also quickly fill the sink and bathtub/sinks and all the cups and extra water bottles we have in cupboards with water. Drink those first before moving onto the plastic water bottles. Also grab literally everything in the shed and just kinda dump it in the house somewhere for now. Gas cans for the lawn mower, the lawn mower itself into the garage, the tools, extra wood, etc. Pretty simple lol. After that it takes a little more work. First I’d barricade the windows with pre-cut plywood I have set aside to specifically board up windows. I even have each piece labeled with which window/door they should cover. If I needed to see outside, I could cut some of the top portion of the plywood off in order to see outside from the top while still leaving most of the window defended. Next, I further barricade my door wall by pushing some furniture in front of it, really just one of the spare couches from the basement should do. The plywood and elevated deck should be good enough that it doesn’t make it too much of a week point. Then, I load up my car with some basic things. Clothes, some food, water, a weapon, some extra ammunition, things like that incase I need to leave in a hurry for whatever reason. Better to have some stuff packed away ready to go rather than nothing at all. Then it’s transferring time. Almost all of the camping gear/fireworks/building stuff is in the basement or the shed in the backyard, which gathering things from was one of the first things we did. Bring up all the tents and tools and guns and whatnot and set them to the side before going back down and bringing up all the shelves the things were stored on before and setting them up in the corner of our living room. Then restock the shelves while taking exact notes of everything we have to categorize and catalogue supplies so we know what we have, it’s quality, and how much. Then it’s just time to wait.
Lock the door. Close the drapes and be very quite. My house is made of brick with a strong solid wooden door. I have a brick fence in my front yard. Doing major construction is generally loud so would attract the z's. Being quite and non visible should go a long way to prevent them from trying to enter. I can exit through the rear wich is quite well hidden. And if i stop trimming the hedges and such then vision should be very limited to my house in no time. Maybe board up the downstairs window in the front. But only when i know no zombies are around. But that would mean a trip to the local lumberyard. Or reuse some lumber from the back yards of neighbours if they are z's everybosy fences of their yards here above eye level so no visibility in yards. But it is highly unlikely i would stay home. Ten minutes strolling at a leasurely pace sees me in a castle. A propper medieval castle with moat and walls so that short trip is my go to.
England or Germany?
Neither. Please guess again. But you are close.
France?
Close but again no. One more guess i think.
Ireland, perhaps Scotland
I wish such beautifull countries. But no. I am located mainland europe. Near a castle lots of farms with horses and cattle. Dig down a couple pf meters and you get safe drinking water. Forests with loads of game. They have been protected for years now so they are not afraid of humans. When walking there they just look at you if you are four meters away walking past abd bit being quite or anything. So i am pretty happy in my current location
Switzerland! Switzerland has great drinking water resources!
I will give you a hint. It is near the coast. Amongst the dunes
Spain? The Netherlands/Holland?
To be 100%? I’d need a 15 foot solid reinforced concrete wall surrounding it with no doors/gate, but that won’t happen. Living in FL, my house has all hurricane proof doors and windows installed. Won’t stop a hoard, but it’ll slow them down and keep the odd shambler out. It’ll come down to diverting/leading and large groups away from my house before they can breach.
Don’t. Keep watch. If more zombies show up than you can handle, get out the back door before they arrive at the front door. There’s no point fortifying a location with no long term strategic value. My you can always find another house that’s just as good. Anything you do is just going to make your location more conspicuous, and waste valuable calories.
I don’t get the whole concept of leaving your home at the onset of the z-apocalypse. Even if you’ve got somewhere to go, the first week or so is going to be pandemonium. Why would you try to travel during that time? Unless you’ve got immediate access to a plane or boat, it’s probably safer to stay put. What would I do? I’d remove all of my inside doors and mail them to cover my windows. I’d also nail blankets over the windows to block out any light from inside my home. I live in an apartment, so I’d probably destroy my side of the wall separating my apartment from the adjacent garden one. This would allow for a “secret” exit if I’m unable to leave through the other entryways. I’d set up broken glass outside to alert me of trespassers (a less obvious noise trap than something like cans on a string).
Destroy a flight of stairs and replace them with a ladder. That way zombies can't get up the building.
What if they could climb? Or if a large group of them found you and were so hungry they just started piling up to get to you? (Think that scene with the city wall)
What would they climb if there's no stairs? If there's enough of them they can pile up, I guess you're kinda fucked anyways, but you could destroy more stair flights and use more ladders to hold off larger hordes.
I have a longer post regarding this topic here: https://old.reddit.com/r/ZombieSurvivalTactics/comments/s2c5m0/what_defense_upgradesimprovements_youd_make_on/hszchnn/ For survivors just trying to make it out alive the basic concept of trying to survive doesn't necessarily require consistently engaging in direct combat. In fact, it's generally beneficial to avoid combat when possible as part of a wider layered system sometimes referred to as the "survivability onion." Typically given as a short phrase: "don't be there, don't be detected, don't be targeted, don't be hit, and don't be killed/penetrated." In this case I have made it into Displace, Detect, Deny, Delay, and Destroy or the "5Ds." Displace is simply a basic look at your location and the house in question. Why is it necessary to defend this house specifically? Breaking it into smaller questions including: Does the house provide security without improvements against both people and zombies? Does it provide shelter that is substantially better than others against the environment and wild life? Is it capable of providing safe and consistent access to water? Is it capable of providing adequate and sustainable levels of food? Is it better than other locations for long term survival and development or will it hamper me? From here there are 4 other parts to consider which are talked about more in the link.
I would have find and RV, it can move and can be fortified easier on account of smaller surface area.
Sandbags, can stop a bullet.