The Zombie Survival Guide/Weapons

[PlayboyPenguin]

My partner brought me home a gift today. He saw it at Border's and thought I would get a kick out of it. It is a book titled "The Zombie Survival Guide" by Max brooks.

It is a very cute book and has a chapter dedicated to "weapons". In this chapter is a complete section devoted to firearms. It covers everything from machine guns down to .22 pistols and gives the strengths and weaknesses of all of them for fighting the undead. It even gives advice on how best to practice with your firearms to be an effective zombie killer.

The book is written in a very serious manner but is clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Apple a Day]

One of my students brought me a copy to borrow. The author seemed to have an odd fascination for the M1 carbine. The only problem I'd have with that and a riot/total breakdown of society scenario is that ammo wouldn't be the easiest to find. Think of Katrina aftermath and how hard it would have been to get ammo if you hadn't already stockpiled a chunk. I'd think an SKS or Saiga would be more suppliable (if that's a word) except recently the 7.62x39mm ammo has vanished.
The author neglected pistol-caliber carbines as a subclass. I think, considering his emphasis on sticking to semi auto and short range suppressable weapons that these would have been considered ideal. It would also save on equipment weight to have common caliber weapons.
If life weren't so hectic I think it would be fun to design and program a game with a modern SHTF scenario. Something like Halffast's "Lights Out" novel. Have a group of defenders hold out in different scenarios: a city block of apartments, a suburban neighborhood, or a rural cluster of farms depending on the difficulty setting. Mod's to the game might include a hurricane/flood scenario where everyone's movement at ground level would be hampered by water, a zombie outbreak, a time rift where a unit of Nazis blunders in, even an alien invasion for fun. Realistically, I bet you could make a big splash (pun intended) marketing a game like that off of a hurricane aftermath scenario. Make it well and gamers would snatch it up.
I have wondered if the poop did hit the electric convection promotion engine what the most common weapons among the American civilians would be. I am guessing you'd have to include a lot of .22s, pump-action shotguns, bolt action deer rifles, and lever guns in that order. There would be lots of scopes available but not much night vision equipment. It would be fun to base a game on that with some strategy: dig trenches, move cars and such for cover/barriers, set up LP/OPs.
Anyway, it was a fun read.

 

[AndyC]

I'll have to look out for that one - sounds like it's good for a chuckle

 

[benEzra]

I have wondered if the poop did hit the electric convection promotion engine what the most common weapons among the American civilians would be. I am guessing you'd have to include a lot of .22s, pump-action shotguns, bolt action deer rifles, and lever guns in that order.

You'd also see a LOT of .38/.357 revolvers and .380/9mm pistols (lots of people own only a handgun, and there are 2 to 3 times more handgun owners than hunters in the U.S.), a vast number of SKS's (one of the most common rifles in America), and more EBR's than you might think...especially since those of us who own multiple types of guns would be grabbing the EBR if a scatological air impeller mishap took place...

 

[kentucky_smith]

The author is Son of Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft.

Is a writer for Saturday Night Live. I think we can forgive him some errors in judgment.

 

[real_name]

In the recent Stephen King novel 'Cell' we are given a post-apocalyptic type scenario where the masses are kind of zombies and the central characters decide to go against their 'anti' tendencies and arm themselves with stolen guns.
Laughably inaccurate in parts but an interesting (and believable) perspective.