I recomend that you might like to occassionally read this blog at is documentation of what a slow slide into SHTF looks like.
also please consider this our weekly Prepper’s Thread to post progress, good buys, DIY projects, advice and ideas .....
To start things off I have gotten a number of request for recommendations for radiation detectors and where to buy them. Any fellow prepper have recomendation they would like to share??
Rad Detectors- It depends on what the threat is. A very sensitive pancake-probe Geiger unit will saturate (once the needle is pegged to the right it won’t give you an “how much” answer), so it won’t help you get out of a nuke plume or the plume from a reactor meltdown. It will detect sources as small as a smoke detector, though.
A less-sensitive ion chamber, the old yellow Civil Defense type, will help you measure high levels but won’t tell you if your tuna sandwich is hot, it will read up to 500 REM/Hour but won’t budge at 50 mREM/Hour. You’d use this to see if you are moving into a plume/fallout zone or if you’ve escaped it, or you can check an improvised shelter’s shielding effectiveness.
So to be really ready for low level contamination and high-level events, get both. BUT neither will detect alpha contamination and the 2” pancake won’t get low level beta.
CDV-700 is OK for most low-level concerns, a CDV-717 with remote ion chamber will handle high level events and you can put the sensor on a stick to read around corners. Both are inexpensive compared to lots of the little pocket devices available (and the 700 is more sensitive). A lantern mantle or the right Fiestaware plate will allow you to check the cal of the 700, but you’ll need a pretty big source to check the ion chamber. If you really need accuracy you’ll need to pay for a calibration service.
Most importantly, learn how to use them correctly, learn about radiation types and the physics.
A good book is Dean Ing’s Pulling Through, it’s a nuke survival novel, and it’s based on some interesting techniques that came from Oak Ridge. The original copies have, as an appendix, plans for a home made HEPA filter, ion chamber rad detector based on an orange juice can, and other goodies the oak Ridge boys dreamed up.
Here is one possibility to look into:
I have read in various SHTF books or blogs (can't recall specifically where) that for the average person dosimeter badges or stickers are recommended as an alternative to an instrument type radiation detector.
As I recall, the recommendation is based on the fact that badges are simple, nothing to break, no calibration required and lower cost.
I know that badge dosimiters are available many places on the net - eBay, Amazon, etc. but haven't researched beyond Googling for availability.
I bought a surplus Civil Defense radiation detector from Sportsman's Guide. It functions, but I need to find a way to calibrate it. Amazon used to sell radiation sources (!) for use in calibrating radiation detectors, but apparently no longer does so. An alternative is a gadget called a Nukalert. It's pocket sized and comes calibrated, but you have to listen to it ticking to get an approximate radiation count. You can't stick it out the door of your shelter and get a reading. My recommendation: get one of each.
If radiation is on your prep list look into potassium iodide.
amazon sells