I don’t think I’ve seen a full counter-value nuclear exchange scenario where most of the deaths come from the initial nuking itself. The highest risk of death actually comes from radioactive contamination of food supplies (America bases much of its strategic nuclear arsenal in sparsely populated farmland) and maybe nuclear winter reducing crop yields. This means that as long as you don’t starve to death in the first few years, you’ve mostly made it.
Therefore, having a year’s worth of food and water per person should be the cheapest way of hedging your bets against a nuclear holocaust. That comes to 100-200kg of grains and beans in a sealed container, which Amazon says is ~$200. Water may be a bigger issue, but fortunately, most people live near a well or river. Water purification tablets are something like $50 for 300 gallons, which should be enough for a year of drinking per person. Obviously, bottled water would be also be needed to wait out the first few weeks of fallout, but a lot of people already buy their caffinated drink of choice in bulk, and 100 Monster Energy in a corner works just as well.
That’s most of what you need to survive hunkering down for a full year. Maybe also buy a gun and join a militia for your security needs? Honestly, it doesn’t seem too hard to achieve, even for someone living in an urban apartment. Biggest concern may be keeping your provisions secret, since your starving neighbors will get jealous eventually and you can’t feed your entire building.
Bulk rice and beans in vacuum-sealed bags, plus multivitamins. You won’t be having fun, but you’ll survive the year. It’s pretty easy to stockpile if you’re going to be eating those anyways. The main takeaway should be to buy non-perishables you normally consume in bulk when you think there is an elevated risk of nuclear war and draw down those provisions when you think the risk has passed. This means that the cost of preparing for nuclear war is the interest you would otherwise earn on <$500, which is pocket change per year. The needed storage space for a person-year of food and water is also under a cubic meter, so that shouldn’t be too much of a concern.
You mentioned a specific Amazon price point that I found surprisingly low and is cheap enough to meaningfully affect strategic plans. The cheapest pasta I’ve seen is on WebstaurantStore but the shipping doubles the cost to $2/lb approximately. Did you have a link for the $200/year product(s)?
These are a bit more than $1 per pound for Amazon and half that for the bulk supplier. Dried rice is around 3700 calories per kg, and even a fit adult male on bed rest only needs around 1500 a day (I think). So 300 pounds should be enough for a year. My math was a bit off since I confused pounds for kilograms initially, haha.
I don’t think I’ve seen a full counter-value nuclear exchange scenario where most of the deaths come from the initial nuking itself. The highest risk of death actually comes from radioactive contamination of food supplies (America bases much of its strategic nuclear arsenal in sparsely populated farmland) and maybe nuclear winter reducing crop yields. This means that as long as you don’t starve to death in the first few years, you’ve mostly made it.
Therefore, having a year’s worth of food and water per person should be the cheapest way of hedging your bets against a nuclear holocaust. That comes to 100-200kg of grains and beans in a sealed container, which Amazon says is ~$200. Water may be a bigger issue, but fortunately, most people live near a well or river. Water purification tablets are something like $50 for 300 gallons, which should be enough for a year of drinking per person. Obviously, bottled water would be also be needed to wait out the first few weeks of fallout, but a lot of people already buy their caffinated drink of choice in bulk, and 100 Monster Energy in a corner works just as well.
That’s most of what you need to survive hunkering down for a full year. Maybe also buy a gun and join a militia for your security needs? Honestly, it doesn’t seem too hard to achieve, even for someone living in an urban apartment. Biggest concern may be keeping your provisions secret, since your starving neighbors will get jealous eventually and you can’t feed your entire building.
What’s the ~$200 food item you saw that would last a person a year, can you link?
(Edit: I see a 30-day container for about $200. It seems to me that $200 buys a month’s worth, not a year’s worth?)
Bulk rice and beans in vacuum-sealed bags, plus multivitamins. You won’t be having fun, but you’ll survive the year. It’s pretty easy to stockpile if you’re going to be eating those anyways. The main takeaway should be to buy non-perishables you normally consume in bulk when you think there is an elevated risk of nuclear war and draw down those provisions when you think the risk has passed. This means that the cost of preparing for nuclear war is the interest you would otherwise earn on <$500, which is pocket change per year. The needed storage space for a person-year of food and water is also under a cubic meter, so that shouldn’t be too much of a concern.
You mentioned a specific Amazon price point that I found surprisingly low and is cheap enough to meaningfully affect strategic plans. The cheapest pasta I’ve seen is on WebstaurantStore but the shipping doubles the cost to $2/lb approximately. Did you have a link for the $200/year product(s)?
https://www.amazon.com/Royal-Basmati-Rice-15-Pound-Bag/dp/B00I330QEQ
https://www.amazon.com/Dried-Navy-Small-White-Beans/dp/B00BXM6GFC
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/riceland-white-long-grain-rice-50-lb/112WHTLG50.html
These are a bit more than $1 per pound for Amazon and half that for the bulk supplier. Dried rice is around 3700 calories per kg, and even a fit adult male on bed rest only needs around 1500 a day (I think). So 300 pounds should be enough for a year. My math was a bit off since I confused pounds for kilograms initially, haha.