Bugging Out to Wal-Mart, Costco, Sams Club: No!

[Black Sheep]

I think Apu has a sawed off under the counter. At least the locals running Quik-E-Marts do....

If TSHTF here and the power is out, I'm going to see my Indian shopkeeper buddy and swap some of my defrosting home made (vege) chili for some of his defrosting icecream. And Nachos. Small business is the shizz.

[MosinMe]

I have an intresting problem...

I live less than a mile from a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

I've always been worried about what will happen on my street when people do start to flock there because that place is packed 24/7 with shoppers and I can't imagine how many would flock there if they knew there was about to be a food shortage or if they were looking to loot.

I would probably lock my doors, board my windows, keep our big dog in the front yard, and hang out by the front door in a rocking chair with my Mossberg 500. 8)

[Ellie With An Axe]

This has always been my favorite thread here. It's like a big plate of warm honey sitting out by the trash heap on a summer's day. Mmmmmmm.

[phil_in_cs]

I have an intresting problem...

I live less than a mile from a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

I've always been worried about what will happen on my street when people do start to flock there because that place is packed 24/7 with shoppers and I can't imagine how many would flock there if they knew there was about to be a food shortage or if they were looking to loot.

I would probably lock my doors, board my windows, keep our big dog in the front yard, and hang out by the front door in a rocking chair with my Mossberg 500. 8)

You're making a target of yourself, and your shotty will be quickly out ranged by the .30-30 stolen from wally mart....

[Beanhead]

Heh, yeah it always gives me a giggle.

I love it when a LordRahl clone comes along and tries to say 'omgkatanas are the best, I'm going to chop everyone and my buddies are going to get Gecko48 to back us up with his golfcarts'

Or something similar.

It's Gecko45, he's the patron saint of mall ninjas everywhere.

[MosinMe]

If half the people living near me have ever held a gun before let alone shot one before, I would be amazed.

Either way I guess I could put a few shooting holes in those boarded windows for my Mosin

[WoG]

This guy is off the hook. He's clearly shooting every thing that moves.

I think this might be a BB-gun? The guy walking away like it's just a normal day is freaking hilarious.

The Wal-marts = bad.


p.s. I'm on page like 18 of this thread...slowly catching up.

pss. DAMMIT. Ranger0402 - correctly IDed this gun like 8 months ago. ><

[WoG]

Texas Parks and Wildlife estimates the whitetail deer population at 4.5 million. Human population, with illegals seriously under counted, is 24 million. The deer won't last long, nor will the smaller animals.

Yes, but some will be hunting for brains, not deer meat. That 24 million number will most likely be a bit lower in the event of a catastrophic zombie outbreak.

[david_lynch3]

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[TommyHardHouse]

I never went for the raid the wal-mart plan, my personal beginning was holing up in schools.

They're everywhere around here, have cafeteria's well stocked with enough food to feed hundreds of students for weeks at a time, have water and milk if the power's not out, can be easily cordoned off using those nice metal gate things if you can get the janitorial keys (which should be inside the main janitors closet) and if you're lucky and the school has a second floor you don't have to worry about the windows. Also locker rooms, enough restrooms with water in the bowls (it's gross but can work, I'd recommend some sort of sterilization).

Also it's not that common of an idea and there's enough to go around if someone else gets the same idea. Not to mention I've always wanted to trash one of those places.

Hello from a newb ! lol

i've just been scanning the posts and wanted to reply to you - not to debate if a school would be a good place to go , i know it was always the last place i wanted to be when i attended *grin* but a lot of school's around where i live are doubled as shelters. Anyway what i really wanted to tell you about was the water in the bowls , you wont need it - find the hot water heater or boiler room. I'm a plumber and have worked on several school - The water heaters are so HUGE that if its not a brand new school the will usally build a building around the water heater - talking about several hundred gallons of freash water- just make sure you get the feed line shut off before you start to drain it - if the main is broke down the street it could pollute it once it starts to draw in more water to the tank from the pressure of it draining out. Wish i could remember how many gallons the heaters were - i keep thinking like 500, not real sure.If its not that its pretty close. Food fr thought

[Recon7R]

Agreed, that is the last place you want to be. Waiting patiently until everyone leaves is one of my ideas. If the place is over run while you're waiting you at least know they'll be moving on soon after everyone is turned or eaten. I say this calmly like you wont be sweating blood and breathlessly watching on in horror. Of course security is your first concern, being in a secure location is your first priority. Even if you don't have good constant visibility you'll be able to at least check back on the site. Why would a person want a place like that if it's empty? Well, a lot of massive Marts have tires, and a lot of tools that may come in handy. Not to mention that they have maps all over to show emergency exits so you can secure them. Just remember your first and always your first priority is security. Granted it maybe on the first floor but you have a lot of maneuvering space and barricade material. I've taken a look at the basic floor plans of these places they are easily secured and most have back up generators. Contact me if you like the idea. Sharing the ideas helps make for a better over all strategy. Feel free to poke holes in it. This is by no means a one ZS Member job. Take your team and remember 360 security is your first priority.

[pyratemime]

The problems with waiting till it is cleared out are many and complex.

First, in any kind of high violence scenario you are going to have a significant biohazard if large numbers of people have been injured/killed inside. All the worse if there is an infection (Zombie or otherwise) that is driving the breakdown in society. Cleaning the place under the first let alone the second set of conditions would be a large and dangerous to your health task.

Second, you have no guarantee that the place is ever going to fully clear. In a Zed situation you are likely to have some number of walkers who just shamble around inside for eternity. Why put you self at risk? In a not Zed situation there will be other who want to make the Mega-Lo Mart their home so again why put yourself at risk having to negotiate and possibly fight with them over the scraps left in the store?

Third, why do you think that there will be tools, tires, or tinker toys left in the store when it does final clear? In a panic people are going to grab EVERYTHING they can and take it with whether they can or know how to use it. Anything left by the time the crowds are gone is going to be broken or otherwise trashed... not to mention it might be contaminated under point one.

Fourth, to secure a facility that big would take a lot of man power because it isn't just moving the barricades into place it is maintaining them, walking patrols, sanitation, building maintenance over time... the list is limitless and your man power isn't. Not to mention that the place will be a magnet for scroungers/raiders/the hopeless for a long time as they come to pick the bones HOPING to find something that might be useful. You are going to have a manpower and management nightmare.

We go back to the tried and true advice that Mega-Lo Mart is never ever the answer for a BOL. Stock up at home, buy some land in the country, make sure that you have a plan and stay the frak away from the big box stores as any benefit you might glean in far over shadowed by the risk to life and limb (not to mention law) you incur by going there.

[Wolfdude87]

+1 pyratemime for Mega-Lo Mart/King of the Hill reference.

[ri0t]

Well, I'm in Florida so I'm at a little bit of an advantage. #1, we get hurricanes year round so we have shutters we can put up made of metal to easily barricade windows, and doors aren't that hard (Depending on the type of undead, not to be debated here). I also have tons of canned food available (Fruit, beans, meat, etc), and a lot of rice. Also, with the hot weather, flesh would rot faster and the infected would die out quicker. Hurricanes also means strong winds, which could wipe out massive amounts of undead easily.

1. Barricade House
2. Check supplies, gather last minute supplies assuming the infection hasn't hit your area and your watching the news.
3. Gather weapons. Not as nearly important as supplies, I'd rather be fed and barricaded then gun toting and hungry.
4. Survive
5. Emerge to find either A) World Gone
B) Less Zombies

P.S.
Also have plenty of generators, 3 in my garage alone.

[ChristisKing]

I'm only posting to find it later sorry but I love this post.

[ChristisKing]

Ok I've read a few pages so I think I can comment now. I agree with avoid the wally world and any other mega store like the plague. My wife and I were inspired this year to store food for the first time. We have probably a few months on hand now. We used our tax return on it as well as a generator for my folks house since they have a well. We also bought a quarter of a cow and a freezer so as long as the power is working I have beef. I really wanted a plasma high def tv but the food won out as it just made more sense.
So assuming we're all here this spring and can collect a tax return think about using to stock up on food water power or whatever you might need to bug in.

[MacAttack]

A serious question here.


For those with some remote piece of land or a 'hidden' cabin out in the woods.

Whats keeping some local from getting there first?
Its not like no one knows the place isn't there at all. If you think its a great place to hole up they will get the same idea and as soon as they see the same Zombie time coming that you do they will approach the cabin. And if they are not shot at or confronted will just break in and take everything or keep it all by taking over.

[DrthTater]

we have shutters we can put up made of metal to easily barricade windows

Where did you get these shutters, and can you get them in other states?

[phil_in_cs]

A serious question here.


For those with some remote piece of land or a 'hidden' cabin out in the woods.

Whats keeping some local from getting there first?
Its not like no one knows the place isn't there at all. If you think its a great place to hole up they will get the same idea and as soon as they see the same Zombie time coming that you do they will approach the cabin. And if they are not shot at or confronted will just break in and take everything or keep it all by taking over.

There's nothing to stop them, and bug out location security is a major problem. Vacation homes and/or vacant property are very frequently broken into, and there are a number of threads detailing those problems.

[Pondo_Sinatra]

we have shutters we can put up made of metal to easily barricade windows

Where did you get these shutters, and can you get them in other states?

There are several on-line retailers that will sell to you; but generally you'd have to install them yourself (or hire someone to install them). I'd imagine that most general contractors anywhere would be willing to work with you.

Just do a quick search for "metal shutters" to see a few (thousand) examples.

[Creidiki]

Is bugging out to WalMart etc. feasible? Yes, maybe,if you have hotline to Kremlin and they are willing to give you a head start: "Dorogaja druga, we are launching the missiles in 30 minutes, you might want to act now"

Otherwise no, why. All major chain stores work on just on time delivery, there are no stocks, ideally items are shelved a second before you buy them, what you see in shelves is all there is. On normal day this might seem like the horn of plenty, but it takes about 30 minutes of frenzied hoarding to clear out everything useful from the store. No civil unrest, no looting, just shopping on all new level. It can and will be launched by any unusual circumstance, powerout, blizzard, flood, tornado season and news of zombie outbreaks in foreign countries.

By the time SHTF, and society is broken enough to commandeer a site like this, your local shopping center will be out of everything useful from batteries to bottled water. The scenario where armed posse fortifies a well stocked big box store is a pipe dream. They would end up defending toaster ovens and Fondue sets from desperate mob trying to get supplies from where there are none.

If one wants to secure "strategically" important sites, then regional distribution centers are an option, nearest grain elevator would be even better, but any remotely competent administration has contigency plans for these.

In the end four weeks supply of basic necessities (air, water, shelter, food, medicine, communication) and a backup plan are more viable solutions.

[Space Jockey]

A serious question here.


For those with some remote piece of land or a 'hidden' cabin out in the woods.

Whats keeping some local from getting there first?
Its not like no one knows the place isn't there at all. If you think its a great place to hole up they will get the same idea and as soon as they see the same Zombie time coming that you do they will approach the cabin. And if they are not shot at or confronted will just break in and take everything or keep it all by taking over.

There's nothing to stop them, and bug out location security is a major problem. Vacation homes and/or vacant property are very frequently broken into, and there are a number of threads detailing those problems.

My family has a cabin near a lake about five hours drive from here. There are about 50 to 60 regular families during the summer months, maybe 10 during the winter months. We've gotten to be pretty friendly with most of them and have a mutual agreement that if something happens when we are gone, they will "take care of it". So while it doesn't guarantee our place won't get broken into, it does provide some comfort. Now if we can only take care of the damned raccoons.

As for bugging out to Wal-Mart I'm very against it. Our local Wal-Mart Supercenter has at least four entrances to the parking lot. Before you get to any of them, you have to come down a 1/2 mile two lane road to get to and from the store. In a panic that road is going to be a deathtrap, not to mention the store or parking lot.

[The Highwayman]

Is bugging out to WalMart etc. feasible? Yes, maybe,if you have hotline to Kremlin and they are willing to give you a head start: "Dorogaja druga, we are launching the missiles in 30 minutes, you might want to act now"

Otherwise no, why. All major chain stores work on just on time delivery, there are no stocks, ideally items are shelved a second before you buy them, what you see in shelves is all there is. On normal day this might seem like the horn of plenty, but it takes about 30 minutes of frenzied hoarding to clear out everything useful from the store. No civil unrest, no looting, just shopping on all new level. It can and will be launched by any unusual circumstance, powerout, blizzard, flood, tornado season and news of zombie outbreaks in foreign countries.

By the time SHTF, and society is broken enough to commandeer a site like this, your local shopping center will be out of everything useful from batteries to bottled water. The scenario where armed posse fortifies a well stocked big box store is a pipe dream. They would end up defending toaster ovens and Fondue sets from desperate mob trying to get supplies from where there are none.

If one wants to secure "strategically" important sites, then regional distribution centers are an option, nearest grain elevator would be even better, but any remotely competent administration has contigency plans for these.

In the end four weeks supply of basic necessities (air, water, shelter, food, medicine, communication) and a backup plan are more viable solutions.

Wow. All really good thinking here! I'm surprised noone has mentioned any of this before. Especially 15 or 20 times or more.......

[pyratemime]

Be nice he is advocating a simple truth that needs to be brought up every few pages so that when new people on read the last few pages of this thread they get the point.