the rest of the options rely on condition factors. is your German shepherd a dunce or fully trained? night vision goggles demand batteries, guns need ammo. dehydration and exposure are the real killers.
LOL, imagine thinking a motorcycle or jeep would do you any damn good (especially after the gas you can siphon from abandoned cars has gone bad), when what you really need is a bicycle. Bikepackers and touring cyclists will be the kings of the apocalypse.
Fire Axe - for fire wood collection as well as wood based structures for shelter and defense. Also it is a decent weapon that takes relatively little skill to effectively wield.
German Shepard - loyal and lethal companionship, living thinking alarm bell, will instinctively assist in protection/attacking, could be trained to track game. Will gladly accept food scraps, the bones and flesh of my enemies, and pets as payment for services rendered.
Body armor - reduces risk of infection through scratches to body as well as mild protection against various weapons. Also an added insulative thermal layer for the cold. Body plate can be replaced with old thinkpads as needed
Almost nobody picks the katana. Even the people who pick it mocking the sword!
I can't really blame them because they didn't give you the option to pick the complete set for the katana to shine. If you use it with fedora you can teleport behind the zombies and kill them!
Nobody knows that the katana has this hidden skill bonus if you use it with fedora because this hidden mechanic only passed to the few chosen people in the secret society hidden under the house that people like to call "the basement"
Gas will expire eventually and you could just hotwire one of the many abandoned cars anyways, if the roads aren't blocked by said cars. Bullets will run out unless you find a gun shop, in which case you get guns anyways. Water purifying is easy enough to do without a machine.
My picks would be German Shepherd, Axe, First Aid, and Radio.
There's a reason we domesticated dogs, they are useful in so many different ways like hunting, defense, and security (and companionship). Especially German Shepherds, you can see the damage they do when used by police.
Axes are survivalist 101 and some are practically multi tools despite being simple.
First Aid because infections, zombie or not, are the real killers throughout history.
The radio's more of a gamble, but it's your best chance to find a new settlement, monke strong together and all that. Also you can maybe stay informed on what's happening in other parts of the country. (And it lets me flex my Amateur Radio License).
Depends where you live. A lot of this stuff can be acquired afterwards.
As an Aussie, firearms are very hard to come across. Also, I've never fired a gun before, so I would pick the shotgun because I know my terrible aim would be mitigated somewhat.
Water purifier. Duh.
Fire axe. Utility + weapon.
Tent. I live close to nature, so my game plan is to stock up on nonperishables and go camp for as long as I can, and hope that the zombies have thinned out by the time I need to start scavaging
Shotgun, ak-47, pistol, katana. I don't want to live long term in a zombie apocalypse, just need the firepower for a bit of fun before I go. After I run out of ammo for the shotgun and the AK, I use the pistol to kill myself - the katana is just in case I get caught short at close range
Dog, car, motorcycle, radio. Zombie apocalypses ain't shit, I live in America. One dude is gonna bite someone and get turned into pink mist by every nearby CCW dude. Those would all be cool to have when we start rebuilding in a week
First Aid Kit - Zombies are dangerous but so are infections from minor cuts and lacerations. Gotta prep for the unexpected.
Machete - Most effective and common sense weapon as all the others require some level of skill or maintenance and only the machete would be good at making pointy sticks for improvised spears.
NVGs - Something people forget about is that when the power goes out you're going to be looting some dark ass buildings even during the daytime. Stock up some batteries or a charger and looting just got so much simpler. Plus, if you hear a bump in the night, you can go looking for it without letting the neighborhood know where you are, like with a flashlight.
Water purifier - You can go approximately 3 days without water and the pipes stop working when the electricity does. That river and lake isn't safe to drink, neither is the rainwater, and do you really want to whip out your firekit and draw attention just for sippy sips?
Boring picks but I think these are the biggest bang for your buck. Everything else will take so much just to maintain that it isn't worth it. Including doggo.
I would opt for the crossbow, machete and axe then use those to commendeer better equipment. Specifically that choice of weapons because axe is useful for chopping trees, machete is a weapon that doesn't require ammo and it's a lot easier to make crossbow arrows than bullets. Also take the night vision goggles in the off chance they're the super high tech kind and not the ir lighting based kind because you'll never just "find" one of those otherwise. Then use that stuff to basically steal everything on this list and more.
Jeep: unparalleled utility. It'll die eventually, fuel is finite, but it'll let me establish.
Shotgun: need a weapon, and while not the strategically beat weapon, I have an image to maintain.
Water purifier: water.
Machete: backup weapon, infinitely useful tool, more rugged than the katana.
I think this combination gives me a good shot at establishing a base of operations, securing the area, and settling for long-term. Between the jeep and the machete, most obstacles can be overcome, and scavenging is easier and quicker. Strategically, the crossbow is probably the best weapon just due to the reusability of the ammunition, but it's not infinite and what you gain in that, you lose in ease of use, which is paramount in a stressful situation. Opting purely for usefulness, the pistol (assuming subsonic rounds and as quiet as possible) probably offers the best balance between reliability and forgivingness, but I like shotguns.
Water purifier is a pretty easy one. Gotta have water, and while most of that will come from rain or scavenging, there will inevitably be periods of literal draught. Finally, the machete. A knife, a backup weapon, a crowbar. Good for clearing small-medium vegetation. Honestly, the uses are limitless, perhaps second only to the jeep.
Honorable mentions:
Dog. If it's pre-trained, top tier. If you have to train it, mid at best plus another mouth to feed.
Any other firearm: mostly preference, each has pros and cons
Body armor: depending on the zombies, top tier (walking dead style, feral gonna bite you zombies) or reeeally not useful (anything spread by spores, fumes, fluids, etc.)
Gas mask: invert the body armor.
Motorcycle: quicker, less utility than Jeep. I wouldn't say it's the worst pick
Everything else is either marginal utility at best (cb radio, NV goggles) or easy enough to scavenge (flashlight, first aid supplies, tent, honestly everything else on the list.)
Since you can easily scavange most of these things you only need the hard to find stuff, and stuff that will help you scavange.
So body armor and the ak to keep you alive. Axe to help get into places for supplies. Jeep to haul your shit.
Drive down to dicks and load up on the rest.
Long term you need a spear and knife for weapons. A horse and cart for hauling shit. Dog for guard duty. And ways to get water and food.
So many questions like is the bullets in the gun and gasoline in jeep and batteries in flashlight? Also if yes are there any sources for more consumables?
Body armor - protection against bites
Crossbow - silent weapon, semi unlimited ammo, hunting
Machete - good weapon/tool
Fire axe - for looting abandoned buildings/emergency escapes.
Then I'd head off into the woods and start building a tree house.
Parachute cord should really be on the list, though.
I'm fine with three! Tent, Flashlight and Camera. That way I'll have the easiest way out by being the sidecharacter who gets murdered during the exposition before it all goes to shit.
Probably the handgun, body armor, jeep, and flashlight. On the first few days the jeep will offer mobility and storage, while the flashlight is necessary for maximizing the search for gear. Handgun and body armor to give you an advantage over your fellow survivors. Then acquire a boat, food, containers, and other resources and become a pirate. I might consider a fire axe or crow bar necessary if everything wasn't glass doors and easily breakable locks.
Idk about you guys, but you are legally required to have a first aid kit in your car where live, so there are plenty to salvage same is for water, there are tons of water bottles, that don't go bad in the supermarket and your water purifier is gonna break at some point, so you'll have to move to alcohol anyway.
The crossbow can be used indefinitely for hunting, the axe can be used for nearly everything, the dog is useful for hunting and protection, the ak47 is an emergency tool. There's going to be less zombies and gas in the wilderness. Why are binoculars, bicycles, and horses not on this list?
Dog if trained, water purifier, fire axe, AK (if with bullets of around 250), otherwise a flashlight AK maybe priority since I know how to make my own ammo.
First aid kit, water purifier, jeep, cb radio. I'm shit out of luck on my own so the radio is to find a survivor enclave, the jeep is to get there, the water purifier and medical supplies are to trade so they'll let me in.
Jeep, water purifier, first aid kit, katana.
Wish I could take flashlight, but it's a 5th option on the list.
No reason to take guns since rounds will be gone quickly and you'll end up with a worthless piece of metal. Chainsaw is clunky and fuel-dependent. Fire axe is also clunky and actually not that good at chopping wood - not to mention you'll make a lot of sounds while doing so. Machete is bad on both fronts. Crossbow - almost perfect, but bolts tend to break too.
Jeep adds to mobility, which is very handy. Fuel-dependent, but then again, with such mobility you can reach some gasoline. Doubles as a place to stay in extreme situations, without losing mobility, rendering it able to escape emergencies.
Water purifier will allow you to move on without acute diarrhea
First aid kit is a must in literally every survival situation. You should be able to prevent infections and restore mobility as quickly as possible
Machete, Water Purifier (provided it does not need electricity to work), German Shepherd and the tent. If the water purifier requires electricity, I'd opt for the body armor.
Stuff that requires fuel, electricity or ammo will become obsolete after a certain amount of time, so the flashlight, crossbow, motorcycle, chainsaw etc. only have limited use and become dead weight eventually. The first aid kit might help with "regular" injuries, but is likely useless against zombie bites getting infected with whatever virus is responsible for their mutation. The respirator mask is only useful if there's something dangerous in the air, and will only stay useful until the filter gets too dirty / too old and needs to be replaced.
I think a fire axe would be great to enter places and chop firewood. Shotgun just in case. If it has a couple of rounds as a deterrent. Tent to sleep in obviously. Flashlight cus dark
The guns will depend entirely on ammo. Gasoline for the vehicles will go bad eventually, a diesel truck with 4 wheel drive would be better. The radio depends on other people also having radios. Everything else can either be easily found later or can be made given enough time.
Flashlight, water purifier, respirator, and rifle (I assume with required things like ammo).
Nobody said how this plague spreads, for all we know it's in the water or Airborne. Flashlight for scavenging and because it's far more important to know if that's a pile of scrap or a Zombie than it is to stay super stealthy. And Rifle gets you everything else you need.
Two man tent,axe. and ideally a boy scouts guide and foraging books. Ideally getting myself far way from civilisation as the zombie population is probably just going grow over time
First aid kit would probably be quite useless you can't put a plaster on a deep gushing wound nor take glass out with a couple alcohol wipes
Radio for news and communication, gods gift to man the Jeep, transportation, housing, and protection, fire axe mostly as a tool and body armor, weapons will run out of ammo and I forgot the rest
My chilean nationality will suffice, would be unacceptable for such kind of natural disaster to bring down normality... worse things can happen and tomorrow I have to go uni anyways.