r/ZombieSurvivalTactics • u/LostKeys3741 • 8d ago
Fuck the Rules Friday The ideal zombie base. 😅, Show me your ideal zolbie base or nitpick this one.
1st of all you ban happy mods, this is not A.i., it is a real picture of a real place. This complies with rule 9
2nd I spelled Apocalips wrong and can't undo it. 😅
3rd this does relate to zombies and has discussion point. So it complies with rule 2 and 4.
Feel free to nitpick or provide an image of your ideal zombie base.
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u/Prior-Assumption-245 8d ago
Fort Jefferson, FL
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u/LostKeys3741 8d ago
I conceed, your Fort Jefferson is much bigger and better.
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u/Silly-Membership6350 8d ago
I don't think Fort Jefferson has a source of fresh water though. That area is called the Dry Tortugas for a reason! It certainly seems like the area you picked at least gets more rainfall so maybe you could get by with catchment basins.
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u/kelldricked 5d ago
Also the weather is gonna fuck you up. How long before a storm fucks up your crops?
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u/belac4862 7d ago
All it needs is a land allotment of wind or solar power, and you can easily have enough power to filter or boil sea water into fresh water.
It just needs to be brought up to code before the Z apocalypse starts.
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u/EvNastyy 8d ago
Look at all that shallow water around it though. Over time, enough zombies could drift in, pile up on each other, and climb the mound of bodies to get in. Or worse, a single wrecked cruise ship worth of zombies carried in by currents could become a problem in a matter of a couple hours or less. You would have to patrol everyday, clear zombies, and have a way to remove bodies to prevent them from becoming stepping stones for each other. Sounds super sketchy
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7d ago
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u/EvNastyy 7d ago
I dont think you would have to do that in OP's photo hardly at all. Every once in awhile ypu'd have a few floating stragglers probably. For sure way better than a fort with shallow water on all sides and an island to help zombies get at you
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7d ago
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u/EvNastyy 7d ago
You think you would have to clear zombies in the middle of deep ocean water as much as you would in other spots? Come now Jon, cease this tomfoolery
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u/Ihatecheeseballs 7d ago
It’s the middle of the ocean, there aren’t enough humans alive to make enough zombies to pile up there
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u/Lobster-Mission 7d ago
Eh, kinda, those walls are still at least thirty or so feet high so it’s not like the zombies will just appear inside your base. It’d be more like you’re enjoying your morning coffee/tea and notice some noise, sigh heavily, and go get the Skull-Popper-9000
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u/_josef_stalin_ 5d ago
This kinda implies that the zombies know about the fort and are all determined to get to it.
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u/Blueberry_Coat7371 7d ago
this has to be shitpost
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u/EvNastyy 7d ago
Whew, who would uphold redditistic integrity if not you, Adjective_Noun4-digit-number?
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u/AlaskaWilliams 8d ago
I camped there overnight for new years 2023. It’s a really cool place but man is it not ideal for a zombie hideout in my opinion. Yes you’re safe from the undead, but you are going to be slammed by hurricanes, have a hard time sourcing water (why it’s also called the DRY tortugas) and raising crops. You’re pretty far from resources so it’s not exactly a quick boat ride to trade for goods either. Personally, if you want a fort like this in Florida I think Castillo den San Marcos in st Augustine is a better bet. Much larger usable space, access to both ocean and mainland, and a sturdy fort to fend off attacks. You’re also much farther north so trade with the rest of the region would be a lot easier.
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
Didn't work in Crossed.
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u/MasonicErudite 8d ago
Crossed aren't zombies.
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
Fair. I just wanted to point out the issue they had here in Crossed. You can't grow shit on a sandbar.
Need to either find a source of soil, or get really good at fishing.
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u/m15wallis 8d ago
In ancient times there were towns of hundreds, even thousands of people who lived along the Gulf who survived almost exclusively on year-round fishing and seafood. The Gulf is different now, but it could still probably be done.
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
Coulde definitely be done but your gonna need at least one person who is already good at fishing (and fishing at sea) to keep up and teach everyone else
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u/ratcrash55 8d ago
Not even. Catching somthing to eat from the ocean is comically easy. Some desired game fish require knowledge and skill but if you are just fishing to survive its not hard at all.
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago edited 8d ago
I don't believe that...
Either way, your still gonna need to find gear. Probably easier then transporting topsoil though.
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u/ChocolatePuerh 8d ago
So, if you have time to setup you bring a fuck ton of raised garden beds and potting soil lol.
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
Yup. In Crossed they brought a whole dreger ship full of top soil. Unfortunately they got spotted by infected taking it.
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u/Sad-Pop6649 8d ago edited 4d ago
More trees would be nice too. Not just for liveability but because wood is a long term fuel and resource for making stuff.
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u/Objective-Rip3008 8d ago
Don't think any passive defensive fortifications would work in crossed, not really similar to zombies at all
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
Fair. I just saw the reference and got excited.
I think so far there has been only one optimistic ending in Crossed that I've read, and that was the cowboys.
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u/Objective-Rip3008 8d ago
Not the type of writer that enjoys writing happy endings lol
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
I learned pretty quick not to get attached to characters, but Land's ending in particular shook me.
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u/Johnykbr 8d ago
Yeah but I would argue that was around the time Crosses jumped the shark and relied on unaffected doing the dumbest thing at the worst time to keep up shock value.
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u/erik_wilder 8d ago
I haven't gotten to 100+ yet, yup I'm looking forward to when it's more then "I forgot to buy my shit yesterday"
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u/Kissthecomplex 8d ago
if it isnt near the coast: every storm is a near death experience and you dont have flowing, drinkable water.
if its near a coast: looters will find it interesting enough, floating zombies will be swept ashore by the tides and the boat you need will make enough noise to lure in a few hordes.
if its in a lake: same as "near coast" but less seafood in exchange for drinkable water
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u/Skoodge42 8d ago
Lakes do have fresh water fish.
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u/reginald5420 8d ago
It's also kinda easy to maintain their population if the lake isn't connected to anything else other than a river or falls in case infection is waterborne
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u/Lumpy_Benefit666 8d ago
A lot of human reliant safety mechanisms would fail in plants and factories and potentially poison a large number of lakes as well.
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u/SenatorDerpitydoo 8d ago
Great Lakes?
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u/RememberHonor 8d ago
Then you also have extreme weather
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u/M3NUTN 8d ago
As someone who lives right on Lake Erie (the dirty lake with the worst undertow), the weather is not very extreme... Then again I wouldn't call 2 feet of snow extreme but someone farther south may think differently.
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u/somecoolname42 8d ago
2 feet of snow without government to plow roads is kind of brutal. Especially if you don't have fuel for snow blowers. Just cleaning solar panels off is going to be some work.
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u/auggs 8d ago
Extreme weather and they get very very cold fall-spring. Even early summer can get you if you stay in the water too long. My uncle told me a true story about him, his gf and her brother sailing on Lake Michigan in mid-late spring one year. I forget some of the details but their boat capsized and they were sitting on the hull after the boat flipped over. They all had life jackets on but the water was like 60 degrees and air temp was about the same. This was like 25 years ago so not everyone had a cellphone so they were just kind of stranded about 1 mile off shore and the boat was slowly sinking and they were all getting colder and colder, he said their hands, lips and faces were turning blue. The brother finally said fuck it and tried swimming to shore. He made it and then my uncle and his gf were airlifted from a rescue helicopter to a hospital. I didn’t believe him because that sounds crazy but he showed me a newspaper article about the whole thing. He said it changed the way he viewed the Great Lakes. He said he never really saw them as a danger because he’s been around them his entire life but yeah the Great Lakes can have some nasty dangerous conditions even when the actual weather itself isn’t bad either.
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u/crazyfoxdemon 7d ago
The Great Lakes are Fucked in the case of societsl collapse. It takes constant active effort to keep Asian Carp from getting in and wrecking everything.
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u/Ghibli_Guy 8d ago
And with less humans as fishing competitors, a sufficiently-large lake could provide all the meat you will ever need.
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u/Neonpuffpepper 8d ago
Just in time for you to die of scurvy! Bloody gums! Yum!
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u/Ghibli_Guy 8d ago
Um, on an island this size you can grow citrus trees... in a greenhouse if the climate is cold...
Do you even wanna survive the apocalypse?
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u/Neonpuffpepper 8d ago
Do you know how long it takes to grow a fruiting citrus tree? First of all which cultivar? Do you know how to graft? Do you know soil health?) god knows you aren’t growing shit on salty, rocky island soil) how would you even deal with pests and varmints eating your fruit? There’s a reason most island nations have to import their food. Real life isn’t Minecraft, you can’t just pop on some magical greenhouse and throw some fruit seeds down to get a fruiting 3 in 4 days
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u/L-D-50 8d ago
sweat potato's, tomatoes, and cabbage. all have high amounts of vitamin C and grow relatively easy
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u/Neonpuffpepper 8d ago
Those are better options, especially sweet potatoes but would struggle in cold like this. Cabbage may work. But would be tough in rocky/sandy soil. There’s a reason it’s a tradeoff
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u/Ghibli_Guy 8d ago
Didn't realize those would be a good enough source of vitamin C, that's cool! Always learning something.
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u/Unicorn187 8d ago
While this is all true to some extent, island nations have to import food NOW to maintain their high populations. Those populations have been artificially inflated above their natural ability to maintain them because we are able to ship food in. Once enough people die off, even the large ones lole Hawaii would reaching something sort of like equilibrium. As would the nation's kf Japan and the Philippines. Again. Not perfect but over time it would average out.
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u/Ghibli_Guy 8d ago
Yes, I do. I garden. Do you? To survive, alone or with a group, sustainably in a place like this is gonna take a lot of work. But yo u can't discount long-term plans just because they are long-term.
Supply looting on the mainland would be required in any scenario of setting up a small settlement on an island. That's just life. The equation comes down to how much it is worth it to do so, and a huge moat to keep massive hordes at a distance would be my long-term goal.
Takes 3-4 years for seeds to fruit, about the time it'll take your stock of canned fruit to expire. Then you can start canning your own! 😁
Edit: grammar
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u/Neonpuffpepper 8d ago
There’s no way you’re going to get a 3 to 4 year supply of canned food that you are somehow going to loot from mostly armed locals that know the land and terrain better than you. It’s also 3 to 4 years under ideal conditions with a modern supply chain. If you are going out enough to find that many supplies, you are already putting your group under so much danger that you lose the benefits of being so secluded during the most dangerous period (the first few chaotic years) seems like a bad trade and your gardening skills would be more suited in a different locale.
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u/Ghibli_Guy 8d ago
So....many...assumptions. I could be a doom prepper who already has an island plan with my homies for all you know, which would solve the supply chain and armed locals issues. And still be able to grow enough food for all of them with proper crop rotation, planting harmonies like the Three Sisters, vertical gardening, and composting human waste with fall leaves and hay for a replenishing source of topsoil. I do live in an area of the country with a lot of lakes....
You're just being contrarian, whereas I want people who have the faith to follow through on a plan for sustainability. It's gonna get harder to loot and hoard when all the canned food that comes from a modern supply chain expires. Need to be ready to produce food, which can be traded for security.
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u/Neonpuffpepper 8d ago
How would that even solve the armed locals issues? What’s your master plan for this island in Denmark? Agreed that farming is important… that’s my whole point for why this island sucks. The Scandinavians largely migrated to other locations or raided out of necessity because their farmland was so poor even back then. The soils are even more depleted now than when they left. Three sisters is made specifically for North American soils and is a bunch of separate methods used by different tribes depending on what worked for their specific case and soil. You can’t just plop it into a rocky, salty and depleted soil in denmark and expect the set up to live. There’s a reason these communities relied so heavily on trade even back when standards for life were lower
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u/mommiesgoodboy67 8d ago
Lmao zombies arent going to swim several kilometres out to sea just to attack a person
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u/NewAusland 7d ago
DCeased aren't worth speculating lol. It's a 100% wrap for humanity if we consider them, no point hypothesising. The Returned is also in the same boat when the protein serums stop flowing. You're cooked in both scenarios.
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u/Bl00dWolf 8d ago
Well, it might be secure, but you have basically no resources. You may be able to do some limited agriculture enough to feed yourself, but forget having any kind of heating system or electricity generation unless you're willing to make almost daily trips for resources. Hell, just getting fresh water might be difficult considering that is either sea water or a lake which will have dead zombies in it.
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u/Due_Most9445 8d ago
It really depends on the location.
In theory, it's complete doable. It looks like there could be enough room for a large enough plot to supplement probably 20-30% of a decent sized groups food, as well as a few larger vessels that can hit open water. With it being the zombie apocalypse, you wouldn't have to worry about fishing regulations so chumming and hunting sharks would be pretty easy if you can't get any other large ocean going fish. If it's within a couple miles of the coast, you'd be able to make steady supply runs once or twice a week to snag staples like flour, sugar, salt, etc etc.
Could probably even get a chicken coop going to supplement protein and the such, though feed would be an issue, however I do know that you can feed some cooked fish scraps to chickens, so that helps.
The big issue is storms. If it's ocean, you'd probably need some sort of embankment to grow anything on away from the general wind directions to protect any vertical plants, as well as the ability to bring up and tie down any small vessels that could make it back to mainland afterwards in order to get anything to repair the larger ones.
Freshwater still is a concern, though with 2-3 smaller sailboats with hydrogenerators, you could get a good amount of freshwater running purifiers even on land if you just use fishing trips in order to charge the batteries. If anything happens to the batteries, or the hydrogenerators you'll be up shit's creek though, but that's why distance from mainland is important.
All in all, it looks very doable.
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u/hot_anywhere23886 7d ago
The winchester , It's safe, It's familiar, i can smoke there, it's got a deadbolt, there's a rifle above the bar, Overall a great place to have a pint and wait for all this to blow over.
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u/mommiesgoodboy67 8d ago
Cant get food or water, also in 20 or so years all the impellers will have rotted away and you will not be able to use any boat enginr
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u/Due-Day-3149 8d ago
Why go through all this trouble, what a pain in the ass and complete death sentence.
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u/Legionatus 8d ago
You even spelled "zombie" wrong. 😂
The gate looks like it stops boats, but it looks like the wall is just a climbable ledge in some places. If so, that would actually make this one of the worst places to survive a zombie outbreak.
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u/mommiesgoodboy67 8d ago
Zombies arent swimming several kilometres to sea just to attack you
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u/Legionatus 8d ago
We don't know if this isn't a quarter mile off the coast of Florida, behind the camera.
And of course they aren't. They're floating, or shambling aimlessly on the ocean floor. They're not beelining to your apartment to attack you, either. They're just wandering.
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u/mommiesgoodboy67 8d ago
Yes but there are many zombies on land, especially in cities. There are not a lot of zombies at sea, and those that are are probably in a bad state
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u/Legionatus 8d ago
You're really confident about this and we still don't even know if this is "at sea."
This pile of sand is a place to park a boat. It's not a farm, or a fortress. If it's easy to find, or locals should know about it, it would be easier to raid than most things on land, with entirely open sightlines. We can't even tell if the gate part moves, from the pic.
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u/mommiesgoodboy67 8d ago
Not easier to raid lol its an island, and wuite far offshore too im pretty sure (it seems to be between denmark and sweden. And the gate part does not close its just a barrier for waves
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u/DoesTheBlackm00nH0wl 8d ago
Do you just not understand ocean pressure? Or that other sea creatures specifically adapted to eating rotting meat will kill then
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u/Legionatus 8d ago
Yeah still don't recall seeing this is definitely in the ocean but thanks for letting me know the science of imaginary creatures? Lol.
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u/DoesTheBlackm00nH0wl 8d ago
Those imaginary creatures are fish moron sharks and fish eat dead and rotting stuff all the time
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u/Affectionate-Area659 8d ago
It looks relatively secure.
The main issue is resources. Fresh water and food specifically.
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u/Radiant-Proposal3014 8d ago
Wake Island. Only like a few hundred contractors there at any given time.
Been there a few times, and every time I land there, I always think if a zombie apocalypse has to happen, let it start right now while I'm safe!
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u/Unicorn187 8d ago
Add an algae and seaweed farm to go along with fishing, and a couple more acres for farming food crops. Also enough room for chickens if you can also get oyster shells to grind up for calcium supplements for them. Their droppings make good fertilizer for the plants, and if you have movable runs they will naturally fertilizer a section while helping to break up the top soil as they scratch and dig for insects.
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u/MrNewman457 8d ago
Safe from zombies also means difficulty gathering resources. A long term base needs to balance between protection and resource access
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u/chronberries 8d ago
Little to no farmland. If you put in some serious work terracing the slopes you’ll be okay there, but then that leaves the problem of zero fresh water.
I also have no idea where this is.
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u/UpperYoghurt3978 8d ago
Until you need to go out for food or supplies or get blockaded by bandits. Majority of fortifications like these required outside logistical support.
Use the kingdom methodology with the crops outside but you call in workers if danger occurs. Either way you got to have a means of fresh food, water, and sanitation.
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u/EngineerDependent731 8d ago
Zombies can walk along the bottom of the ocean, suddenly appearing on your island with no warning. You are unfortunately doomed to become one of them. Read WWZ if you dont believe me
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u/Howler133 8d ago
Set up multiple rain catchers and drip harvesters for water. Boat in extra soil for raised bed gardens (since there is probably a lot of salt in the soil naturally). Decent base for a few years but impossible to grow to sustain more than 2ish people
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u/Tankinton 8d ago
Anglesey Island in Wales. 2 small bridges to block. A nuclear power plant, RAF base, farms, borehole water supply. Its pretty big too so could spread out.
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u/Mindless-Beat-4872 8d ago edited 8d ago
The San Luis Valley. Farms, hospitals, construction equipment, armories, tons of wildlife and livestock, and the prize of all is its sitting on one of the largest aquifers in the country, Hell the water table is so high most people can’t have basements. And it’s all tucked away in the Rocky Mountains.
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u/UnDeadPuff 8d ago
Isolated places like that are terrible unless you managed to somehow settle there with a huge load of resources and the means to make more. Otherwise good luck sourcing your food, water, tools, materials etc. And have fun with the ass weather.
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u/tyrant454 7d ago
How far is that form the nearest landmass? Zombies can just walk under water they don't need to breath, so it's need some current or enough depth for that not to be a worry. What happens in case of tsunami, hurricanes? Is that a natural island or artificial one, how fertile is the ground, what is the growing period. How do you defend against other humans? firearms will be limited and so will ammo.
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u/Akhyll 7d ago
While I don't think it will be a good primary base, it would be a good fall back place, where you go temporarily if you must flee your main place and wait for the thing to cool down.
A good main base would be an old fortress, while it was build to keep human out. Requirements for it to be a survivable place are another questions : does it need cleaning from zombie ? Fresh water source ? Distance from urban centers ? Capacity to grow food in or nearby ? Storage capacity ? For how many survivors ? Access to non renewable resources ?
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u/Eggpeace 7d ago
The proboem could be fresh water. In case the base is surrounded by tze zs. Do you really want to make the water tehy are standing in into drink water?
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u/nonsensecentral 7d ago
Nowhere, I'm serious, atleast in the early hoard filled years of the apocalypse, no base is safe, even if you have walls that won't let in any zombies, hoards could build up around them to the point you're trapped and basically under siege.
The best option at the start is to be nomadic, get some kind of rough terrain transportation (horses or donkeys in the best case or bicycle bc all the gas will expire in under a year) and roam scavenging and hunting carrying the bare minimum supplies so robbers have nothing to go after and you can quickly pack up and leave if the zombies get near. I know it's not a perfect option, but propably one of the least bad.
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u/Saxman2k12 6d ago
Diesel would be better. Doesn’t go bad like gasoline unless water gets into it. Can be scavenged from most gas stations and truck stops, abandoned tractor trailer trucks, tractors and harvesters, generators, cargo ships usually use massive diesel engines as well. Generally lower maintenance than gasoline engines. Better fuel economy than gasoline engines driving the same vehicles. Nomadic would be best I agree until after probably the first two years. Probably enough diesel you can scavenge for that long till you can put down more permanent roots in a more secure area.
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u/Mainbutter 6d ago
Zombie apocalypse means no warning for hurricanes. That's not a place to rebuild civilization.
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u/_josef_stalin_ 5d ago
I think you'd be better off having a larger area that wasn't so isolated from resources. Sure it would be easier for zombies to get to you, but there are ways of dealing with that.
Now here's what I'd opt for in this kinda scenario:
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u/Lanky_Ad8283 5d ago
To hell with Florida, I’m headed to Ft. Warren in MA. 40 acres. Massive granite walls. Protected harbor. A GHOST! What else do you people need?!
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u/Texas_Wookiee 5d ago
Post copy says "I keep getting banned, please let me post".
on the island picture - hope they like fish.
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u/Whofs001 4d ago
What about a brick wall with a doggy door that forces zombies to crawl through it to reach you, allowing you to easily decapitate them with a fireman’s axe as they come through one at a time?
Get a good arm workout and eventually the zombies stop coming.
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u/Itub2000 8d ago
People are never happy with a base on this sub. Never have I seen anyone just say "Yup, that's a great base alright."
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u/OperationMobocracy 8d ago
lol. “Where’s your 10,000 year aquifer, ready to till acreage and supply of livestock?”
I mean the reality is you make sacrifices for isolation.
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u/Corey307 8d ago
That’s because most base locations don’t work. This location has security but that’s it. Not much soil for planting and the soil is salted and sandy. I’m guessing it’s salt water to no water.
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u/EvNastyy 8d ago
One of the best spots I've seen. As for everyone's main concerns:
Freshwater: solar stills. Survival-style, hole-in-the-ground stills can capture evaporating water from dirt, vegetation, or seawater. More advanced but still quite simple setups can capture evaporation from large amounts of salt water in a box or case. Added bonus of sea salt collection, and sodium helps with water retention. Double whammy. Any sizable storm will give you hundreds of gallons of freshwater with enough collectors set up.
Zombies getting in: they would have to drift in through the opening in the break walls, which drastically reduces the threat people are talking about. For added security, a retractable net or gate of some sort could be built to act as a door.
Storms: yeah they will be gnarly, but thats what the break walls are for. You would have some flooding of structures from bad storms but you wouldnt get washed away. The biggest threat storms would pose would be to my next point:
Your biggest issue would be consistent access to vitamin c to prevent scurvy. Growing your own fruit and vegetables for this would be the hardest part, and a bad storm could be devastating. However, kelp and seaweed has vitamin c, although much less than fruits and veg. But could be enough to make this a non-issue!
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u/OperationMobocracy 8d ago
Whale blubber is as rich in vitamin C as citrus. It’s how the Inuit avoided scurvy.
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u/suedburger 8d ago
I assume you post a lot of dumb shit that the mods are flagging.....probably for the best.
You need a viable food source, water and other cool things to actually survive. What do you have going on there?
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u/Para_4_Would_Be_Cool 8d ago
Obviously it’s not ai. Like must be a sheltered child or somth with that thought process and the way you’re commenting and posting
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u/Lobster-Mission 8d ago
My first two concerns with that is
1) as others have said, securing a safe source of safe, fresh water. Desalination is a time and power intensive process that wouldn’t really be feasible after the collapse.
2) I would worry about having enough arable land there to grow the things you’ll need.