Nuclear War Survival Skills: Updated and Expanded 1987 Edition

by Cresson H. Kearny, Eugene P. Wigner (Design)

This updated and expanded edition of Nuclear War Survival Skills gives instructions that have enabled untrained Americans to make high-protection-factor expedient shelters, efficient air pumps to ventilate and cool shelters, the only homemakeable fallout radiation meter that is accurate and dependable, and other life-support equipment. These instructions were developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory civil defense researchers and others, and have been field tested repeatedly under simulated crisis conditions. You and your family can improve your chances of surviving during and after a nuclear attack by learning the nuclear facts and following the self-help instructions given in this book. This edition of Nuclear War Survival Skills is produced by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine and is the only edition available which was formatted, approved and published under the direct supervision of the Author, Cresson Kearny. It is bound in a durable field manual style with a water resistant cover. All of the Kearny Fallout meter templates are reproduced at the correct magnification to provide accurate calibration. This edition also contains the authors last addendum on hormesis.

Genres: Survival, Nonfiction, Reference, Ebooks, Science, Personal Development, Self Help

282 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1982

Reviews

[Richard S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assuming you even want to survive….

Pulled up this old classic for a refresher read now that Russia is at DEFCON 2. Also has a note of optimism entirely missing from books like Schnell’s The Fate of the Earth.

Recommended for some very important facts about fallout in particular which will affect everyone. Even if some crazy Russian nuke sub commander fires a single rocket. Bad time for rookie mistakes like leaving your bunker before the radiation has died down.

Again, assuming you even want to survive….

[John Parr · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated with the survivability of nuclear war. I was in the gifted program in grade school during a time in history when there was always something nuclear related in the news. Our weekly quiz game on current events kept us up to date on the cold war. I did more than one science project concerning the effects of nuclear war. In the gifted program we often did thought experiments and one of my favorites was "pick the people who you will let in your bomb shelter".

Years later, after grade school and after the Berlin wall fell, but before Al Quaida had made the big time, nuclear fear fell out of fashion. The USSR didn't even exist any longer, and the world felt a sigh of relief as the threat of mutually assured destruction was rescinded.

Consequently, I picked up this book at a Borders and it was 80% off. It was a no-brainer. Kearny was one of the scientists at Oak Ridge, and came up with very good designs for emergency shelters.

Nothing could prepare you for a surprise attack, or if you're within a mile or so of detonation, but beyond that a nuclear blast is very survivable, even if you have as little as 24 hours to build a shelter.

[John 3RiversBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolute must read. The war with Urkane and Russia can go in a bad direction. Arm yourself wit knowledge.

[David Allen Hines · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in thr 1970s and 1980s Cold War era, this book is by nuclear war experts and provides some practical if sobering advice on how one might survive a nuclear war attack. I'm not convinced it is possible or even desirable to survive an all-out society-ending nuclear war, and I'm not sure in the post Cold War era general nuclear war is likely. But I do conceive of situations where a small overseas nuclear exchange between non-great power states or a regionalized terrorist attack or even a nuclear accident might result in a nuclear fallout situation that could be survived and the ideas in this book will help you survive such a situation.

I think most eye-opening is that merely going into a basement or underground room is not enough-- you need to get earth and or concrete above you to be protected from fallout. After that the most important things are still things people might overlook--shelter ventillation and removal of human waste. Having been written decades ago this book is dated-- I am not sure its ideas on human propelled fan ventilliation are viable-- but since this book was written there are a lot of new technologies such as crank powered rechargeable batteries that might do a great job with shelter ventillation and illumination-- and chemical based toilets for example.

Despite its sobering and I think unlikely main subject of nuclear war I think a lot of the shelter building and survival ideas set forth in this book have a wide variety of survival applications and make useful reading. I think too there are some conceivable nuclear fallout sitauations that you might be able to survive if they happen if you are prepared with the ideas in this book.

Now this is an older book and it has some limitations. The text and photos are poorly reproduced chief of all. But there are some real insights here for the survival ready and I found this book a fascinating and useful if sober read.

[Gabriel Ursan · Rating 4 out of 5]

O carte foarte detaliată, cu informații pe care sper să nu am ocazia să le pun în aplicare niciodată. Interesant felul cum se pregătea societatea civilă americană și rusă pentru o asemenea situație în timpul războiului rece. De departe aveau o îngrijorare mult mai pronunțată și o abordare mult mai pragmatică.

[Dav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only skimmed it, but seems like a very practical book.

[Joseph Hirsch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not much of a prepper but neither am I hubristic enough to think civilization, any civilization, can go on indefinitely. Also a sick (perhaps stupid) part of me still clings to that cool post-apocalyptic fantasy vision that any kid who grew up in the 80s has, about fighting marauders wearing hockey masks riding around on mopeds in search of the world's dwindling resources. The fallout (literal and figurative) from nuclear engagement will probably consist of mostly puking and starving, and not a lot of cool Mad Max melees (no dogs with telekinetic powers, either, for those of you who liked Harlan Ellison's "A Boy and his Dog").

Cresson H. Kearny's "Nuclear War Survival Skills" concentrates mostly on dispelling myths about the aftereffects of a nuclear blast. The species is not likely to go extinct, according to him, even in a mutual overkill scenario, and provided one uses the basic steps outlined in his book and stays calm, they can greatly increase but obviously not guarantee their survival. After which, of course, you can get down to the fun stuff, like neo-barbaric post-nuclear cannibalism and raids for gas to fuel your army of roving bikers.

The book is more appendices than book, but at least most of the monitoring devices and blast reduction rigging is designed to be built by people with rudimentary survival skills, which means the wife and kids can join in for the prepping (Yes, I said "wife and kids;" in a post-nuclear apocalypse scenario, it's going to be patriarchy or die, notwithstanding the badassery of various ((fictional)) female sci-fi super heroines).

This is an updated version of a previously published manual. I'm told this superceding volume is far superior to its predecessors, but I didn't read those so I lack the frame of reference.

A solid manual for those who want basic, practical advice and hands-on exercises to perform, to prepare for the End Times. Those who want more or something else, need to seek it out elsewhere, and either use Doc Kearny's book as a compliment or jettison it altogether. See you on the fallout-scorched field of battle.

[Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a time in America when scientific facts were backed by practical experimentation and experience. A time when panicking the public and selling a political agenda was not the primary goal of every utterance. This book has been the definitive source of FACTUAL, SCIENTIFICALLY BACKED, TESTED AND VALIDATED information since it was first printed.

The author had an extensive background in civil defense programs around the world. I'm talking about practical, during world war II in China and England. A few visits to the USSR, during the cold war. He did extensive work at Oak Ridge National Laboratories for the United States government exploring what actually works and what does not work.

Since he put the book in the public domain, it can be found legally online for free as a downloadable PDF file. I'm sorry, but if you want the book cheaper, I can't help you.

If you are looking for a simple realistic approach to survival during a nuclear incident, this book fills the ticket.

How to make expedient shelters, deal with food and water, how radiation casualties actually occur are all covered. He covers the issue of air flow in an expedient shelter by showing how to make a Shelter ventilating pump, the KAP. References to other interesting documents are also indicated in the book. Most of those sources can also be found online for free.

There are also plans for a do-it-yourself radiation detector that requires NO BATTERIES. The radiation detector is called the KFM. It uses a template with exact measurements, which means you have an accurate meter that requires NO adjustment. Note, a later edition of this book points out that sewing thread, because of anti-static coating is no longer as useful for the leaves. Do a Google search to find updated materials.

Note, his instructions are made for real people who don't know much about construction or building. You will not have problems following his instructions. Unlike most other publications, he uses designs and instructions that have been tested over the years by many normal Americans.

The book is interesting and easy to read.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skills and techniques to survive a nearby nuclear explosion. The effectss of radiation is also covered as well as shelters.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

A better title would be "How To Build A Shelter"

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should be called HOW TO BUILD A BOMB SHELTER

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, I question how up to date it is though.