Zombie Defense ...

    Halloween is fast approaching and I feel its time to discuss zombies. Not everything about them, that would take (and has taken) an entire book. Indeed the horror movie sub-genre of "zombie movies" has a wonderful following around the world. This post will not go more in depth to "zombie lore". What this post will cover is some basic survival information should the Zombie Apocalypse ever occur.
    Specifically, I want to talk about weapon choices and planning. The army has a saying, "Always remember your five P's". Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. There are others like, "Luck favors the prepared" or even, "Blades don't need reloading". All very good pieces of advice.
    Bladed or even blunt, bludgeoning weapons are an important part of your Zombie defense arsenal. I am not denying that at all. Just don't go looking for a sword if you have never handled on before. Instead look for a "peasant weapon". These are anything you can get your hands on. Axes, machetes, knives and even picks or baseball bats. Anything that you can swing repeatedly. Remember, zombies don't get tired but you will.
    That's why I am concerned with ranged weapons. I don't want them getting close enough to use a lead pipe. Bows and crossbows are always a good choice for two major reasons. First they make little to no noise that can attract other zombies to your location. Second the arrows (or "bolt" for crossbows) can be recovered later and reused. The downside is of course the strings can, and do wear out so finding replacements can prove problematic. If you do decide on one of these as your primary weapon make sure you have extra strings and other parts and that you are familiar with their use and maintenance. This is of course true with any weapon or tool.
    My personal choice is High Point Firearms 9mm Carbine. I don't personally own this weapon, yet. Getting a 9mm carbine past my wife and into the budget takes some work. I won't go into detail about that here, but rest assured I do plan on getting one. I digress.
    This weapon is a good choice for a few reasons. First, it uses standard 9mm ammunition that can be obtained from just about anywhere. Most military, law enforcement, and security people use the standard 9mm ammunition that this weapon uses. Now I know what your thinking, what good is a pistol bullet going to do? Plenty. With the longer barrel length accuracy ranges should be nearly tripled over a hand gun. Besides, the popular MP5 submachine gun uses the same ammo but costs around $4,000.
    Using the same ammunition as your side arm means keeping track of fewer items. 9mm ammunition is very small and you can carry a lot of it in a fairly small space. I do recommend having a 9mm pistol as a side arm for when things get really close, say less than 20 feet.
    It also has a wide array of attachments that can be added. While the laser may not be that useful in most situations, the flashlight most certainly would be. Given the right "tactical" light and you can have an on/off switch moved to the forearm or forward grip of the weapon. This lets you control the light without letting go of the weapon.
    Of course it would be better if the High Point Carbine would also accept a standard magazine, such as those made by Glock or even Beretta. This would give you the added advantage of reusing magazines in multiple weapons. But, it doesn't. Still, using the same ammo and saves you a lot of worry about accidentally trying to load the wrong type into your weapon.
    9mm rounds can also be made mostly silent by means that I won't cover here. This would make it as useful as a crossbow or other such weapons in not attracting other zombies to your location. It is much lighter than most "assault rifles" and is easy to operate, even by a novice.
    That is my pick for my "Primary Zombie Defense Weapon". The High Point Firearms 9mm Carbine wins out on more than enough features to push it to the top. While not a perfect choice, a starting price of only $274 makes it very compelling. The money I save now I can use later for other items, such as a better first aid kit, which is a good idea to have anyway, or even more ammunition.
    Until next time remember your five "P's.