Fallout For Real - Could You Handle It?

[TheGadget1945]

There was a book I read in high school (many years ago) that described this scenario. Believe it was called "on the beach".

 

In the book nuclear war wiped out the northern hemisphere and no bombs fell below the equator. Australia became the center of commerce and manufacturing and military and such. Using submarines they would cruise around the northern hemi looking at coastal cities for signs of life. Some of the hardier plants were still growing (pines and maples type thing) and grass eventually grew. Some wildlife was still seen occasionally. No humans. Eventually (over years) the radiation did spread south following odd wind areas and high altitude winds and radiated water in places like the gulf of mexico. At the end of the book everybody dies from global radiation poisoning.

 

The book was written in like the 50's so a few things have changed tech wise since then but the theory is still sound.

 

It was made into a great movie in 1959 and a bad remake a few years ago.

 

[HeyYou]

Earth Abides was an excellent book, and even though it was written quite some time ago, still, I think it gave a pretty accurate picture of how things would go over the course of a couple generations. In that book, 99% of the human race was wiped out by a plague. So, no radiation to worry about.

[Fkemman11]

Just though this was funny. :happy:

[TheGadget1945]

This is an interesting video about what would happen if Humans suddenly disappeared from the Earth.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy7Q6wazD_E

[ReaperTai]

This is an interesting video about what would happen if Humans suddenly disappeared from the Earth.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy7Q6wazD_E

There was a whole series on history channel about life after people few years ago.

 

http://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people?gclid=Cj0KEQjwxbDIBRCL99Wls-nLicoBEiQAWroh6kD-rUqeCaCi0sZL-mG0Iu2oMJ-KmfZDSCzfqyNaQXMaAtNC8P8HAQ&&cmpid=paidsearch_G_Life+After+People&s_kwcid=AL!4850!3!138350419411!e!!g!!life%20after%20people&ef_id=WGVqBwAAAJxZv2mW:20170505201041:s

[kevbal]

The doomsday scenario is a passion of mine so much to the level that everyone in my family including my old lady rolls their eyes when the topic gets triggered, and believe me when I tell you, EVERYTHING triggers the topic. First we have to understand the event... We are talking about a post-nuclear event here... We know that depending on your location and distance from the detonation you are either instantly screwed or you are going to be waiting a while to surface.

 

So lets assume you are in an area that just has to deal with the fallout and not the actual blast radius. Your shelter time is approximately 72 hrs depending on weather conditions. This is 72 hrs before you can surface in PROTECTIVE gear. Hazmat suite or gladbags and duct tape and a respirator. once you are bale to surface thats when your fight for survival begins. finding clean food, water, medicine. we know for absolute certainty there wont be any death claws or rad scorpions. If nuclear radiation caused massive mutations Godzilla and the Hulk would be real.

 

Assuming you can survive living off of salvaged nutrients for the next 20 years you can being cultivating your soil and harvesting GRASS. Grass is our planets universal source of nutrients and can be converted into alcohol, paper, cloth, and food. Now 20 years is again assuming a lot as science cannot say for certain exactly how long it takes. The time has always varied depending on the type of nuke, the amount of nukes, and proximity to the epicenter. So we stay with my ideal distance, 72hr surfacing clock and 20 years till rebuild.

 

Would I survive and how? At the first sign of danger my bug out bags are always packed and ready to go. My immediate family proceeds to one of several mines around my home. My ideal mine has recently been purchased so acquiring said mine will depend on its status. If i can occupy the mine without having to move through security im set with clean water, soil and an infinite supply of mushrooms as well as working golf carts. If I am forced to take shelter in a public fallout shelter I will undoubtedly kill every person in that shelter to preserve the resources for MY family.

 

Murder is serious but when you know what it takes to survive, what risks are on the table the last thing you want is to be in the mercy of a stranger.

 

There is always details, you could write fricking book with the amount of information someone would need to survive this event but thats about it for this post. Will include the content of my bug out bags

 

4 bags, each with 1 20X20 tarp, 5 emergency water pouches, water tablets, dried food rations for 5 days, fuel & ignition sources( vary because im always adding more lighters/matches flint) sewing kit, field knife, 100 rounds .40cal ammunition, 200 rounds .22L, 100 rounds .380, 100 rounds 9mm thats min each bag, 2 days cloths, and toilet paper lol. Then my wife and I carry our arms. Each bag weighs about 50lbs... might be a struggle for our boys to carry their bag but they will or they are SOL.

[PoorlyAged]

For over four decades now, I have been involved in a very small group that has delved into this subject. The best scenario we have come up with for a survivable nuclear exchange was a small scale exchange in the Middle East. But even that would have some dire consequences in the Northern Hemisphere. But the main topic of our discussions (after Scotch and bud) is "How do you survive".

 

The first option is the Prepper's strategy. These people have a strategy which involves holing up with a stockpile of food and water. The problem with a stockpile, is that it is too much to carry away and far too much to abandon. They are literally bound to these stockpiles and will remain bound to them until their hungry neighbors beat down their doors or bury them in place. And for those who say that they can defend their stockpile, two questions surface. How many bullets do you have or have the ability to make? How many hungry people do you think will show up? Our belief is that the latter will exceed the former. Not a very good survival strategy.

 

Next up are the Runners. Their strategy is to escape the cities and head to the hills. They have their gas cans and a 4WD vehicle and are ready to run with their guns and food and water. The challenge with this strategy is that the roads are going to be clogged with hundreds of others who have chosen this strategy and there is no way out of the cities. Worse still, there is a Civil Defense Plan to keep roads clear so that military and emergency vehicles have access where needed. Other vehicles are "forced" off of the roads. Nope, not getting out that way.

 

Then there are the Walkers. These people expect to be able to walk out of a city to some safe haven. Problem; how many can make it a couple of hundred miles carrying everything they own on their back. All the while collecting food and water (from uncontaminated sources, of course). These people have the delusion that no one else has thought of this idea and they will be alone. They also believe that their guns and their solar flashlights will last forever. These misinformed people believe in the fat of the land and most will be feeding ravens before they get 50 miles.

 

Then there's us. We decided a couple decades or so ago that any strategy that started in a populated area was pretty much doomed to failure. So that left only two options. Move to a location in the blast radius of a high value target (a la War Games) or get as far from cities as you can BEFORE the need to escape arises. Put mountain ranges between you and big cities. Then learn as much as you can about living primitive. Learn your local forests and fields. Learn what plants can be eaten and when. Learn where the hard rock springs are. Learn to can fruits and vegetables. Learn to smoke meats. Stockpile wool blankets, baby diapers and feminine hygiene napkins. Make a still for distilling water. Learn how to make primitive weapons and how to knap stone. The reason for all of this. If you know that you can survive at a stone age level, the rest will be easy.

 

I had my wife read this, 'cause I am a lousy typist. Her comment "I have heard this for forty years. I thought we settled this when we moved here." We live in an isolated location and our nearest neighbor is 50 kilometers distant. It is our little freehold.

[dragonslayer2k12]

I don't think anyone will ever actually start WWIII there is just too much money to be made scaring people into thinking it will happen. First it was we need more nukes to counter their nukes now it is no longer mutually assured destruction it is instead partially assured destruction thanks to all forms of missile defense and EMP devices. So the new arms race is improved and advanced nukes that can evade defenses and missile defense that can counter those advanced nukes so you see where this is going? cat and mouse forever like virus and anti virus it will never end just MOAR money goes into it so it will go on forever. The military industrial complex has been around for thousands of years just as long as humans have been able to make large amounts of weapons and have large guberments to use them. Someday there will be the threat of interplanetary WWIII not just this world yet the same arms race will go on and on. Until the passions of humanity actually change we will be doomed to repeat our collective stupidity over and over again more like insanity though.

[Fkemman11]

I don't think anyone will ever actually start WWIII there is just too much money to be made scaring people into thinking it will happen. First it was we need more nukes to counter their nukes now it is no longer mutually assured destruction it is instead partially assured destruction thanks to all forms of missile defense and EMP devices. So the new arms race is improved and advanced nukes that can evade defenses and missile defense that can counter those advanced nukes so you see where this is going? cat and mouse forever like virus and anti virus it will never end just MOAR money goes into it so it will go on forever. The military industrial complex has been around for thousands of years just as long as humans have been able to make large amounts of weapons and have large guberments to use them. Someday there will be the threat of interplanetary WWIII not just this world yet the same arms race will go on and on. Until the passions of humanity actually change we will be doomed to repeat our collective stupidity over and over again more like insanity though.

 

It is just the one detonation of a nuke over a population center that will cause a domino effect. ONE madman can effectively start the war to end everything we know. To put it in simplistic terms, it is a monkey see- monkey do type of thinking. The threshold of mass destruction and countless dead by a nuke only needs to be crossed once. After that the course of humanity goes two ways. Either we are so appalled by the death and destruction that nations take real steps to abolishing nukes from their arsenals or the nuclear arsenals are used at some point soon after.

Take a leader that has recently been told he hasn't long to live or is just a madman. Do you honestly think Hitler was the last? :huh:

 

In addition to this, it might surprise many to know just how close we come to a pandemic breakout of incurable deadly disease. Just check some articles by or about the CDC if you don't believe me.

I would make a rough estimate of about .001% for some kind of worldwide catastrophe to take place at any time. Before nukes and modern transportation this chance would have been significantly less. Say about .00001%.

I live roughly 30 Km from three military bases. So I have no illusions about my surviving a nuclear blast. The only place I could run would be the Mexican border. Not sure which is the better option TBPH.

[PoorlyAged]

 

< prune >

The threshold of mass destruction and countless dead by a nuke only needs to be crossed once.

 

< prune >

 

 

Don't you mean 'Once again'? Nukes have been used in war already. :mad:

 

And pandemics have occurred before. :sick: Black Death. Influenza. Diseases born by rats and their fleas or birds or insects arriving on the wind have spread worldwide before. Modern transportation only makes it easier.