Should You Start Prepping For Nuclear Armageddon? Russian Experts Weigh in on "Survival Kits"
While political and military experts discuss a possible scenario, some people are in a rush to create hysteria. But not in Syria, rather, in Russia. If you browse through social networks and Telegram channels, you'll see a lot of this. They post about WWIII, and that we must prepare for it. Our Ukrainian colleagues are doing their best, too. They quote Yuri Biryukov, Petr Poroshenko's adviser. They say that Moscow is initiating a global conflict, and the consequences may be catastrophic. This is normal behavior for the Kiev psych ward. We wonder if Russians believe this nonsense. They're advised by anonymous and not-so-anonymous fearmongers to start looking for spots in a bomb shelter and start storing matches, buckwheat, and salt. But judging from the lack of lines in stores to buy nails and canned goods, they don't believe it. However, if some people did give in to the panic, and decided to spend all their savings on a survival kit, we'll tell you how to not waste money on something you won't need.
Actually, Evgeny Tishkovets will tell us more.
So, what should one bring to a shelter? The basic kit for Judgment Day includes many items, but the main rule to follow when packing a survival kit is 'fewer sweets, more water.' We must say that the real panic is not in Russia right now, but overseas.
After the election of Trump, business is good for the American manufacturers of private bomb shelters. Almost anyone now can purchase a reinforced underground apartment. The most budget-savvy version is 355 square feet, just like a standard 1-bedroom, for $30,000. But, we're more fascinated with deluxe shelter with pools, pool tables, and gyms. At the same time, supermarkets started to sell survival kits, in case of the Apocalypse. It's all thought out: for $1,000, you can purchase over 6,000 portions of various food. Some of it can allegedly be stored for up to 25 years.
By the way, not all food is worth bringing along. For instance, the most lasting grain is rice, which can be stored for up to 8 years. Oats can be stored for 3 years, but buckwheat can't be stored for more than a year. You can live off of canned meats for a rather long time, they can be stored for up to 5 years. Canned fish can be stored for up to 2 years. Also, it would be hard to go on without milk, even if it's the dry kind, as well as sugar and salt.
Russian tradition suggests to stock up on pasta in case of any disasters. However, professional survivalists don't advise stocking your bomb shelter with this product. Pasta must be stored in sealed containers, otherwise, it grows damp and goes bad quickly. Those with a sweet tooth won't have a sweet life in the underground world. All chocolates, candies, and condensed milk will have to be left behind. Sure, glucose is an unrivaled energy source, but sweets will make you thirsty, and water will be the most valuable resource for bomb shelter residents.
Eduard Khalilov, an emergency survival expert: "Load up on water. You can go 2-3 weeks without food, but only 2-3 days without water. You even need water to digest your food, so you must think about water first".
A person can live for 2-3 weeks without food. But a lack of water will kill you much faster. Here are the norms for water consumption for the population, quoted from the SES guidelines, in case of an emergency situation. An adult man needs no less than 2.5 quarts of water per day. Children and nursing mothers need twice as much. About 3.5 quarts of water per day per person is used for cooking. 21 quarts are required for hygiene and cleaning purposes.
Water consumption greatly depends on the microclimate of one's living accommodations. If the ventilation system is weak, and the air in the bomb shelter gets hot, it'll quickly affect the water supply. If the temperature rises to 85 F, water consumption increases 2-3x. If the room is extremely hot, at 98 F you'll need four times as much water.
Obviously, you'll need more than just food in the shelter. Experts, or people who believe they are such, recommend loading up on medical supplies, especially those containing iodine. They help the body cope with radiation. Luminescent and chemical light sources may come in handy underground, as well as large sealed containers for waste storage. You might also want to grab a few liters of chlorine to disinfect your new home.
That was Evgeny Tishkovets, specifically for fearmongers.