If you could only have one....

[AimlessWanderer]

for a zombie apocalypse?

Am I the only zombie hunter who has strategically placed tools in different places (other than home) for a possible scenario?

You know, just so you don't have to face a "just one tool" situation?

Nope 

Obviously that particular scenarion wasn't my motive for doing so  but I've still got tools in various locations 

[turnsouth]

Just for clarity, "zombie hunter" is being used in this case as a euphemism for "to prepare and protect yourself and loved ones form the panicky dumb smurfs who aren't prepared for the next hostile attack from those who would destroy our way of life", or a natural disaster...

[AimlessWanderer]

Just for clarity, "zombie hunter" is being used in this case as a euphemism for "to prepare and protect yourself and loved ones form the panicky dumb smurfs who aren't prepared for the next hostile attack from those who would destroy our way of life", or a natural disaster...

OK    still a little more "worlds end" than me though - I'm more your emergency bottle top/cork/staple removing, package opening, and string cutting type chap .... Although I do have heavier tools (knives and axes and so on) in more than one place, they are all where they are to serve a "day to day" (or less severe) function, but could greatly assist in a more challenging set of circumstances. Also,my knowledge, experience, improvisation skills and unendless ability to make a complete hash of something in an often highly amusing fashion is carried with me always    Disaster prep for me is knowing the location and opening times of the nearest boozer and chip shop.

Al's Survival Priorities:

1) Cigarettes
2) Tea
3) Bacon
4) Single Malt Scotch
5) Pornography

.... in that order 

Apologies for my temporary inability to take this more seriously - it's the last day of a long week 

[turnsouth]

...

Al's Survival Priorities:

...

[Threeme2189]

A ST200.
It was my 1st multitool, so It seems fitting that it will be my last

[AimlessWanderer]

A ST200.
It was my 1st multitool, so It seems fitting that it will be my last

I started out with a Gerber Suspension ... so I'll personally give that logic a miss I reckon 

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Just for clarity, "zombie hunter" is being used in this case as a euphemism for "to prepare and protect yourself and loved ones form the panicky dumb smurfs who aren't prepared for the next hostile attack from those who would destroy our way of life", or a natural disaster...

I'm not so sure about the "zombie hunter" label, but I think the whole idea of a "zombie apocalypse" is very literally applicable to a mass plague or epidemic (or pandemic) disease scenario. 

Of course, while not literally wanting to eat brains or the like (I could be wrong of course), in a situation where there was some kind of pandemic disease outbreak causing possibly even millions of casualties, it's entirely possible to have hordes of the diseased wandering around trying to survive.  Those who were less afflicted most likely preying on the dead or near dead for their clothes, possessions, etc. to try and survive. 

There are historical accounts from the time of the Black Death in Europe of diseased people wandering aimlessly and doing anything they could just to survive... and of people preying on others for goods and resources to try and save their loved ones, and so on.  Something like 60% of the population of Europe died during that time.  In our modern society, the effects could potentially be much worse.

I honestly think this is a much more realistic possibility, given the burgeoning population of the planet, than something like a nuclear holocaust, once in a billion year solar flare destroying all technology, or the like.  In fact, from what I know about astronomy, it's more likely we'd get hit by another small asteroid than a nuclear Armageddon or the like.  In other words, I'd say that's probably a distant no. 2 on the list of possibilities, with pandemic being at the top.

Regardless, the moral of the story is it pays to be prepared to be as self sufficient as possible, and not to be overly reliant on non-sustainable or renewable resources and technology.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I keep a whole bunch of them at Canadian Tire, Wal Mart, Mountain Equipment Co Op etc just in case I need to replenish! 

Def

[Mr. Whippy]

Donning pathologist's hat:

It is unlikely that we will see an infectious pandemic on the scale of the Black plagues.  Why?

Well, things that increase the likelihood of pandemic infection are:
1. Increasing population density
2. Increasing average age of humans
3. Increased mobility (both locally and worldwide)

The major things that negate these factors:
1.  Modern understanding of infectious disease
2.  Advances in epidemiology
3. Advances in Public Health (related to epidemiology)
4.  Modern antibiotic/antiviral therapy and computer modeling

When a new disease emerges, public health officials and epidemiologists can quickly narrow down the potential vector(s) based on models of mode of spread, velocity of spread and individual disease course, etc.

Just having that little bit of info makes a world of difference.  30 years ago, with much more primitive models, public health workers quickly figured out the nature of AIDS and subsequently isolated the organism (DNA retrovirus).  Rather than being a major destroyer of the human population (as it would have been even 50 years ago), it is now a controllable and treatable infectious disease.

Much more likely is a scenario of limited resources leading to mass die off (either potable water or food are major candidates).  Asteroid strike comes in second (imo).   Disease is a distant third.

Now, back to my role as Defender of Atwood and one piece tools everywhere, Leatherman Fanboy and Keeper of the Mammoth Vic.

[5hif7y]

OK    still a little more "worlds end" than me though - I'm more your emergency bottle top/cork/staple removing, package opening, and string cutting type chap .... Although I do have heavier tools (knives and axes and so on) in more than one place, they are all where they are to serve a "day to day" (or less severe) function, but could greatly assist in a more challenging set of circumstances. Also,my knowledge, experience, improvisation skills and unendless ability to make a complete hash of something in an often highly amusing fashion is carried with me always    Disaster prep for me is knowing the location and opening times of the nearest boozer and chip shop.

Al's Survival Priorities:

1) Cigarettes
2) Tea
3) Bacon
4) Single Malt Scotch
5) Pornography

.... in that order 

Apologies for my temporary inability to take this more seriously - it's the last day of a long week 

swap teatea for coffee and single malt scotch for more coffee and ill be happy. 

[Adam Clark]

Just for clarity, "zombie hunter" is being used in this case as a euphemism for "to prepare and protect yourself and loved ones form the panicky dumb smurfs who aren't prepared for the next hostile attack from those who would destroy our way of life", or a natural disaster...

OK    still a little more "worlds end" than me though - I'm more your emergency bottle top/cork/staple removing, package opening, and string cutting type chap .... Although I do have heavier tools (knives and axes and so on) in more than one place, they are all where they are to serve a "day to day" (or less severe) function, but could greatly assist in a more challenging set of circumstances. Also,my knowledge, experience, improvisation skills and unendless ability to make a complete hash of something in an often highly amusing fashion is carried with me always    Disaster prep for me is knowing the location and opening times of the nearest boozer and chip shop.

Al's Survival Priorities:

1) Cigarettes
2) Tea
3) Bacon
4) Single Malt Scotch
5) Pornography

.... in that order 

Apologies for my temporary inability to take this more seriously - it's the last day of a long week 

Aaahahahahaaaaaa Hahahahaaaaaa!!!

[Adam Clark]

Just for clarity, "zombie hunter" is being used in this case as a euphemism for "to prepare and protect yourself and loved ones form the panicky dumb smurfs who aren't prepared for the next hostile attack from those who would destroy our way of life", or a natural disaster...

I'm not so sure about the "zombie hunter" label, but I think the whole idea of a "zombie apocalypse" is very literally applicable to a mass plague or epidemic (or pandemic) disease scenario. 

Of course, while not literally wanting to eat brains or the like (I could be wrong of course), in a situation where there was some kind of pandemic disease outbreak causing possibly even millions of casualties, it's entirely possible to have hordes of the diseased wandering around trying to survive.  Those who were less afflicted most likely preying on the dead or near dead for their clothes, possessions, etc. to try and survive. 

There are historical accounts from the time of the Black Death in Europe of diseased people wandering aimlessly and doing anything they could just to survive... and of people preying on others for goods and resources to try and save their loved ones, and so on.  Something like 60% of the population of Europe died during that time.  In our modern society, the effects could potentially be much worse.

I honestly think this is a much more realistic possibility, given the burgeoning population of the planet, than something like a nuclear holocaust, once in a billion year solar flare destroying all technology, or the like.  In fact, from what I know about astronomy, it's more likely we'd get hit by another small asteroid than a nuclear Armageddon or the like.  In other words, I'd say that's probably a distant no. 2 on the list of possibilities, with pandemic being at the top.

Regardless, the moral of the story is it pays to be prepared to be as self sufficient as possible, and not to be overly reliant on non-sustainable or renewable resources and technology.

Check out the movies "Carriers" and "Contagion"..... they seem to depict what you're talking about...... No zombies eating guts, just a mass plague type out break. Oh, and the guy in "Carriers" carries a Leatherman on his belt throughout the movie...... they don't show him use it, but you can see the word "LEATHERMAN" across the sheath

[Adam Clark]

  

[AimlessWanderer]

OK    still a little more "worlds end" than me though - I'm more your emergency bottle top/cork/staple removing, package opening, and string cutting type chap .... Although I do have heavier tools (knives and axes and so on) in more than one place, they are all where they are to serve a "day to day" (or less severe) function, but could greatly assist in a more challenging set of circumstances. Also,my knowledge, experience, improvisation skills and unendless ability to make a complete hash of something in an often highly amusing fashion is carried with me always    Disaster prep for me is knowing the location and opening times of the nearest boozer and chip shop.

Al's Survival Priorities:

1) Cigarettes
2) Tea
3) Bacon
4) Single Malt Scotch
5) Pornography

.... in that order 

Apologies for my temporary inability to take this more seriously - it's the last day of a long week 

swap teatea for coffee and single malt scotch for more coffee and ill be happy. 

You heathen 

The caffeine in coffee is liable to dehydrate you, which is one of the biggest dangers in a survival situation. Tea however, does this to a far lesser extent and reacts better with the salts in the bacon to form a power giving elixir. Single malts are gorgeous calming droplets of mood altering nectar which help you go "Aw, sod it" if something really crap happens, or help you build up courage if you need to do something really scary like joump off a high building using your underpants as a makeshift parachute. Plus single malts also make you more attractive to the opposite sex think you are more attractive to the opposite sex. Should that fail ... move to Category 5.

I didn't mention cigarettes in the explaination cos that just goes without saying, right?

[duckman1975]

Hope the big multitool companies think about designing and apocalypse series multitool. Marketing line: "The multitool you carry when a thread in Multitool.Org makes you choose only one!"

[Vadim]

Without doubt a Super Tool 300 !

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I still think the pandemic scenario is most likely.  The issue with examples like AIDS is that it has a very slow course of progression, and is not the retrovirus itself that kills, but other corollary illnesses that effect the person because of the diminished immune response.  A new disease of sufficient virulence with an unknown epidemiology could easily result in hundreds of millions of casualties on a world-wide scale.  The only reason ebola didn't become the great threat many people thought it would was because it wasn't nearly as virulent as originally estimated, which gave us time to figure out its epidemiology and how to stop it.  Something virulent enough to kill in 24 - 48 hours (there are strains of small pox like that) could easily create the situation I describe.  And with the way genetic modification is being pursued today, I think it's a very real threat.

Back to the topic...

Work Champ!  Work Champ!  Work Champ! 

[turnsouth]

Hope the big multitool companies think about designing and apocalypse series multitool. Marketing line: "The multitool you carry when a thread in Multitool.Org makes you choose only one!"

But they already have:

[Mr. Whippy]

I still think the pandemic scenario is most likely.  The issue with examples like AIDS is that it has a very slow course of progression, and is not the retrovirus itself that kills, but other corollary illnesses that effect the person because of the diminished immune response.  A new disease of sufficient virulence with an unknown epidemiology could easily result in hundreds of millions of casualties on a world-wide scale.  The only reason ebola didn't become the great threat many people thought it would was because it wasn't nearly as virulent as originally estimated, which gave us time to figure out its epidemiology and how to stop it.  Something virulent enough to kill in 24 - 48 hours (there are strains of small pox like that) could easily create the situation I describe.  And with the way genetic modification is being pursued today, I think it's a very real threat.

Back to the topic...

Work Champ!  Work Champ!  Work Champ! 

Well, that's the point innit?  DNA viruses have a certain profile, RNA viruses a different one.  Bacteria a completely different one.  A highly virulent organism has a rapid tempo which can easily be contained (despite infectivity) by quarantine systems.  It is the slow, persistent infections which are hard to detect because infection can be widespread before clinically apparent.

HIV (or Hepatitis B/C) are much tougher to defeat because vast populations are fatally infected before detection.  However, discovering the precise organism allows for treatment strategies (like HIV).  Yes, ebola and other hemorrhagic virii are dramatic, but quarantine the affected area and the infection burns itself out.

For me: Damascus Wave.  I can appreciate the beautiful steel patterns as I remove the Zombie's head.

[duckman1975]

I suggest you guys read World War Z, forgot the name of the author. I think the biggest treat is not the zombies but people who are desperate enough to kill for resources of other people. If you have a secure area it will be overwhelmed not by zombies ,with their limited movement, but by panicking able bodied people which can compromise or diminish the security of the area.

[Sazabi]

I suggest you guys read World War Z, forgot the name of the author. I think the biggest treat is not the zombies but people who are desperate enough to kill for resources of other people. If you have a secure area it will be overwhelmed not by zombies ,with their limited movement, but by panicking able bodied people which can compromise or diminish the security of the area.

It's by Max Brooks, it's a good read, too.

[dks]

Really, for these scenarios you need a SOG powerlock. It has a special pointed pliers head designed to penetrate walls, so it can easily go through skuls (not tested or covered by warranty)

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I suggest you guys read World War Z, forgot the name of the author. I think the biggest treat is not the zombies but people who are desperate enough to kill for resources of other people. If you have a secure area it will be overwhelmed not by zombies ,with their limited movement, but by panicking able bodied people which can compromise or diminish the security of the area.

It's already happening.  India recently built a dam on a river that flows through Pakistan and the Pakistani's are pretty PO'd about it.  They've even threatened to take it out with airstrikes. 

It's already starting to happen here in the US in some ways.  It's the fundamental issue behind the Occupy protests.

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I still think the pandemic scenario is most likely.  The issue with examples like AIDS is that it has a very slow course of progression, and is not the retrovirus itself that kills, but other corollary illnesses that effect the person because of the diminished immune response.  A new disease of sufficient virulence with an unknown epidemiology could easily result in hundreds of millions of casualties on a world-wide scale.  The only reason ebola didn't become the great threat many people thought it would was because it wasn't nearly as virulent as originally estimated, which gave us time to figure out its epidemiology and how to stop it.  Something virulent enough to kill in 24 - 48 hours (there are strains of small pox like that) could easily create the situation I describe.  And with the way genetic modification is being pursued today, I think it's a very real threat.

Back to the topic...

Work Champ!  Work Champ!  Work Champ! 

Well, that's the point innit?  DNA viruses have a certain profile, RNA viruses a different one.  Bacteria a completely different one.  A highly virulent organism has a rapid tempo which can easily be contained (despite infectivity) by quarantine systems.  It is the slow, persistent infections which are hard to detect because infection can be widespread before clinically apparent.

HIV (or Hepatitis B/C) are much tougher to defeat because vast populations are fatally infected before detection.  However, discovering the precise organism allows for treatment strategies (like HIV).  Yes, ebola and other hemorrhagic virii are dramatic, but quarantine the affected area and the infection burns itself out.

For me: Damascus Wave.  I can appreciate the beautiful steel patterns as I remove the Zombie's head.

No quarantine system is foolproof.  Especially if you're talking about an air-born pathogen.  Combine that with the point you made above about the high mobility of people today, and a disease can be on the other side of the world in literally 24 hours.  Also, you're assuming a virulent pathogen is going to be obvious; it doesn't have to be.  You're also overlooking that even low virulence diseases like AIDS actually spread very quickly for several years before it was identified.  No matter how good we are at medicine and science, in the end Mother Nature is the one who holds all the cards.  To quote Richard Feynman, "Nature's imagination is so much greater than Man's; she's never going to let us relax."

I suppose that if I had a Charge AL I could settle for that instead of my Work Champ.  The fact it has the four external blades would make it quite useful.  Better pliers than the Work Champ too, but the smaller tools on the Work Champ, like the scissors, etc. seem nicer and better thought out to me.

[MeadMaker]

I suggest you guys read World War Z, forgot the name of the author. I think the biggest treat is not the zombies but people who are desperate enough to kill for resources of other people. If you have a secure area it will be overwhelmed not by zombies ,with their limited movement, but by panicking able bodied people which can compromise or diminish the security of the area.

 

[Swiss Man]

I have for years used the Swiss Tool as the standard
Since I have gotten the LM 300 I have been rethinking
my standard.

I would say LM 300

[Adam Clark]

Hope the big multitool companies think about designing and apocalypse series multitool. Marketing line: "The multitool you carry when a thread in Multitool.Org makes you choose only one!"

But they already have:

(Image removed from quote.)

+1 

[Adam Clark]

I suggest you guys read World War Z, forgot the name of the author. I think the biggest treat is not the zombies but people who are desperate enough to kill for resources of other people. If you have a secure area it will be overwhelmed not by zombies ,with their limited movement, but by panicking able bodied people which can compromise or diminish the security of the area.

World War Z was awesome! I heard they're making a movie (Brad Pit's supposed to be in it).
The whole "killing people for there resources thing" could be really possible, if not, INEVITABLE in a global pandemic/zombie/etc scenario!!
It would be Mad Max all over again

[mashguy4077]

My choice would definately be the Victorinox Swisstool X. Right now I carry the basic Swisstool with the 2 cutting blades, metal file, and wood saw but since I already carry 2 knives everyday on top of the swisstool, I think the Swisstool X with the scissors would be a better choice.

[Carlos]

I guess current MTs aren't designed for that end. A "disaster" tool would have all tools available from the outside,
easily pulled off and a few OHO.

As of today I'd pick the spirit x (or the swisstool x), although it lacks OHO and you need nails at least for the smaller tools.

The whole "killing people for there resources thing" could be really possible, if not, INEVITABLE in a global pandemic/zombie/etc scenario!!
It would be Mad Max all over again

No doubt. You just see that happening when there is some natural disaster (earthquakes, tsunamis): people just go nuts.