Gas Mask prices are jumping to 10 times what they were 3 weeks ago. Average Joe Q Public that has half a clue is wanting to be prepared for the unexpected.

Here is my question... What ever happened to the Civil Defense Program? It seemed to be full swing in the 50's, and then dwindled off in the 70's, and was non-existant in the 80's.

Today most people in the younger generation, don't know what the Civil Defence program was.

Israel supplies it's citizens with civil defense "kits" and instructions on sealing off their home in case of biological or chemical attack. Each new home constructed must have a room that falls within building code that has no immediate access to a outside wall, etc. This is very wise in my opinion.

Will the events that have unfolded around us bring back a Civil Defense Plan that will give citizens half a clue as to the reality of working together as a community, and acting in a responsable way toward the threat of NBC warfare?

Maybe our tax dollars could pay for something usefull for a change? Instead of paying the wages of politicians that take away our rights as individuals, maybe those dollars could be used to place some power in the hands of the people for a change.

Rant Off.

_
FS

This is the NEW America and we don't need it anymore. We are the USA and have NO worries about such things.
Sad ain't it.

I can't remember how long the filter is good for once exposed to air, but the NBC suits the U.S. Army issues is good for 3 days once it is taken out of the package.  We threw hundreds of them in the dumpsters when we left Saudi after the Gulf War.  If you buy replacement filters for a mask make damn sure the package they are in have not been compromised.

Peace Dividend!

in the film "DAWN OF THE DEAD" the survivors land on a shopping center,and in the "attic" area,there are hundreds of boxes marked "CIVIL DEFENSE" they use the supplies and stay put for a while.

Alright! I'm only a few miles from a mall! Now I know where to go.

Be careful schnacke,
after a few months a horde of bikers will loot the mall,and open the gates for the zombie army.
Make sure to secure the gunshop before then.
Feel free to use the VW coup near the foodcourt,for safer movement around the lower floor.

Beats me what happened.

When I was a kid growing up in the 50's our radios had 2 CD "delta" markings on the dial showing you where to tune.

Also many buildings were similarly marked with the CD "delta" markings.

(Important Note: in this context CD does not stand for Compact Disk....)

Does anyone else remember "duck and cover" drills as late as 1968-69? I was a first-grader then and seem to remember being told not to "look at the flash" and to cover my head and neck with my hands, and my dad had CD supplies in the house. I remember biscuits and water that came in these OD tin cans.... and he had this radiation meter thingy that looked like a fountain pen. Ring a bell?

There was all sorts of stuff. Plans for building bomb shelters, etc. We never had the radiation meter you are talking about. Probably didn't matter since my family lived about 30 miles as the crow flies from Washington DC. We probably would have been FRIED!

Why worry, the Govt will protect all of us. [rolleyes]

This subject reminds me of when I worked in the Pentagon back in the mid 80's.  I saw civil defense closets a few places in the Pentagon.  Opened a few up (I had a key) and found cool old Geiger counters and other stuff.  

I was in 1st grade in 1968 and I remember all the duck and cover crap. What a joke that was. The only good thing about it was it was a good position from which to shoot peas and such from our pea shooters.

My take on civil defense is that it was a big joke, merely designed to make people "feel" better but not actually accomplish much else.  All the "duck and cover" drills were setup to make people feel patriotic and secure in the notion that they were still the masters of their own fates and so forth.  Nothing could have been further from the truth then or now.

Over at LewRockwell.com they had some articles about how the federal government had all kinds of plans for saving itself and imposing authoritarian rule (complete with the surviving citizens acting as slaves) in the event of a nuclear war.  The point was that bureaucracies defend themselves while the citizens are hung out to dry.  We are expendable.  Which is obvious to anyone who has ever had their door kicked in by the BATF, but I digress.

Civil defense like the submarine watchers in the movie "1941" (y'know, the ferris wheel guys?) makes slightly more sense, I guess.  Hollywood typically portrayed them as idiots though.

Troy is absolutely right--without the proper training and all kinds of equipment, you can't defend yourself against chemical and bio weapons.  Luckily, their effectiveness is limited to their dispersion method and a crop duster with a 100gal. tank just isn't that big of a threat.  They would need jets flying in formation to accomplish anything big. Think Agent Orange in Vietnam.  This crop duster thing is just another scare tactic.  

Poisoning a water supply or food supply would be much easier, more effective, and harder to defend against.  NYC's water supply comes from big resevoirs upstate.  I always hoped that upstate would someday revolt and cut off NYC's water.  :-)