Horseshoes & Hand Grenades

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5 Survival Tips for the Zombie Apocalypse and Other Emergency Situations

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“Organize before they rise!” – Max Brooks

Beware of Zombies

 

Is your family ready for the zombies or any other emergency that may occur? There are many types of emergencies, or unexpected situations may result in having to use what’s available to make due and what’s available may not be what is ideal for the situation. Just the crazy hurricanes, winter storms, and tornadoes that have occurred across the U.S. in the past couple of years should give everyone some concern about what could happen in their neck of the woods. Since my husband and son are self-proclaimed preppers, naturally some of that information rubs off on me. I wouldn’t say I’m as into the whole doomsday scenario as much as they and many others are, but I do have my BOB (bug out bag) just in case and pay attention to helpful tips and preparedness items that are somewhat realistic for your average person to have around (underground bunkers are not realistic for your average family…although that is on my husbands want list). I believe that when the zombies come (or a flood, electrical blackout, or something else that may actually happen occurs) we’ll be able to make due until some level of normalcy resumes. Aside from making sure you’re the fastest runner in the group and the most important rule of all, which everyone knows is don’t get bit, here are a few other tips and tricks to survive the apocalypse:

1. In an emergency crayons can burn for 20 – 30 minutes each. I was initially a little skeptical of this so of course I tried it myself before telling you all about it and sure enough, it is true. My orange Crayola brand standard size crayon burned for exactly 22 minutes before going out. I was very surprised that it didn’t fall over and threaten to catch anything near it on fire either. So this is true and this is great news for those of us with children because there’s a pretty good chance we’ve got some crayons laying around the house somewhere. If you ever find yourself in an emergency with nothing but crayons and a source of fire, you’re in luck – a box of 48 would easily get you through a 24 hour period with a constant light source; longer if used sparingly.

 

Crayola Burn Test 12Min

 

2.Stock up on canned goods and dehydrated items. I’m not talking about entire rooms filled from top to bottom with supplies, but enough to get the family through at least 72 hours in the event of an emergency or temporary loss of electricity. A great and cost-effective kit that I found and have purchased for my family is the Augason Farms 30-Day Emergency Pail that can be ordered from Wal-Mart for around $100.00. Now this will last longer than 2 or 3 days, but for the price, it’s very all inclusive and something that can be stored away in a small space until it’s needed. There are many other brands of emergency kits like Wise Foods which have become quite popular but they are pricier and may not be the best option for someone just starting out with their emergency preps. Regardless of what brands you choose for your stock pile, the less you have to leave your homestead or bunker, the less likely you are to cross paths with the walkers.

 

3. Have a good knife or multi-tool on hand. Knives don’t need to be re-loaded. In addition to having access to a weapon for self-defense against the non-living if needed, a knife can be used for many things in an emergency situation such as opening food in your emergency kit, butchering wild game if you’re so inclined to hunt or replacing a screwdriver or a pair of scissors that may not be readily available. They can be used to cut fabric for dressing a wound or making a tourniquet in a medical emergency or making restraints when you capture the enemy.  A good knife or multi-tool doesn’t have to be expensive, it just has to be durable and sharp.

 

Survival Knife & Multi Tool

 

4. If you are with a group of people (your family, friends, and neighbors) stay together as a group. Do not take off or let someone take off alone unless it is absolutely necessary. The chances of survival in a true emergency situation are greatly increased if people stick together. If faced with threats, the likelihood of multiple people being able to fight them off is much more than if one person has to protect themselves alone. In addition, if a person is injured, it is much harder to render medical assistance to oneself – the ability to help each other out increases everyone’s odds of survival. It’s much easier for 3 or 4 people to out think a couple of zombies than for one person to fight them off alone.

 

5. Include your children in planning and prepping. Most, if not all of you reading this, as well as myself, have families and that means kiddos. Include them, teach them, and rehearse with them. Don’t make it scary (maybe refrain from using the zombie scenario here unless they’re a bit older and think it’s fun like my son does). Make it a game just like you would when going through a fire drill or use a camping trip to evaluate the efficiency and what may be missing from your preps – don’t down play the importance of knowing what you as a parent expect from them in case of an emergency, but make sure they know what your preps are and why they might be used – this will make things less scary and hopefully more organized if the time comes and disaster strikes.

 

Elijah BOB

My son Elijah modeling his BOB.

 

These are just a few of the tips and hints that I’ve picked up along the way. (A few episodes of The Walking Dead is sure to reinforce most of these ideas.) For more information about how to survive the zombie apocalypse, check out Max Brooks’ book Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. It’s very entertaining even if you don’t believe in zombies. For those of you who are interested in more detailed information on how to build a bug out bag please see my post Building a BOB – the Essentials for Survival (A Mothers Perspective). 

 

What would you do? What tips do you have for surviving the zombie apocalypse and other emergencies? What is the must have item in your doomsday stockpile? How would you include your kids so that they’re prepared? Share your ideas, questions, and helpful hints in the comments below. Thanks for reading!!

Comments

  3. We do most of these things just as a normal day to day thing. We stay stocked up on canned goods…because with the economy the way it is it’s just nice to know we have food. We also garden and farm and make sure that we can sustain ourselves a little. We don’t do the bail out bags..and haven’t spoken with our kids about “plans” or even have “plans”.

    The crayon thing is really cool!

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  5. I completely agree with the battery stockpile – we had a power outage just last week because of a storm, it only lasted 3 hours and we have a generator, but the first two flashlights I picked up (so I could get the generator on) had dead batteries!!! Definitely picking some more up and putting them somewhere that they won’t be found and used for TV remotes and video game controllers!

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  6. I am absolutely in AWW…Who knew about crayons?? That is such a great tip. I am wondering if the cheapo crayons would burn just as long. I know Crayola is the best. We just have a small collection of crayons from going out to eat

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  9. Like everyone else I’m going to be trying to burn crayons now! We’re usually well stocked up with tinned food, candles etc in our cyclone season – but don’t have a knife in there – maybe I should add one! Thanks for the great tips – we’ll be ready for the zombies now!

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  10. My husband and I have been addicted to watching the walking dead recently and watched the last 3 series in about 2 weeks….lol. We are watching the final episode of series 3 tonight…he he. At least now I know to raid my daugther’s crayon box before running out the door 🙂

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  11. We have not really looked into any preparedness stuff- but my hubs has started to think this is a good idea. Me too! Crayons? OH how excited I am to know that!! I think we have light covered around here then… 😉

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  12. I was getting annoyed by all the canned food we have that we don’t use… I guess it’s good to keep around for emergencies though… Never thought of it that way. Thanks for the tips 😉

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  14. Considering I have a boat load of crayons at home, that is definitely the most useful tip for me! Well, at least if the power goes out. I have to say, I don’t have an abundance of canned foods in the house and I should probably stock up – just in case.

    Great post!

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  15. OK – this totally cracked me up…who knew disaster preparations could be so much fun? The crayon thing blows my mind, and I’m gonna go grab a BUNCH of those suckers, since they are on sale everywhere right now.

    I so enjoyed this post…thanks for sharing.

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  16. We live on the East Coast and we lived through hurricane Sandy. We were without electricity for about a week which was a lot better off than many of the other people in my area who didn’t have power for weeks and many who lost their homes ((noone in my town lost their home though but in neighboring towns closer to the shore). Howwever, after that my husband started thinking about some of the things you mentioned and preparing better for the next emergency. We never thought about the thing about the crayons though.

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  17. Interesting tips! I had no clue about the crayon thing so that is great to have as knowledge! I will be sharing these tips with hubby since he is our zombie apocalypse preparer.

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  18. Love this blog post! I did not know that about crayons and now of course, I am going to have to try it out and then tell everyone I know about it. Thanks for the great information!

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  19. Very interesting fact about the crayons. I have a lot of left out crayons from my son’s kindie that I don’t know what to do. Some of them are still usable. I think I can use them for shortcut electricity. Sounds an interesting book to read. Thank you for sharing.

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  24. crayons? Wow, I would have never thought of that. It’s one of those ‘I should have known’ moments for me. LOL. Afterall, crayons are waxy…

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  25. Love this post! We have what we call a 72 hour kit which is really a giant duffle bag with everything we’d need for our family of 6 for 3 days. We have water storage as well as long term food supply – 3 months of Wise Foods and upwards of 6-8 months of other dry and canned storage. As with everyone else – I’m mesmerized by the crayons burning.

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  27. Living in a hurricane prone area, each year I replenish our emergency kit but I never heard of the crayon as a candle. That is an excellent idea. One thing that I added to my landscape after hurricanes Frances and Jean was solar power light, it was so eerie being in a blacked out neighborhood for weeks. I have also added raw unfiltered honey to the food supply, it’s good for more than eating. Thanks for a good article.

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  29. Love the crayon tip! I keep an emergency kit in my car (in case I have car trouble and get stuck somewhere; I live in the high desert/mountainous area) with sleeping bag, boots, water, matches, etc. I don’t actually have a home emergency kit though! The food is the hardest part for me, as my [medical] diet consists mainly of fresh meat and vegetables…no cans or boxes or bags allowed. I’m not sure what I’d eat if my freezer went out and supermarkets had no fresh produce supplies!

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  30. I love that everyone didn’t know about the crayons, except maybe one person. Batteries are a never ending battle, no matter how many I buy we always run out.

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  32. Allsion,
    After living in Louisiana all of my life, we’ve gotten pretty efficient at lving through periods with limited resources. I love the crayon candle tip and staying together advice–unless you have an injured person and divide the group to go for help, staying together is always best. I’ve encounter some pretty strange things here–snakes, bats, bears, and other freaked out widelife after storms, still waiting for my first zombie encounter though…
    Elle

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  37. What a fun read. 🙂 While I’m not a zombie believer, this did make me realize how important it is that I wake up and make an emergency kit for our family. It’s been one of those, “one day” things. Now I’m wishing I would have stocked up on a few more 25 cent crayola crayon boxes at back to school time.

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  38. We have the crank-up flashlight, so that is available if power goes out. I like the tips you share. They are very helpful. My wife recently took inventory of canned goods, so we can ensure we have safe food on hand.

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  39. I live on the West Coast, so our disaster scenarios generally revolve around earthquakes. I know I should have 72 hours food/water stockpiled in case of an earthquake, I just need to get my butt in gear. Thanks for the crayon tip – I never knew that!

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  41. That is so awesome about the crayons! Luckily, we have a pack of 48 crayons…that’s about 1056 minutes of light! My husband will be happy. 🙂

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  43. Entertaining and useful… good stuff. Like everyone else, I’m a big fan of the crayon tip as we have lots of those around these days. We already have the knife, but we probably could use more canned goods and more of an actual plan. Thanks for sharing.

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  47. I didn’t know about the crayons, great tip! Preparedness list: Canned items, plenty of water jugs, 1st Aid Kit, Make sure Cars gas tanks are filled- in case need to leave the home, Have Cash on Hand, Make a photo-copy of your driver’s license (ID) and a copy of all medications your are taking and/or allergies you may have. Put the photocopies in a ziploc bag for easy access if you need to leave your home/apt. Almost 2 yrs ago in October, in New England, we had a massive snow and ice storm. No Power for over 10 days. All the ice n weight on the trees made them snap off rather quickly. It looked like a disaster zone in our neighborhood. My family stuck it out for a few days n then went to my grandmothers for the remaining days-she had power. Always good to have a backup plan.

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  48. First off, I just love the name of your blog! These are all great tips for emergency preparedness. I had no idea about the crayons! I’m not going to lie I will be trying this out after my kiddos go to bed….lol! Thanks for sharing. 🙂

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  49. Great tips! Sometimes just stocking up during sales can create a bit of a stockpile so you can save money and be prepared. I have also heard that you should have a minimum of a three day’s supply of water. BTW what an eye-catching title!

    Reply

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