How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse

6 min readHere’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:While the zombie apocalypse likely won’t happen, the same tactics apply to real-life disaster preparedness. There are three top priorities that you should focus on in any survival scenario. Even small DIYs with household items could set you up for success. Imagine this: You’re sitting at your dining room table, and the lights suddenly cut out. An alert buzzes on your phone—a mysterious infection is sweeping the nation. There’s a bang on the window behind you. You turn around to face a decaying figure, rotting fingers clawing at the glass pane. The zombie apocalypse just began. What are you going to do to survive?While this scenario remains a feature of Halloween attractions, many of the same principles would apply in a true survival situation. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) even entertained a similar premise in 2011 with a comic aimed at teaching disaster preparedness. And, as it turns out, your home is already filled with ample supplies to survive this theoretical disaster—or, at the very least, challenge your DIY skills on an upcoming rainy weekend.Jump to:Your First Steps When Disaster StrikesCreating Your Own Power-Generation SystemProtecting Your Home From Unwanted IntrudersWhy the Zombie Apocalypse (Probably) Won’t HappenYour First Steps When Disaster StrikesPerry Tancredi—deputy director at the Boulder Outdoor Survival School in Utah—explains in an email that, in any survival scenario, one poor decision can completely change the outcome of the situation. Because of this, it’s crucial to stay calm, Tancredi warns. He suggests popping a mint or candy in your mouth because the action should slow your mind during that initial adrenaline rush. (Tancredi recommends Altoids specifically, since their tin can also be useful in a disaster situation.) However, Tancredi jokes that this works better for slow zombies; the speedy variety might mean this tactic is the wrong decision, rather than what prevents you from making one.Once you’ve settled your mind, survivalists tend to agree that shelter, water, and food should be your top priorities at the outset of any survival situation. Tancredi points to the rule of threes: “You can survive without food for about 3 weeks, without water for about 3 days, you can die of exposure (i.e. without shelter) in 3 hours, [and] an issue with your ABCs (airway, breath, and circulation) could kill you in about 3 minutes,” he writes.Assuming that you can secure your house against any undead intruders, you should be able to quickly check shelter off the list of apocalyptic to-dos. Then comes water.The CDC recommends emergency kits that have at least one gallon of water per person for each day. In a scenario such as a zombie apocalypse, meeting this quota is easier said than done, as water plants would likely shut down. Tancredi recommends filling up a bathtub at the beginning of an emergency for a passive water supply, especially if you’re boarding up your home.If you do have outdoor mobility, Ricardo Castro, PhD—professor of materials science at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania—says there are already things in your house that could be used as a makeshift filter.“I’d grab an empty plastic soda bottle, cut off the bottom, and turn it upside down like a funnel,” Castro says in an email. “I’d stuff some cotton or an old T-shirt into the neck, then add layers of washed sand, gravel, and small pebbles from the backyard. Pouring muddy water through these layers would remove much of the suspended dirt.” However, Castro notes that this wouldn’t actually purify the water, so boiling over something like a wood stove is still a crucial step to making your supply potable.Finally comes food. Luckily, you likely already have many shelf-staples sitting in your pantry—canned goods are especially valuable, as the food is usually precooked during the packaging process. But this doesn’t mean you should let fresh produce go to waste, either.You can harvest the seeds from common household ingredients, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, to raise in a hydroponic system. Ideally, this would allow you to run an at-home farm, without having to go outside and face the undead. While these setups can run up to a few thousand dollars in our current zombie-free world, some DIYers have also created their own with plastic storage bins and basic plumbing equipment—again, supplies you likely already have lying around your home.Getty ImagesHydroponic systems grow plants without traditional soil and use less water, making them a potential sustainable farming solution.Creating Your Own Power-Generation System Once your basic needs are settled, creating a power system may be advantageous for especially spooky nights. The internet is littered with these sorts of home-baked inventions, but a particularly promising gadget is a bicycle generator. (You can find PopMech’s instructions to make your own version here.)This human-powered machine should generate enough power to run lights, charge phones, and power small appliances—and it’s made from supplies that are probably tucked away in your garage, shed, or forgotten corners of your basement. Perhaps the most exotic element needed is a 12-volt (or higher) DC motor, but never fear: These can be found anywhere from ceiling fans to small appliances to the automatic windows in your car.There is an obvious drawback here: It takes a lot of human energy—or calories—to power this sort of machine. Castro suggests a DIY wind turbine as a passive power-generation method. He says he would start by taking apart a fan and searching for a motor, perhaps in a power tool or children’s toy. To capture enough wind, Castro says he might use scrap wood and fabric from bed sheets to fashion “something resembling an old Western windmill.” With the appropriate wiring, he says this could power LED lights or charge a small battery.Protecting Your Home From Unwanted Intruders It’s also likely in your best interest to think about how to keep the zombies out—and let other humans in. After all, we’re a social species, and isolation can be detrimental if it goes on for too long, Tancredi notes. And it seems the solution here might be a simple one.You’ll likely need fire for other purposes, such as purifying water and staying warm, but it could also serve as a way to scare off the zombies, Tancredi explains. For instance, we already see this in campfires deterring some wildlife. The smoke from the fire is also particularly useful, as it would let other survivors know you’re still out there, he adds.While Tancredi’s defensive method might deter zombies from approaching, Castro’s offense would help drive away any undead visitors. Inspired by some of Leonardo da Vinci’s designs, Castro suggests assembling a “zombie ballista,” or a medieval military weapon used to launch objects, similar to a crossbow. Wooden furniture pieces and broomsticks could act as a main structure, and something like the rubber gasket on an old washing machine might work as a low-powered launcher, he says. Load objects from around your home into the machine and prepare to knock down any encroaching zombies.Why the Zombie Apocalypse (Probably) Won’t HappenBy now, you have the toolkit to survive a zombie apocalypse—but luckily you won’t have to. Scientists suggest that this is, at the very least, an improbable scenario. For instance, the hit show The Last of Us featured mutated humans, hijacked by parasitic fungus. This sort of “zombification” is unlikely, as “the human brain is incredibly complicated for any organism to decipher,” Colorado State University entomologist Maia Holmes says in an article for the school.But even if the zombie apocalypse isn’t a possibility—at least not within our lifetimes—entertaining it as a thought experiment certainly seems like a good way to flex your creative muscles and prepare for more realistic scenarios.“The main message this exercise brings to me is that engineering becomes particularly valuable when conventional solutions are no longer available,” Castro writes. “We tend to think of engineering as requiring sophisticated equipment, but some of its most interesting applications come from understanding basic principles: mechanics, energy conversion, heat transfer, and filtration, and using whatever materials happen to be around us.”Special Digital IssuesOctober/November 2026Download HereThis issue is optimized for mobile/tablet viewing.➡ America’s Radioactive Graveyard Is Quietly Leaking. 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This Weapon Can Save It.October/November 2022Download HereThis issue is optimized for mobile/tablet viewing.It's also available on Apple News+.Featuring:➡ Can America's M1 Abrams Still Compete With China's and Russia's Latest Battle Tanks?➡ Inside the Final Minutes of the Concorde Disaster—and How It Doomed Supersonic Travel for Decades➡ How the Massive Cargo Ship Felicity Ace Sank, Taking $400 Million Worth of Exotic Supercars With It➡ I Turned My Old Gas-Guzzler Into a Zippy EV for $15,000August/September 2022Download HereThis issue is optimized for mobile/tablet viewing.It's also available on Apple News+.Featuring: ➡ Cosmic Secrets of the 17 Most Powerful Mega-Telescopes on Earth—and Beyond➡ Can the Air Force's Secret, Hypersonic Jet Reclaim the Skies From Russia and China?➡ For 50 Years, the Zodiac Killer's 340 Cipher Stumped the FBI—Then Three Amateurs Cracked the Code➡ America's Most Fearsome Howitzer Has Entered the War in UkraineJune/July 2022DOWNLOAD HEREThis issue is optimized for mobile/tablet viewing.It's also available on Apple News+.Featuring:➡ Every Single Drone Fighting in the Skies Over Ukraine➡ How to Buy a New Car in 2022 Without Getting Fleeced➡ This Megastructure Could Keep Us Alive Forever➡ The Race to Revolutionize EV BatteriesEmma Frederickson graduated from Pace University where she studied communication and media. Prior to her time as an editor, she was a freelance science reporter. She enjoys covering everything from shipwrecks to pimple popping, but her favorite topics include climate change, conspiracy theories, and weird biology. When she’s not writing, Emma can be found hopping between coffee shops on the hunt for the world’s best oat milk cappuccino.