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How long would you and your family survive?

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Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Cliffnotes: All in all, we're much, much better off than most people.
Click to expand...
I wish I can be content with what you have, I hate this socialistic and materialistic society, but damn it, I can't leave it.
 
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
We could make it a long time. We live in the country so we have lots of food around (pantry and deep freezer usually full), a generator (though we don't currently have much fuel on hand), 1500 gallons of fresh water at all times in a holding tank and a well that we can run off the generator (and we could get water out of the creeks and ponds and sanitize it if we had to). We have a rifle and shotgun, though we're currently almost out of ammo. The main problems I foresee in a disaster that would cut us off from the rest of the world would be me running out of Zyrtec (have a couple months' supply, it keeps me from having constant hives that could potentially cut off my airway), and not having enough ammo. We're ok for water, food, and heat (use a woodstove almost exclusively and have used it for cooking on on many occasions during extended power outages.) Having a supply of gas and diesel would make things nicer, and having more ammo would make hunting much more productive. I have enough garden seeds leftover from gardening last year that I could garden indefinitely (I could save seeds from crops from year to year) and we have an orchard (apples, plums, asian pears, cherries, kiwifruit, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, blueberries, lingonberries) along with native foods we could gather from our forest. If I have twenty or thirty gallons of diesel, I can keep my greenhouse running through the winter and keep cool season crops growing in there. We have chickens (9 hens and a rooster), so we have plenty of eggs to eat and could let the hens set nests once in awhile to get chicks that would make some fine eating after they grew large enough. I even have a banana tree, pomegranite tree, eight coffee trees, and three citrus trees (lemon, lime, orange) growing indoors. A neighbor has a bunch of goats, so we could probably find a way to barter for a breeding pair and end up with goat's milk and kids to raise for meat. We plan on stocking our pond with trout fry in the next year, so we'll be able to fish on our own place in the not too distant future.

Cliffnotes: All in all, we're much, much better off than most people.
Click to expand...

with fallout and stuff, depending on where you are, you might not even half half of what you think you do.

how far can fallout travel?
 
I currently live well within the 100% mortality zone of a primary population target so really won't have to worry about this.

Assuming I was downstate with my family, I could make it quite a while. Lots of canned goods, I always have extra diesel/gasoline stored, and an adequate supply of water for at least couple weeks (neighbors have wells nearby also). My sizable gun collection and over 20,000+ rounds of ammunition also resides there.
 
Originally posted by: pontifex
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
We could make it a long time. We live in the country so we have lots of food around (pantry and deep freezer usually full), a generator (though we don't currently have much fuel on hand), 1500 gallons of fresh water at all times in a holding tank and a well that we can run off the generator (and we could get water out of the creeks and ponds and sanitize it if we had to). We have a rifle and shotgun, though we're currently almost out of ammo. The main problems I foresee in a disaster that would cut us off from the rest of the world would be me running out of Zyrtec (have a couple months' supply, it keeps me from having constant hives that could potentially cut off my airway), and not having enough ammo. We're ok for water, food, and heat (use a woodstove almost exclusively and have used it for cooking on on many occasions during extended power outages.) Having a supply of gas and diesel would make things nicer, and having more ammo would make hunting much more productive. I have enough garden seeds leftover from gardening last year that I could garden indefinitely (I could save seeds from crops from year to year) and we have an orchard (apples, plums, asian pears, cherries, kiwifruit, strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb, blueberries, lingonberries) along with native foods we could gather from our forest. If I have twenty or thirty gallons of diesel, I can keep my greenhouse running through the winter and keep cool season crops growing in there. We have chickens (9 hens and a rooster), so we have plenty of eggs to eat and could let the hens set nests once in awhile to get chicks that would make some fine eating after they grew large enough. I even have a banana tree, pomegranite tree, eight coffee trees, and three citrus trees (lemon, lime, orange) growing indoors. A neighbor has a bunch of goats, so we could probably find a way to barter for a breeding pair and end up with goat's milk and kids to raise for meat. We plan on stocking our pond with trout fry in the next year, so we'll be able to fish on our own place in the not too distant future.

Cliffnotes: All in all, we're much, much better off than most people.
Click to expand...

with fallout and stuff, depending on where you are, you might not even half half of what you think you do.

how far can fallout travel?
Click to expand...

Eh, most natural disasters, we're going to be better off than most people. Nobody's immune to nuclear fallout. Everyone's screwed where that's concerned.
 
whos the war with?

The Russians or Chinese? Then there are no survivors, they'll nuke every inch of ground in the country
French could to now that I think of it (at least the US), as could North Dakota

I'd be screwed anyways, fallout moves east through the jetstream, no hope for New England

Supplies wise, they'd all be stolen as we have no guns

Hope I don't get nuked
 
Originally posted by: effowe
Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Originally posted by: effowe
Well I live in a big city prime for a nuke attack, so even if I somehow survived the initial blast, I would definitely get radiation poisoning and die shortly thereafter. How big of a radius would a nuclear/hydrogen bomb leave, with todays bombs?
Click to expand...

http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/gmap/hydesim.html
Click to expand...

Fixed, ok so I wouldn't get hit by the initial blast if they set it off in Downtown Chicago, which would be the prime target, but I have done no stockpiling so I'd be out of luck.
Click to expand...

That simulation assumes a yield of 100KT. Anything coming from Russia will be 500KT to a couple MT which vastly increases the damage area. If China you can figure on 3-5MT. Radiation would also be at lethal levels and huge swaths of the city outside the worst blast damage ignited by the prompt thermal radiation would burn uncontrolled.
 
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Originally posted by: pontifex
with fallout and stuff, depending on where you are, you might not even half half of what you think you do.

how far can fallout travel?
Click to expand...

Eh, most natural disasters, we're going to be better off than most people. Nobody's immune to nuclear fallout. Everyone's screwed where that's concerned.
Click to expand...

Start taking your potassium iodide.
 
Originally posted by: SacrosanctFiend
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
Originally posted by: pontifex
with fallout and stuff, depending on where you are, you might not even half half of what you think you do.

how far can fallout travel?
Click to expand...

Eh, most natural disasters, we're going to be better off than most people. Nobody's immune to nuclear fallout. Everyone's screwed where that's concerned.
Click to expand...

Start taking your potassium iodide.
Click to expand...

You're a nurse, right? I'm allergic to betadine and have had problems when using iodine for water sterilization while camping in the past. Do you think that stuff would fark me up? I guess it couldn't be worse than the radiation, though.

We're not living this way because we're survivalists, so we haven't bought stuff like that. If we were, I'd put my hands on some antibiotics in addition to the potassium iodide.
 
Originally posted by: effowe
Originally posted by: JeffreyLebowski
Originally posted by: effowe
Well I live in a big city prime for a nuke attack, so even if I somehow survived the initial blast, I would definitely get radiation poisoning and die shortly thereafter. How big of a radius would a nuclear/hydrogen bomb leave, with todays bombs?
Click to expand...

http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/gmap/hydesim.html
Click to expand...

Fixed, ok so I wouldn't get hit by the initial blast if they set it off in Downtown Chicago, which would be the prime target, but I have done no stockpiling so I'd be out of luck.
Click to expand...

Ok, from a terrorist attack, fine. But if you're looking at an all out Nuclear attack, it gets a little grim. Chances are Chicago would be hit with multiple warheads, at a guess, probably between 10 and 100 of them. Smaller for sure, but a nice blanket effect on the whole area.

Consider this: Each of the warheads that will hit will likely be ten to fifty times as powerful as what hit Hiroshima or Nagasaki. In those 2 strikes, ~200,000 people died. Total people living in the area? ~500,000. Nearly half the population of the area died from a single strike, with only the tenth of the power of a modern weapon.

And those are just small warheads in the modern arsenal. The big weapons can be as much as a thousand times more powerful than Hiroshima. They are likely only reserved for big targets. (like Chicago) If you're caught in the open within 30 miles of a blast, you will likely receive fatal burns.

Here's a llink to a simulation using the strength of the largest weapon ever tested in the atmosphere. Tsar Bomba. 50 megatons. Dropped from a bomber, and they cheaped out on it's design, changing one of the materials in its construction would have upped its power considerably.


/was fascinated by this stuff as a kid. Cold war scared the hell out of me.

 
Originally posted by: nweaver
Originally posted by: deerslayer
Originally posted by: Mr Incognito
It's funny how you all assume it won't impact near you. Not much to do after a nuclear fallout, I think I would just join the zombies and eat brains.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Don't you have to survive the blast(s) before you worry about surviving the aftermath?
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I'm probably far enough away to be OK...unless they nuke the Toole army depot (which they might), then I would probably get rad poisening pretty quick. Other then that, the AF base near me is a more minor one (no first/second strike bombers iirc) and is far enought away I would probably be OK.

My inlaws are 30 miles from the closest gas station (also where they go to get the mail). The would probably survive the blast 😉
Click to expand...

If they nuke Tooele, they'll also take out Hill AFB...and If Tooele goes, what's gonna happen to all that nerve gas stored there? Will it vaporize into a harmless compound, or will it be released and take it's own toll on the surrounding countryside?
 
I live about 25 miles north of a major city (Philadelphia) so my main concern would probably be fallout. My frist priority would be to make a fallout shelter in my basement. After that's done, I'd go and gather all the food and water I can find and hunker down. There are 3 cars at my house, all with full gas tanks (most of the time) so I could leave if needed when the fallout dies down a bit. Not a great plan, but it's a start. 😛

 
Originally posted by: Bryophyte
You're a nurse, right? I'm allergic to betadine and have had problems when using iodine for water sterilization while camping in the past. Do you think that stuff would fark me up? I guess it couldn't be worse than the radiation, though.

We're not living this way because we're survivalists, so we haven't bought stuff like that. If we were, I'd put my hands on some antibiotics in addition to the potassium iodide.
Click to expand...

Medical school dropout, so take anything I say with a grain of salt. If you are allergic to Iodine, KI is most likely fine for you to take. However, if you have an Iodide allergy, KI will do more harm than good. Since Betadine is topical, I'm inclined to think you have an Iodine allergy. Again, huge grain of salt.
 
According to Jericho, I'll never run out of gasoline, so I should be able to go anywhere I want! 😀
 
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