

Nuclear war survival skills (1987 Edition) - MikeCapone
http://www.oism.org/nwss/

======
hga
This book is filled with expedient nuclear war survival technology and
techniques, developed at Oak Ridge and all tested for real (e.g. the
instructions for shelters were handed to a semi-random family who'd then try
to follow them, with the researchers video taping the whole thing, using this
sort of process to iterate the instructions and designs). Some of the stuff
has been tested in simulated nuclear blasts, others in suitable radiation
fields, and the shelters are simple X feet of dirt provides a Y protection
factor.

These are _expedient_ , for people who have ~ 24-48 hours of warning before
the heavy fallout hits (although there are also blast shelter designs, but
it's best to get far enough away that that's not likely an issue).

There's also a lot of good advice that's useful for other types of
emergencies, like where you might have to survive on mostly wheat for some
period of time (how to prepare it, how to sprout it to get the vitamins you
need, etc.) As Bruce Clayton said in his own survival book (which advised
getting this one first), if you're prepared to survive a nuclear war you're
pretty much prepared for any lessor threat.

 _Highly_ recommended.

~~~
MikeCapone
Thanks for the overview. This is one of the things I love most about HN.
Sometimes I see something that seems interesting linked, I click and see it's
very long and I'm not sure I should read it. Then I go check the comments and
there's usually a comment like this one that helps me decide if I should or
not.

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hugh3
Might not be worth reading the whole thing, but the first couple of chapters
are interesting enough.

I've never been sure why so many people make fun of the old "Duck and Cover"
campaign. Sure, it won't help those within the immediate vicinity of the bomb
much, but there's a certain donut-shaped area where you're a hell of a lot
better off ducking and covering than not ducking and covering.

~~~
madair
Well I know that the thing that I'm making fun of is 40 years of schoolkids,
including myself...IN AUSTRALIA, no less...reminded frequently in school to
live in fear from terror falling from the skies of bullshit enemies designed
exclusively for their ability to provide 50+ percent of our tax dollars to the
military complex.

That's quite a funny joke if you think about it.

~~~
cturner
It's easy to trivialise things after the fact, but it is not irrational to
fear nuclear war or authoritarian states.

Australians are taxed far too much, but have never been taxed at 50% in a time
far I know of. Perhaps during wartime.

What do you mean when you say 'designed exclusively'. Surely not that
nationalist authoritarian states with nuclear weapons and decades of stand-off
are the result of an Australian government conspiracy to give night terrors to
children?

~~~
MikeCapone
"provide 50+ percent of our tax dollars to the military complex."

I think he meant that a lot of his tax dollars went to the military (or maybe
he was talking about Americans?), not that he was taxes at a rate of 50%.

~~~
hugh3
The top Australian tax rate is near-as-dammit to 50% (47% last I checked, plus
1.5% "because we can" levy). I think the great-grandparent was implying that
50% of his taxes went to the military though, which is completely false; it's
closer to eight percent.

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MikeCapone
I want to give credit where credit is due; I found this manual because it was
linked on Michael Anissimov's blog:

[http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2010/04/dispe...](http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/blog/2010/04/dispelling-
stupid-myths-about-nuclear-war/)

------
Mc_Big_G
Here's a link to a pdf and another pdf guide from FEMA since you probably
won't have reliable internet access in a nuclear attack.

[http://www.nukepills.com/docs/nuclear_war_survival_skills.pd...](http://www.nukepills.com/docs/nuclear_war_survival_skills.pdf)

<http://www.nukepills.com/docs/FEMA_Nuclear_War_Survival.pdf>

~~~
hga
Be very careful with anything that was written by bureaucrats inside the
Beltway instead of the results of the research at Oak Ridge (this book). Much
of what came from there will get you killed, as detailed in NWSS, e.g. through
inadequate ventilation resulting in too great a heat buildup.

But your general point is well taken; get hardcopy today, and it's a very good
idea to get the official NWSS book since the scaling from a copier or
electronic printer will throw off the calibration of the Kerney Fallout Meter
(a electroscope radiation meter that you make out of aluminum foil (for the
electroscope leaves) and a can (plus desiccant and a few other odds and
ends)).

------
arethuza
Not exactly something I was expecting to find any humor in - but have a look
at "Night scene in a trench shelter without light."

~~~
sesqu
This in chapter 11.

