The Ultimate Zombie Weapons Guide
It is a nightmare everyone can relate to; you wake up one morning and, suddenly, inexplicably, the undead are everywhere! A zombie apocalypse is one potential world disaster that takes a great deal of preparation and planning. One of the most important things to consider for a zombie apocalypse is what your weapon of choice will be.
Here we will look at the top weapon choices for zombie defense. In general, there are three different categories that weapons can fall under, each which have a variety of pros and cons in the case of a zombie apocalypse. These are ranged weapons, melee weapons, and firing weapons.
Ranged Weapons
Ranged weapons are an important category to consider when combating a horde of mindless zombies. This category is often forgotten about, because it is often lumped into the ‘firing weapons’ category.
What are Ranged Weapons?
While most ranged weapons include the use of an arrow, such as a recurve bow or a traditional bow and arrow, there are a variety of other weapons that can be used from long range that aren’t traditional guns. This can include handheld weapons such as slingshots, javelins, improvised launching devices, or larger scale weapons such as homemade catapults or trebuchets.
Benefits
• One of the biggest benefits that ranged weapons offer, especially over firing weapons, is that their ammo is easily reusable. For instance, consider the bow and arrow; an arrow can be fired directly into the head of one zombie, removed, and shot again. This allows for the user to not have to worry about finding an abundance of ammo, instead killing zombies and reusing this ammo as they see fit.
• Another great benefit of ranged weapons is that, obviously, you don’t have to be near zombies in order to use them. Most ranged weapons allow the survivalist to stay as far away as possible from a zombie threat while also eliminating the problem, minimizing the risk of infection or death as much as possible.
• A ranged weapon is not explosive or destructive, meaning that they prevent the destruction of potential resources, or your living facilities in the event of zombies in your personal space.
• Finally, ranged weapons are usually extremely quiet; the absence of a sound can prevent attracting the attention of even more zombies, or even hostile groups of other survivalists.
Disadvantages
• While ranged weapons can be a great resource in a variety of ways, they can also be detrimental in particular situations involving zombies. The most difficult part of using a ranged weapon is that it often takes a large amount of personal skill or prior training with the weapon. Mores o than with a firing weapon, a ranged weapon requires that the individual operating them is aware of a variety of factors that may affect the speed and trajectory of the object that is fired. This can include wide speed and velocity, how far away the target is, and the amount of strength that should be used to fire the weapon. If an individual cannot master the comprehension and diagnosis of these variables and more, they will likely be ineffective with a ranged weapon.
• Additionally, while ranged weapons often do have ammo that can be reused, this process will often require getting in close quarters with zombies; this is a catch-22 that for some eliminates the desire to have a ranged weapon, if it’s unable to be used for long range only!
• Finally, many ranged weapons do require some amount of strength or energy, which may leave the user tired and sapped of energy.
Melee Weapons
What Are Melee Weapons?
A melee weapon is any weapon that is held in the hands of the survivalist, which is then used to strike the zombie in a swinging or striking motion. Exotic melee weapons can include swords and bayonets, or other improvised weapons such as baseball bats, golf clubs, pieces of wood, and anything else remotely heavy but easy to swing.
Advantages
• There are a number of reasons that one may choose to primarily use melee weapons when combating a zombie apocalypse. These weapons are the most common because they are the most readily available; it is fairly easy to improvise a melee weapon out of something in your reach. Usually, anything relatively hard, sharp, or blunt will make a fine melee weapon, and if you find yourself in a tough situation where you are unprepared without a weapon, you can probably find something nearby that can at least keep zombies at bay.
• Another great thing about melee weapons is that they do not require a great deal of finesse; all it take is the ability to swing and strike an enemy. Literally any able-bodied person should be able to use a melee weapon effectively.
• Lastly, the great thing about melee weapons compared to other weapons is that they are not single shot; whereas a ranged or fired weapon can only focus on one target at a time, melee weapons can switch in between zombies extremely easily, allowing the survivalist to potentially take out more targets in a shorter amount of time.
Disadvantages
• While melee weapons may sound like a great option, there are a number of disadvantages to using this type of weapon that people often fail to take into account. The first of these problems is the sheer amount of energy required to use melee weapons. If you are facing a large number of targets, a ton of swinging and striking may take a ton of energy out of you or make you breathless, leaving you vulnerable to a zombie attack if you cannot find additional strength or have other individuals to protect you.
• In addition, melee weapons that are not reinforced or made out of a sturdy material may possibly break; having a weapon that may be ineffectively suddenly at any moment is a risk that can be potentially life threatening if it occurs at the wrong time.
•A melee weapon also inherently requires that the survivalist work in close quarters with the zombies; obviously, fighting in close quarters means that the person is much more likely to suffer a zombie bite or to be overrun suddenly by a large crowd.
Firing Weapons
When faced with a choice, many individuals may choose to primarily use firing weapons in their fight against a large group of zombies.
What Are Firing Weapons?
A firing weapon is any type of device that uses powder or an explosive mechanism in order to fire a projectile toward an enemy. Most individuals would identify firing weapons today by their most commonly referred to name – guns. There are a wide variety of guns that exist, including handguns, assault rifles, submachine and machine guns, and sniper rifles.
Advantages
•Using a firing weapon can be great for a number of reasons. Most notably, this method is the most likely way to kill a zombie in one try; whereas with melee weapons you may have to strike a zombie multiple times or decapitate them in order to make sure they are actually down, usually a gunshot to the head will completely incapacitate a zombie. With this method, the survivalist does not often have to worry about thinking too much in regards to if a target is actually down for the count.
•Firing weapons also have the potential to take down a large number of targets in a short amount of time; especially with automatic weapons, such as machine guns, it is easy to “spray and pray,” firing a large number of bullets into a populated or packed area, leading to the decimation of a number of zombies quickly.
•Using a firing weapon also allows for the potential to stay as far away from zombies as possible. Especially with firearms designed for long range such as sniper rifles, they can definitely keep you out of harm’s way and be a major boon.
Disadvantages
•While many people may choose to use a firing weapon first in the case of a zombie apocalypse, there are actually a number of reasons that one should not rely on them for survival. First and foremost, in a survival situation, it is very likely that the ammunition used for firing weapons will be in extremely short supply; trying to find bullets can be costly and puts the survivalist in a number of situation that can put them at high risk. In general, using a firing weapon in a survival situation is a calculated decision that will have to be done sparingly.
•Firing weapons also make a huge deal of noise. Noise can be very negative in a survival situation and the difference between life and death; this can attract a large amount of zombies, or other survivors, which have the potential to be hostile or have bad intentions. Nonetheless, the huge noise caused by a firing weapon can put you in a terrible situation.
•If you are in a group of people using firing weapons, there is a good chance that friendly fire, or one individual accidentally shooting another person in the group, can and will happen. For these reasons, it can be potentially dangerous to use a firing weapon in the case of a disaster that causes a zombie apocalypse.
Conclusion
The three different categories of weapons useful in the case of a zombie apocalypse all have their unique advantages and disadvantages. Ranged weapons, such as crossbows, eliminate noise while allowing for distance between you and zombies, but can be difficult to master and require risk to regain ammo. Melee weapons are the most readily available in this situation and are easy to use, but can break and leave you in close quarters. Firing weapons such as guns can dispatch zombies quickly and effectively, but have extremely low amount of ammo and require a lot of noise to use.
Whatever weapon you decide on, you now have the knowledge to make an informed decision about what to use in the case of a zombie apocalypse.
Category: Zombies
