break down and disassemble the staircase(s) to remove any ability for zombies or unwanted visitors to get to the second story of the house. make sure YOU have some way to get up and down (ladder, rope, etc.)

also, always barricade exterior doors and windows. with sturdy doors, heavy duty locks and door bar locks are a good way to go.

dont forget to move most of what you need while you can upstairs before you take it apart.

I still stand by my now erased statement that blood is a food and not a beverage. Check out the SAS survival manual in the food section. It is no wrmy manual but is a well written and imformative book. I have also attended survival classes when it was stated that fodd is a food not a beverage not matter the situation. One pint of blood is not going to keep you hydrated. You can drink your own piss once and get the good effects of hydration. Bear did it on TV. ( he drank it out of a snakeskin) Does piss taste good……….HELL NO. Survival can not always be about doing what is comfortable.

I may have been banned from this site………..FINE. I wrote and apoligy to you angryviking man. Take it or leave it.

“Do not eat snow in its natural state—it will cause dehydration instead of relieving thirst.”

On any survival show where they talk about surviving in snowy conditions (Survivorman, Man vs. wild) They say to melt the snow first.

You can drink a pint of blood without getting sick, and it has more nutritional value than water. It doesnt provide as much hydration as water, but it sure as hell tastes better than piss. In a cold weather environment, it can warm your core temperature if you drain it from a recently killed game animal like a deer, or other animal.

As far as a shotguns power of penetration is concerned, number 8 shot is sufficient to kill a person within 15 feet, and it will not penetrate a wall unless you hold the muzzle directly against the drywall. I never said use buckshot.
Once again, I’m reporting you to the admins.

The weak points and points of entry are the garage itself, which can be barricaded for awhile and has another door to the inside of the house, the front door, which can also be barricaded, and the patio only because it’s a sliding glass door and is connected to the neighbors patio. Because of this, I would be dependent on my neighbor being prepared as well. That’s why the patio would have to be destroyed. It’s wood so it wouldn’t be too difficult. A few well chosen spots to saw with a circular saw or reciprocating saw and we’re done.

The front door could be barricaded by any number of ridiculously heavy things that we have. Right next to the front door is a very VERY heavy LARGE all wood desk that took 4 guys to move safely. It weighs nearly a metric ton but my roommate and I could slide it the necessary 5 feet to cover the door if we had to or to tilt it up so that it completely covers the door top to bottom.

The garage could be barricaded for awhile with our gym equipment that takes up half the garage or even the car in the garage. If need be, we destroy the stairs leading up to the mid level but that may be difficult.

My bedroom window on the top floor over looks the front and I could easily shoot down and the layout of our front porch wall is such that you could only fill the area immediately outside of the door with not more than 10-15 Zs so no mass pressing against the door and window. Even the walkway leading up to our front door ares is extremely narrow with a wall on the other side. Our property is higher than the next so even if the wall wasn’t there, they’d fall down another wall to a lower area.

My roommate and I keep dozens of gallons of bottled and jugged fresh water and have a year supply of brita purifiers. We have at least a 1 month supply of dry and canned food for 2 people. This has more to do with us being lazy and buying a lot of water for when we go workout and the fact that my roommate used to own a cafe and still likes to buys non-perishable food in bulk to save money. Some of the water was actually bought for emergencies though. It works out for the ZA when it comes. We also have butane and propane camping stoves and a propane bbq that could be used to cook in a pinch.

I also have several first aid kits, including one that’s coast guard approved for bigger boats. I’m trained in CPR, EFR, AED, and O2 delivery, although none of that will matter as much.

There are LED flashlights scattered throughout the house as well as a box of cyalume glowsticks and plenty of batteries.

We will also be purchasing a generator, again for different purposes but it works out for the ZA.

All the guns are mine and are kept in safes in my closet. I currently have near 500-1000 rounds of various 12 gauge shotgun, 9mm, and .45 ammo. Although not ideal, it’s enough to hold out for a bit. I will also be purchasing a .22 long rifle, an M1 Garand is on it’s way albeit not for months along with over 500 rounds for it, and will also be getting a .223 long as well as a .308 long.

My car is the bigger issue. My roommates car is in the garage but mine is out. I own the bigger more durable SUV. If we had to run, we can access the roof of our townhouse complex from the bedroom floors and could close enough to the car to be within 10 yards. From there we’d have to fight to the car. Either that or take the car in the garage to my car.

The biggest issue is fuel, since I’m not comfortable with storing gallons of gasoline. I live in Los Angeles so there will be plenty of cars to siphon gas from but how to go about getting it. That also means there may be too many cars to think about driving anywhere unless we bail out early.

There is no exit strategy yet in terms of where to go either, at least not one set in stone.

All this said though, if we are diligent and follow reports and the news, those of us in the know should be able to detect early warnings and bug out before it gets to the apocalypse stage where we are trapped in a city full of millions of zombies. That way we have more time to fortify a more secluded location.

P.S. I wish I lived on a lake.