# Nuclear survival? How would you do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 12, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058 "2018-05-12T19:58:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/41 "2018-05-15T03:20:59Z")
Maybe drive towards Mexico. It’s a 7 hour drive away but would be likely to be largely uncontaminated. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/42 "2018-05-15T03:48:25Z")
Cant say for sure but i have my doubts about the handicap accessibility of a post-apocalyptic world. My chances probably arent the best. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/43 "2018-05-15T04:41:11Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Cant say for sure but i have my doubts about the handicap accessibility of a post-apocalyptic world. My chances probably arent the best. Wrangle some radroaches to pull you like a chariot! Or go the masterblaster route. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/44 "2018-05-15T04:49:36Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Be a bit more careful with step 2. Don’t look at the fireball either, not just the initial blast. The fireball will persist for quite some time, and will contain substantial amounts of UV radiation that will severely damage your eyes. I still have my eclipse glasses, which should handle the fireball fine, but will they be sufficient for the initial blast? Of course, this is just hypothetical. In the event of a real nuclear war, I will be sheltering inside an old-fashioned latch-door refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/45 "2018-05-15T05:24:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Maybe drive towards Mexico. It’s a 7 hour drive away but would be likely to be largely uncontaminated. The other millions who get the same idea will be clogging the roads, so it will take a bit longer than seven hours. If the various security forces (police, National Guard, etc.) stay on the job, you might even find that the roads have been closed and a 24 hour curfew has been declared For Your Safety. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/46 "2018-05-15T16:01:03Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Maybe drive towards Mexico. It’s a 7 hour drive away but would be likely to be largely uncontaminated. Can you drive seven hours without refueling? (Power will probably be out nationwide, and gas stations will be closed or looted out.) Will it be only seven hours with freeways choked with other evacuees? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/47 "2018-05-15T17:40:20Z")
Steps: 1. Armor plate my car(s) 2. Swap my current clothes for one pair leather pants and one sleeveless jacket. No shirt necessary. 3. Horde gasoline, sawed off shotguns and ammo 4. Learn to maintain a perfect scruffy beard in the post apocalyptic desert 5. Avoid running over the wife and kid(s) of a bad ass 6. Do not use theme music from Tina Turner ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/48 "2018-05-15T17:50:19Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Can you drive seven hours without refueling? (Power will probably be out nationwide, and gas stations will be closed or looted out.) > > Will it be only seven hours with freeways choked with other evacuees? Yes, that’s the catch but no plan is ideal. Alternatively I might head towards a rural part of Texas with some friends. The local language would still be English and it would be closer nearby. I can’t help but note the extreme irony of massive crowds of American refugees heading towards Mexico if something like this happened during a Trump presidency. ---
**Author:** ![laurieb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@laurieb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laurieb)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/49 "2018-05-15T18:06:36Z")
I’d pull an Indiana Jones and jump in my fridge. 🙂 Seriously, though, I’d just start driving south. As far as I could go. Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058/50 "2018-05-15T19:28:41Z")
If it actually occurred, and EMPs haven’t made the car unworkable, I’d head for the Sierras and break into somebody’s cabin and hole up for a while. Though I’d need to make sure to boil all of the water because giardia is rampant in California’s water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nuclear-survival-how-would-you-do-it/814058.md?page=2)