place to hold up

[Trin]

The ditch has several advantages for quickly securing a perimeter. One, (assuming you have the backhoe thingy) it requires no tools or consumable materials - you're probably not running to the hardward store to buy fence posts in a zombie outbreak. Two, it would be pretty fast if you knew what you were doing. Disadvantages - if you were forced into the ditch you're just as trapped as the zombies. If the ditch is too close to your permanent wall it might erode the support for the wall. A simple rainstorm could wreck your ditch wall. For longer term my feeling is that if you are in a relatively isolated location where you're not likely to get assaulted by more than a handful of ghouls at a time your best bet is to create a fence - chain link or barbed wire - which allows you to dispatch the ghouls through the barrier. Either with guns, bows/arrows, or with something as simple as a pole with a trench spike on the end (which is quiet and requires no ammo). The barrier doesn't have to hold back a thousand zombies for years. It has to hold back a half dozen long enough for you to dispatch them. Part of my reasoning is that you're going to be expanding this perimeter almost as fasts as you create it. You're going to need to secure access to the river and enclose croplands, outbuildings, etc. That's going to result in some huge areas. Also, in the isolated location mobility is more valuable than defense. A perfectly reasonable strategy if your base is invaded is to run away. You have nothing but space. Setup a few outposts of food and ammo in the surrounding areas and you can fall back easily. In that scenario a cinderblock wall or ditch is just as big a barrier to you as it is to the zombies. While a chain link fence can be climbed by any relatively mobile adult (or even most children). And isn't that a HUGE advantage? You have a barrier that stops zombies but not you?

[04]

your right about a ditch being a trap as well as life saving defense but birbed wire might be hard to find. i think using some of the timber there to set up a wall may be the only choice. the area is large enough to place small outpost around the main center as fall back points or just places for people to go if the pop. gets to big. also by the river there is a high place that usually stays above water when the river floods every year that might be a good place to base river operations out of.