In the history of zombie-killing culture, guns have been given a lot of credit. From Dawn of the Dead to Left 4 Dead, a big ol' automatic rifle has always been given god-like status among weapons of choice for dispatching hordes. So much in fact, that it seems every zom-pocalypse prepper immediately turns to the rifle when it comes to self-defense. Huge quantities of time and money is poured into perfecting shooting skills, and purchasing ammunition. As a Canadian Armed Forces soldier, I can appreciate the merit of overwhelming firepower to solve problems. However, in our military context, we have a big, long logistical train following us wherever we go, resupplying us as we expend our non-renewable resources. The zom-pocalyptic survivor will rarely be afforded that luxury. Theoretically, if you are bugging out from a compromised bug-in location, you would have to carry all of the bullets that you would need for the rest of your life, or until you resupply. An AR-15 automatic rifle weighs about 6 to 8 pounds without any mods. A fully loaded (30 rounds) magazine of 5.56x45mm NATO round weighs about 1 lb each. If you are planning to bug-out with a full battle load (10 magazines), as any deployed soldier would, you are looking at about 16 to 18 pounds of weight. With your cleaning kit, plus any sights or lights for your gun, you can easily hit a cool 20 pounds of extra weight. And that's on top of your regular bug-out bag, which could easily amount to 30 - 40 pounds for a few days of hiking, depending on the season, water access, and foraging skills. Are you prepared to carry 60 pounds of weight for a multi-day hike? You can shoot dead center at 200 yards, but have you thought about your own center of mass, and how it will feel on the 50th kilometer? Guns are easy. Anyone can learn how to shoot one. I never shot a rifle in my life, until basic training. I got top marksman in my course. Archery is hard. I've spent a lot of time missing targets, and find myself often wishing for a gas-powered, magazine-fed alternative.
Wielding a melee weapon is hard. Crowbars and baseball bats begin to get exhausting after the 100th grand slam to the skull. Pulling a trigger 100 times is much easier.
Knife-fighting for your life is hard. After an intense one-minute spar, I find myself gasping for breath, as if I had just sprinted a football field. I have spent a great amount of time training and improving on all of these skills. The learning curve of being a bladed-weapon master is far greater than that of a shooter. I encourage everyone to spend peace-time learning these more difficult skills, because the guns will be easy enough to point-and-shoot when the moment presents itself. Strap on a 60 pound rucksack, melee-spar with your buddies, and head down to the archery range. Develop those life-saving skills. Stockpiling ammo is not a skill - its a liability. It immobilizes you, chaining you to your metric ton of unmovable goods. What happens when your gun jams at that key split second when Zac is blowing kisses in your face? Is your first reaction to draw a blade, or attempt to clear your stoppage while backing up into a corner? There is a wide range of skills that need to be learned in order to be well prepared for the apocalypse. We need to take a holistic approach to combat training, because we never know what we will and will not have on us when SHTF. Why do you think some zom-pocalyptic preppers continuously stockpile arsenals of guns with thousands upon thousands of rounds? Because they would be screwed without them. Soldier, out.
