WMD's. What Scares YOU More?

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

The only pet one I've seen that looks like it'd work is just a thick plastic bubble that seals around a standard pet carrier, and has a modified powered industrial respirator to provide positive pressure. Air goes in through an NBC filter, out through a one-way valve. Simple enough. The one I'd seen has a car power plug and stuff. That, I can see. But no pet is going to tolerate a plastic bag on their head, they'll pull it off.

Could a contraption like that be rigged up large enough for a person? 

If so, it seems like it would sidestep most of the issues associated with lay-people trying to use a mask.  Of course, it would come at the cost of portability and mobility.

[Manedwolf]

Could a contraption like that be rigged up large enough for a person? 

If so, it seems like it would sidestep most of the issues associated with lay-people trying to use a mask.  Of course, it would come at the cost of portability and mobility.

You'd use up the filter really, really quick and would need a lot of power to move enough air, plus probably a CO2 absorber or the like. People breathe a lot more air than a small pet!

There are some "home shelter" designs I've seen on one show or the other. One conceals in a large wall bookshelf unit, and comes out into the room with an accordion of metal supports. It looks like they basically just modified parts from a portable positive-pressurized cleanroom, and it's just as expensive as one. I have no idea how the filter system works, but for it to be effective, it would need some serious volume filters, and would need to maintain positive pressurization.
 


It's basically just a low-spec version of one of these guys:



But without the incredibly expensive filtration unit of the latter, I'm not sure if it'd be useful. Plus, if you're running on a generator, how are you going to get out to add more fuel? You wouldn't be able to.

Maybe if you had a home nuclear reactor. :)

What really gets me is the online places selling old style fallout shelters as NBC shelters, now. Still with a "blast-proof" door.

[ctdonath]

The sociopolitical aftermath of WMDs is probably worse than the attack itself - and that's the point of WMDs.

Personally, EMP is my concern. Fry my pacemaker and I'm gone. 

[Hutch]

As bad as the 9/11 attacks were, it was a single incident that paralyzed us for a few days, and impacted us for a year or two, financially speaking. 

My concern would be a series of attacks that called into question the viability of big cities, and the ability of the .gov to protect us.  If we have few follow-up attacks, who then would venture forth back into the city for fear of the next attack?  If they Bad Guys can cause an actual economic collapse* here, then our ability to act on the world stage, to defend Israel, prop up "moderate" governments in the ME and south Asia would disappear.  That is what the Bad Guys REALLY want, and it seems all too possible.

*By economic collapse, I mean something much worse than what we're seeing now.  I mean a breakdown in the division of labor.  People making their own clothes, growing their own food, etc.  That's what concerns me.

[Balog]

The scary thing is how little it would take to wreck modern society. The most basic functions of life (shelter and warmth, food, water) are totally dependent on a long complex chain of interrelated events, for the vast majority of Americans anyway. Electricity, fuel, passable roads etc. Significantly impede one of them for any length of time and watch the dominoes fall.

[Nick1911]

The scary thing is how little it would take to wreck modern society. The most basic functions of life (shelter and warmth, food, water) are totally dependent on a long complex chain of interrelated events, for the vast majority of Americans anyway. Electricity, fuel, passable roads etc. Significantly impede one of them for any length of time and watch the dominoes fall.

Which is why anyone with survivalist traits seeks personal independence in these aspects as much as practicable.  Most don't have a natural gas well on their property, but most can have solar energy solutions, water wells, and gardens.  Doesn't mean you can survive forever without outside resources - you can't; but you can make the time when these services are unavailable survivable.

[Balog]

Which is why anyone with survivalist traits seeks personal independence in these aspects as much as practicable.  Most don't have a natural gas well on their property, but most can have solar energy solutions, water wells, and gardens.  Doesn't mean you can survive forever without outside resources - you can't; but you can make the time when these services are unavailable survivable.

Yep. This also why as much as I love it I can't imagine staying in Washington the rest of my life.

[Manedwolf]

The scary thing is how little it would take to wreck modern society. The most basic functions of life (shelter and warmth, food, water) are totally dependent on a long complex chain of interrelated events, for the vast majority of Americans anyway. Electricity, fuel, passable roads etc. Significantly impede one of them for any length of time and watch the dominoes fall.

The "right this minute" supply chain we have now is phenomenal at eliminating waste, as stores literally don't get restocks of an item until right before they are about to sell out of them. Supermarkets no longer have warehouses and vast cold storage areas, just a smaller inventory and unloading area. Restaurants, especially high-volume ones, are supplied every day.

It's great for profit and cutting down on wasted food, but if the supply chain is interrupted, restaurants would be out of food in a day, and supermarkets would be very, very, very quickly bare shelves.

[Waitone]

Credit default swaps scare me. 

[Bigjake]

The "right this minute" supply chain we have now is phenomenal at eliminating waste, as stores literally don't get restocks of an item until right before they are about to sell out of them. Supermarkets no longer have warehouses and vast cold storage areas, just a smaller inventory and unloading area. Restaurants, especially high-volume ones, are supplied every day.

Maybe not on site at each supermarket, but you oughta see the size of the warehouses I do service calls at...  Think millions of square feet of cold/dry storage.  Place is friggin huge!.

I'm not sure how big an area that place distributes for, but I'm imagining it's sizable.

[MillCreek]

The "right this minute" supply chain we have now is phenomenal at eliminating waste, as stores literally don't get restocks of an item until right before they are about to sell out of them. Supermarkets no longer have warehouses and vast cold storage areas, just a smaller inventory and unloading area. Restaurants, especially high-volume ones, are supplied every day.

It's great for profit and cutting down on wasted food, but if the supply chain is interrupted, restaurants would be out of food in a day, and supermarkets would be very, very, very quickly bare shelves.

What concerns me, being in healthcare administration, is that the same just-in-time inventory philosophy applies to hospitals and medical centers as well.  Because of cost, storage space restrictions and the need for frequent rotation of stock, most hospitals and clinics have a bare minimum of medical supplies and drugs on hand.  In the event of a pandemic or regional natural or man-made disaster, medical supplies and drugs are going to be quickly exhausted if the trucks aren't coming.  It will take about three days at the most for the average hospital.

[Lee]

Maybe I'm just getting old....but death is coming, the timing and method is not up to us (unless suicide is on the plan).  I worry far more about dying on the highway than getting germed or nuked by a radical Muslim.  Carpe diem.

[Tallpine]

Maybe I'm just getting old....but death is coming, the timing and method is not up to us (unless suicide is on the plan).  I worry far more about dying on the highway than getting germed or nuked by a radical Muslim.  Carpe diem.

Same here.

Except I have an over-active immune system which means I will probably survive.  Not sure if that is good or bad depending on what comes after. 

Some sort of virus that kills off 80% of the idiots might be a good thing 

[Balog]

Maybe not on site at each supermarket, but you oughta see the size of the warehouses I do service calls at...  Think millions of square feet of cold/dry storage.  Place is friggin huge!.

I'm not sure how big an area that place distributes for, but I'm imagining it's sizable.

And if the electricity goes out, or the trucks can't get gas or the roads are impassable?

What concerns me, being in healthcare administration, is that the same just-in-time inventory philosophy applies to hospitals and medical centers as well.  Because of cost, storage space restrictions and the need for frequent rotation of stock, most hospitals and clinics have a bare minimum of medical supplies and drugs on hand.  In the event of a pandemic or regional natural or man-made disaster, medical supplies and drugs are going to be quickly exhausted if the trucks aren't coming.  It will take about three days at the most for the average hospital.

Yup. How much fuel does the average hospital have for it's emergency generators? And can that sustain the load of running surgical equipment, MRI machines etc etc? And when they're full and start turning people away, how long until the "inner city youths" cry racism and start rioting?

Maybe I'm just getting old....but death is coming, the timing and method is not up to us (unless suicide is on the plan).  I worry far more about dying on the highway than getting germed or nuked by a radical Muslim.  Carpe diem.

Well, sure one should prioritize things to spend time preparing for. But unless you're old, have no kids or younger relatives (or ones you like anyway), and just generally hate people trying to minimize damage from something like this is a good idea.

[Bogie]

Imagine...

...what would happen in cities if the trucks and trains stop running?
 
...what would happen countrywide if trucks would only move in convoys?
 
...what would happen if a dozen or so bridges across the Mississippi were cut?

But what really scares me is stuff like smallpox...

[stevelyn]

I'd rather get whacked with nuke or chemical.

Bio will make you sick and miserable wishing you would die before you die.

[Manedwolf]

I'd rather get whacked with nuke or chemical.

Bio will make you sick and miserable wishing you would die before you die.

Chemical often doesn't "whack" you right away. Some just make your lungs fill up with fluid, and look at what mustard does.

[Tuco]

Ahhhh, three pages of getting all high and mighty over chemical, bio weapons, dirty nukes. 
I suppose you think your better than the rest of us eh?

Well you just wait till someone comes screaming at you with a handful of loganberries.

[Gewehr98]

Better loganberries (I love those on pancakes, btw!) than dingleberries, I say. 

[RocketMan]

Dingleberries, depending on their source, can be a WMD.

[Aaryq]

Chemical weapons.  Yeah, biological could go pandemic but chemical weapons scare me.  When it comes to a death in the US (Iraq is a different world) I put my demise before others'.  It might be quicker, but it will probably be more painful...and if you get infected with a biological agent with no cure, you will die and have the option of...ending it quicker.  Think about this for a second:
Nerve Agents:  Losing all control of your own body, and eventually messing your pants before going into a siezure until you break your own back.
Blood/Choking Agents: Drowning or being choked out in the open air and possibly going into siezures while you can't breathe (Think of being tossed into the ocean while going into an epileptic siezure...all while 100% conscious until you pass out)
Blister Agents:  Your skin feels like you've been dipped in a vat of boiling water or acid.  Let's top this off by the chance of you breathing this junk in.  Forget being a carton-a-day smoker, you're lungs are taking in what feels like boiling acid with habenero peppers mixed into it.  Your eyes are the same.  If you don't die, you'll be blind and have severe respiratory problems.

This stuff scares the doodie out of me.

[Physics]

Hmmm.... death by physics, chemistry or biology...  I guess from this perspective, I have to go with biology, considering that is what I know the least of.  Of course, death by physics is always more fun, and death by chemistry just sounds painful.   

[Blakenzy]

What really scares me are the future Patriot Acts, government restrictions and curtailment of individual rights that will come along because of the perceived threat of WMDs.

[Tallpine]

Nursing homes 

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

Nursing homes 

be nice to the kids  they will pick yours