Friday, May 1, 2020

Outfitting a Young Zombie Hunter: The Light Reaction Kit

Our goal during a global zombie apocalypse is to survive. My daughter has spent the past few years preparing to do just that. In addition to rigorous academic pursuits, she continues to train in hand to hand combat, wilderness survival, first aid, and firearms.

The latter skill requires specialized equipment that we have acquired for our young Zombie Hunter.



Light Reaction Kit

Capabilities: 

This is her baseline equipment for fighting the undead. Its is tailored to utilize her present size and skills. If things go bad, she can put all of this on in a few minutes. With all of this she can silently destroy the undead from afar or in CQB.

At present she has qualified with her rifles to hit eyeball sized targets at 50 meters and brain sized bogeys at 100. She aspires to increase her effective range in due time.

She is also deadly accurate with her sidearm which was custom built with match grade components.

Items can be added according to the mission such as ballistic armor, melee weapons, survival and evasion gear, or additional ammunition. 


Firearms: 

The Kel-Tec SU22 was the first firearm she trained with in 2016. The suppressor makes it hearing safe with CCI Standard Velocity ammunition. Averaging 1050 fps with 40 gr. heads, these blast through hard coconut shells at 300 meters. The 3x UTG magnifier combined with the Holosun HS503c lets her engage zeds close-in and push out to medium range.

The Marlin XT-22YR uses Armscor Super Quiet ammunition. They are 40 gr. projectiles but shoot at an average of 875 fps making this rifle inaudible at 50 meters. The rifle has a buttstock bag that keeps extra magazines. Inside I was able to fit 5 more 10 round magazines and a small box of 50 more rounds of ammo. She can easily carry up to 300 more cartridges in her chest rig. 



The sidearm is a Metro Arms MAC Classic 1911 chambered in 9mm. We enhanced all of the pistol's internals with EGW parts for top level performance, all installed and tuned by one the best gunsmiths in the country.  

Carry ammo is Hornady Critical Duty but I load primarily 147 gr. SWC heads for maximum accuracy.

It is also her competition handgun in IPSC matches. We hope to bring it to California so she could give USPSA rules a go. 


Load Bearing Gear: 


click to enlarge


Yes that was my 5.11 TacTec Chest Rig, its hers now. With minor adjustments it fits perfectly. I'm particularly fond of how easily the six magazine pouches hold all everything in a very low profile. She can conceal all of this under a jacket.

An essential tool is the Vortex Ranger 1000. This rangefinder has a red LED display so she can stalk prey at nighttime. It is fast and precise so all of her shots land with pinpoint accuracy.

The radio is a Versa Alerto dual band HAM radio. Its basically identical to the popular Baofeng UV5R. We have a few more of these that are always ready to use along with spare batteries.

The medical items could be found at the right side pocket of the photograph. I decided to just put them in there instead of a dedicated medical pouch to minimize bulk.

The gas mask was purchased via VARUSTELEKA in Finland. I'm quite happy about their products services. They ship directly to the Philippines in less than a week's time. We replaced the old army surplus filters with a new one.



The ESSTAC Shooter's belt is fantastic. It has a rigid inner lining that helps keep everything upright. The build quality tells me that this will see decades of use as long as the user's waistline stays generally the same. I love this belt!

I will replace that BLACKHAWK Serpa as soon as our Enhanced Community Quarantine is over with a mid-ride Safariland ALS holster. Its the only thing that I want to change in this entire setup.

The Schrade SCHF13 drop point is her favorite knife, totally loves that thing. Glad to know she has something to use if ammunition ever runs out or to pry open a can to eat.

The 5.11 3x6 Medical Kit was one of our earliest accessories. It carries just enough to control massive bleeding.


Putting it Together



Smart placement is key. She should be able to grab anything instinctively.

Look at how slick her back is. She could put on a survival backpack or sit in vehicles without any difficulty.



She prefers to keep the magazine pouches open for quick access. Elastic bands in the pouches keep them from falling out. Saying it again: that ESSTAC Shooter's Belt is smokin' hot. The Geissele hat? Top tier swag!


Going stealthy with her Marlin XT-22YR



The Hunter and her knife

That's a pro shooter's grip.




The most important thing is to make everything suit the user.

She's had this chest rig long enough to work out the kinks and train with all of the items.

Should SHTF happen, there would be more than one in our household who could save the day. I've been looking forward to putting this article for many years.

She helped me quite a bit on this project. From the photoshoots, suggestions, and practice sessions.

In her language, this was a great 'collab.

She asked me just now what would her dodo (granddad) would say about all of her training. I told her that all of us are immensely proud of her. Thank goodness she likes to learn new things with me. That alone gives us more than a fighting chance.

She's come a long way but we will keep on training, learning more, and equipping better.



Keep on moving if you want to survive, for even the undead do not stand still.



Stay vigilant!





No comments:

Post a Comment