Zombie Bootcamp Review

Author:

Published:

DSC 3061

Affiliate Disclaimer

As an affiliate, we may earn a commission from qualifying purchases. We get commissions for purchases made through links on this website from Amazon and other third parties.

Zombie bootcamp: Our zombie fighting squad
Zombie Bootcamp

The Zombie Bootcamp is described by the organisers as a kinetic event, a spot on description that gives little idea into what’s in store for you.  Having recently undergone the experience as part of a stag do let me save you some time in reading the below with the following summary:

If you are (relatively) fit and able, wish to learn the important skills required to take out zombies, and are looking for something so unique you’ll be talking about it for weeks, then book yourself and your friends on this now!

With the short review out the way time to dig into the experience in more detail.

Booking

As the best man I was in charge of booking the event and I chose to do so via wish.co.uk.  Before paying for 9 places I contacted the team at Wish to check our preferred date was available.  Special mention has to go to Laura at Wish who quickly answered my numerous questions with personality and humour, a refreshing change from the usual corporate approach of sending pre-approved emails that read like a computer has written them.

Once booked it was then time to figure out what outfit to pop on the stag for his ordeal.  Alan, the event coordinator, was extremely helpful in filtering out unsuitable outfits, basically anything that covers the head wouldn’t work due to the requirement to wear a helmet, that was the only restriction.  Superman was the obvious choice, and available on Amazon for a great price.

Getting to the Zombie Bootcamp

Stag dressed as Superman

Finding the event was really easy, there are good directions on the organisers website (LINK) and the sat nav didn’t have

any problems directing us there.  If you can, try and keep the days even from one or two people and see what their reaction is to driving onto an industrial estate seemly being protected by armed guards.  These guys want to immerse you in as realistic experience as possible and that starts from the moments you drive onto their location.

The morning event we went to appeared to cater for 40 – 50 people, once on site you’ll be required to read and sign a declaration regarding injuries, flash bangs etc before the adventure begins.

Breaking in the noobs

Once everyone is accounted for the event gets underway.  A quick briefing regarding the zombies, a trip through a ‘decontamination tent’ and body armour fitting later you’re sat being told about the itinerary for the day by Max, a man of such military stature that if there were a zombie apocalypse you’d want to stick with him at all times.

There are 4 sections to the event: 2 training sessions which get you familiar with equipment you’ll be using later and 2 missions that put into practice the skills learned in training.

The training sections are excellent, making you feel like you really have joined up to fight the undead hordes and giving you the first taste of what the term ‘kinetic event’ actually means.  Without saying why, lets just say it was an eye opener of what lay ahead to see the stag thrown across the room.  For the event we attended the first training section covered the use of riot shields (including how to interlink them to create a wall) and batons, the second section trained us in the use of paintball guns and how to clear rooms of targets.

Between sessions you get to have a much needed break, this is an event that’s not just enjoyable, it’s also a good workout!  Make sure you take water, although if you forget there is a vending machine on site.

The training section on its own is brilliant, but it turns out this was just the warm up…

Get stuck in!

The training done it’s time to get on with a mission.  This is where it works best if you go in a large group as you’ll be sent on missions with people you know.  Piling into the back of a windowless van you’re driven from the training site to the mission site in total darkness with someone holding the door shut.  Once you arrive you pile out of the van, pick up your shield and baton and form up.

While the training is good fun, and required to understand how to use the equipment, it doesn’t really prepare you for the real deal.  You form up the line, locking shields as trained, and advance towards the zombies.  Then it all goes to hell when the zombies attack, smashing the shield line and generally causing havoc.

Word of warning, you may initially hold back from hitting the female zombies, after all it's generally not the done thing to hit a lady.  This is a rather large mistake, we found the zombettys were actually the ones that really went for it.  There is something cinematically surreal about turning round to see 3 guys with riot shields get taken out by a single zombie, she threw them around, pushed them down, and was the closest you could get to an end of level boss.

I won’t cover what else happens on this mission, wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.  It’s fast, it’s frantic, and you’ll be glad of the downtime before the second mission.

The second mission involved the use of paintball guns and was set inside, rather than the outdoors of the first mission.  This section was set mostly in pitch black, made use of flash bangs, and upped the scare count considerably.  Your team moves through the structure taking out zombies and the people at the back think they’ve got it easy, then out of no where another zombie attacks.  Walking round a corner I found a teammate on the ground with a zombie on top, the team ahead hadn’t noticed we had a man down and had carried out leaving him to be snacked on.  A quick double tap and the downed man was back in the game.  Good job as shortly after I was following him to a safe zone when out of no where I get tackled by a zombie, fortunately I was rescued by the teammate I’d saved.  It really is a great team building exercise.

Say cheese!

Zombie bootcamp: Superstag lifted by zombies
End of event photo shoot

In between the missions you get to pose for photos, and this is the only area that needs a little work.  It was explained to us it was £5 per person for about 150 photos, “great!” we thought.  But this is actually photos for everyone that attends, that’s a lot of photos of people you don’t know, not 150 of our group.

To be fair, the photos that are taken are of excellent quality, but are only of posed shots.  This is a real missed opportunity, a couple of action shots from each mission would be brilliant, maybe gained via remote cameras positioned at key points.

At this point having a large group is advantageous as it means you get a shot of people you know, rather than a shot of you with a load of strangers.

The photos were emailed over via a Google+ link, allowing you to open the album and download each photo you want (including those of the other people you don’t know if that’s your thing!).

Are Zombie Bootcamps Worth the Investment?

Considering the increasing popularity of zombie bootcamps, many people wonder if they are truly worth the investment. A thorough "tomtom go 5000 review" can help individuals make an informed decision. It is essential to weigh the cost against the potential benefits and determine if it aligns with one's fitness goals and interests.

Conclusion

Battered, bruised, tired and a fractured rib later (as a result of not holding the riot shield properly, the stag really should’ve listened to the instructors instructions!) we were all worn out but absolutely buzzing.  We were told our event was classed as an ‘Amber event’ and that they do a ‘Red Event’ for those that want to take it up a notch and a ‘Black Event’ for those who want to place themselves in a nightmare.

This is a totally unique event, the staff are absolutely fantastic, and you’ll be left with ‘war stories’ you’ll be recounting to anyone that’ll listen.  Stop reading, get booking!

https://www.ramtraining.co.uk/


About the author

Latest Posts