Dream Home for Zombie Defense

[Kalani Lu]

I thought it would be a fun idea to try and brain storm up the perfect home in terms of zombie defense. Let's say there is like a class 3 outbreak and you have to sit tight for let's say 3 months. This means getting swarmed with hundreds of zombies, and the cavalry has to get it's s**t togethor before it's going to be able to bail you out.

What kind of defenses would you impliment?

What items would you have in your home to aid you in survival?

What kind of alternative power sources would you have implemented?

What alternative forms of communication with the outside world would you have?

How would you get access to food and clean water?

This is the kind of things I would like to think up. As for guidelines:

1.) The home has to support at least 3 people.

2.) Resources need to last 3 months.

3.) Budget needs to be reasonable. I don't want to see "JUST BUILD YOUR HOUSE OUT OF DIAMOND LULZ!!!!1!". Let's say you spent lot's of money over several years to get access to things anyone can get. Concrete, solar panels, HAM radio, ect.

That's about all I can think of, though if and when we got done I would like to run the numbers and get an estimation on time and money it would take to have a zombie-proof house. Also if anyone has access and is good with CAD, it would be cool to make a schematic of the Zombie proof house. 3nodding  

[Fresnel]

Hmm.... I'm thinking some sort of house boat. Or possibly a small cruise ship? I think I need to wait for Sierra and all of his awesome houseboat links. xd  

[Stoic Socialist]

Well, I'd say a treehouse, but that 3 people-3 month thing makes it semi-difficult and semi-unrealistic my area.
I've made plenty of treehouse plans connecting several trees, but I'll pass.

I'd going to have to say that the best house in this situation would be...
My local library.
The upper-floor [staff-only], is about 50 feet off the ground.
To top it off, there isn't many windows, and it's all brick.  

[Floyd]

How about a surplus US missile bunker?

There are many of those scattered around the country. Once you lock the hatches from inside, no one is getting in. Zombies be damned!

Then there's the classic retreat into the bowls of a major shopping mall. Once you secure all of the fire doors, you're fairly secure.

I've also considered a high rise building, but securing stair wells and other access is more of a job than time would allow.

And don't forget two to three rings of chain link fencing with razor wire laced in all the right places.  

[Kalani Lu]

Actually, the last three examples are all good zombie proof home categories:

1.) Surrounded by water.
2.) Suspended high in the air.
3.) Underground.

Advantages of the boat house idea is that it would probably be the cheapest and most readily available, you could get food from the sea though it wouldn't be a food source you could count on all the time. Problems I could see would be having enough resources to survive 3 months for 3 people in all but the largest of boats.

The treehouse idea I actually think is the weakest link. It basicly works on the same principle of the boat house except you aren't mobile and instead of having a sea of water below you, you've got a sea of zombies. Trying to build large structures designed to hold up lot's of weight high up are largely impractical, and you also have to worry about the support structures holding your "treehouse" up giving way.

I'm throwing in my vote for the underground bunker idea. Maybe not an actual surplus missle bunker as those are not readily available for buying, there was that one on e-bay not long ago but it was very expensive, but I think building an underground bunker yourself wouldn't be too hard, just time consuming. Only I would also have some structures above ground protected by high reinforced-concrete walls that I will go into later.

I think we need to tackle each issue one at a time. So first one:

Food? We can store food sources in a plethora of ways so let's list them out.  

[exploding-waffles]

i would just build a house on a tall mountain, and have walking across a plank be necessary to get over to it.
then i would just remove the plank.
greehouses, solar panels, etc.  

[Stoic Socialist]

I'd probably organize with ply-wood boxes.

'Cause I'm fly like that.  

[Floyd]

My problems with boats/ships/oil platforms and islands are the risks of isolation and heavy weather making the seas impassable at the worst possible second. I've always wanted to see the Hawaiian islands, but not under such conditions.

Granted that the bad weather would keep any seafaring zombies at bay...

As for low level buildings, that's too risky for zombies who have discovered fire, as in Omega Man.

Another possible retreat that came to mind is the glut of private mines and caves that could be pressed into service, depending on the lead time. Not as comfortable and well equipped as a bunker, once a defense and secure hatch could be deployed then a cave or mine could provide space for food/water/ammunition/survival supplies storage.  

[Stoic Socialist]

All the mines by me are strip mines. xp
Wait, we may need some dynamite.

What kind of mine were you talking about?  

[Rommel_Desert_Fox]

Stoic Socialist

All the mines by me are strip mines. xp
Wait, we may need many crates of dynamite.

What kind of mine were you talking about?

Be an example to your men,
in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself,
and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance
of fatigue and privation.

Fix'd.

Also: Pungi pits after mine field, concertina wire after the pungi pits, a high wall of reinforced concrete, machine gun mounts on top of the wall.

Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your
subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive
sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually
indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.

 

[Stoic Socialist]

xp  

[Floyd]

I was reviewing other possible manmade structures that were designed for repelling invasions.

Europe, Italy in particular, has a special knack for preserving private home fortresses. In the middle of towns, towers rose from street levels. There was a business in the first floor of the building, and an outdoor removable ladder would allow access to a small and secure doorway on the second floor, which tended to have nothing but the classic crossbow notches in the walls for low defense.

Many of these buildings survived the wars and natural disasters.

And, of course, so did the better preserved castles of Europe. So many of them to pick and chose from.  

[Thdark]

I'll have to go with underground bunker as my vote as well. I've been thinking of how it can be done, in the cheapest of manners, as well as making it moderately discreet.

I could reinforce it with concrete I suppose, but I would need to design that in a way to consider structural stability. Perhaps construct it entirely out of concrete.

Eh, I have not read the Zombie Survival Guide, so I sadly have no idea as to the intelligence of the zombies, but I understand a level 3 is reasonably high considering level 4 is where victory is leaning in the zombies favor. So is it reasonable to think that if I covered the bunker, along with entrance, in a roll of fake grass and dirt? In effect, making it non-existent. If it's not noticeable by normal humans, I believe it won't be noticeable to a zombie.
The ultimate defense in an outbreak is not to fight nor be noticed.

Power, I suppose could be collected from solar panels, and in-case of their destruction, back-up power generators.

I can easily gather enough supplies, mostly dried and canned foods, to last 3 months. Also, ya know, Twinkies :D. In case I pig out on twinkies, I could always hunt, or hope I was smart enough to get other foods beside twinkies :I
My father always taught me a great way of storing clean water, so I could fall back on that.

The plus side to this is, I would probably have built this even before any signs of an outbreak, cause I'm a dork xD

 

[Fresnel]

Three people, three months? Hmm...

Come and f*cking get me, bitches. Wait... how long can the ISS last without a restocking?  

[OberFeldwebel]

My defenses? High walls with cat walks and ... crap what are those things called... they're inside old castles to kill people hugging the wall that are attacking.

Entrance? Well, I'd have a gate and you would drive in a ways or walk in, and there would be another gate that's closed and the other wont open until the other is closed and the area is deemed... uninfected.

In the event that there are Tyrants or head hunters in this zombie outbreak I would be ready, because I would have, inside my facility, a large open field with no trees or bush, and at the very center, a quad .50, or one of those AA MG42 tripods. I think I saw one with dual MG42s.
I'm assuming that I have my Class III license and I'm rich.

Und ach ja!