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.
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.
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.