Reviewing the fallout rules
Posted by TwentySevenAlpacas@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 58 comments
Hey all- my family and I are really worried about the possibility of nuclear fallout if things escalate. We are wondering if it makes sense to shelter in place until the half life of the radioactive particles decays enough to make it safe enough to travel, and if so- how long would you expect to wait?
I’m generally seeing online that you should wait one day before traveling but if you have all of your preps ready at home, would it make more sense to shelter in place? For context, my family is in a suburb of Sacramento so the biggest concern would be fallout from SF or Travis AFB. Thanks in advance.
WxxTX@reddit
Never travel, You have about 10min to stack books and boxes dirt on the dining table and around it, and get food and water.
Middle-Classless@reddit
Why stack on the table.... is this to keep it safe to eat off of?
WxxTX@reddit
If you have no basement its the best you can do, You lay under it for at least 3 days.
.
TwentySevenAlpacas@reddit (OP)
Are you suggesting that you stay under the dining table surrounded by boxes of dirt and books (including above you) for a couple days? Like a makeshift shelter?
CollectiveJohn@reddit
This kind of shelter is a myth. Seal your windows, vents, and doors, fill your bathtubs and sinks, and turn off your central air.
nevermindjerk@reddit
Should I have all my supplies in the house vs in the garage given the garage is not truly sealed? Or would the couple minutes of exposure in the garage grabbing supplies be minimally evasive?
Background_Wear_1074@reddit
You don't want to travel because the roads will be so congested, car crashes, etc the risk of being stuck with out shelter is too great. You need a two way ham radio and a Geiger counter and don't wait until you need them to learn how to use them. Stock up on disposable hospital gowns and shoe covers or other hazmat style disposable clothing if you can afford it. Let no one into your house without screening them for radiation first. Tape all air leaks and around doors and any poorly sealed windows. Pray the wind doesn't blow from the source in your direction and that it doesn't rain. You need a gun (a shotgun is best for home defense) and at least 2 to 3 months supply of food and water, a propane stove you can cook on, a camping lantern and fuel and candles. This is just the bare minimum. Few of us would survive an all out nuclear war. There will be no electric or water services or cellphone.
bluetuber34@reddit
While taping airflow spots keeps out radiation, wouldn’t this be also blocking oxygen if your home is small?
No_Response7182@reddit
One thing I keep thinking about it…what about my 6 year old at school? Do I wait 24 hours and then go get him? Don’t wait and go immediately? Wait longer?
TwentySevenAlpacas@reddit (OP)
Yeah I am a parent too and can’t even imagine what I’d do
MmeLaRue@reddit
If you have not already planned to relocate with your child in advance of an impending nuclear threat, then you would only be blocking up traffic by trying to get him.
The protocol for schools has historically varied. If your school has a "go-home" policy for nuclear attacks, then the kids will be advised to walk/bike/skateboard home or take the bus home as quickly as possible - dismissal will likely be immediate. If they are to be evacuated from the school to a safe location, they will conduct a roll call of children who are on those buses and at those safe locations and may be able to communicate this information to other shelters so that parents separated from them might get some relief. There may be instructions from the school beforehand, suggesting parents pack some items in their kids' school bags just in case, such as a change of clothes, their favourite toy, a small first aid kit, any necessary medicines and the prescriptions for them, toileteries, legal documents or copies thereof, etc.
68carguy@reddit
Ive thought about this too and I think there’s no way I couldn’t go to them immediately somehow.
Maleficent_Bottle679@reddit
Thank you for all the great responses
Dependent-Ad1927@reddit
Nuclear fallout? Ima get drunk and shoot guns in the nude outside
appsecSme@reddit
I think the best advice it is to put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye.
"Threads" will dispell any nonsense about surviving the wasteland like a Vault Dweller.
hope-luminescence@reddit
It's not going to be a wasteland. It's going to be pretty normal in a few weeks.
It is always more virtuous to try to live.
TwentySevenAlpacas@reddit (OP)
I used to not care if I died but since I became a parent, I now really want to be able to protect my kid.
Dependent-Ad1927@reddit
You and I gave the same advice. Mine is just more enjoyable
Virtual-Feature-9747@reddit
While this is an interesting response, I don't understand how this is helpful or popular in a prepping forum..
Tacomaguy24@reddit
Because surviving a nuclear war is unlikely and if you do it'll be miserable.
davidm2232@reddit
Why? Won't it burn? On warm autumn days I like to do this but not during a fallout event.
Dependent-Ad1927@reddit
The burn is just weakness leaving the body
davidm2232@reddit
I suppose. But if that's something you would like to do, why not just do it now?
Dependent-Ad1927@reddit
I live in Alaska. I do do it now.
davidm2232@reddit
Same in NY. They haven't made that illegal yet luckily
lizerdk@reddit
🫡
popthestacks@reddit
What’s your plan to deal with the thousands of uncontrollable fires?
Lost_inthot@reddit
Wait what
Bolt_EV@reddit
Watch the British TV movie “Threads” (1984)
Tells it like it is; more accurately than the US TV movie “The Day After”
MmeLaRue@reddit
The one element in the UK civil defence materials and media that distinguishes it from that produced from the US (or even in Canada), is the lack of muscle memory in preparedness. Americans and, to some extent, Canadians are familiar with the old "Duck and Cover" mantra, for example. The information about nuclear deterrence, nuclear fallout and civil defense has been drilled into us to such an extent from the 1950s into the 1980s that even now most of us would know what to do and would do it without a second thought.
The UK never embarked on that level of civil defence preparation; its own office of Civil Defence was disbanded in 1968 and a decade later, the budget allocated for civil defence measures equaled 50p per capita, in a country at the time with a population of 40 million. In the US, it was promised that governments would be able to muster resources to provide help and to guide recovery efforts. In the UK, no such promise was ever made.
D1rtyH1ppy@reddit
Sac would be completely destroyed. No one would be alive to shelter in place.
hope-luminescence@reddit
It may be anywhere from not at all to about two weeks.
Ideally you have a good radiation meter (many radiation meters that are fine for science and detecting contaminated food are no good for intense life-threatening radiation). If not... Hopefully public authorities will radio when it is safe.
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
I would recommend you watch this video on the subject. It explains your options, from best to worst, in this situation.
Note that this video is from Canadian Prepper but he is talking with an expert on this subject.
appsecSme@reddit
Sure, other than cancer.
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
Cancer from Radiation takes many years to form. That is why they tell people older than 40 years old to not even bother with Potassium IODIDE.
appsecSme@reddit
OK, great then. I kind of want to live many years, and even be cancer free when I die.
I also think that the studies from Fukushima and Chernobyl, are not completely relevant to the amount of radiation you might receive from nuclear weapons. Also, there are many other forms of cancer than thyroid cancer.
TheSensiblePrepper@reddit
If a Nuclear Weapon was to go off close enough to you that the radiation is something for you to be concerned about, you have more immediate concerns than dying old and cancer free.
Because the Radiation from a Nuclear Weapon is very different then the kind from a Nuclear Meltdown.
Look up how many people died from Radiation in Japan when those first two nuclear bombs were dropped and compared that to both Chernobyl and Fukushima. Very few people died from Radiation Poisoning in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Absolutely and almost all of them take several years to form.
lysdexic_speedreader@reddit
Howdy neighbor. My plan would be to sit tight and shelter in place; assuming we're able too.
Sweet-Leadership-290@reddit
Two weeks is considered sufficient. See the 7-10 rule
https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gory-details/nuclear-attack-theres-no-avoiding-brutal-math
ResolutionMaterial81@reddit
10 kt??
From the data I have, the Russian Strategic ICBM inventory contains from 800 kt to as little as 100 kt....& over 1,000 of these.
Afraid-Service-8361@reddit
airbrush 2 weeks possibly groundnuts
1000 years
pickled nuclear bomb 100,000 years
depends on if the opposing forc3s want a permanent glow for the survivors or just wants to tenderize them a little
you won't know till it's too late anyways so
dig in minimum 2 weeks
limit outside exposure and dust for a year afterwards have fun and when the cockroaches get full size and fly try aiming for the wings w a shot gun since headsets don't slow them down if we can keep them on the ground they taste like chicken sorry serious subject but I love the fallout premise
ResolutionMaterial81@reddit
Best not to guess....7/10 is a "rule of thumb" & doesn't take into account LOTS of variables.
With that in mind; best to have radiological detection equipment capable of measuring Alpha/Beta/Gamma, CBRN PPE, a decent knowledge base, radiological meds, a 1000+ PF Fallout Shelter, etc.
HazMatsMan@reddit
Nuclear weapon fallout, doesn't have a half-life in the traditional sense because it's an ever-changing mixture of dozens of elements, all with their own half-lives. So, a rule of thumb called the 7-10 Rule of Thumb was created to approximate how quickly the radiation decreases. It states:
For every 7-fold passage of time, the intensity of the radiation will decrease by a factor of ten. This means if you measure the radiation levels at say, 1 hour after fallout arrives then measure it again 7 hours later, it will be 1/10th as intense. After another 7-fold amount of time (49 hours) it'll be 1/100th, after another 7-fold... which is 343 hours or \~2 Weeks, it'll be 1/1000th.
Unfortunately, if you don't know what the radiation levels are at any point... there's no way to know if it's safe enough to travel. In which case you should wait the full 2 weeks.
CarelessOrder5150@reddit
Here's the catch, in Sac we would have 3 main exits, when, not if, when they "clog" your either on foot or staying in the valley. I personally would rather bail than be stuck.
emp-cme@reddit
"We are wondering if it makes sense to shelter in place until the half life of the radioactive particles decays enough to make it safe enough to travel..."
Yes. How long depends on how much fallout. You need some type of Geiger counter, and awareness of weather patterns to know if you're actually downwind of any sites hit. Also, probably the only way to know would be radio, so having something in a Faraday cage would be needed. If anyone in your group is under 40, get potassium iodide tablets (look for iOSAT) to help prevent thyroid cancer down the road. Some govt guides:
BE PREPARED FOR A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION
Hour Nuclear Response Guidance
Emergency Preparedness & Response | NRC.gov
acesss-_-@reddit
Considering we are on the verge of a all out nuclear war thx to mr biden hes he wants you guys to get turned into radioactive dust
WahooPlus@reddit
Lol grow up
acesss-_-@reddit
I am grown up it’s politics simple just stating the facts broski.
WahooPlus@reddit
Haha lol I was just joking too
Don't be so defensive
acesss-_-@reddit
Defensive when was i being defensive good sir just said don’t take it to heart like the rest of these snowflakes😉😂
WahooPlus@reddit
My reply was a parody of your reply
Backsight-Foreskin@reddit
Sure, Jan.
acesss-_-@reddit
Approving Ukraine to fire rockets into Russia and then Russia making changes to its nuclear doctrine what could go wrong hopefully we get to jan✌️
Huge_Wonder5911@reddit
First 72 hours would be critical to not be outside. You could travel afterwards but just decontaminate as much as possible. Travis AFB would get hit with both air and surface blasts so you would have considerable fallout (depending on the prevailing winds). Personally, I keep 72 hours worth of supplies at work just in case the SHTF and I am working (the most likely scenario)…if you want to run a scenario: https://www.nuclearwarmap.com/targetlist.html Depending on where you live in Sacramento, it may not matter
CTSwampyankee@reddit
You get a measuring device so you can make informed decisions
call116@reddit
In general 14 days is sufficient to wait for radiation levels to reach acceptable levels.
Sweet-Leadership-290@reddit
THIS SHOULD PROVE HELPFUL
Understanding the Basics About Radiation
https://remm.hhs.gov/remm_RadPhysics.htm
thebendystraww@reddit
Yea first few days are the most toxic. If you have no reason to leave your house, stay inside as long as you can