If you want to be really serious about
radiation and detection to protect yourself, you will need
two specific components:
- Arrow-Tech Model 138/RM Dosimeter
- ($100.00)
With High-Range Calibration - 0 to 20R
- Arrow-Tech Dosimeter Charger and
Calibration Unit Model 750-5 - ($100.00)
Arrow-Tech Model 138/RM dosimeter
with High-Range calibration
Arrow-Tech dosimeters are rugged, precision instruments
about the size of a pocket fountain pen, which are used to
measure accumulative doses or quantities of gamma and
X-ray radiation. A metal clip is used to attach the
dosimeter to your person, tactical vest or to any
available object in an area to be monitored for total
radiation exposure.
It is a
pocket-size, conductive-fiber electroscope with an ion
chamber for detecting and indicating integrated exposure
to gamma and x-radiation. It has a thin poly-composite
wall which permits the penetration and detection of
radiation.
Wearing a Dosimeter
You can wear the dosimeter like a pen in your pocket,
or clip it to your belt or to your vest. You can also set
it outside in a contaminated environment for an hour. This
will tell you the radiation rate of the specific exterior
environment. You don't have to have a radiation meter if
you have a dosimeter and are not in a hurry to measure the
rate.
Also, if ten or a hundred people are
together or going somewhere, only one or two of them need
to wear a dosimeter. So long as they all stay together,
the radiation dosage that one gets will be what they all
get. It is nice to have two or three, so that you can use
one to check the other and make sure that they are
working.
The dosimeter is charged (reset to zero)
so the dosimeter can be used over and over again.
This is usually done before each use. Be sure to keep
several high output alkaline D cell batteries on hand for
use with the charger. The charger unit can use any D cell
size battery.
Note that even quality dosimeters will
drift about +/- 2% per day, so they need to be monitored
often during an actual radiological emergency and careful
notes taken several times per day of the accumulation of
radiation and then frequently re-zeroed.
 Charger
I own a Jordan Nuclear Model JN 750-5 Charger (pictured
at right) which is a compact, portable charger designed
to charge direct-reading quartz fiber dosimeters. It
features a fully transistorized and printed circuit
board. It operates from a single "D" cell
battery. It is made from heavy aluminum casting with
water-tight seals and meets or exceeds the military
specification of Mil-Spec NSN 6665-00-856-8813.
Fallout Guidelines
Radioactive fallout can be local or distant. Whether
it is from a distant nuclear power reactor disruption
or a strike on a Dakotas nuclear missile field, the
immediate downrange fallout will be severe in Minnesota
and Wisconsin depending on the prevailing winds. Assuming
that clouds of radio-isotopes are entering your area,
take cover in any underground area you can find.
Radiation War Survey
Meter
These can be a surplus Civil Defense Survey Meter such as
the pictured below, or a newer and very expensive
electronic version. A war-grade survey meter is important,
as opposed to a Geiger counter device, as a Geiger counter
will become saturated in heavy levels of radiation and can
give dangerous false positives on the low end of actual
radiation. If you buy a surplus survey meter like my
CDV-715 model below,
be sure to pay the extra bucks and get one that is
laboratory calibrated.
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