Brent S
Top Poster
i still prefer my suntan from the outside.
underground bunker
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QuietH3art
Active Member
I have to say, of all the SHTF possibilities, Nuclear war is the one I most wouldn't want to survive. I really would not want to have to figure out how to live in what remained of the world afterwards. So an underground bunker just isn't in my future. Although a house built into a hillside would be awesome for very different reasons.
Silent Bob
God Like
LW having lived in Minot, North Dakota after recuperating from my injuries, I look upon Minot with fond memories because I met my wife there. She was born and raised there. Back during the early 80's, we use to count our time on how many hotdogs we could grill and how many beer cans we could lay at our feet if the real bomb dropped. My wife will tell you, that they really didn't give much thought and lived their lives each day fully, knowing that the base and the city would go up within minutes of a nuclear war. Yes, and she practiced the old duck and cover...and no they didn't have a shelter, just an old basement.
Granted this was the Cold War Era, where the Russian's had those huge monster in the hole, their capability was built on Russia's failure to have really good targeting systems, so they traded computers technology to the wind and built their response in Megatons. The theory was that the bigger the megaton, the bigger the hole would be on our missile silos. Now a days all the nuclear community have focused more on accuracy rather than megatons. Both Russia and the U.S. still are the two nations that have the a large ICBM program, but the Chinese are catching up, with more modern mobile ICBM's. With what is going on in the Western Pacific and Putin's reactionary invasions in former USSR territories, and downsizing of U.S. standing forces. We may see a new growth in reliance of ICBM/SCBM delivery systems. Granted the current U.S. ICBM program has been underfunded for years, has been caught in cheating scandal of is missile crews, and still uses analog computer systems to authenticate launch codes/message/firing programs. It would make sense to reinvest in a land based nuclear system. We have now only 3 active missile wings in the U.S. military nuclear deterrent, compared to 6 wings back in the 80's. The bomber forces is now down to two active B-52 squadrons that are nuclear capable and if I not wrong one active squadron of B-1's, with the majority of our aerial deterrence based on the B-2 Spirit bomber. Its been a few years since my last briefing, but I think that's about right on the ORDER OF BATTLE for nuclear deterrence.
As for bunkers, well their are two ways to look at it, I have one, built as a tornado shelter, sold it to my wife that way, because after my injuries I suffered, I don't like confined spaces. The first tornado shelter was one of those garage ones, its nice, but way to small for me. So the second one was a kit, 10x20 and it can serve as a temporary bunker when the SHTF. My kids actually practiced heading down there because as my son calls it, the only place where we have wifi and cable underground if a storm comes through the city. We've tested his theory many times because when the house loses cable, the shelter does not. The second reason, is it allows me to store more stuff out of my wife's eyes, but we had this discussion regarding your predicament.
My wife shares your views too regarding not wanting to live after an event like that, and as I said, we all make choices...I guess that one, we will wait and see what happens.
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Brent S
Top Poster
I kind of agree with the nuke situation. If you can't leave the area, why would you want to hide in a hole to come out to devastation and a slow death from radiation. On the other hand, if staying underground for a few days could buy you time to let the radiation levels drop to safe levels, then I'm all for it. I'm really building a shelter for storms and food storage, not as a place to live any amount of time. If I had the extra money to toss around I probably would build something more elaborate, but we do the best that we can with the resources we have.' I only hope the Russians love there children too', and I never have to consider trying to use it for more.
Silent Bob
God Like
Hey Brent,
What I saw of the pictures, your not that bad off, digging into the hill side and then surfacing the rest of the part with blocks, rebar and concrete is not a bad way to go, and way far cheaper than what I did with the kit, but then wife would not approve of anything else.
However, I've got some good blue prints from a guy who built them in California for a living and if I ever get property in Colorado, that's of my big investment projects.
Your right, it would suck to have in a nuc filled environment, the intent of the shelter is really to buy us some time, not live underground for life. Who knows what life brings us, that's why we prep right?
Have a great week, hope your wife is resting comfortably. Enjoyed your threads on the food.
QuietH3art
Active Member
Given that I live within an hour's drive of Cherry Point MCAS and Seymour Johnson Air Base and within 20 minutes of Camp LeJeune, Camp Johnson and New River Air Station, I'm pretty sure that we wouldn't survive a nuke attack. I am 10 miles from mainside of the largest Marine Corps Base on the east coast. Direct hit.
Silent Bob
God Like
That is true Psalm, unfortunately, my mother's oldest sibling was less fortunate, she was in the direct path of then the unknown plume (alpha-beta particles that adhere to the fallout), she quickly died of Leukemia, within 3 years after Hiroshima. She attended a girls college not far from Hiroshima. So you could say I have more of an intimate relationship with nuclear fallout.
We need to think of these things also when election days come around . A strong military was a Reagan strong point . Anti missile defences work in the early parts of Desert Storm the Patriots missile defence system we set up to protect Isreal was encrypted with the wrong Data but once that was fixed it had a near 100% sucess rate .
Gazrok
A True Doomsday Prepper
You'd be surprised. Go to Nukemap.com and run a few simulations, keeping in mind that most modern warheads aren't more than 3 megatons. More about precision these days. A nuclear war, during the Cold War, probably wasn't going to be very survivable, but in the modern age? Pretty decent shot.
Radiation from a blast (unlike from a leaking reactor) breaks down pretty exponentially also, so as long as you can get over the initial blast radiation, you're not in bad shape. A lot of us won't even be in the outer ring of attack blasts. I get it. Raised during the Cold War, we had to live with the daily fear that a nuclear war was VERY real. Today's kids have NO idea....and we were all convinced we'd be doomed.
Radiation from a blast (unlike from a leaking reactor) breaks down pretty exponentially also, so as long as you can get over the initial blast radiation, you're not in bad shape. A lot of us won't even be in the outer ring of attack blasts. I get it. Raised during the Cold War, we had to live with the daily fear that a nuclear war was VERY real. Today's kids have NO idea....and we were all convinced we'd be doomed.
QuietH3art
Active Member
I tried the nukemap.com and there was nothing there. It's www.nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap
Brent S
Top Poster
What worries me is the radiation that stays in the ground for long periods. I don't think it's safe to eat anything in grown in or near Hiroshima. I guess lots of people survived, but I'd like to know what the rates of cancers are compared to other areas.
QuietH3art
Active Member
Oh, I really wish you hadn't posted that. I did the nukemap based on a China's current 5 Mt hitting mainside Camp LeJeune. I fall within the "blue" area:
Air blast radius (5 psi): 7.83 km (193 km²)
At 5 psi overpressure, most residential buildings collapse, injuries are universal, fatalities are widespread.
Thermal radiation radius (3rd degree burns): 21.3 km (1,430 km²)
Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation. 100% probability for 3rd degree burns at this yield is 12.4 cal/cm2.
I think even with a 3 Mt, I'd fall within the same zone.
Air blast radius (5 psi): 7.83 km (193 km²)
At 5 psi overpressure, most residential buildings collapse, injuries are universal, fatalities are widespread.
Thermal radiation radius (3rd degree burns): 21.3 km (1,430 km²)
Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation. 100% probability for 3rd degree burns at this yield is 12.4 cal/cm2.
I think even with a 3 Mt, I'd fall within the same zone.
Brent S
Top Poster
Sometimes it's better not to think about some of those kinds of things! On the other hand, moving to a rural area is always a nice place to retire.
QuietH3art
Active Member
I'd give anything to be able to move to the mountains. Unfortunately, I'm a little bit upside down on my house, even though I own the land free and clear. I wouldn't make enough selling it to buy much more than a cheap old motorhome!
Brent S
Top Poster
I think I'd rather own an old motor home outright than live in a a mansion that held me captive to the debt/mortgage payment. There's a lot to be said for living simply. I find pleasure in so many free things now, like my dog, watching plants grow and produce, seeing the hummingbirds feed, even not cutting the grass as the dandelions are blooming. Land is a whole lot cheaper in the country as well for starting anew.
QuietH3art
Active Member
My home is far from a mansion - lol. The payment is only 391 a month. Seriously, though, if I sell it, I might walk away with $10,000 and that won't buy an old motorhome AND a piece of land to park it on - which would be more than enough to make me happy.
Brent S
Top Poster
I've got to admit, that payment should be easy, and that's alot to consider as far as peace of mind. Someone once told me years ago, if you take a look at where you are in life and are not happy then make a plan to make the changes to get you there. I'm a typical guy, if I make a list or put a plan on paper then its alot easier to follow. Also, realize you cant do most worthwile changes overnight. Live style changes can be a five year plan.
Gazrok
A True Doomsday Prepper
China doesn't really have a ton of missiles though, and you need a LOT to get through our current missile defense system (BMDS). The odds of them using a big boy on anything but a very prime target vs. a training facility are pretty limited I'd think.
Granted, our defenses aren't full-proof, but the PAC-3 and Aegis measures, along with who knows what satellite-based weaponry...means we'll probably knock out a big piece of any main attack.
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