Build A Preparedness Kit

With September being National Preparedness Month, we thought it would be helpful to share what you can put into a basic preparedness kit in case of a disaster or emergency situation. The first thing to get is a heavy duty plastic bin to store everything. For larger kits, you may need more than one bin to store everything. This is not a bug out bag to take and go quickly. This is a more extensive kit that you can crack open in the event you need supplies when a natural disaster or some other circumstance hits and your normal resources are unavailable. A basic emergency supply kit could include the following recommended items:

• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food, including canned goods, granola, cereal, protien bars, peanut butter, dried fruit, nuts, crackers, or MREs
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries, or a shake flaslight that needs no batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust masks to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities, or even something like a Fubar that can double as a weapon
• Manual can opener for food
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers, inverter or solar charger
• At least two ways to make fire (matches, a fire starter, this, or even this)

These are some essentials that you will want to include, but you will probably want to customize your kit to suit your needs. For example, if you want to be able to cook food or boil water, you might want to include a propane stove for convenience. For babies you will need to think about diapers or formula. If you take medications or have other special needs, such as contact lenses, dentures, or feminine products (which can be used for other things like treating wounds), you will need to add those to your kit. Some other things you might consider including in your kit:

• A change of clothes for each person, including shoes and socks
• Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children (or an e-reader with charger)
• Defensive weapons in the case of looting or zombies, including ammunition
• Paper and pencil
• Pet food and extra water for your pet
• Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate.
• Eating utensils and plastic or paper plates

Keep your kit stored in a cool dry place, like a closet or your garage. Make sure to go through your preparedness kit at least once a year to check expiration dates and replace items where necessary. The goal is to be prepared to last several days or weeks without your normal expected routine of running water, electricity, or the ability to head to a store to buy things. If you already have what you need for the short term, you are more likely to make it in the long term. There are many other things you might find useful in an emergency. What else would you include in your preparedness kit?

– Tim

Much of this list was taken from Ready.gov, but modified to include additional useful items.

National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month in the United States, a coordinated effort by multiple federal agencies to promote preparedness for disasters and other emergency situations in order to make people aware of their basic needs, how they can mitigate damage or loss of life and property, and to increase readiness for such events. The goal is to encourage people to plan for emergencies so that when they strike there is a greater likelihood of safety and survival. Zombie Awareness International uses the zombie apocalypse as an extreme situation because we believe if you are prepared for the zpoc you will be prepared for anything.

Below is a list of links to various agency websites promoting National Preparedness Month. Take the time to click through them to prepare yourself and your family for emergencies. Being prepared could make all the difference in the world.

FEMA Pledge to Prepare
Department of Homeland Security
Centers For Disease Control and Prevention
U.S. Army

Keep Weapons Within Reach, Even When You Sleep

Don’t you hate that game on Facebook where people say “The zpoc has hit and the object to your left or your right is your weapon” and all you see is an endtable with a remote on it? Now that table doesn’t have to be so harmless. Just pick this up and wield it with confidence when you wake up to the sounds of an intruder in your home or a moaning horde roaming around outside.

Image from angelpie34 on flikr

Zombie Awareness International Sponsors Marathon Team

Zombie Awareness International is proud to announce our first sponsorship.

A few months ago, we were approached by ZAI member David Marchbanks, asking if we could sponsor he and his friend Cameron Scholz for the Garmin Marathon in the Land of OZ, in Olathe, Kansas.

After speaking with them about their plans and what they had in mind, we agreed to sponsor them, and sent them a couple “ZAI Marathon Team” T-shirts.

It goes without saying that physical fitness is important no matter what, but will be paramount during the Zpoc, and these guys are getting ready. Here is some info on the guys. We are proud to call them ZAI members, and happy to support a couple guys who are dedicated to fitness in prep of the Zpoc, and who stick together when things get rough.

Name:

Cameron Scholz

Location:

Overland Park, Kansas/Pittsburg State University

Why ZAI for a sponsor?

Thought it was a cool group and what better group to sponsor a Marathon team than a Zombie Awareness Organization.

Is this your first marathon?

This is my first Marathon.

What have you been doing to train?

A lot of running (5 mile runs) and cardio activities (3 hours of soccer with my friends)

Why is fitness important to preparedness?

Obviously being fit is crucial. It is after all survival of the fittest.

Future marathon/event plans?

Definitely running the Oz Marathon next year. This year the goal is to finish next year it is to finish with a good time. Also we will probably find some 5ks and/or other marathons to run between now and then.

Name

David Marchbanks

Location

Overland Park, KS

Why ZAI for a sponsor?

Zombies are an interest of mine and i really like the group and how it is run, interesting.

Is this your first marathon?

Yes

What have you been doing to train?

Running daily, about 5-7 miles a day.

Why is fitness important to preparedness?

Whether it be staying on the move to get to a new campsite or running from zombies fitness will be vital during the ZPoc.

Future marathon/event plans?

I plan on running the OZ Marathon again next year.

Scholz ran the marathon in 6:04:55.90, and Marchbanks ran the marathon in 6:04:55.84, which turns out to be just under a 14 minute mile for the 26.2, and it also means like true battle buddies, they stuck together, which aside from running away from Zombies might just be the most important part of surviving the Zpoc. Marchbanks had some Achilles/tendon issues around mile 14, which slowed them down quite a bit, but like true ZAI peeps, they stuck together and pushed through it.

They said they got pretty positive feedback on the ZAI gear they wore during the run, which hopefully is enough to reach a few folks and get them thinking about the Zpoc.

ERIC

ZAI

Here are some photos of them representing:

Here they are with their shirts fresh out of the mailbox.

Scholz and Marchbanks sporting ZAI "Marathon Team" shirts getting ready for a little 26.2 mile jaunt.

Marchbanks and Scholz doing their thing on the marathon.

Scholz and Marchbanks crossing the finish line together after 6 hours of running. They stuck it out, kept moving and stayed together. Key components in a Zpoc survival situation. Great job guys!

Massive Solar Flares, Zombies, and Greys, Oh My

This is a guest submission from Alan on the use of radios for communication after an apocalyptic event.

One of the technologies that we take for granted is the interlaced global communications satellites. As a benefit of a massive government investment in the 1960s space race you now have the ability to have a cell phone, satellite television, and GPS to show you how to get from point A to point B. All good, but what happens if those satellites no longer function?

Massive solar storms have the potential to damage satellites to burned out hulks of mechanical and electrical components. Should we be the target of an invasion from outer space, the first order of business would be to take out our “eyes”. In the case of zombies you would probably be too busy avoiding having your brains eaten.

How would you communicate in the event of an apocalyptic event? Are there means at your disposal to coordinate with fellow survivors? The answer to that is yes.

Garmin walkie talkie with GPS

One of the items that readily available is the simple walkie talkie. Many electronics stores sell these in a wide variety of styles and ease of use. Many outdoors stores sell these even with GPS built in…for a price. There are several services that fall under this category that require no license to those that do require them. The problem with these is that they often are of very low power and only have the capabilities to communicate short distances. They are also fixed on channelized frequencies that require some skill to modify (which is a violation of FCC rules). They also require a charger to convert 120volts AC to the appropiate voltage DC to operate. Some models only require a couple of batteries and an even greater sacrifice of power. If the function is for survival I would probably avoid this method.

Cobra CB Radio

Another option is the traditional CB radio. These come in a variety of quality. The advantage of CB is that they operate in the 11 meter band which is down in the upper end of what is called the High Frequency range. They are capable of skipping some distance but it is generally unreliable as a general rule. These are generally mobile and can even be operated as a base station with power from a simple car battery. One downfall is that these radios also have channelized frequencies. While you can modify these, it is once again against FCC rules unless you are doing so to work them into the 10meter Ham band and have an FCC license. This is not the most efficient use however.

The next form of communication is to go ahead and get a Ham license. The entry level is the Technician Class and can be obtained relatively easy. This license allows radio priveledges in the VHF (Very High Frequencies) UHF (Ultra High Frequencies) and SHF (Super High Frequencies or more commonly the microwave bands). Many use walkie talkie type units the operate in the 2meter band although you can get them in multiple bands. I own one that allows 4 different tansmitting bands and has general receiving capabilities that include AM, FM, TV, Marine, Air, and commerical frequencies up to 900 MHZ with cell phone frequencies blocked. These bands are generally line of site with the use of repeaters placed in strategic places to retransmit the signal or repeat. The repeater splits the signal by receiving on one frequency and transmitting on another. Modern radios has these splits programmed in and allow modification if a local group chooses to do so. With repeaters here in the Portland metro area I have the capability with low power to talk to people in SW Washington, south to Salem and into the east county metro area. Because there are hills between me and Beaverton I can hear their signals but I cannot transmit into the repeater from my location. The radios are also capable of point to point single frequency transmit and receive but again, you must be in the “line of sight”. Certainly usable in emergencies. A test of simple basic electronics, a simple understanding of radio theory, safety, and FCC rules and at one time $12 would net you a Technician Class FCC license.

With Ham radios, you can start small and work your way up.

If you are really looking for long distance and fairly reliable communication the recommended the next step up and test for the General Class license. This license allows numerous radio frequencies along with those of the Technician Class. The plus factor is access to High Frequency bands with much higher power that allows worldwide communication without the use of repeaters or satellites. There are commercially available radios that can operate off a simple car battery with excellent results. This license can be obtained by knowing and understanding more advanced electronics, and radio theory. Communication can even include teletype, slow scan television (within allowed frequencies), and even digital data modes. Far more bang for your buck.

While the notion that learning electronics and radio theory seems daunting, it is accessable to anyone. The national organization that represents the Amateur Radio hobby is the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) in Connecticut. They have available for purchase study guides with test questions. Test questions come from a predetermined pool. Each individual test will include several questions from each section of the pool. Morse code is no longer required, but can be learned after obtaining a license and there are study materials even for that. Morse code is handy during periods of high noise or low power and allow a signal to penetrate through the muck when other modes just won’t get the job done.

The bottom line is that there is not need to fear communicating in the event of apocalypse. A little preperation beforehand will yeald satisfactory reults. You can even build gear out of old parts. In high school we wound coils of wire around toilet paper rolls to build transmitters on a piece of wood.

– Alan

Alan is a Vietnam veteran with a Technician Class license working on his General license whose father was a Navy radioman and toyed with electronics and radios his whole life. Alan is also Tim’s dad, but don’t hold that against him.

You Are Not a Beautiful and Unique Snowflake: How We Feel About Lone Wolves

You may think that this is you during the Zombie Apocalypse

But in reality, it would look more like this

This weekend, over on the ZAI Facebook page, we did a recall drill, where we asked all our members to check in with their location and status. We ended up with just shy of 300 members (almost 10%) sounding off. While we would have liked to have seen all 3200 members check in, we were happy with the results.

This wasn’t just a drill to boost our page traffic (well, not entirely,) but it was also to allow our members to see where one another are located – and hopefully, reach out to other members in their area.

While we see a whole lot of “No way, I’m going to kill everyone I come across and strike out on my own,” type comments on our page, we at Zombie Awareness International would like to think that we can help people realize that if you are going to go it alone, you may as well just put steel to your temple and paint the wall with your brains at the first sign of the walking dead, which of course would take all the fun out of the Zpocalypse.

One of the things we are about at ZAI, is surviving the Zpoc. Part of surviving isn’t just running around on the lam all the time, hoping that you won’t get your toes nibbled on by flesh eating ghouls, while trying to catch some sleep. It is about living through the outbreak, fighting back, and rebuilding some semblance of society. Say what you will about governments, people, or society as a whole, it is still the best way to live. While it might be romantic or exciting to think about living in an older era where you have to catch your food, build your house with your hands, and chop wood ala Grizzly Adams, it isn’t exactly any kind of life.

What we propose, is that you evaluate your true self, your real motivation for prepping, your shortcomings and decide how you can improve. Talk to your neighbors. Don’t run to Mrs. Jones at the mailbox and tell her that the dead will rise and you need her to tell you what she has in her pantry and where Mr. Jones keeps his gun. But get to know who lives near you. You never know, your next door neighbor might just be able to bring a lot to the table in a disaster. Start off light. Discuss recent news about disasters and gently breach the subject of preparedness. Eventually, you might be able to work into developing a reaction plan.

Like the infantry guys say, “One is none, two is one.”

When you allow others to help you, you don’t have to worry about who’s got your back. (U.S. Army Photo)

Don’t isolate yourself. Of course, protect yourself (I personally operate off the mantra, “Be polite, be vigilant, and be prepared to kill.”) But if you run alone for the hills at the first sign of trouble, think you are going to kill everyone you come across, or board up your house and climb out in two years to utopia, you are a moron.

As my wife put it, “I say if you don’t find a way out, just eat the licorice within 2 months. What are you gonna do? Live your whole life in fear of getting eaten? Who knows when they’re going to find a cure or eradicate all the walking undead. I had this discussion with some of my interpreters from Afghanistan. One day, they informed me that one of the government officials had been killed by Taliban on his way home from work. I asked them one simple question: ‘How do you live like this?’ And at the time of Zpoc, that question would inevitably be turned on myself: ‘How can I live like this? I can’t walk around whenever/wherever I want to. I have limited rations and supplies. This is no environment to be free anymore.’ I figure life isn’t worth living at that point. What if you had to live in the Zpoc for YEARS??? Yea. Not so much.”

We urge you to get involved. Find opportunities in your community to help out. I’m not suggesting you run out and become a Boy Scout leader, or run for mayor – but find out what opportunities and training are available in your area to help out in the event of disaster. You will probably find like-minded people, who can help you out when SHTF.

Of course, when we close our eyes and picture ourselves in The Matrix, we don’t need help. We are all natural leaders and tactical experts. But when reality kicks in, and the water is coming in over the windows, the foundation just split in two from an earthquake, the wildfire is peeling the paint from the siding, the roof just collapsed under tons of snow, the government is setting up checkpoints and curfews – or simply – the hordes of the walking dead are shuffling up your driveway, you are going to need all the help you can get.

So, far be it from us to tell you what to do. Feel free to put your coolest shades on, pull up your digi-cam pants from the “geardo” catalog and put your nunchucks in your pocket, but Zombie Awareness International will be taking a stand beside our neighbors, communities and countries to roll our sleeves up and get to work taking back our land and rebuilding our world.

Get together with like minded people, identify strengths and build a team!

Eric

Zombie Awareness International

Weapon Selection from Zom Tac

So many gun choices, so little time. Make sure you think logically about your gun purchases.

Welcome back Survivors,

We all realize that we need weapons for the ZPoc. Even the most hardcore melee expert among us must recognize that a distance fight with overwhelming numbers is a better option than muscle fatigue before death. Therefore we use the most advanced tool allotted to us: the firearm. No history lesson, no uppity garbage. Straight to business.

We need to be very prudent with our selections. Unless you have money to literally burn then you’re like me. So cost is an object. We’re going to look at economical and versatile weapons that will fit our needs.

Ruger 10/22
Up first is the Ruger 10/22. This rifle is affordable and has almost as many aftermarket parts as the 90’s Honda Civics! If you don’t like the standard rifle configuration you can buy an Archangel conversion kit (complete with bayonet). A .22 caliber rifle is so versatile it would take days to list all its attributes, but for us it means we have a ton of lightweight ammo for a weapon that is lightweight and reliable. The most attractive aspect of this rifle is its price. You can pick up a Ruger 10/22 for around $200.

The Ruger 10/22 carbine. Quite possibly one of the greatest guns ever built.

 

 

 

A good way for you to contribute to ZAI is give us a good range report on it, its weight, its capacity to weight ratio, and its accuracy! You don’t have to be a prize winner to contribute. Just be honest!

The Conversion kit
Many of us have AR style rifles. Quick note: AR does not stand for Assault Rifle. It stands for Armalite Rifle. Assault rifles fire multiple bullets with a single squeeze of the trigger. Don’t be drawn into that tired argument.

The .22 conversion for the AR rifle is a drop-in bolt and a magazine designed for the .22 long rifle shells. I recommend the CMMG conversion kit for price, but I will not recommend their magazines. Buy Blackdog magazines for your conversion.

This lightweight kit adds an additional tool to your arsenal. The ability to swap over to the .22 on the fly will give you more capabilities and an abundance of ammo for little weight. It also utilizes your primary weapon so there is no adjustment to reloading, sights, or fundamental manipulations. Excellent for training on a budget as well. I highly recommend it!

The Kel Tec Sub 2000 series
Pistol carbines are a great idea. Accuracy and precision chamber for your secondary weapon. They also make them in a lot of popular magazine patterns and calibers. Being able to have the same ammo for both your pistol and your carbine is outstanding for close in urban work. It also saves on weight because you use the same magazines as your pistol.

One consideration for a Zpoc gun is one that uses the same caliber and magazines as your sidearm.

The rifle conveniently folds for transpiration and storage, which is critical if you need to move quickly. Ideally, weapons of this nature show their versatility simply by being themselves. They give the user a lot of options for an excellent price.

These are just a few things for you to consider when buying your weapons. More soon.

I’m Zom TAC and this is something for you to consider.
Stay alert, stay alive.

 

Ed. Note; A while back we posted an article about buying a gun. Zom TAC has taken this a bit further and added some other considerations. Tell us what you think in the comments! -Eric ZAI.

EDC or What is in my pockets.

We see a lot of questions about BOB or extended fight bags which is a good thing because it shows that preparations are being made. However what do you carry on yourself every day? What is the minimum number and types of tools you will need to make it back to your cache of weapons and food? Everyone is different so I thought I would write this article about what I have in my pockets.

Like most men I have a routine when I leave a room. I pat down the front of my pants tapping the contents to make sure I have what I need. Cell phone, wallet, and keys are fairly standard. I carry those things plus four additions I hope you will consider.

Pocket knife
I carry a Kershaw Select Fire pocket knife. I wrote a review of it here. In addition to a nice big sharp blade this knife also has a full-sized driver set built into the handle.

Wire saw
I have chosen the M48 Kommando Survival Saw. There are much better wire saws out there but this one is tiny. I have rolled it up and use a twist tie to keep it contained. Although I will not be cutting firewood or falling trees for a shelter with this thing I can easily use it to shorten wooden handles, cut plastic pipes, or use it as a small length of chain to fasten something together.

Multi-tool
I carry a very small multi-tool made by Sheffield Knives. I chose this one because of its quality and size. Sheffield makes great tools and this one is no exception. The pliers are big enough to wrench on most bolts, it has bottle and can openers, a set of screw drivers, and a small blade.

Credit card tool
It is true that the functions that this tool provide are diminished from the functionality of a standard tool set, however all of the functions on this tool are redundant backups to other tools I carry on my person. It is always advisable to carry back-ups and back-ups to back-ups.

I know you are thinking all of this stuff plus my cell phone, wallet and keys makes for some full pockets, but I have found a way to keep it simple. The wire saw fits in the change pocket of jeans. The credit card tool fits inside my wallet. The knife clips to the top of the pocket, keeping it from crowding the bottom. And the multi-tool is small enough to sit in the bottom of my pocket and stay out of the way.

These are the tools I have decided I need to carry everyday, what’s in your pocket?
-rich-

Survival Tip of the Day: Cotton Ball Fire Starter

Our YouTube page was looking a little sparse, so Tim decided to show you yet another way to get a fire going using some simple household items. You can then go back and watch our previous video sharing a few ways to get cooking quickly.

Brought to you by Kershaw & Zero Tolerance Knives.

Are you prepared … to lend a hand?

What if you turned on the TV and saw this? Are you ready to help?

The last few weeks have seen some crazy weather here in the U.S. Severe snow and ice in Seattle, a devastating tornado in Alabama, and Oregon saw record flooding. Some of that flooding wiped out Turner, Oregon, the town I grew up in.

Notice the concrete retaining wall around this house. The owner built it after record floods in 96. Notice how the water is almost breaching the wall.

Seeing the images of people stranded, caught off guard, without power, and many now without their homes or any possessions got me thinking: What is preparedness worth when Mother Nature sticks it in and breaks it off?

What could you do to help these people? Would you if you could?

Last week, thousands of Oregonians essentially had no warning and were caught off-guard with feet of water in their homes and businesses within a couple hours. Yesterday, near Birmingham, Alabama, 211 homes were destroyed and so far three people are confirmed dead following a tornado that swept through Jefferson County.

So what do you do if all your awesome prepper gear, guns, Zombie plans and outbreak maps get covered in sewage filled river water? What happens if all your ammo cans, water purifiers, and bug-out-bags get haphazardly tossed into the next county by the portal to Oz? What then?

Truth is, I don’t know a good answer for that. There are drills that will help with floods, fires, tornadoes (if you have enough warning,) rolling blackouts, riots, and of course massive hordes of the walking dead. Red Cross, FEMA, and a few other agencies offer lists of things you should have on hand at all times. The drills go something like: Place a tarp in your living room, then run around your house like an idiot grabbing all the items on the list and placing them on the tarp. Goal time is to get under 5-minutes to get everything on the tarp so you can have it all in one place. Not sure what good that will do you when the water is running into your living room, or a tornado just relocated your neighbor’s boat into your kitchen.

What if you came home from a movie and your street looked like this? What could you do to help?

Other things you can do is keep a Bug-out-bag or 72-hour bag – or whatever you want to call it – in a friend or relative’s house that is miles away on high ground, or keep some cash and a pre-pay cell phone in a bank’s safety deposit box. You could always get a storage unit across town and put some stuff in that. That of course has logistical problems like getting to it when every road in town is under water.

What do you do if you are cut off from your super prepper 1000 kit you bought online?

What I witnessed over the last week, isn’t how awesome everyone’s prep was, but how awesome people come together to help total strangers – countrymen – in their time of need. Several members of Zombie Awareness International came out to Lowes home improvement store in Salem, Oregon to help fill sandbags for anyone who needed them. My wife posted that we were doing this on Facebook, and one of the guys she recently deployed with drove nearly 50 miles through flooded counties to come help, just because he felt a need to do something to help.

This is truly what we at ZAI are all about. Our catch line “Keeping your ass alive” paired with our motto: Semper Vigilans Semper Paratus (Latin for always vigilant, always prepared) are about more than talking which gun is better than which, and what is the better plan, bugging out or staying in during the Zombie Apocalypse. It is about being ready to not just protect yourself from disaster, but making sure you are in a position to help others. Get to know your neighbors. Don’t approach them and say, “Zombie Awareness International told me that I need to be prepared for the Zpoc,” but rather, cite the recent emergencies and talk to them about their state of preparedness or readiness. Who knows, you might actually find out that they are more prepared than you, or posses valuable skills for your Zpoc team.

Are you able to help these people? Even just a blanket, a shower, or a hot meal could do wonders for these people right now.

If you see someone in need, true need, help them. This isn’t giving a bum on the corner a five spot because he looks sad at you at the traffic light. What we are suggesting is that you get involved. Don’t freak out and buy a reflective vest and set up neighborhood patrols, but be prepared. Get your family prepared. If your home is undamaged, and you are able to take in a neighbor whose house was leveled or flooded out, let them stay with you a night or two, at the very least, offer them your shower. Who knows, it might just pay off when the dead rise.

And no, this isn’t us going all soft. This is about who we are. What kind of people would we be if at the first sign of trouble, we took our ball and went home? That being said, we still operate under the premise of be polite, be vigilant, and be prepared to kill. It may work in a combat zone, or during Zpoc, but it doesn’t apply when your neighborhood has been waylaid by Mother Nature. This is the time to roll up your sleeves and do the right thing as a human and a survivor.

What if this was you? Yesterday you had a house. Today, you only have a sewage pond. How do you prep for this?

Semper Vigilans Semper Paratus

Eric

ZAI