[Ash]

Any thoughts on defense of single story homes? I live in a ranch-style home on a relatively busy street and I have to confess - the prospect of facing down hundreds of zombies from my living room isn't appealing.

Lots of houses in the U.S. and abroad are single story homes - what kind of preparation should we take against zombies?

[Cadaver]

I currently live in a one story house with a basement and an attic. Now, here's my plan. The first floor is virtually undefendable. Zombies always seem to squeeze in. Through a window, boarded or not, or maybe when a member of my party inevitably goes crazy and throws open the door to run screaming into the horde of undead. Currently there is no access to the basement without going outside. I figure I can cut a hole in the first floor for access to the basement, and with an adequate trap door, I'll have a good defensible position. The main basement door is heavily padlocked and made of iron. The vented windows are barred, but provide air, as well as room to fire a gun or poke a pointy object...or perhaps a flare or air horn to signal the military IF they can manage to get here. The attic would also work. Venting and roof access make it a compelling option in fact, and the pull up ladder would render me unreachable. I think it would pay to stock the basement and the attic, and perhaps construct some kind of steel conduit access between them, removing the first floor altogether. It could work, but the plans may end up being expensive. Of course, a worthwhile expense if if saves you from the creeping undead outside am I right?

[Chester_MacArthur]

I hear you, Cadaver! I'm partial to the attic myself, 'cause I'm a worst-case scenario kind of guy. Never put much stock in the gubmint. And I can be real quiet up there.

Thing is, when the zombies come, they might catch us by surprise - so maybe it's best to have a plan in place for both? Your thoughts on holes isn't a bad idea, as long as you've got some way to block yourself in...

[Wookiejuice]

While I agree with Cadaver, the main floor is a bad defensible location, I also disagree with the whole home defense situation. Sure, you can have stored water, and non perishible food holed up somewhere in the house, and you can board up the place so you're blocked in... but my thinking is to be not blocked in. I don't like leaving this as my only option of survival. I would rather get out of the house altogether, and get somewhere more defensible, in order to have more options. I mean, once you're holed up in your home, you're not going anywhere. I'd rather be on the move, myself.

But then, Chester has a good point about the element of surprise. What if we are taken by surprise? How much time does one have to make defense preparations? Myself personally, I would still try to leave the house. Especially with my living room sporting a lovely large picture window.... I too have a basement with a trap door, and even an attic too, which would make for a more easily defended postion. But I still don't like the idea of being "trapped" somewhere.

[zombiephile]

Yeah, I definitely see it from the "siege" aspect of things. The zombies probably aren't going to go away once they're swarmed around the place, so it always gets me thinking that one should make like the medieval villagers and head for the castle (Cadaver's Ravenwood Castle, maybe)...

At least they don't have zombie catapults...

[jaderis]

Cadaver -

Basements are bad. They are always bad. Especially if they have makeshift entrances.

Even with an adequate trap door someone in your party could still freak out and decide to open the door(s).

Up is better. Usually ladders to attics are easily retractable and, therefore, much more easily defensible. You also have roof access and a way out which is initially zombie-free.

The better plan is to bust through the first floor around the entrances (if possible and if time permits and you can use the extra wood to secure the doors/windows and the extra concrete/tiles/metal to fashion weapons) so that the undead intruders will most likely fall into the holes when they break through your initial defenses. Hole up in the attic with all your goods and weapons, but make sure that you have a secure escape plan.

[railfun]

get out, that's all there is to it. unless this is a hilltop house that is 20 miles away and unsee able from town get out. don't think short-term, think years and years. Do you have enough canned food, water, and ammunition to last 10 years?

[Wookiejuice]

Exactly Railfun. I still second this notion!

[Wolfskin_Angel]

Another question: What about those whom wear prescription glasses and have to look for them when the surprise attack comes? Even with those defenses, will there be enough time to find them? I tend to just lay my glasses beside my pillow, but what if they fall behind the bed or something? If one wears glasses, wouldn't that be a factor?

[Wookiejuice]

Ah! I think this is a valid question, since I too, wear prescription eye glasses. If you are as blind as I am, Wolfskin, you NEED those glasses to survive! I would make sure that you have a weapon by your bedside. That way, if you are unable to find your goggles right away, this gives you some protection, in case your house gets seiged. Find them as quickly as you can, and then make your escape from the house. So, if you have your weapon handy, you can more easily dispatch any undead you come across while making your escape, because of the delay in not finding your glasses right away.

I think one should always put them in the same spot every night, that way, if one does find themselves awoken to a zombie outbreak, you'll be able to quickly retrieve these corrective lenses that one so desperately needs, and get the heck out of dodge!

[Wolfskin_Angel]

I keep a machete beside my bed, along with an aluminum baseball bat just under the edge of the bed. I have a shotgun in the closet too, but UF, I have no idea how to use it. Are there any places where one could go for training? I live in Wichita, Kansas, but dont get out much.

[zombiephile]

As to someplace for shotgun training, Wolfskin...didn't you say you live in Wichita, Kansas? There's probably a shooting range (either professional or amateur) within a short car trip from your house - I'd recommend heading down there and working on your shotgun skills.

The thing about a shotgun is that it's incredibly loud, aimed off the shoulder, and hurts like hell when you shoot it, if you haven't done it a few times before. The moment of zombie apocalypse is probably not the best time to learn how to properly place a shotgun butt against your shoulder, so I'd definitely get out there and fire off a few shots, even if it's only clay pigeons or targets.

Remember, if you're using a shotgun, and you're facing off against single-digit numbers of zombies, my advice would be to incapacitate the group with a couple of leg shots before closing in for the brains.

[zombiephile]

Just noting your mention of corrective lenses, Wookiejuice. As a fellow wearer of intensely powerful glasses, I can't recommend enough that you learn the ins and outs of your own eyeglass prescription - whether or not you have different degrees of myopia in either eye, and whether or not you need to correct for an astigmatism.

There are machines you can simply put your current eyeglasses into which spit out a fairly accurate reading of your prescription - during a zombie apocalypse, you might find it difficult to get face-to-face time with your optometrist. My advice to you is, once your eyes stop getting worse, grab yourself one good pair of eyeglasses and three or four crappy ones - that way when the zombies tear one pair off your face, you can simply put on another.

Now here's an interesting question - do myopic humans become myopic zombies?

[Wookiejuice]

Ah, Zombiephile, always thinking. Kudos. I like the idea of having extra glasses with oneself. Who knows what could happen during the zombie outbreak. You don't want to end up like that dude in that old Twighlight Zone episode, what was it called? Where the poor dude just wanted to read books, but his wife wouldn't let him. Then a bomb laid waste to his town, and he was the only one who survived. What did he do? Go to the library of course! But the poor man dropped his glasses, and they broke. Now, he could not read a thing.

LOL... myopic zombies. I don't see why not really. Makes sense if you think about it. Man, their vision would just get worse, the more they decayed, wouldn't you think?

[Wolfskin_Angel]

Another idea: what about those sports glasses that you see the pro basketball players wear? That way, you dont have to worry about the glasses falling off of your face a an inopurtune moment, since the straps go all around the back of the head.