Wiht all the talk about AQ nuking the US in the future,how does one prepare for it?

Food? whta kind?
Water?
medicines for radiation?
Guns? I got lot of those already

what else??

See the survival forum. the answers are in it.

Paper bag to put over your head.

ETA: Prepare a living will.

Just make sure you don't break your glasses like the guy in the Twilight Zone...

Don't forget to carry a schooldesk everywhere with you to crouch under when the blast goes off.

Enlist in the Marine Corps, MOS 5711...

Survival Forum

Survival in an Urban Location After a Limited Nuclear Attack

I live in a West Coast large urban area. I am an MSEE in Applied Nuclear Physics, and although I have not worked on weapons programs, I have spent a lot of time building shielding for nuclear particle accelerators. I have read and agree with all of the survival methods in the Nuclear Warfare Survival Skills by Kearny. I have a hard copy in my BOB and copies on all of my computers. I recommend that you have a printed version of this excellent book. However many of the techniques outlined in his book would be difficult to implement in my location due to soil conditions (very hard clay, not suitable for quick hand digging), lack of timber, and most homes are built on a slab or have no basement (this is due to the water table which just pops basements out of the ground in most locations). I do believe that a nuclear war is survivable, and I particularly believe that it is survivable in the case of a limited war (like a terrorist attack with one to several weapons). In this article I will hope to share some idea’s I have had on this topic.

Typical residential housing in my local urban area is wood frame construction. The farthest distance I can get from an outside wall or roof is about 20 ft in any one direction. This will afford some protection if the fall out is very light. If I am lucky enough to be far enough away from the blast and upwind then just closing the windows and outside fans may provide sufficient protection. I keep several survey meters with me to judge this possibility. The 1 millirem to several rad type of meter is ok in this low level situation, it can be used to judge the safest area in the house and if any fallout has gotten into the house and needs to be removed. The big shortcoming of this typical meter is it will peg out, or fail to measure if the fall out gets to be a more serious issue. For this case I keep several CVD 777-2 Radiation detection kits. These have meters that go up to 500 Rads per hour, and if I find myself in a radiation field where I peg these meters out… Well I probably will not have time to remove myself to a safe shelter in any time that makes reasonable sense…and I do have the dosimeters which come with the detection kits (more on them later) that I can watch to get some idea when I might as well spend my last good breaths of life looking for that perfect lotus blossom.

With that said, there are a lot of cases in between just a little and way too much fallout that I can take steps that will greatly improve my overall survival odds.

First I would like to state that I feel that concrete is a very good radiation shield. In working with accelerators over the years, I have used concrete blocks as thin as about 3 ½ ft thick to stop 2MeV gamma rays where the radiation field on the hot side of the wall was in excess of 500 Rad/hr and the field was at background on the other side of the wall. And although some of the components of any likely fallout will have higher energy gammas, a little more concrete and distance will afford a lot of protection. And although regular concrete is not as good as loaded concrete for neutrons, I do not expect that most typical fallout will have a lot of neutron emitters, so unloaded concrete should suffice in this case also.

So in scanning the terrain around my house the only structures I see that have sufficient concrete are some older office buildings, parking structures, and some freeway overpasses. In particular there is a large community college in walking or very short driving distance from my house that has several old concrete buildings. A large concrete building is my first “real” shelter choice. I can load up the van and be on my way very quickly because my long-term bug out stuff is all sorted and pre-positioned for quick loading. I can drive quickly to the college and either get staff to allow me entrance to a building, or if no staff or people are available, I will have tools available to gain access to a building. I am not going to worry about a breaking and entering charge in fleeing from the aftermath of a nuclear attack.

The first order of business is to find an area of the building where the radiation is low enough for at least limited human visitation. Then my top priority will be to find running WATER in this area. One of the MOST important items in my stash are some large (100 gal+) water storage bladders and hose for filling them. I can carry enough food and survival gear for the 2-4 weeks I will be in the shelter, but I cannot lift and carry enough water to be comfortable for the duration. I will carry as much water as I can (probably about 60 gal), but the plan is to use building water to fill the bladders as soon as I gain access to the building. Right after an attack, the water in the cities closed water system will not have time to pick up any fallout. And although there may not be electricity to re-pressurize the water system later, there should be enough water pressure for me to fill my bladders.

In the case I am unsuccessful in filling the bladders I will need to use water that may be slightly contaminated. I have a ceramic filter, and several micron sized filters that can be used to clean up some water. However, water is the second biggest item to locate after you find a radiation shelter.

Once the water situation has been resolved (either I have lots or I am on limited rations) I will survey the building for interior locations that have sufficient concrete. This is likely to be on lower floors, in interior bathrooms, basements, or even elevator shafts. Once I have documented that the radiation level is low enough for long-term occupation (a few mrem to 20mrem/hr) I will set up a base. I will have a tent even though I am in doors, and all of the things I would need for a normal extended camping trip. I have chosen an Ipaka Kero stove for cooking simply because I can carry more heating/cooking/lighting (i.e.: multipurpose) fuel in a smaller container.

Once camp is set up. I would charge several of the Dosimeters in CD V222-2 kits and place them in SIMILAR locations near each other but in different enough places so that shocks and vibrations that they each receive will probably be different. I am VERY suspicious of these electrostatic dosimeters because they have a nasty feature of discharging when they are bumped hard, or they leak just because they are old. If you continue to get very low readings with your survey meter and one but not all of the dosimeters continue to show a reading, mark that one as BAD and do not use it anymore. Later you will want to have a known good working set of dosimeters.

Now it is time to settle in for a long, hopefully very boring, camping trip… No hikes in the woods for a while. But one task that will occupy the time is to log the activity in the fallout. I will find a location towards the outer wall where the radiation is currently about 500 mrad/hr then log the time and location. I will return to this location every hr for the next 12 hrs (or so) and log the reading. If the last of the debris has fallen this radiation should decrease, if more is falling it will increase. Once we get into a steady decline I will be able calculate the ½ life of the fallout and predict when I will be able to venture out and forage. When the levels are back to a few to 10 mrad/hr I will be able to return to my main bug out location at my house.

If I am unable to get into an enclosed structure then I would start looking for a parking structure or overpass. Many high-density housing complexes in my area have concrete parking structures with enclosed storage rooms in them. These rooms would make an excellent shelter. They are probably to far for me to make it as the roads will be jammed, but many of you might be able to access one of these locations. Likewise you may have access to an open air parking structure. If it is a multilevel structure you may find that the lowest radiation levels are not on the ground floor. By getting to the middle of the building on an midlevel floor you may be able to set up camp with lots of concrete below you to shield you from the “shine” from the fallout on the dirt around the building, and with lots of concrete on top to protect you from the fallout on the roof. You may want to enclose as large an area with plastic to keep the wind out, and thus any fallout that is still riding on the breeze. Or you may find a stairwell or elevator in the middle part of the building.

Looking at my least favorite choice, the overpass, it still has some very good features. There is lots of 1/R^2 (distance) between you and top of the overpass, and lots of concrete in the roof. If you can get an overpass with dirt on two sides even better, because now you only need to secure 2 open sides. Here you might want to find some extra automobiles and if possible some semi trailers that are loaded with freight (more mass = more shielding). You would want to position these vehicles between your camp and the open air, making as dense a wall as you can. You would want to line them up so that the gaps between vehicles are not all in a line, i.e.: no straight-line gaps to see outside.

In this open-air situation you would want to “hollow out” a small space for your camp in the middle of lots of tall, and small (to fill in under the tall). You may want to roll some vehicles over on to their sides. Remember radiation travels in a straight line, just because there is a slight air gap between the roof and the top of your shielding is not much of a problem, just don’t go sticking your head up there till the fallout activity decreases.

So in summary we have looked at several issues related to survival from a nuclear attack in an urban setting. The main issues are 1) Be ready to take as much camping, specialized tools, and rations in a very short time to an other location, 2) Look for structures which will put a lot of concrete and distance between you and the outside world, 3) Worry about water, 4) have radiation meters to determine when it is safe to return to your primary bug out location.

SPF 300,000

If terrorist hit a US city with nukes then what can you do, watch the news and say holy shit. It would be a terrible day and hopefully the rest of the country and the world would wake up. If it doesn't hit within a hundred miles or so then I'm going to work.

Put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.

Quoted: Put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye.

No, that's what you do *during* a nuclear attack.

To prepare, wash your bottom thoroughly, so it doesn't taste like poop when you kiss your ass goodbye...

what else??

Detection.

I think you bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.

ETA:  I see dport already had the idea before me.

hookers and blow

Duck and Cover (1951)

I guess I should chime in.

<-------


Assuming this is a "terrorist" incident, then it would probably be isolated  and singular in nature. The post by JarheadChiro is good, but I believe it assumes that there would be no support coming from outside the event area. This would be true in a limited scale or full scale attack, but for a single event the "hunker down and wait it out" thinking is wrong. First off, make sure you have an idea of the prevailing wind forecasts for the next day or two. This is as easy as checking weather.com or your local newspaper every night before going to bed to fix in your mid which way the wind will generally blow. Second, take heed of the aforementioned post and make sure you have as much water as you can reasonably store. Not ony are you going to drink it, but also wash with it. Immediately following an event, assuming you aren't blind or otherwise incapacitated, try to find a mode of swift transportation that will be ameniable to the disrupted urban environmnet; i.e no limos, ricers, Lamborghinis or low-riders. Helicopters, planes and SUV's are best if they run, followed by motorcycles. Bicycles are next , followed by a good pair of boots. Hightail it away from the blast zone keeping in mind which way the wind should be blowing, not what you feel at the moment. try to go opposite the wind direction, unless that takes you toward the blast zone. The idea here is to get the hell out of Dodge while limiting your time of exposure to something less than lethal. Stopping  every 30 min to wash yourself with the water you brought along will help get rid of the fallout particles that are the primary source of radiation exposure. Help and support will be on they way, you just need to get to it. This would not work in a limited or full attack scenario as the help and support infrastructure would more than likely be in the same or worse shape as your attacked area. But in a single attack scenario, you will literally be surrounded with help. Think Tom Clancy's Sum of All Fears.

This advice is given to you by someone who has participated in SIOP and government reconstitution planning, along with having experience in nuclear weapons tests.

CW

Be able to put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye.

paint yourself white to reflect the blast.

See I live About 10 miles from Seattle and many in the know say its a possible target.  if it happened while I was at home would I be out of the blast zone??

The weather makes a big difference in how fast and far the fallout will spread after the blast.

Scour the internet, you can find plenty of info on it.  Knowledge is the best thing to gather now,
so you'll know whether to hunker down for a couple days no matter where you're stuck, or make
a run for home.

Duck, cover and kiss your butt good-bye.

Kharn

Quoted: The weather makes a big difference in how fast and far the fallout will spread after the blast. Scour the internet, you can find plenty of info on it.  Knowledge is the best thing to gather now, so you'll know whether to hunker down for a couple days no matter where you're stuck, or make a run for home.

Running for home may not be the best direction. Run to the nearest help and/or means to get far away.

CW

A good sun tan lotion and a suit made of tin foil... Won't hurt to take a good showerafter and during the fallout. Your friends might stick around a little longer too.

Don't forget the hat or cap so you don't fry your brain cells.

Carry iodine tablets and take them before the fallout starts. If your skin gets boils and looks and feels like it has alot of puss. Don't pull on it.

Anything like or worst than that(skin smells funny and falls off) and you might want to save that very special bullet ( or pill)for ending that terminal medical problem.

Lot and lots of knee mail.

When Nukes are involved my plan is to sit next to a sturdy wall, put my head between my legs and kiss my ass goodbye.

.

Quoted: Wiht all the talk about AQ nuking the US in the future,how does one prepare for it? Food? whta kind? Water? medicines for radiation? Guns? I got lot of those already what else??

Same as any scenario.

Most obvious answer: Don't live near a
target.

Quoted: Most obvious answer: Don't live near a target.

yes.. indeed.

but if you do..

accept jesus as your saviour
forgive your enemiies
pay your debts
confess your sins
pray for forgivness

Quoted: Quoted: Most obvious answer: Don't live near a target. yes.. indeed. but if you do.. accept jesus as your saviour forgive your enemiies pay your debts confess your sins pray for forgivness

Action #1 takes care of 2-5

Quoted: Wiht all the talk about AQ nuking the US in the future,how does one prepare for it? Food? whta kind? Water? medicines for radiation? Guns? I got lot of those already what else??

Wendy's (Taco Bell if the Spicy Chicken is glowing too yellow that day)
Two words: Stock Ponds
Rubbers...............
Airsoft (I'll have to grab my 45 and steal one)

My red mustang, and mount some damn big horns with flames on top and play AC/DC's "Big Balls" driving around

If you must live near a target:

1. Don't die.
2. Loot like a muthafucka.
2a. Stay away from Korean markets