Has The Walking Dead Made You a Survivalist/Prepper?

[Kommander]

My Zombie Apocalypse plan is as follows:

1: Become zombie.
2: Attempt to maintain or regain higher brain functions.
3: If successful with Step 2, become King Zombie. If Step 2 fails, stop caring about anything that's not stumbling around aimlessly and eating people.

My plan is flawless. Worst case scenario is that Step 2 fails and some of the living shoot me. Being killed isn't stumbling around or eating people, so it would be on my list of "Shit I no longer care about."

If Step 2 succeeds, I'll be the zombie wearing a cardboard Burger King crown and looking proud of himself. If you survive and see a zombie fitting this description, don't shoot! I'm sentient and can be reasoned with. I'll also command a sizable army of zombie-squirrels and can easily be bribed with brains. Any brains will do, they don't have to be human.

 

[Ro_Laren]

One of my favorite shows to watch is AMC’s The Walking Dead. The other day I started to wonder, how many people have become preppers (a.k.a. survivalists) as a result of watching The Walking Dead?!?! For those of you that don’t know what preppers are, they are people who prepare for emergencies from as small as the power being knocked out by a small storm to as large as hurricanes like Katrina or Sandy, anarchy and social disorder caused by the collapse of the dollar, or alien invasions! Preppers range from those that will build bunkers to those that just stockpile a couple days’ worth of food and water. So, who out there is preparing for the imminent zombie attack, lol?

BTW, I wasn’t sure if this thread should have been posted in the Miscellaneous section or the Science Fiction & Fantasy section (because it talks about The Walking Dead). Sorry if I posted this thread in the wrong section!

It's about survival prepping rather than the show, so it fits here more.

No, the show didn't make me become a prepper. Preparing for an apocalypse is silly. Preparing for a local disaster on the other hand is completely rational and smart planning.

As recommended by the California Emergency Management Agency (and FEMA), we have a disaster kit like the one shown below in a large wheeled trash bin in case of a major earthquake or other disaster. We're right on the Newport-Inglewood Fault here, and it's been the source of some pretty large quakes.

That's interesting that they recommend that you have a bike as part of your Earthquake emergency kit.

 

[thestrangequark]

One of the things that annoys me the most about having type 1 diabetes is my decreased odds of survival after an apocalypse. So many of my childhood post-apocalypse fantasies crushed! I did read one post-apocalyptic novel that had a nebbish type 1 diabetic character (though the author annoyingly conflated type 1 and 2, but that's beside the point) who learned to make his own insulin. I suppose I am clever enough to do that. Or my survival story would have to involve pharmacy-hopping as a major plot-drive.

In real life I have 2 month's worth of insulin pump supplies and a flashlight. I suppose I could do better, but I'm not all that bothered.

Same here. Looking in the fridge earlier I realised I'm almost out of one of my insulins so need to get that sorted soon.

Yeah, I'm only stocked up on pump supplies because I can't get them from the pharmacy, they're shipped automatically. And in a surprisingly patient-friendly system, they ensure that you always have at least a month's advance supply in case something goes wrong. Unlike my fucking test strips, which I'm not allowed to get until I'm literally down to my last day's worth. The first thing I'll do when my first post-raise paycheck comes in is to go and get an emergency supply of those. Insulin would actually be the same, but my doctor gives me loads of it because he knows my insurance won't cover extra. I remember once, when I was 19 and really poor and didn't have insurance, I broke a bottle of insulin and cried for hours. A pharmacist took pity on me and gave me a bottle with the promise I'd come back and pay for it when I could.
I really hardly ever think about it, but when I do think about how precarious my life is, the thought of what I'd go through during a long-term disaster is frightening.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

One of my favorite shows to watch is AMC’s The Walking Dead. The other day I started to wonder, how many people have become preppers (a.k.a. survivalists) as a result of watching The Walking Dead?!?! For those of you that don’t know what preppers are, they are people who prepare for emergencies from as small as the power being knocked out by a small storm to as large as hurricanes like Katrina or Sandy, anarchy and social disorder caused by the collapse of the dollar, or alien invasions! Preppers range from those that will build bunkers to those that just stockpile a couple days’ worth of food and water. So, who out there is preparing for the imminent zombie attack, lol?

BTW, I wasn’t sure if this thread should have been posted in the Miscellaneous section or the Science Fiction & Fantasy section (because it talks about The Walking Dead). Sorry if I posted this thread in the wrong section!

It's about survival prepping rather than the show, so it fits here more.

No, the show didn't make me become a prepper. Preparing for an apocalypse is silly. Preparing for a local disaster on the other hand is completely rational and smart planning.

As recommended by the California Emergency Management Agency (and FEMA), we have a disaster kit like the one shown below in a large wheeled trash bin in case of a major earthquake or other disaster. We're right on the Newport-Inglewood Fault here, and it's been the source of some pretty large quakes.

That's interesting that they recommend that you have a bike as part of your Earthquake emergency kit.

Having a bike is not a essential item for an earthquake kit, but it's included as a tool to increase mobility and carrying capacity.

 

[TheSeeker]

Thanks to Sandy last year we are pretty well prepared for an emergency. My wife is also an avid bargain hunter which has resulted in a very well stocked pantry. I think our biggest concern would be water if there was an extended outage of essential services.

 

[Ro_Laren]

It's about survival prepping rather than the show, so it fits here more.

No, the show didn't make me become a prepper. Preparing for an apocalypse is silly. Preparing for a local disaster on the other hand is completely rational and smart planning.

As recommended by the California Emergency Management Agency (and FEMA), we have a disaster kit like the one shown below in a large wheeled trash bin in case of a major earthquake or other disaster. We're right on the Newport-Inglewood Fault here, and it's been the source of some pretty large quakes.

That's interesting that they recommend that you have a bike as part of your Earthquake emergency kit.

Having a bike is not a essential item for an earthquake kit, but it's included as a tool to increase mobility and carrying capacity.

Yeah, it would have its advantages if the power goes out (and therefore the traffic lights don't work). My state was hit by a hurricane a number of years ago and it was no fun driving when all of the lights weren't working! It took forever to get anywhere!

 

[Tora Ziyal]

I don't think I want to survive the Zombie Apocalypse. However, I do keep a few supplies for more likely crises: a wind-up flashlight (torch) and radio, a couple gallons of bottled water, and a few meals that don't need cooking. Canned fish, beans, and tomatoes, and a jar of peanut butter. And cat food! Not for me.

 

[T'Girl]

It rare this time of year for the power not to go out for a protracted period of time, the outlaying areas can be powerless for weeks, my parents once for fifteen days. A gas generators, candles, food that doesn't need cooking. water (because no pumps), and lots of firewood.

And because there no phones or alarm systems, a gun because some people decide to help themselves.

 

[Ro_Laren]

Anyone own a LifeStraw? I saw it at the store the other day and I thought it was kinda funny. I wonder if those things actually work and how many preppers have them.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ I'm a bit skeptical as to the LifeStraw's claims that for every one sold, a child in Africa gets water for an entire year. I'm all for children getting water, of course, but LifeStraw can say anything - doesn't mean it's true.

Me, I'm not a prepper, but I do have a whole-house generator in case my power goes out.

As for a zombie apocalypse? I'd sooner shoot myself in the head. Especially in the TWD universe, where that's the only way to die and not become a zombie!

 

[T'Girl]

I have something like a "lifestraw" by a different name, use it while hiking and hunting, it does work for a while, but it has a limited lifespan of a few hundred refills, which really isn't too bad.

 

[Gary7]

The only thing that the Walking Dead has done for me is make me sick. I've no problem watching horror movies and I'm very rarely scared or paranoid by them. But I saw a few webisodes of TWD and I was just put off by the ultra graphic nature of it. The woman being disemboweled by the zombies... you see them pulling at her intestines and chewing into them like sausages. Then we watch her body time elapse decay in the sun, she comes to life, then painfully claws at the ground trying to move... as the pan out reveals half her body is gone. So much footage on just showing outright disgustingly gruesome crap for the sake of it. It's like watching a torture victim, where the camera takes a very long linger on the tearing of flesh and the excruciating pain of the victim. Who enjoys that? So unsettling. I've heard TWD has some appealing sides to it. But I just don't have the patience or desire to seek it out.

But yeah... I have a few anti-zombie weapons in my home (not guns) and flashlights with extra batteries, hand crank chargers, etc. All for power outages but certainly will be helpful in other... unanticipated circumstances.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

And because there no phones or alarm systems, a gun because some people decide to help themselves.

Contrary to popular opinion, hysterical and hyperbolic media reports, and decades of disaster films and TV shows telling us otherwise, people don't typically descend into savagery and crime during disasters; quite the opposite in fact. They usually make an extra effort to help each other out.

Japan has a very low rate of gun ownership per capita (0.6 per 100) yet it didn't descend into lawlessness once it was struck by earthquakes, tsunamis, and radiation scares. On the contrary, the typically lawless like the Yakuza took up altruism and assisted with disaster relief, as they have done in the past.

Despite the often racially motivated myth of massive violence, the aftermath of Katrina was anything but. The actual number of murders throughout never exceeded the New Orleans average, there wasn't rampant rape and murder at relief centers, and no one was killing babies or shooting at police helicopters. There was "looting," but for basic survival needs (not TVs and jewelry) because the people were left to fend for themselves excessively long and were attempting to help each other out where their government (local, state, and federal) had failed to do so.

So, while I don't fault anyone for trying to be prepared, thinking that everyone is going to come to take away your stuff and harm you might actually contribute to making things worse, especially if you have a means of killing people at a distance.

 

[TheSeeker]

Anyone own a LifeStraw? I saw it at the store the other day and I thought it was kinda funny. I wonder if those things actually work and how many preppers have them.

I'm not sure what's funny about it. Clean drinking water is a necessity and lots of towns still get boil water advisories in this day and age. You only have to look at Walkerton, Ontario to see what happens when a water source is not managed properly. Having something like this could literally be a life saver.

 

[Trekker4747]

Sort of like TSQ, any disaster that'd end the flow of goods and services would pretty much be doom for me. Without my medications I wouldn't last very long. Within a day or two without my medication my cluster headaches would come back with a vengeance which means pretty much half of every other day for quite sometime would have been crying in a heap on the floor in utter pain, without my anti-depressant my emotional state would could wild until my body coped with the chemical changes in the brain, and without the seizure medication I'd be getting my, though mild and not debilitating, seizures which on top of everything would pretty much make me a target or at the very least not at all useful.

 

[DimesDan]

One of the things that annoys me the most about having type 1 diabetes is my decreased odds of survival after an apocalypse. So many of my childhood post-apocalypse fantasies crushed! I did read one post-apocalyptic novel that had a nebbish type 1 diabetic character (though the author annoyingly conflated type 1 and 2, but that's beside the point) who learned to make his own insulin. I suppose I am clever enough to do that. Or my survival story would have to involve pharmacy-hopping as a major plot-drive.

In real life I have 2 month's worth of insulin pump supplies and a flashlight. I suppose I could do better, but I'm not all that bothered.

Same here. Looking in the fridge earlier I realised I'm almost out of one of my insulins so need to get that sorted soon.

Yeah, I'm only stocked up on pump supplies because I can't get them from the pharmacy, they're shipped automatically. And in a surprisingly patient-friendly system, they ensure that you always have at least a month's advance supply in case something goes wrong. Unlike my fucking test strips, which I'm not allowed to get until I'm literally down to my last day's worth. The first thing I'll do when my first post-raise paycheck comes in is to go and get an emergency supply of those. Insulin would actually be the same, but my doctor gives me loads of it because he knows my insurance won't cover extra. I remember once, when I was 19 and really poor and didn't have insurance, I broke a bottle of insulin and cried for hours. A pharmacist took pity on me and gave me a bottle with the promise I'd come back and pay for it when I could.
I really hardly ever think about it, but when I do think about how precarious my life is, the thought of what I'd go through during a long-term disaster is frightening.

Depending on the disaster that caused it, if I survived (where I live was and I suppose still is a major strike point for ICBMs by the USSR) and I ran out of insulin, I would have a week or two till acidosis really kicked in and I would beg to be put out of my misery when there is no possible escape from it.

I'm actually on a waiting list for a pump and seeing my consultant about it on Monday, so hopefully I'll be on it by Easter. A few weeks ago I also went to a pump evening about, well the pump and one thing I hadn't released, just in case one of a number of things could go wrong with it, I will need to carry around with me pretty much all the time several spares.

But I digress, luckily having the NHS means I've never had any horror stories like what you described. The worst that has happened regarding that in the fifteen plus years of being Diabetic was when I was first diagnosed, I was on Insulin Pens when the actual needles weren't free, so my dad brought them online (I think) or in the Diabetes UK magazine and instead of getting me the medium length needles, he got the the longer length ones which were 13mm long! Now, for a scrawny 15 year old, that was not fun at all. Also in December 2003, at the end of my first term at uni, I actually forgot to bring enough insulin home with me which was a bit of a silly moment.

As for remembering my insulin and supplies and the like, it tends to be the first thing I pack when going away and even if we're only going away for a weekend, I'll still have two spare insulin cartridges for each pen and a dozen needles along with a spare cartridge for my blood tester. The reason for this is because, well apart from the above episode, I also went camping once for a weekend and only had the needles on my pens which wasn't my finest moment either.

 

[thestrangequark]

Depending on the disaster that caused it, if I survived (where I live was and I suppose still is a major strike point for ICBMs by the USSR) and I ran out of insulin, I would have a week or two till acidosis really kicked in and I would beg to be put out of my misery when there is no possible escape from it.

I've often wondered how long it would take me to die without insulin, and I read a really interesting article speculating on it. The consensus seems to be we could perhaps last up to a month, if we starved ourselves.

I'm actually on a waiting list for a pump and seeing my consultant about it on Monday, so hopefully I'll be on it by Easter. A few weeks ago I also went to a pump evening about, well the pump and one thing I hadn't released, just in case one of a number of things could go wrong with it, I will need to carry around with me pretty much all the time several spares.

Good luck in getting your pump! I love mine! It tends to be a love it or hate it thing, though. There are some really annoying things about it, but the good outweighs the bad, and it was much easier to adjust to than I thought it would be. As for carrying extra supplies, yeah, you're supposed too...
Honestly, I never carry extra supplies. I pack a few extra infusion sets when I'm traveling, and I always have a spare battery on me. It's not really that much stuff, and I could probably cram it all into my meter case, so I suppose I should.

But I digress, luckily having the NHS means I've never had any horror stories like what you described. The worst that has happened regarding that in the fifteen plus years of being Diabetic was when I was first diagnosed, I was on Insulin Pens when the actual needles weren't free, so my dad brought them online (I think) or in the Diabetes UK magazine and instead of getting me the medium length needles, he got the the longer length ones which were 13mm long! Now, for a scrawny 15 year old, that was not fun at all. Also in December 2003, at the end of my first term at uni, I actually forgot to bring enough insulin home with me which was a bit of a silly moment.

I remember those big needles. When I was diagnosed, pens weren't widely available. I got my first pen at 14, but I didn't switch fully to them until college. When I started it was big ole syringes and vials and the practically archaic Regular/NPH regimen. The truth is, I'm still a bit hopeless at inserting my cannula, because the needle is much longer and wider than my tiny little pen needles were -- I've just measured it, and it's exactly one inch long.

As for remembering my insulin and supplies and the like, it tends to be the first thing I pack when going away and even if we're only going away for a weekend, I'll still have two spare insulin cartridges for each pen and a dozen needles along with a spare cartridge for my blood tester. The reason for this is because, well apart from the above episode, I also went camping once for a weekend and only had the needles on my pens which wasn't my finest moment either.

We all have our ups and downs!

 

[Awesome Possum]

I bought a handgun, mainly for my own amusement and target shooting. I do tell people I got it for when the zombies rise though.

Other than that I plan on dying in the beginning of any apocalypse since I can barely function when the power goes out. Wandering around a wasteland isn't something I want to do for long.

 

[Davros]

All of my survivalist prepper behaviors date back to fear of the Soviet Union.

 

[wissaboo]

I live in prime earthquake/tsunami territory. And on an island which I assume is gonna slow down rescue efforts. I have somewhat of a kit but not enough. I've been really into it lately and have noticed others are more interested in it too. We all kinda have ignored it up till the last couple years. I think it's just because all the people I know are older now and more pragmatic; but my brother is convinced it's because of Walking Dead.