Hornady bullets introduces Zombie Max ammunition

[Eyebiter]

Now ammunition is sold using zombie themed marketing...

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http://hornady.com/assets/images/promos/zombie/zombie-package-photo.jpg (http://www.hornady.com/ammunition/zombiemax)
http://www.hornady.com/ammunition/zombiemax

[babomb]

Ka-Bar also has edged weapons marketed with a zombie theme. Strange.
From the website:

Be PREPARED – supply yourself for the Zombie Apocalypse with Zombie Max™ ammunition from Hornady®! Loaded with PROVEN Z-Max™ bullets... yes PROVEN Z-Max™ bullets (have you seen a Zombie?). Make sure your "bug out bag" is ready with nothing but the best!
It's being marketed to the survival community. "bug out bag" or BoB is a well known survivalist concept. A BoB is not just a bag that you throw some needed items in, it's an extremely well thought out and refined concept that contains only survival essentials that can be easily carried. So it has to be under a certain weight limit and the bulk of its weight is ammo and water, everything else is ultra lightweight and compact. It surprises me to see ammo being marketed to survivalists in this way.

[Sammich]

The firearms industry has been completely taken over by marketing firms and MBA's whose only purpose is to hype people into wanting what they sell instead of the companies making things people want. Most of the time it is low quality crap.

IMO this all started with the "tactical" fashion craze that was first exploited by Blackhawk in the early 2000s and their huge flashy product display at SHOT show. They began as a touted "made in the U.S.A" gear manufacturer, but as soon as they saw the huge emerging market for the COD chairborne seals they sent their manufacturing overseas and the product quality went way down. Quantity over quality and short term gain is the song and dance of the day now.

[babomb]

Definitely. Never been to the SHOT show myself. But I do know that once the military "contractors" started showing up in the news and all over youtube with their high priced high speed gear everyone started wanting all that shit for whatever reasons they want it for(to play army I guess). This gave rise to people like "nutnfancy" on youtube who does nothing but high speed gear reviews for the masses. Like you said, it's "tactical chic".
Don't get me wrong, in todays world I can see why people value firearms and keep ammo stocked "just in case". Hell, I do. But I just have a few hunting guns and a decent amount of shells put away. Nothing that could qualify me as a "gun nut", and I don't dress up in military clothes and gear and videotape myself "playing army" and put it on youtube.

[Sammich]

Definitely. Never been to the SHOT show myself. But I do know that once the military "contractors" started showing up in the news and all over youtube with their high priced high speed gear everyone started wanting all that shit for whatever reasons they want it for(to play army I guess). This gave rise to people like "nutnfancy" on youtube who does nothing but high speed gear reviews for the masses. Like you said, it's "tactical chic".


I completely avoid everything by nutnfancy and view with suspicion people who constantly use his acronyms POU and WROL.

The guy may have started out by doing decent gear reviews, but now as far as I know, he still refuses to put disclaimers up that he is receiving compensation from companies to do what amounts to infomercials. People have been banned from his channel just for questioning him on this matter in youtube comments.

There are many other survival related youtube channels that are more reputable, wildernessoutfitters by Dave Canterbury is a good example. He has always stressed "the common man" concept of survival gear and techniques.

As for SHOT show, it was shocking to see the rapid takeover of the firearms industry by marketing companies in just a few short years. The law enforcement (i.e. tactical) section went from a small corner of the convention to taking up almost 1/3 of a hall. Now everyone has big flashy action pictures splashed with macho company slogans. It is almost like the advertising firms from Cosmopolitan decided to start selling guns where the main selling points have become "mystique" and "excitement".

[Wyldwraith]

Not familiar with gun/ammo marketing trends or reviewing practices,
That said, I do maintain what I guess you could call a Bug Out Bag. Not something I've spent months designing or something, but I put a few days thought and about 2 months of bursts of cash into acquiring the stuff I decided to include (that I didn't already have). As far as guns themselves go, I'm perfectly content w/ my S&W .45, the 12-gauge pump shotgun my grandfather got me when I was a kid (he got my brother a 20-gauge at the same time, cuz he's 4yrs younger), and my .22 rifle (don't even remember the manufacturer, but its dependable/shoots straight and I adore that the barrel is a screw-on, making it easy to stow when not in use.) Lugging 2 long guns on my shoulder(s) would be more than a bit unwieldy with a backpack on.

Now as far as ammo is concerned: It DOES take up a large % of space in my (Ok, I'm just gonna say it. Though I'll preface the name by pointing out it was created for the FAR more realistic situation of the U.S.A collapsing for whatever reason) Z.A.K (Yea, Zombie Apocalypse Kit. There, I said it.) Ammo, useful OTC and Prescription Meds like a 240-count bottle of Amoxacillin, my doctor-approved reserve of Oxycodone (After the 2 month shutdown of the only factory supplying the Southeastern U.S with Oxycodone about 10 months ago, and me ending up in the hospital related to that incident over a weekend, it seemed prudent to have a PERFECTLY LEGAL reserve of 4 months worth of my daily dosage), 2 Epi-Pens, and steroid anti-inflammatories....not to mention Iodine and Water Purification Tablets in healthy quantities. Plus a nice top-shelf First Aid Kit, and 2 annoyingly-space-consuming bottles 1 Betadine and 1 Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.

To be fair: The sides of the backpack's harness-straps that face outward have had the loops and backing from a shotgun vest sewn onto them. Only hold 32 shells, but if I should ever need more than what's in the gun and those loops in such a non-stop manner I cannot fish out more from one of the boxes of shells in my backpack I'm almost certainly beyond help.

Another confession: I'm embarrassed to admit that the Daryl character in TWD has me seriously considering getting a nice crossbow when I can afford it. The near-silent firing is great, but I was thinking more how nice it would be to have an excellent hunting weapon whose ammo I can easily carry a lot of with the appropriate bolt-quivers, and whose ammo can in many cases be retrieved and reused.

Just my take on this survivalist trend.

[Sammich]

IIRC, the bug out bag (BOB) or get out of dodge (GOOD) kits were originally described in James Wesley Rawles online book called "The Gray Nineties" back in the 1990s and subsequently turned into it's current printed form "Patriots: Suriving The Coming Collapse". BOBs or GOOD kits were meant to be something one could quickly access and use for a short period of time to a designated stocked and supplied location be it home or a isolated retreat. This would be what civil defense agencies would call a 72 hour disaster kit, although it has been demonstrated in recent disasters that it will take much longer than 3 days for relief services to arrive. A more realistic amount of supplies to have on hand would be around 7 days.

A trap that many people fall into (as I did myself when starting out) is that they focus too much on weapons and not nearly enough on other essentials like water, water purification, medical supplies and communication (i.e. radio). The reality is not everyone is a SEAL or Ranger and is used to carrying 80 lbs+ of gear on 20 mile hikes. Guns and ammunition weigh a lot, and water even more. After a day of sweating like crazy from hauling 12 AR15 mags, a 14 lb. M4, a 12 gauge, 100 rounds of buckshot, a handgun with 6 loaded mags, and 4 knives (yes, I have seen BOB setups like this and worse on youtube) you are going to wish you had more water and less guns.

[Rancid Carcass]

Loaded with PROVEN Z-Max™ bullets... yes PROVEN Z-Max™ bullets

Gotta love that quote!

Someone should call their bluff though and phone 'em up and ask them about skull penetration rates compared to other leading brands!

:lol:

[Sammich]

Gotta love that quote!

Someone should call their bluff though and phone 'em up and ask them about skull penetration rates compared to other leading brands!

:lol:

If I am not mistaken, the rifle rounds are using V-Max bullets, designed for shooting varmints (pests like prairie dogs and coyotes). The bullet construction has a thin jacket which results in violent expansion and fragmentation, but this is at the tradeoff of less penetration. Not really the best choice for shooting zombies since I would still rather have the rounds fall within the old FBI 12" minimum penetration specs.

I am not sure what they are using for the handgun rounds. Probably just fmj's or cheap hollowpoints since these are meant to be novelty ammo.

[babomb]

My favorite weapon is actually a Remington 870 20ga youth model, with a synthetic youth stock. Weighs alot less than the same model in 12ga weighs. Shells weigh considerably less. Only problem is that 20ga shells cost alot more than 12ga shells for some strange reason.
But I prefer the 20 to the 12. With the right shells you have 3/4 of the muzzle energy of the 12 with much less weight, less length of the weapon and recoil is less so then target re-acquisition is faster. I have alot of 20ga shells of different variety and I put alot of money and time into the 20 and shoot it frequently.


There are many other survival related youtube channels that are more reputable, wildernessoutfitters by Dave Canterbury is a good example. He has always stressed "the common man" concept of survival gear and techniques. I like his channel too. I also like "desertsurvivalist", his videos are well thought out and he's just a normal guy from AZ. Nutnfancy lost me when he started doing shit like what he calls "mounted and dismounted" tactics, dressed like a military contractor. And he had a bunch of other guys with him. I try to stay away from the military side of it because of the stigma it has. I'm not trying to be one of those "guys in camo".


I do maintain what I guess you could call a Bug Out Bag. Not something I've spent months designing or something, but I put a few days thought and about 2 months of bursts of cash into acquiring the stuff I decided to include (that I didn't already have I keep a few, aside from home stocks of water and food. I've put quite a bit of time into refining bug out bags down to tool kits that contain essentials and the items needed to renew essential resources.This isn't for a zombie apocalypse really, more like you said, the break down of america. which, to me, seems inevitable at this point.


BOBs or GOOD kits were meant to be something one could quickly access and use for a short period of time to a designated stocked and supplied location be it home or a isolated retreat. This would be what civil defense agencies would call a 72 hour disaster kit, although it has been demonstrated in recent disasters that it will take much longer than 3 days for relief services to arrive. A more realistic amount of supplies to have on hand would be around 7 days. My idea on it is in 3 stages. I keep a BoB, which is a larger pack of the 72 hour size that's been refined to contain what's needed if I had to bug out indefinitely. That means ammo, cleaning kits and replacement parts, water+water purification kit, food, tools to work on vehicles, a solar battery charger(power kit), flashlights, maps and GPS(data kit), rappelling kit. You can never carry enough to last so the best you can do is focus on carrying the things you need to be able to get more of the things you need. One item that's commonly overlooked but would be incredibly useful in any type of disaster would be a small pry bar.
Then I have a GHB(get home bag) which is a Camelbak. It has limited storage capacity and only contains enough to be able to get me home from work or somewhere else relatively close. It has a 3 liter water bladder built in, and also has external webbing so I can put a lockback folder and a flashlight on the outside. I just keep basic shit inside like a space blanket, disposable poncho, purification tabs, tiny fire kit, extra AA and AAA batteries, a few chemlights, a couple power bars, cash, some duct tape, rubber tubing, old cell phone and charger and assorted other items of similar importance. I keep it in my car along with 10 gallons of water and a handful of MRE's.
Then I have a vehicle kit itself that has spare car battery and booster, jumper cables, tools, gas siphoner, etc...
I caught the preparedness bug a long time ago. My grandparents came from the depression era which had alot to do with it.

-- -------- Post added at 01:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:03 AM ----------

Seen this-


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyZuvLo4eJA&list=FL_UPR0t9Pt_1DNy6QUqnHVQ&index=43

[Sammich]

Apocalypse Man was interesting. Bear Grylls came out with a "urban survival" themed episode, but ever since he was outed as faking his "survival" situations I stopped watching his show. I much prefer to Les Stroud's Survivorman over Man (and support crew and hotel) vs. Wild.

Stroud also did a one hour urban survival show based on a flood disaster which was only aired a few times and not many people have seen it.

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There is another one called "After Armageddon" that was on History Channel (it didn't have the guy with the trippy hair!), which follows the average UNPREPARED family during a global outbreak and the chaos that follows.

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[babomb]

Best part of apocalypse man was making the bio-diesel. I never caught the urban survivor one with Les Stroud until now. Was good. especially distilling the water. I've seen the after Armageddon show quite a few times. The wife on it annoys the shit out of me. Sadly, that's how many people would act in a similar situation.