tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569971501728849222.post3337119704441090469..comments2023-10-29T03:55:21.701-07:00Comments on Staying Alive: AND MORE ON THE FUTUREStaying Alivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12833293437407206880noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569971501728849222.post-60320131130907882572008-08-06T08:12:00.000-07:002008-08-06T08:12:00.000-07:00Couple years go I was looking at some property wit...Couple years go I was looking at some property with a cave on it seeing the potential but I was late a contract was written the same day and the property was sold.scoutinlifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01287406485832209715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2569971501728849222.post-43669405587238515562008-08-03T18:13:00.000-07:002008-08-03T18:13:00.000-07:00A few words about, first, nukes and fallout. If yo...A few words about, first, nukes and fallout. If you are even within<BR/>eyeball distance of the 'fireball' when a nuke pops, you are in a<BR/>world of hurt. If you ACTUALLY see the fireball, you are likely dead.<BR/>Neutrons are utterly unforgiving, and seeing the fireball means that<BR/>the neutrons can 'see' you. Toast. Your only hope, if one pops within,<BR/>let's say, 20 miles, is that you do NOT see it, and that you have<BR/>something like a very large hill or small mountain between you and the<BR/>fireball. Most likely, this will stop the neutrons. Barring a major<BR/>hill, a whole bunch of masonry may stop the neutrons.<BR/><BR/>Then comes the fallout. This starts immediately. Everything that the<BR/>bomb blast sucked up into the fireball gets irradiated by the neutrons released in the blast, turning the detritus into radioactive daughter products. The heaviest stuff falls out quickly, the less heavy stuff less so. The closer to ground zero, the nastier the radiation will be, and the longer lived it will be. As you move away, downwind, from ground zero, the resulting fallout will be lighter and the radiation of the less penetrative and less lethal varieties.<BR/><BR/>After 100 miles or so downwind, the stuff falling out will have significantly less penetrative (and thus less lethal) radiation, and<BR/>the 'half life' of the radiation in the fallout shortens significantly, to the point that a week (or less) under cover will reduce the effective radiation to little or nothing.<BR/><BR/>Water itself remains water, harmless. However, very light-bodied fallout can be suspended in water, and taking fallout internally, even after many half lives, is NOT healthy. So, at least rudimentary filtering, even something as simple as a 5-gallon bucket of sand with a layer of fairly fine screen in the bottom and some holes to let the filtered water out will do wonders.<BR/><BR/>Even though it may be (relatively) safe to go outside, 100 miles<BR/>downwind, a week after the blast, there are still radioactive<BR/>particles everywhere. Therefore, do NOT wear your 'outdoor' shoes into<BR/>your shelter. Likewise, it would serve you well to shed your outer<BR/>clothes as well as your shoes at the portal.<BR/><BR/>Do NOT eat anything from 'outside' that was exposed to fallout, unless<BR/>it is painstakingly rinsed. Canned food, anything sealed, is<BR/>impervious to fallout-- presuming it was not exposed in direct line of sight to the blast, which would have exposed it to neutrons.<BR/><BR/>But, again, if you are close enough to the blast to receive neutrons,<BR/>you and anything outside is in a world of hurt. Most likely, if you<BR/>survive at all, you will be enormously sick for some time.<BR/><BR/>It is mentioned in the blog that underground is the best bet. And this is fact. And the 'more' underground you are, the better off you will be.<BR/><BR/>But there are wrinkles to underground. Even shelters which are dug have a habit of being dank, damp places, and this is very hard on steel and other metals. That is, storage containers, ammunition,<BR/>firearms, other standard items of survival. Food not airtight-sealed<BR/>mildews rapidly, and some fungi are as lethal as radiation. Rusty<BR/>firearms and corroded ammunition and even simple tools are far less<BR/>serviceable, if they remain serviceable at all.<BR/><BR/>Caves and deep underground bunkers are even more likely to be very<BR/>dank, damp, dripping places. ANY underground storage must be done with fine attention to keeping the items dry and protected.<BR/><BR/>If you do tunnel, and you anticipate any chance of an actual nuclear explosion within a few miles of you, it would serve you well to 'cofferdam', or build a passage in with at least two 90-degree bends.<BR/>Mike KempUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04460733704431422447noreply@blogger.com