
Nuclear War Survival Skills (1987) [pdf] - Tomte
http://oism.org/nwss/nwss.pdf
======
cloakandswagger
I appreciate the way the book teaches the realities of nuclear war. Some
interesting things I picked up from the myth/fact section:

-Food & water isn't contaminated unless fallout particles enter into it. Thus any food/water stored in airtight containers is safe to consume.

-The US & Russia likely don't have enough nuclear firepower to kill every human being on earth (a commonly cited "fact"). This is based off of misleading calculations.

-Within a couple of weeks, fallout radiation would be reduced to the point that most people could leave their shelters.

-A bomb said to be 1,000x more powerful than the one used on Hiroshima is not 1,000x more deadly or destructive (16x more deadly is apparently more accurate)

-"Nuclear winter" is a discredited myth propagated by de-nuclearization supporters.

-Airburst nuclear weapons produce basically 0 fallout. The bomb has to burst on the surface to pick up particles of earth and debris to create fallout.

Nuclear war doesn't seem so bad now! :D

~~~
1001101
That's an interesting fact about power. Is this due to the inverse square law?

I was recently reading about Russia's new ICBM, RS-28 Sarmat 2 (Satan 2). It
is said that one could wipe out Texas or France. [1] I'm not as optimistic
about our prospects.

[1] [http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/26/europe/russia-nuclear-
missile-...](http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/26/europe/russia-nuclear-missile-
satan-2/index.html)

~~~
philipkglass
I don't know if something was lost in translation or if this ridiculous claim
is straight from the Russian government. There is no way that a missile
carrying a 100 tonne payload can "wipe out" 700,000 km^2. It wouldn't even be
able to break every window in Texas. Not even with very high yield-to-mass
ratio warheads and MIRVing.

(OTOH, just hitting the top population centers of Texas or France would be
devastating enough, so nuclear war is terrifying even after discarding the
hyperbole.)

EDIT: and the warhead mass is 10 tons, not 100. 100 tons is the mass of the
whole vehicle. That makes a lot more sense, given that this is not a Saturn
V-sized launch vehicle. It can carry up to 24 MIRVed warheads:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-28_Sarmat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RS-28_Sarmat)

~~~
tyingq
The MIRV part is the reason they are saying "Texas".

It's plausible a single rocket could launch warheads at multiple Texas cities
all at once. So most of the population vs most of the landmass.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targe...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targetable_reentry_vehicle)

Image:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targe...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targetable_reentry_vehicle#/media/File%3AMinuteman_III_MIRV_path.svg)

------
win_ini
Another Book, but from 2003, which is good to have in printed format when the
internets stops working locally: U.S. Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological And
Chemical Survival Manual -- [http://a.co/0nKTR76](http://a.co/0nKTR76)

And, a good item not generally available locally - but is a simple,
inexpensive and important remedy after an attack (keep in mind fallout may
travel by wind hundreds of miles) is having some potassium iodide pills. Edit:
get one pack per person you're trying to protect - each person needs 10 pills
(1 per 24 hours for 10 days) -- [http://a.co/eOmNJ8Z](http://a.co/eOmNJ8Z)

"Iosat Potassium Iodide has been FDA approved since 1982. Stockpiling of
potassium iodide (KI) is highly recommended by health officials worldwide to
prevent thyroid cancer of those exposed to radioactive iodine following a
nuclear reactor accident or detonation of a nuclear weapon. Radioactive iodine
can travel hundreds of miles downwind, such as it did after the Chernobyl and
Fukushima disasters. The thyroid is the only part of the body that absorbs and
stores iodine. By taking FDA approved potassium iodide prior to exposure of
radioactive iodine, your thyroid will become saturated with safe, stable
iodine. This will prevent your thyroid's absorption of any additional iodine
(radioactive or not) long enough for the radioactive iodine inhaled or
ingested to be safely dispersed through the kidneys."

(Amazon links above are NOT affiliate links, but please sign up for Amazon
Smile so Amazon will donate a portion of your product purchases to a charity
that you choose!)

~~~
acoster
In Switzerland every 10 years the government sends residents within a 50 km
radius (previously it was 20 km) from nuclear power plants a pack of iodine
pills
([https://www.naz.ch/en/themen/jod_tabletten.html](https://www.naz.ch/en/themen/jod_tabletten.html))

~~~
hansthehorse
I worked in nuclear plant operations for over 25 years and have never seen an
iodine pill.

------
Alex3917
Perfect for those who are terrified of facing the possibility of needing to
survive the nuclear holocaust, but not terrified enough to pay the $3.99 for
the updated 2001 edition.

~~~
marvin
What's new in the 2001 edition?

~~~
NegativeLatency
How to build an amateur radio from all your now useless IoT devices.

~~~
robotresearcher
They are mostly useless already. No need for war.

------
neilellis
Yeah I downloaded it last time I got paranoid about nuclear equipped super-
powers falling out with each other.

(In case of real emergency, maybe the paper version :-
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuclear-War-Survival-Skills-
Instruc...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuclear-War-Survival-Skills-
Instructions/dp/1634502973/ref=pd_sim_328_5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VPQE5Z69J1GP0G6Q68GM))

If you can put aside my prepper-paranoia then I suggest it's a good practical
and insightful read. There are many tips in there that would serve you well
during any disaster, man made or otherwise.

Don't forget to buy your geiger counter while stocks last :-)

Oh and get your copy of SAS Survival Handbook, a timeless read :-
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Definitive-
Gu...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Definitive-
Guide/dp/0007595867/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506019814&sr=1-1&keywords=sas+survival+handbook)

~~~
smhg
_remains relevant in the dangerous age in which we now live_ (Amazon
description)

Put that next to the convincing arguments Steven Pinker makes in 'The Better
Angels of Our Nature' about this being the safest times ever. Makes it sound a
bit cheap.

~~~
mulmen
The nice thing about betting against the end of the world is that if you lose
it doesn't matter.

~~~
eru
You can structure bets to make it matter. Example contract:

Optimist: pays 20 bucks to pessimist now.

Pessimist: pays 40 bucks to pessimist, if world hasn't ended in 2020.

~~~
KGIII
Whenever someone tells me that they believe the world is going to end on a
specific date, or during a specific period of time, I offer them this bet:

I will bet you my house and land against your car. If I'm right, and the world
doesn't end, you owe me your car. If I'm wrong, you can have my house and
land.

~~~
tome
You've missed eru's point.

~~~
eru
Yes, unless KGIII hands over their house now, and only gets it back plus car
the day after the predicted date of the apocalypse.

------
jasonmaydie
I'll highly recommend reading this, if just for being good conversation at
your average dinner party

~~~
yosito
I'd hate to attend a dinner party with your standards of conversation. Sounds
terrifying.

~~~
mulmen
I find this topic more interesting than whatever Kim Kardashian has been up to
ever.

~~~
jasondemeuse
Is that really your only alternative?

~~~
piyh
Don't make me pull out the Dreyfus affair

~~~
jbattle
Protip: Julia Loiuse Dreyfus is related to THAT Dreyfus, just in case you ever
need help segueing into late 19th century French history at a dinner party

~~~
htrp
source?

~~~
jbattle
just wikipedia

------
jf
The website seems to be under load, the file is 70MB! Luckily the Internet
Archive has a recent copy mirrored here:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20170903204630/http://oism.org/n...](https://web.archive.org/web/20170903204630/http://oism.org/nwss/nwss.pdf)

~~~
TACIXAT
A site dedicated to this kind of thing (to save archive.org some bandwidth) -
[http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?req=nuclear+war+survival+sk...](http://gen.lib.rus.ec/search.php?req=nuclear+war+survival+skills)

------
SubiculumCode
Thanks for the link.

I had a book once that seemed very nice. I had it as a kid and would thumb
through it. Good to know about wind patterns, how to build emergency shelters,
and such.

One emergency shelter type seemed a good plan. Did a trench 3 or four feet
wide, and so deep. Then drive a vehicle over the trench for a roof to protect
against radiation and fallout.

~~~
jessriedel
Seems a lot slower and less effective than getting into a basement. I guess it
would help if you were somehow being nuked in the wilderness.

~~~
glhaynes
We don't have basements in Texas. Which has always seemed like a bummer to me
because they sound useful, even aside from nuclear war.

~~~
jff
I would think you'd still be better off just staying in the house, especially
if you can use your garage as a decontamination zone / airlock to avoid
bringing a bunch of alpha emitters into the house.

Edit: assuming you're talking about fallout protection rather than the initial
gamma burst. For that, yeah, get as many feet of earth between you and the
source as possible; a trench will do that even without a vehicle over top.

~~~
mikeash
If there's substantial fallout around you, being indoors won't save you. You
need substantial shielding or distance between it and you for several days
until it decays enough to not pose an immediate threat.

The "distance" part is interesting. Being in the middle of a tall building can
work, because you're far enough from both the ground and the roof.

------
nabla9
TED talk: How to survive a nuclear attack by Irwin Redlener.

[https://www.ted.com/talks/irwin_redlener_warns_of_nuclear_te...](https://www.ted.com/talks/irwin_redlener_warns_of_nuclear_terrorism)

------
24gttghh
Since it's mentioned in the first sentence before the contents of the book,
and this is HN, here are some instructions for the DIY Kearny Fallout
Meter[0].

[0][http://www.abomb1.org/pdf/kfm_inst.pdf](http://www.abomb1.org/pdf/kfm_inst.pdf)

Apologies if this isn't the most recent version.

------
QAPereo
My plan for a total exchange is to be under the hypocenter of the first blast.
I don’t even want to be aware that humanity is finished, never mind try to
scrape by with Mad Max.

~~~
Clubber
Tensions were so high in the 80s, I remember me and a few other kids
discussing that very thing with a teacher in 3rd grade on the playground.
(back when kids actually had daily recess plus P.E.)

~~~
metaobject
My kids still have daily recess and PE.

~~~
Clubber
Mine have no daily recess and PE once a week. :(

------
pugworthy
For a view of what it's like to be a survivor, I'd suggest reading this
excerpt from Hiroshima Diary (1945) by Michihiko Hachiya

[https://ay12-14.moodle.wisc.edu/prod/pluginfile.php/204528/m...](https://ay12-14.moodle.wisc.edu/prod/pluginfile.php/204528/mod_book/chapter/215/Lecture09/hachiya_hiroshima.pdf)

------
pdm55
"The Atom Soldier" from US Army film archives
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5NNjzhn__w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5NNjzhn__w)

Atomic explosions filmed at 3000 frames/sec,
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvGO_dWo8VfcmG166wKRy...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvGO_dWo8VfcmG166wKRy5z-GlJ_OQND5),
collected by Greg Spriggs, a weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory [http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/A-YouTube-
playlis...](http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/A-YouTube-playlist-
like-no-other-U-S-nuke-tests-11005590.php)

------
fractal618
This guy on page 174 doesn't look like he's having too bad of a time
[https://imgur.com/gallery/ASVWM](https://imgur.com/gallery/ASVWM)

~~~
fractal618
Ps. I would like the internet to know that despite my set backs, I'm not
giving up, and I'm not afraid to fail.

------
cerealbad
nuclear war, aka the apocalypse for the religiously unaligned.

