August 11th, 2015

I’ve been meaning to do this for a few days, but with releasing a new book and doing new covers for the other books in the series, plus getting another book done and sent to the editor, without needing Gilder to frame for it all, I’ve been a little behind. Which is a shame really, because the guys at Zombie Tools really deserve some serious respect in my book. Back in 2013, when I was first writing Zompoc Survivor: Exodus, I asked the guys at Zombie Tools if I could mention a couple of their creations in my books. A day later, they responded and said it was cool, thus giving birth to one of Dave’s signature weapons, the Deuce II.

Fast forward a few months, and one critic was doubting that Dave could have done all of the things he did to prep on a writer’s income. Challenge accepted! Thus began my quest to get everything Dave started out with. For the most part, I’ve succeeded (I don’t have a mysterious and well-funded benefactor to help me finance the land yet. I am still accepting offers, however.) But, in a year and a half, I’ve gotten almost all of his physical gear. The Deuce was the final piece of the set I needed. Eight days ago, it arrived.

And let me tell you something: The folks at Zombie Tools came through like the champs they are. I bought the Scyllis and the Deuce II, and got them in a lot less time than the 7-9 weeks on the site. They also included a message for me, even though I didn’t make a big deal about who I was when I was ordering the blades.  One of their tag lines is “A fist full of ‘Fuck yeah!’ ” and after holding both blades, I get that in no uncertain terms. The Scyllis, which is a beast of a knife, is just as thick in the cross section as the sword, and both of them are thicker than most blades I’ve seen. The Scyllis dwarfs my Winchester hunting knife, and if size matters, then the Scyllis wins hands down. Until you put it next to the Deuce, which kicks ass in a whole new weight class! Both blades are well balanced, both have some serious heft to them, and I would trust my life to both of them.

So, I’ve posted some pics below. Most are self-explanatory, but the first picture does require some explanation. This is a pic of my version of Dave’s basic load out. Unlike Dave, I went with the Ruger 10/22 Takedown from the start. I also put a short 4X scope on it, since I’m pretty short sighted. The black bag in front of the chair is the backpack/carrying case that comes with it. Now, I don’t make it a habit of detailing all of my preparation, but it has enough room for the rifle broken down, the cleaning kit, extra magazines (I stuck with the 10 round rotary mags) and up to 500+ rounds of 22LR ammo in a paint ball tube with plenty of room to spare. The little blue disk is the carrier for some of my ear protection. The tactical vest is primarily a prop, since Dave ends up with one several times throughout the books. The pistol is my Walther CCP. It’s a good little firearm that fits my hand well. And of course, the Deuce, carried across the back the way Dave does it.

My only disappointment is that I was the second person to get a Deuce based on the ZS series of books. A few weeks before I ordered mine, the folks at Zombie Tools let me know someone else had ordered one after reading one of the books. I sent that guy a set of signed hard copies of the first two books for being so cool. That piece of paper is the personal message the guys from ZT included with my invoice. If I’m ever up Montana way, I’m bringing a case of PBR to their shop.

Down at the bottom, I’ve also included the YouTube video of the boys at ZT working hard to destroy a Deuce. And yes, they had to bust their ass to break that bad boy.