Geiger Counter!

Steal2B

Steal2B

.700 Nitro Express
Messages
26,925
Reaction score
84,340
Location
Dutchess County
togmaster said:
If you can detect the radiation, it's too late.
Click to expand...
Yeah, with such a poor sensitivity it is not needed or useless.

If your hair quickly starts falling out, figure you reached 200 R. So if you were there for 30 minutes figure the meter should read 400 R on the 500 R scale.
 
spat

spat

.950 JDJ
Messages
30,739
Reaction score
65,096
Location
Formerly Geneseo, NY. Now free in AZ
Way too many people panic about nuclear stuff because they don't understand it.

Spend a few hours learning. It's free, and it will serve you much better in a radiological disaster than equipment that you don't know how to use properly.

It's like anything else dangerous. The danger is a lot higher if you're ignorant. Given the choice between a basic understanding of it, or a Geiger counter and KI pills, I'd take the knowledge any day.

People think a nuclear war means everyone is dead and civilization is gone. It won't be like a mad max movie at all. No collapse will ever be like that.

Read a bit about the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not as many of the people in those cities died as you think.

Sure, out nukes are more powerful today. We don't use the really big ones anymore though. The enormous yields of weapons like the the B41 (25 Megatons, largest widely deployed US weapon) were intended to compensate for the terrible accuracy of the delivery playforms.

If the best you can do is get within a few miles of your target, you need a big boom to take it out.

Modern delivery platforms can pick which window you want to hit, so they use much smaller warheads. Typically less than half a megaton.

This is still huge compared to the WWII devices ( between 0.015 0.020 megatons) but if you don’t actually live within a dozen miles of the target it's unlikely to make much difference to you.

Modern bombs are also much, much cleaner. Most are going to be air bursts, so the fallout concerns are likely to be way overblown too. Fukishima and a
Chernobyl released as much fallout as a limited nuclear exchange. The result from both for anyone not at the plant was a very slightly higher incidence of cancer. Not people dropping dead from the radiation a week later. In fact it's such a small effect, it takes a ton of data to even be able to sort it out from all the other sources of cancer the people living in the area run into.

If you live in a rural area the collapse of the supply chains is going to be your biggest worry in a full on nuclear exchange. They seem to be working on destroying them conventionally right now.
 
M

ManualF150

.308 Win
Messages
4,836
Reaction score
8,835
Location
Cayuga
spat said:
Way too many people panic about nuclear stuff because they don't understand it.

Spend a few hours learning. It's free, and it will serve you much better in a radiological disaster than equipment that you don't know how to use properly.

It's like anything else dangerous. The danger is a lot higher if you're ignorant. Given the choice between a basic understanding of it, or a Geiger counter and KI pills, I'd take the knowledge any day.

People think a nuclear war means everyone is dead and civilization is gone. It won't be like a mad max movie at all. No collapse will ever be like that.

Read a bit about the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Not as many of the people in those cities died as you think.

Sure, out nukes are more powerful today. We don't use the really big ones anymore though. The enormous yields of weapons like the the B41 (25 Megatons, largest widely deployed US weapon) were intended to compensate for the terrible accuracy of the delivery playforms.

If the best you can do is get within a few miles of your target, you need a big boom to take it out.

Modern delivery platforms can pick which window you want to hit, so they use much smaller warheads. Typically less than half a megaton.

This is still huge compared to the WWII devices ( between 0.015 0.020 megatons) but if you don’t actually live within a dozen miles of the target it's unlikely to make much difference to you.

Modern bombs are also much, much cleaner. Most are going to be air bursts, so the fallout concerns are likely to be way overblown too. Fukishima and a
Chernobyl released as much fallout as a limited nuclear exchange. The result from both for anyone not at the plant was a very slightly higher incidence of cancer. Not people dropping dead from the radiation a week later. In fact it's such a small effect, it takes a ton of data to even be able to sort it out from all the other sources of cancer the people living in the area run into.

If you live in a rural area the collapse of the supply chains is going to be your biggest worry in a full on nuclear exchange. They seem to be working on destroying them conventionally right now.
Click to expand...
Well put.

If you are situated where the nuke drops, you're likely gone.

What folks don't understand is the fallout dangers, but also the time frame. That is why it's important to have a Geiger counter, because with that, you can then determine how long you can stay/work outside before needing to come back inside. Doing a little bit of math from what the counter is giving, along with a simple watch, you can make your own dose meter chart. Also, the radioactive half life is short, so after 2-3 weeks, you can start spending more and more time back outside.

Say for instance NYC gets nuked, a majority of the time, the wind is blowing NYC's air out to the Atlantic Ocean if you look at the overall wind forecasting models. So, realistically, Upstate NY would be fine, as long as the winds are blowing in that direction. Europe might actually be concerned though if the fallout stays high enough up in the atmosphere to cross the Atlantic into their territory.

Where it gets very concerning is if it happens dead smack in the middle of the continental US.

As far as PPE, you really don't need a M54 gas mask. A good, well fitted NIOSH painters mask and goggles will be fine. No need to spend $200-300+ on a gas mask. The particulate is too big and hopefully you won't be trying to stir up the dust/fallout while you are in the fallout zone. But -- if you feel the need, and got the money, it cannot hurt to get a better mask.

Really, biggest thing is the exposure time when you got fresh fallout. That's why you seal off everything in the house and build up a shelter with mass with tables, bookcases, etc. Along with the attitude of staying put and not getting curious.
 
Uzi

Uzi

.308 Win
Messages
3,062
Reaction score
3,489
Location
Phoenix, Arizona
I'm no expert, but let me explain to you all about the real dangers/risks of deadly nuclear explosions that I have never experienced and which I realistically understand very little or certainly not enough about, and how they're going to effect you all in a hypothetical situation I cannot to any degree accurately predict.
 
spat

spat

.950 JDJ
Messages
30,739
Reaction score
65,096
Location
Formerly Geneseo, NY. Now free in AZ
ManualF150 said:
Well put.

If you are situated where the nuke drops, you're likely gone.

What folks don't understand is the fallout dangers, but also the time frame. That is why it's important to have a Geiger counter, because with that, you can then determine how long you can stay/work outside before needing to come back inside. Doing a little bit of math from what the counter is giving, along with a simple watch, you can make your own dose meter chart. Also, the radioactive half life is short, so after 2-3 weeks, you can start spending more and more time back outside.

Say for instance NYC gets nuked, a majority of the time, the wind is blowing NYC's air out to the Atlantic Ocean if you look at the overall wind forecasting models. So, realistically, Upstate NY would be fine, as long as the winds are blowing in that direction. Europe might actually be concerned though if the fallout stays high enough up in the atmosphere to cross the Atlantic into their territory.

Where it gets very concerning is if it happens dead smack in the middle of the continental US.

As far as PPE, you really don't need a M54 gas mask. A good, well fitted NIOSH painters mask and goggles will be fine. No need to spend $200-300+ on a gas mask. The particulate is too big and hopefully you won't be trying to stir up the dust/fallout while you are in the fallout zone. But -- if you feel the need, and got the money, it cannot hurt to get a better mask.

Really, biggest thing is the exposure time when you got fresh fallout. That's why you seal off everything in the house and build up a shelter with mass with tables, bookcases, etc. Along with the attitude of staying put and not getting curious.
Click to expand...
Don't forget that when you do work outside, it's any dust that's dangerous. You do not want to bring that back inside.

Judging by the covid mask use 99% of people would wear the mask outside in the fallout and then just throw it on the counter when they come in and sit down in the same cloths they were wearing outside.

For me, I would not bring the outdoor cloths inside the living area at all. I would change from outdoor to indoor cloths in my garage. I would also fabricate a shower there to use before entering the living space.

The good rule of thumb for fallout is the 7-10 rule. You can see that if you can hunker down inside for just a few weeks the radiological danger will be drastically reduced.

You're next big problem from the radiation is going to be growning food that doesn't incorporate any isotopes it takes up from the soil.

If you can remove a couple inches of topsoil (and still have enough to grow food) and use water from a safe source you will probably be good there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top