Let’s Talk about Nuclear Survival Gear  today. I hear a lot going on about nuclear war with Russia. I would like to say up front that I do not think that is going to happen. Nuclear war with any of the big world powers is very unlikely. 

If any world power launches a nuclear attack on anyone the rest of the world will retaliate. Putin may be many things but he is not a Nihilist. No one wants to scorch the world. 

If we ever see a nuke set off It will be a lone wolf bomber. Or a group that is not affiliated with a country that doesn’t care about the outcome. I see the likeliness of a dirty bomb being set off in strategic locations to be more probable. 

With that said having preps for a dirty bomb makes sense. If I’m wrong and Russia hits us with some nukes then the same gear will work. At least if there’s anything left. If you are in the area that gets hit it’s game over. No prep can save you from taking on a nuclear bomb. 

Nuclear Survival Gear

Some of these you will probably know. Lists of nuclear survival gear are always going around. My buddy Matt sent me a link recently to one. It was bad. They had soap on the list. Yes, It can help but I’m sure you have soap anyway. I wanted ones you might not know. 

Iodine Pills

I’m sure you’ve seen this one and might already have it in your preps. Potassium iodide pills are the first nuclear survival gear people think of. The price has come down significantly on the iOSAT pills since Fukushima. 

Iodine pills are not a magical radiation pill, though. It only prevents radioactive iodine from being absorbed by the thyroid gland. It won’t help once the thyroid is damaged. 

In the event of a nuclear attack, you want to begin immediately taking Potassium Iodide. You need to fill up the thyroid with stable iodine so no radioactive iodine gets in. 

Prussian Blue

No, not the artist or laundry kind. The CDC says it is not that same. I can’t find any sources to either prove or disprove this. 

Prussian Blue is a pill, by prescription, that can help remove radioactive cesium and thallium from people’s bodies. It traps radioactive cesium and thallium in the intestines and keeps them from being re-absorbed.

The radioactive materials then move through the intestines and are passed in bowel movements.

Prussian blue reduces the biological half-life of cesium from about 110 days to about 30 days and  thallium from about 8 days to about 3 days.

You will need to either ask your doctor about getting a prescription or poke around on the internet for a source to buy. 

DTPA (Diethylenetriamine pentaacetate)

DTPA (Diethylenetriamine pentaacetate) is a medicine that can bind to radioactive plutonium, americium, and curium to decrease the amount of time it takes to get radioactive plutonium, americium, and curium out of the body.

It works by tightly binding to radioactive materials  then passing them  from the body in the urine. 

It is best to take right after radiation exposure to reduce the time that the material is inside your body. 

This too is by prescription only. Which makes no sense since it, not Prussian blue have off-label uses. 

Radiation badge

Radiation badges are carried by first responders and people that work in and around radiation. These badges are a calmative indication of radiation exposure. So the meter will never reset. It, however, does not require power. It will fit in a wallet so you can carry it everywhere you go. 

They will work great to check your exposure after an event. It will also show you how well you are avoiding radiation. 

Geiger counter

There are a ton of Geiger counters on amazon. Many of them are well over $100 though. I know y’all don’t have tons of money floating around. Neither do I. There are some affordable smartphone ones. You just plug them into the headphone jack. 

Or you could go the DIY route and make one. Here is a link to an Instructable on building a Geiger counter. It might be a project for the more experienced of you. 

Radiation hazmat suit

Chem suits are pretty cheap on Amazon. Here is one for $12. I would not recommend getting a cheap one and deliberately going out in radiation. 

I would use them for emergencies. Only use them when you have to. Best practices would be to stay inside.

I have also seen hazmat suits at army surplus stores. I would trust a mil surplus one. They overbuild everything. 

Plastic sheeting

In a nuclear event, you want to seal up your home. Cover the windows, vents, and doors. You do not want radiation to get inside. 

The more radiation you keep from getting inside the less you have to worry about removing. Only physical barriers will keep radiation from entering the body. 

 Stored Water

Not much to add to this. You need stored water in your Nuclear Survival Gear preps. If you follow the rest of the advice I’m giving you and drink radiated water you’re screwed. 

I almost left it off the list because you need to have water storage covered in basic preps anyway. Since water is so important I’m telling you again. 

Sea Salt And Baking Soda

This is where the list of Nuclear Survival Gear gets weird. I like weird. And hopefully, you do too. 

I came across this article on using sea salt and baking soda. It is kinda out there and suggests using diet for radiation and cancer (which I agree with). 

One of the gems learned from this article is that Sodium bicarbonate binds with uranium. Yup  good old baking soda binds with uranium. 

It recommends soaking in a bath of sea salt and baking soda to draw out the radiation. Although it does seem like pseudo-science it may just help out. And both items should be in your preps anyway. 

Ketone Esters

This one was a bit harder to track down sources for. I remember hearing Dom D’Agostino on the Tim Ferriss show mention ketones effect on radiation exposure. 

Basic science supports the idea, that nutritional ketosis could preserve  the cellular, tissue and physiology of people exposed to radiation. He talks about this concept for astronauts but also for Japanese near Fukushima. 

I like to be in at least mild ketosis the majority of the time. So I will be fine. If you don’t want to eat a ketogenic diet you have options now. This science paper stated that:

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The invention relates to methods of using ketogenic compounds to protect against the adverse effects of radiation exposure, including ionizing radiation tissue damage. NIH inventors have discovered that ketone esters can be used to reduce tissue damage if administered before or after exposure to radiation. Specifically, the invention relates to esters and oligomers of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate that are capable of elevating blood levels of (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate to sufficient levels to reduce cell death caused by radiation-induced damage of DNA and RNA. The development of effective radioprotectant molecules such as these is of great importance in reducing tissue damage following intentional or accidental radiation exposure. This discovery can also increase the therapeutic efficacy of radiation therapies by protecting non-target tissues from incidental radiation damage.

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So by having some exogenous ketones as a prep you can start taking it as soon as you are exposed. New products are coming out all the time if the price on KetoCaNa is a little steep. With the benefits from it though I would say, is will easily pay for itself. Fasting will get you into ketosis fast too. 

In Conclusion

There are probably more herbal remedies out there for radiation. And I encourage you to go look and research on your own. With the Nuclear Survival Gear, I recommend in this post I feel that you will survive a radiation exposure event. 

In the case that you are not a direct target. Nothing I can recommend for that. The best advice I have is to not live in a city that is a desirable target.

If you live in a town with a small population at least some distance from the larger cities you will be better off. We preppers often gravitate to smaller towns anyway. 

The big key is to minimize exposure. So the less exposure to radiation you have the better off you will be. 

Next is that most of the nuclear survival gear items need to be used ASAP. The sooner you treat radiation sickness the better your chances of survival is. 

Combining any or all of these will raise those chances more. 

Be safe out there. What do you have for nuclear attack in your preps? Let me know in the comments!

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