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If you like to spend time in the great outdoors, it may be helpful for you to know how to build a survival shelter. This kind of shelter helps protect people who are stranded in the wilderness from the elements until they can be rescued. Fortunately, whether you're in the woods, in snow, or even in a desert, building a survival shelter out of natural materials is a relatively straightforward process.

Easiest Survival Shelter to Build in the Wilderness

Choose a location that is protected from the wind, flood zones, and excess sunlight. Build a rectangular frame from logs, then fill it with dead leaves, moss, and debris to insulate the ground. Make an A-frame shelter and pile on leaves, sticks, and branches over the entire frame to protect you from the elements.

1. Look around in your immediate area for the best spot to build a shelter. If you're in the woods, find a decently flat area with a tree that splits its trunk about 3 to 5 feet (0.91 to 1.52 m) off the ground. Or, if you're in a coniferous area with trees that don't typically split their trunks, stick a sturdy "Y" shaped branch into the ground to simulate a tree with a split trunk.

Ideally, try to find 2 trees with low split trunks that are within 10 feet (3.0 m) of each other. If you can't find this type of set-up, just look for 1 tree in a flat area.

Build your shelter near a strong, stable face of rock if you can. This can reduce your wind exposure as well as reflect the warmth of a fire back into your shelter.

Be sure to build on the flattest ground you can find, avoiding the tops of hills, bottoms of valleys, and any other low points or flood zones where colder air will settle.

2. Test your shelter's stability by gently pushing down on the branches. Do this very carefully! You want to check the structure's safety by finding a spot where it feels like it might start to give way, but you don't want to actually put enough pressure for it to collapse. Reinforce any weak spots with a couple of sticks tied together into a "Y" shape and propped up against the weak spot.

Add New Question

What temperature is needed to boil the water, and for how long?

Boil the water until you see bubbles rapidly appearing on the surface, then you are pretty much safe, but to make sure no bacteria is left you can leave it boiling for about 5-10 minutes.

What's the shortest safe disance between the fireplace and the shelter, assuming that I don't have any flat object that I could use in order to block it from the other side and there might be some wind blowing towards my shelter?

The safest shortest distance is about three meters.

Are other methods of building shelters if I have no trees?

Yes. You could find a cave or a overhanging piece of earth, or you could dig a trench.

See more answers
Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Serrated survival knife

Rope

Branches

Tarp or other insulation

Snow shovel

Thin trowel or ice pick

Dry shrubbery or branches

Parachute cord (or vines)

A tarp

This article was co-authored by Josh Goldbach. Josh Goldbach is an Outdoor Education Expert and the Executive Director of Bold Earth Adventures. Bold Earth leads adventure travel camps for teenagers all over the world. With almost 15 years of experience, Josh specializes in outdoor adventure trips for teens both in the United States and internationally. Josh earned his B.A. in Psychology from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. He's also trained as a wilderness first responder, a Leave No Trace master educator, and a Level 5 Swiftwater rescue technician. This article has been viewed 99,673 times.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 99,673 times.

"It helped me do my survival story."

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3 Ways to Build a Survival Shelter - wikiHow

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If you like to spend time in the great outdoors, it may be helpful for you to know how to build a survival shelter. This kind of shelter helps protect people who are stranded in the wilderness from the elements until they can be rescued....

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Start by building a rectangular frame from logs. Fill the frame with debris, such as dried leaves or pine branches. The debris will provide insulation that will prevent the ground from drawing heat away from the body. This is extremely important, as most body heat is lost through ground transfer.
Step 3: Frame the Shelter
It's important to remember that this type of shelter is for emergency use. Therefore, the shelter cavity should only be large enough to fit your body. The most efficient design for this type of shelter is an A frame. Adjust sticks from each side of the shelter so they meet at the top. Continue to construct the frame, placing the sticks from front to back. During this phase, it is important to think outside the box and be creative in how the sticks lock together.
Step 4: Pile It On
Once the frame is constructed, it's time to add a thick covering of debris over the entire outside of the shelter. This is the most time-consuming part of building a natural shelter. Pile leaves, sticks, and branches over the entire frame. This insulation should be 4 to 8 inches thick, enough to hold back rain and keep the inside of the shelter dry.

The most important thing to recognize when creating a survival shelter is that it is a temporary shelter designed to keep you alive rather than comfortable. Natural debris shelters are typically damp and cool inside, and they may even leak a bit. Being uncomfortable and alive is better than the alternative.

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How to Build a Survival Shelter | The Filson Journal

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Dan Wowak is the owner and instructor at Coalcracker Bushcraft and the Appalachian Bushman School. He's been an avid outdoorsman since childhood. His passion for the outdoors began while fishing and hiking with his grandfather in the hills of Appalachia. Here he shares his expertise on building a survival shelter out in the wilderness, from natural materials.

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How To Survive Without Food or Water? Your Survival May Depend on Several Factors

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You can survive without food and water for days, but the longevity of your survival depends on several factors. Read for the details.

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In the event of a zombie apocalypse, it's imperative that you have a plan. If you're influenced by the movies, then you might be inclined to take your chances and head for the nearest pub or shopping mall in order to outwit a growing horde of bloodthirsty zombies.

Your average shopping mall is equipped with all the important first-world amenities we desire. And if the whole world's going to hell anyway, why not live out your days eating cheap fast food and trying on clothing you'd never be able to afford in real life? And at least in a pub you can get blind drunk while you wait for the inevitable.

But if your ultimate aim is survival, neither option is that good, unless, of course, you manage to discover a pub or mall in the middle of nowhere.

In 2015, in an effort to better understand the spread of real diseases, a team of statisticians from Cornell University in the US modelled the spread of a fictitious zombie plague travelling across the continental United States. Their results indicated that the best place to avoid infection is in remote, sparsely populated locations.

The authors explained the Northern Rocky Mountains - probably somewhere in Montana or in Canada - would be the absolute best place to hide. Apparently, a full-scale zombie outbreak in New York City could take a month or so to reach upstate New York, due to geographic distance and a slowing rate of infection, which means you'd have a decent amount of time to plot your escape to the sticks.

"Given the dynamics of the disease, once the zombies invade more sparsely populated areas, the whole outbreak slows down - there are fewer humans to bite, so you start creating zombies at a slower rate," lead author Alex Alemi said in a press statement at the time.

In their model, cities - predictably - fall fast. Just imagine a zombie attack on a crowded New York City subway. Horrifying, right? But their modelling shows it would take weeks for the outbreak to reach rural communities, and months to reach the northern mountain time zone.

Of course, if movies have taught us anything, not all zombies are created equally. Depending on how freakishly fast they are, or how well they can climb, you may need to revise your estimates.

As explained in the press release: "the project was an overview of modern epidemiology modeling, starting with differential equations to model a fully connected population, then moving on to lattice-based models, and ending with a full US-scale simulation of an outbreak across the continental US."

The simulation had to account for a population of roughly 300 million people, with each person presumed to be in one of four states: human, infected, zombie, and dead zombie. It tracked the spread of the epidemic by modelling the random interactions between these people - for instance, zombie bites leading to infection, and humans killing zombies, delaying the spread. In the end the researchers were able to pinpoint locations where the disease would take longest to reach.

Even with optimal hideouts, however, the outlook for Americans is pretty bad, should a zombie plague actually materialise.

"We... discover that for 'realistic' parameters, we are largely doomed," the authors concluded in their paper's abstract.

It may seem a bit silly to simulate a zombie outbreak, but the US Pentagon and the US Centres for Disease Control have both used zombie outbreak-scenarios to help develop training programs for disaster readiness.

And, you know, as a contingency plan for when it actually happens.
A version of this article was originally published in 2015.

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This Is The Safest Hideout in a Zombie Apocalypse, According to Statistics

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In the event of a zombie apocalypse, it's imperative that you have a plan. If you're influenced by the movies, then you might be inclined to take your chances and head for the nearest pub or shopping mall in order to outwit a growing horde of bloodt

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We spoke to an astrobiologist about the survival science needed to keep you alive, should you find yourself facing the end of the world, or worse, a herd of zombies ...

Okay... so it's unlikely to happen, but it's a fun way to picture all the different skills we'd need to survive.

Where would you go? What would you take with you? Would you have the skills needed to rebuild civilisation?

These are the questions Dr Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiologist (someone who studies how life can survive in different environments) will be answering at this year's Big Bang Fair, whichencourages young people to learn about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Check out his top tips on how to survive should you find yourself facing the end of the world...

"Imagine you found yourself in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, how do you keep yourself alive? Well, there are loads of everyday objects that could help you in an emergency situation.

"A fire alarm for example, can actually be used to start a fire, and a humble plastic bottle can be used to sterilise drinking water. Simply fill your bottle, and leave it out in the sunshine. The sun's UV rays will pass right through the water and kill any germs that are in there.

"You can even make a simple gas-fire stove out of tin cans, which is really efficient. It uses the same process (called gasification) that was used to power cars across Europe during the Second World War!

"And how about opening a tin can without any tools? Easy, there's a trick for that! You'll need to turn the can upside down, so it can get a little messy, but it's handy!"

"Firstly, get out of the cities. A lot of us live in cities nowadays as they're so convenient and full of shops, but if civilisation collapsed and you had to do things for yourself, the city is one of the worst places to be. What if there's no electricity, no gas, no running water, no lights, heating, and you can't grow your own food because everything's covered in tarmac? You'll want to escape to the countryside! Find a spot near a river with fresh water you can drink, and start learning how to grow your own food.

"The Lake District would be ideal. Just make sure you avoid the Arctic circle or the middle of a desert!"

"Imagine you've got a four-minute warning to get out of the house. Grab some fresh water and cans of food - if you forget your can-opener, don't worry because you now know how to open one without! - a knife, twine for tying things, or failing that, use your iPod headphones instead! And don't forget that empty plastic bottle for sterilising water. It's all about being clever, ingenious and using things in new ways."

"According to recent research, over a third of the UK population (36%) are already prepared and keep a "bug-out bag' (a kit that'll keep you alive for 72 hours!) ready in case disaster strikes!"

"The one thing we all can't live without these days are our mobile phones, but if civilisation collapsed they'd not be much use at all. However, there is one feature on your mobile that will continue working for at least a couple of months, and that's GPS. I estimate we've got about six months of life in the satellites should they be abandoned, so while you won't be able to phone people or ' tweet ' for help, the map function will continue working as it relies on satellite signals and not the mobile phone network - that goes for your smartphone compass, too!"

"The biggest key to surviving is learning how to scavenge and forage for the things you need. One of the best things to get your hands on is a car battery and alternator. Use them to make a simple windmill or a watermill to recharge the battery. A scaveneged solar panel can be used to charge your mobile phone.

"And if you're in need of a compass, an analog wristwatch will do just as good a job. Simply point the minute hand towards the sun and halfway between the number 12 and the hour hand will show you where south is!"

"You might have imagined who you'd take with you during an apocolypse. Who'd be most useful? Do you know anyone who owns an allotment, who has the skills to grow their own food? Or someone who's good with their hands, like a carpenter or metal worker, or good at fixing things, like a car mechanic? These are the people that will be most useful when you're trying to rebuild society. People like computer programmers or astrobiologists (like me!) will probably have to learn a few more useful skills!"

"One of the safest locations during a zombie apocalypse (not that that's ever going to happen!) would be a prison. With their high walls and barbed wire fences, they're great at keeping people in, but of course, they're also great at keeping people out. Find one with its own water supply and a stock pile of food, dig up the car park to plant crops, and you've got an extremely safe refuge!"

The Big Bang Fair is free and runs from Wednesday 16 March to Saturday 19 March. Schools will be attending on Wednesday-Friday, with families encouraged to come down on Saturday 19 March, where the activity will be focused on careers and aimed primarily at 11-14 year olds. For more information and tickets, head to thebigbangfair.co.uk.

You can get more information on Dr Lewis Dartnell's book, The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World From Scratch, plus loads of cool survival tricks video content, head to the-knowledge.org.

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7 steps to surviving an apocalypse (according to science!) - National Geographic Kids

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We spoke to an astrobiologist about the survival science needed to keep you alive, should you find yourself facing the end of the world, or worse, a herd of zombies ... Okay... so it's unlikely to happen, but it's a fun way to picture all the different skills we'd need to survive.

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https://trakke.co.uk/blogs/handbook/how-to-pack-for-a-zombie-apocalypse

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Zombies. We all know they're coming, it's just a matter of time. And when they do rise up, yearning for brains? Well, you're going to need to know how to pack for a zombie apocalypse, and that means knowing how to pack a bug out bag.

What is a Bug Out Bag?

A bug out bag (alternatively a "go bag" or "survival bag") is a small pre-packed bag that you can grab in an emergency. Whether it's a natural disaster, or a plague of flesh eating ghouls, it's designed so you can hit the road in a moment's notice, without having to stop and gather the essentials.

We're going to give you the low down on how to pack three Bug Out Bags for three different occasions.

Because when it comes to zombies, you can never be too prepared.

The "No Time To Waste" Bug Out Bag

For: Surviving at least 72 hours out of the home.
Use: Banana Crossbody Bag, 2 Litres

This Bug Out Bag loadout is for when you need to escape in a hurry with the bare essentials. All our Bug Out Bag suggestions assume that any necessary clothing items are going to be worn on your body, including a waterproof shell, warm jacket, and sturdy boots, but the minimalist loadout also assumes you'll be making your way to the nearest rescue point or shelter for military evacuation (or a gun-toting final stand against the army of undead).

One of the benefits of the minimalist loadout is that if the zombies end up being of the fast  variety, you're going to appreciate being light on your feet!

Water Purification Tablets

Collapsible Water Bottle

Penknife

Smartphone (also includes emergency torch)

Portable Solar Panel

Prescription Medication

Lighter

Paracord

The "Week In The Wild" Bug Out Bag

For: Surviving a week or longer out in the wild
Use: Bannoch Backpack (17 Litres) or Assynt Backpack, (20 Litres)

We know what you're thinking - you want to escape from the Zombie horde, but you want to look good while doing it. That's why our Assynt backpack is tailor made to look stylish while holding everything you need for a week spent desperately running for your life. Not only does it have modular accessories, but it has extension straps to be able to attached the quintessential anti-zombie defense - the handheld axe. It's perfect for when you don't just want to survive, but you want to survive in style.

Water Purification Tablets

Water Bottle

Penknife

Smartphone (also Emergency Torch)

Portable Solar Panel

Prescription Medication & First Aid Kit

Lighter

Wind-up Radio

Paracord

Tarpaulin

Axe

High Calorie Food Rations (Nuts / Seeds)

Flares

The "Society Has Fallen" Bug Out Bag

For: Long-term evacuation, with no prospect of return.
Packed in: Storr Carry-On Backpack, or Vorlich Expedition Pack

This is for when the Zombies have arrived, and they're not leaving. Maybe they've moved into your apartment, and settled in to a nice daily routine? Or maybe the mainland has been overrun, and you've had to retreat to a small coastal island, where you and the few other survivors can slowly begin to rebuild society. This loadout is for when you need to hit the wilderness with the knowledge that you're not coming back. The military has failed us, the Zombies have won, and a new life awaits you over the horizon.

Water Purification Tablets

Water Bottle

Penknife

Smartphone (also Emergency Torch)

Portable Solar Panel

Prescription Medication & First Aid Kit

Lighter

Wind-up Radio

Paracord

Tarpaulin

Axe

High Calorie Food Rations (Nuts / Seeds)

Flares

Cooking Pan

Lightweight Tent

Sleeping Bag

____________________________________

Thanks for reading. We're Trakke - we hand craft zombie-proof waxed canvas backpacks and accessories in our central Scotland workshop. We use locally sourced materials, local craftspeople, and plastic-free components, to create items that are built to last a lifetime. So, that's exactly how long we guarantee them for*.

It's our way of saying "no" to fast fashion, "yes" to the protecting the climate, and "absolutely" to a life spent adventuring.

*It's a lifetime guarantee, so don't go getting bitten!

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Zombies. We all know they’re coming, it’s just a matter of when. And when the living dead do rise up, yearning for brains? Well, you’re going to need to know how to pack pack a Bug Out Bag to make sure you can escape with everything you need. Here’s how to ace the first step of surviving.

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Billionaires who have made their fortunes in Silicon Valley seem to be worried about the future. So worried in fact, that some of them are reportedly buying vast estates in places such as New Zealand, as "apocalypse insurance". Boltholes to head to in the event of doomsday scenarios such as nuclear attack or global political meltdown.

But what about the rest of us? What should the non-billionaires of the world do if we haven't prepared at all? How do we go about making and doing everything for ourselves once again, and help post-apocalyptic society avoid another Dark Age - and reboot civilisation? As a scientist, this is the thought experiment I chose to explore in my book, The Knowledge. So here are my seven top tips for getting to grips with a global catastrophe...

1. Purify water

Ensuring your drinking water is safe so that you don't succumb to disease in a post-apocalyptic world will be crucial. Although boiling works perfectly, it uses up a lot of fuel. Iodine tablets could be scavenged from the ruins of camping stores, and bleach (sodium hypochlorite) or even swimming pool chlorine (calcium hypochlorite) can be diluted to chemically disinfect suspect water. But even sunshine can be used to keep you safely hydrated. Solar disinfection is recommended by the World Health Organisation in developing nations. Simply fill plastic bottles and leave in the sun - the UV rays will pass right through the water to kill pathogens in a day or so.

2. Prevent infection

Aside from securing safe water, the single most important thing you can do to stay alive in a post-apocalyptic world without antibiotics is to stop yourself picking up infections. Soap is enormously effective at protecting against gastrointestinal and respiratory infections, and can be made by boiling animal fat or plant oil with quicklime (roasted chalk or limestone) and soda. Ethanol is effective at disinfecting wounds, and can be distilled from fermented fruit or grain.

Shutterstock

3. Generate power

The power grids could be out of action almost immediately - and electricity isn't a resource you can really stockpile. You could scavenge mobile diesel generators from roadwork sites, but in the longer term as fuel becomes scarce you'll need to turn to renewable sources such as wind or solar energy. An alternator scavenged from any abandoned car can generate electricity from improvised water wheels and windmills, which can then be stored in large rechargeable batteries. Better than the 12V car battery, the batteries in golf buggies or mobility scooters are "deep cycle", designed to provide a steady amount of current over a long period of time, so much better suited for storing your off-grid power supply.

4. Grow food

Your post-apocalyptic community will only be able to dine out on the leftovers of a fallen civilisation for so long. Soon enough the preserved cans of food on abandoned supermarket shelves will have been consumed or gone off. And by the time that happens, you're going to need to have redeveloped agriculture to avoid starving to death. You'll need a starter stock of viable seeds. The Global Seed Vault on the Arctic island of Svalbard is a doomsday-proof facility dug deep into a freezing mountainside.

5. Drive tree-powered cars

Once all the remaining diesel and petrol fuel has gone you'll still be able to benefit from mechanisation and vehicles. With a little modification, the internal combustion engine can be run on the flammable gases produced by the thermal breakdown of wood, a process known as " pyrolysis ". During the fuel shortages of World War II, there were more than a million wood gasifier cars driving around Europe. The "dry distillation" of wood - heating it without access to oxygen - was used from the 17th century to produce useful substances such as creosote, turpentine, methanol and acetone.

6. Restart a chemical industry

The advancement of our civilisation was not just the development of machinery in the industrial revolution, but also owes a great deal to providing vital chemical substances for society. One of the most useful categories of chemical throughout history has been alkalis such as potash (potassium carbonate) and soda (sodium carbonate), used for making everything from soap to glass and paper. Potash is extracted by trickling water through the ashes of a hardwood fire and then evaporating away the water again to leave white crystals. Soda is purified in the same way, but from burned seaweed or coastal plants such as barilla or salicornia.

7. Be scientific

Over the longer term, as our post-apocalyptic society recovers and grows, we'll need to relearn knowledge for ourselves. The greatest invention of them all, what we would want to preserve if all else was lost, is the scientific method. It is only by thinking rationally and critically, observing the natural world and prodding it in particular ways with experiments, that you can have any confidence that your explanatory stories (or hypotheses) are likely to be right. The invention of the knowledge-generation machinery of science in the 16th century is what enabled us to build the modern world. And it is science that you would need to reboot civilisation again from scratch.

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Billionaires who have made their fortunes in Silicon Valley seem to be worried about the future. So worried in fact, that some of them are reportedly buying vast estates in places such as New Zealand, as "apocalypse insurance". Boltholes to head to in the event of doomsday scenarios such as nuclear attack or global political meltdown.

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Do Your Research

If you're psychologically prepared for it, you'll have a clearer head on your shoulders. We're not saying sit in a darkened room meditating to find your inner self but a binge watch of The Walking Dead or revisiting your Resident Evil gameplay isn't going to do any harm.

Assess the Situation

The very first thing anyone should do is find out what's going on. Turn on the TV, check Instagram for # zombies. Get as much information as you possibly can. Who knows, it could be a bluff. If your mate's running down the road screaming, "Zombies!" but you can't see anything else, you can probably assume they've been eating too much cheese.

What Type Of Zombies Are They?

Okay, once you've realised that your friend is definitely a zombie, it's best to work out whether he's a type '1' or a type '2'. Scientists (yes, actual paid real-life zombie research people) have come up with two types of the syndrome - CDHD-1, which affects 'slow' zombies with uncoordinated movements and CDHD-2, which is typical of 'fast' zombies that have no problem chasing humans in films. If he's CDHD-2. Run. Fast.

Location, Location, Location

Don't get fooled into thinking that underground bunker you built is a great location. If it has one door then your security will be your demise once there are more zombies outside than you can fight through. Cottage in the country? You might have a nice view of the Yorkshire Dales but you'll still get surrounded. You're better off heading for that eight storey office block. Think about it. It has a high vantage point and multiple exits should you need to make a hasty escape. Plus the office Wi-Fi is probably still working so you can upload anything to the cloud to keep it zombie-proof.

Buy a Protection Suit

Admittedly you should have been looking on Amazon for a suit before the apocalypse started but now is the time to get kitted out. Let's be realistic; the situation hasn't been caused by someone passing on a bad cold, it's more than likely a scientific experiment has gone wrong. Buy a decontamination suit and gas mask. If you've missed the boat on this, gloves and hand sanitizer should do the trick.

Bond with Your Non-Zombie Friends. Fast.

You know that friend of yours that's a little too into watching Bear Grylls? He's the first person you should seek out in an apocalypse. Your mum and your little sister are going to make soppy decisions that will get you in trouble. Oh, and stay away from people you don't know. Most non-infected people will try and pinch your supplies. Stranger means danger, people.

Get Your Supplies Together

Grab whatever you think you might need. First aid supplies, sleeping bags, tinned food. Definitely get as much bottled water as you possibly can. Without water, you won't make it very far. Although do stay away from the supermarket. Zombies love them. And when the food starts to run out? If Matt Damon can grow potatoes on Mars, you can find a patch of land to grow your own (you did keep the seeds from your food, right?).

Oh, and loo roll will be worth its weight in gold when the zombie apocalypse begins. Stock up and be ready.

Stay Fit

You want to be a zombie's worst nightmare? Start exercising. If you're in peak physical condition you'll be harder to catch. Obviously trips to the gym are out. Instead go for quick four minute workouts of star jumps, push ups and air squats, in between lookout shifts. Even at the height of a zombie takeover there's no excuse not to look after yourself.

You're now equipped to survive a zombie apocalypse. It might not happen today, but just in case it does, you'll be far more prepared to take them on. You can thank us later.

What are your top zombie survival tips? Share them on our Facebook and Twitter.

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If you're psychologically prepared for it, you'll have a clearer head on your shoulders. We're not saying sit in a darkened room meditating to find your inner self but a binge watch of The Walking Dead or revisiting your Resident Evil gameplay isn't going to do any harm.

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Between series like The Walking Dead and films like Shaun of the Dead, we've all imagined how we might go about trying to survive a zombie apocalypse at one point in our lives. Now, Toolstation has teamed up with Lewis Dartnell, author of "The Knowledge: How to Rebuild our World after an Apocalypse" to tell us once and for all how to make it out of an apocalypse alive.

In this survival guide, Dartnell talks us through the equipment you'll need, the survival steps you should take and the people you'll want around you as you fight to stay alive. Follow this guide and you should have the best possible chance of surviving a real-life zombie attack.

The Apocalypse Checklist

First things first, you need to assemble your tools. Life's about to get tough, so your clothing needs to be warm, hardwearing and protective.

Clothes

In a post-apocalyptic world, you're not going to be relaxing around in central-heated buildings any more. You need workwear that's hardwearing and able to protect you from the elements.

1. Safety shoes. When you're on your feet all day, you want shoes that are not just hardy, but comfortable too. You also need to ensure you won't slip and break your ankle in a world without hospitals, and are quick on your feet when you really need to get a move on!

2. Hardwearing work trousers.

3. A waterproof hooded jacket - also dark coloured clothing for hiding in the shadows when you're mobile at night.

4. Work gloves - for extra grip when you really need it.

5. Winter essentials - fleece beanie and neck warmer.

6. A tool backpack - keep your essential kit with you at all times, and some spare carrying capacity when you're out scavenging for supplies.

Personal Items

You'll also want to keep personal items like a head torch and versatile supplies like duct tape close at hand.

1. A head torch for hands-free exploring of the dark interiors of abandoned buildings for supplies.

2. Compact bolt cutters for gaining access to abandoned buildings to scavenge for supplies.

3. An axe. A useful tool for gaining access to abandoned buildings when you're foraging for key supplies. You'll also be using firewood an awful lot more now for cooking and keeping yourself warm. Keep your trusty axe close to hand!

4. Polypropylene rope has a thousand and one uses. Keep a good length with you in case you ever find yourself trapped up high.

5. Heavy-duty duct tape - still unbeatable for quick repairs and bodges to get you through to the next day.

6. Superglue - useful for repairing a broken vase, but could even save your life in a post-apocalyptic world. Superglue can be used in emergencies to quickly close the lips of a wound before infection sets in.

Kitting Out Your Survival Set Of Wheels

Next, you need to kit out your apocalypse survival vehicle: a puncture repair kit, jerry can and welder should be top of your checklist. Finish off by packing a few essentials to set up camp in your new settlement. Dartnell suggests that items like a generator, tarpaulin and flood lights will make all the difference.

1. An emergency puncture repair kit for getting out of a tight spot quickly.

2. A 20 litre jerry can - fill a couple of these to ensure you're never caught short of fuel.

3. A welder for modifying your survival jeep or truck.

Establishing Your Own Settlement

A portable generator will be enormously useful in the early days after the grid goes down for providing your own power. But generators are noisy and might attract unwanted attention, and they will also guzzle through what fuel you're able to scavenge that you might need to keep for the vehicles.

So for longer-term sustainability of your settlement, you're going to need to generate your own renewable electricity. Scavenge for thin, sheet metal and use your tools to craft it into the blades of a wind turbine. You'll also find the chains and gears from scavenged bicycles useful here. The key component you need to convert the rotating power of your wind turbines into electricity is an alternator scavenged from under the bonnet of an abandoned car. Use this to recharge a bank of scavenged car batteries and you've got the makings of your own off-grid electrical network.

To run appliances off your bank of rechargeable 12V DC car batteries (i.e converting 12V DC battery output to 230V AC electricity like the Mains) you'll need a power inverter.

A properly equipped workshop will also be essential for maintaining and repairing everything for your community of survivors.

High-efficiency LED flood lights will help secure the perimeter of your base.

And even simple items will help you survive, like a large flexible bucket and sheets of for collecting rainwater. Rainwater has been effectively distilled, and so is always safer to drink from than rivers or other ground water sources.

The Step-by-Step Guide to Survival

Once you've got your kit sorted, it's time to devise a survival plan. Dartnell has designed a seven-step plan which takes you from the initial aftermath through to building infrastructure geared towards thriving long-term. From planning an escape route and modifying your vehicle to protecting your settlement and foraging for the essentials, Dartnell has thought of everything.

The Survival Team

Finally, Dartnell profiles some of the people you want in your survival team. As we know, teamwork makes the dream work- and never has that been more true than during an apocalypse. From obvious professions like doctors and nurses to people you might not have thought of such as electricians and metal-workers with crucial skills, everyone plays an important role as you face an imminent zombie attack!

To find out the science of surviving an apocalypse and how to reboot civilisation for yourself, read "The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World After An Apocalypse". And to get hold of everything else you might need, head to Toolstation.

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The Complete Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse | Toolstation

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The Complete Guide to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse Between series like The Walking Dead and films like Shaun of the Dead, we've all imagined how we might go about trying to survive a zombie apocalypse at one point in our ... Continue reading →

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The zombie apocalypse might sound like a great opportunity to wipe your debts and catch up on your reading but if The Walking Dead has taught us anything, it's that surviving in an undead wasteland is not easy. As the show enters its eleventh and final season, we talk to survival experts and professional preppers about what it gets right and wrong, along with their own tips for surviving a doomsday scenario. After all, after the last couple of years, a zombie apocalypse doesn't sound quite as far-fetched as it used to.

Stay at home, again

John Ramey, founder of survivalist company The Prepared doesn't recommend sinking your money into a bunker. "Instead of thinking about things like bunkers," he says. "We should be focused on hardening our existing homes and communities and making them more resilient, with doors that take more than one kick to bring down. Your home is your castle. It's the best place to ride out any emergency."

Hence why he encourages people to think about how long they can shelter in their homes. "If you had to lock yourself in your home right now, no gas, no water, no electricity or communication, how long and how well can you do that?" he says. "The baseline should be two weeks, because that covers most emergencies like natural disasters. Some people go further in their prepping and can last six months. I'm at the point where I can survive indefinitely. I have an indefinite ability to create food and find and treat water and so on."

Survivor in apocalypse © GrandFailure

Supplies

Fail to prepare and prepare to be eaten alive, screaming. According to Ramey, you should be well stocked with basic supplies. "Think Maslow's hierarchy of needs - food, water, health, communication," he says. "You need first aid supplies. Hygiene supplies: can you wipe your pits and poop? A big example is water storage. The rule of thumb is a gallon of water per person per day. So if you have three people in your household for two weeks that would be 45 gallons.

"Long-term, do you have the ability to capture and store water? And then the treatment products that come with them. Do you have a water filter or reverse osmosis system, maybe a UV purifier? You need some ability to take wild water and make it safe to drink."

You should also have what the prepping community refer to as a 'bug out bag', a bag of basic supplies that you can grab when you need to leave the safety of your home. Cameron Carlson, survival expert and member of the Zombie Research Society, has a shopping list: "A lighter or waterproof matches, an emergency blanket, a sleeping bag, freeze dried food, a flashlight, batteries, a solar radio, a water purifier, a camping stove, a knife, a gun (if you're able to have one), a medical kit. A tarp which would help build shelter, if needed.

"A good tip is to pack AAAAA steel wool (the really fine stuff) and a 9-volt battery. You can easily start a fire by touching the steel wool with the battery and the steel wool can compress to fit a lot into a very small place."

Ramey also recommends investing in a bike. "The bicycle is the classic bug-out vehicle," he says. "It's the most efficient human machine ever created. Whenever professionals watch The Walking Dead one of the groaners is that it's eight years later and people are still driving gasoline vehicles. Gas expires in about six months. You can add additives to it and extend that life but the idea that after six to twelve months of society falling that you're going to find usable gasoline is laughable."

Skills

It doesn't matter how many supplies you have, however, if you do not have the skills to use them.

"The big one is first aid and a core medical understanding of how to clean and dress wound," says Ramey. "If Daryl from The Walking Dead gets hit in the shoulder with a crossbow bolt, how are you going to be able to handle it? Modern society is great, but we've lost thousands of years worth of hard-fought survival knowledge in the last hundred years.

"Many of our grandparents would have at least had some basic knowledge of how to handle a wound. Even if you take a standard first aid course, they teach on the assumption that you can pick up the phone and a hero will show up seven minutes later with drugs and electricity."

Outdoor survival skills are also essential. "Similarly," adds Ramey, "People don't know how to navigate anymore. There's now a thing in the search and rescue community called Death by GPS. So, do you know how to read a map? Do you know how to start a fire? Do you know how to create a winter shelter so you won't die from exposure?

"A less obvious example is conflict resolution and situational awareness. Are you paying attention to what's around you? Do you know how to diffuse tense situations without resorting to violence?"

Man running away from zombies © GrandFailure

Where to go

At some point, you may be forced to leave the house and seek shelter elsewhere. But where should you go?

"If you live in New York City or London and the zombie apocalypse happens, you probably need to get to the country to get away from people," says Ramey. "But even in a zombie apocalypse, that desire to be alone could change. Because as we see in The Walking Dead, at some point you're going to need community. Community wins 99 per cent of the time compared to this kind of lone wolf imagery of walking alone into the sunset, with your dog by your side and a shotgun over your shoulder."

The idea of humanity tearing itself apart after a post-apocalyptic event is a popular one, but Michał Zalewski, author of Practical Doomsday: A User's Guide to the End of the World, doesn't buy it.

"I think most people would rather quietly suffer than harm an innocent person," he says. "A more profound risk is that in the times of uncertainty and fear, we tend to lash out against out-groups. But in the zombie scenario specifically, we already have a clear enemy. I think that would bring us closer together, not drive us apart.

"And more prosaically, we're not machines: we can get ill, we need to sleep, we can't learn all the skills conceivably needed to get through every possible calamity. Being on good terms with a doctor or a plumber can save the day."

Zombies

But what about the zombies themselves? According to zombie expert Cameron Carlson, it depends on whether they are the rabid kind that run like wild animals (think 28 Days Later) or the slow, shuffling The Walking Dead variety.

"If they are fast, I know I am not out-running them," he says. "So you have to turn to stealth. Move in the shadows, underground, any way to avoid them. If you get into a confrontation with a fast-mover, you know where there is one there is more. Unless you have multiple people in your group who know how to use weapons tactically and proficiently, you're done. As for the slow ones, just move around them."

Carlson also recommends making use of dogs, who can sense threats or major changes. " Dogs have a very keen sense of smell, much more than you or I," he says. "They would be a good warning device. Watch the dogs, if they begin to act strange, growl, show their teeth, or pace a lot, something is wrong. They could give you an early warning."

An intriguing difference between the UK and the US, of course, are the two countries' approach to gun ownership. How would this affect the outcome of trying to survive a zombie apocalypse?

"There's good and bad," says Ramey. "If I'm at my home and the zombies are trying to get in to eat my face, then my last line of defence is a shotgun in my hand. In that regard, American gun culture provides a benefit.

"But that also then can create a negative because if society is falling apart and people are panicking, those people are going to be armed. And you know, we've certainly seen over the last two years that even in a mild emergency about a third of society is going to lose their minds and be horrible to deal with. So, blessings and curses."

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How to survive a real-life Walking Dead apocalypse

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The zombie apocalypse might sound like a great opportunity to wipe your debts and catch up on your reading but if The Walking Dead has taught us anything, it's that surviving in an undead wasteland is not easy.

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