Two minutes to midnight

Greetings. "Doomsday" seems to occur quite often, and some of us do take it quite seriously, only because it does influence the behaviour of other people. I would like to be out of the city, beside the Ocean, at the very least...

Comments thus far would appear to be fatalistic, and I agree that's the right response if things kick off and the big three launch salvos of megaton-class weapons...

But what if there is a more limited exchange, such as NK hitting London with a single 150kt class device?

Assuming an air-burst there'd be very little fall-out, and the rest of the UK would be fine... except that the EMP from the blast would probably have fused anything with a semiconductor that wasn't sealed inside a metal box... 

So most of the population would be alive, but lacking electricity. 

How would you cope?

Comments thus far would appear to be fatalistic, and I agree that's the right response if things kick off and the big three launch salvos of megaton-class weapons...

But what if there is a more limited exchange, such as NK hitting London with a single 150kt class device?

Assuming an air-burst there'd be very little fall-out, and the rest of the UK would be fine... except that the EMP from the blast would probably have fused anything with a semiconductor that wasn't sealed inside a metal box... 

So most of the population would be alive, but lacking electricity. 

How would you cope?

Not completely sure, which I suppose is why I started the thread.

There is enough tinned food to last the family for at least a week, assuming we only need a tin or two each a day, on account of not needing to move around much initially. Some cheap emergency ship's rations. A plastic (full) 25 litre drum of water, purification tablets, antibiotics, old transistor radio, torch and batteries in a metal tin, a millbank bag for basic water filtration, bars of soap, containers of salt, some multivitamins and some fat.

Elsewhere nearby there are about half a dozen home-built rabbit snares, plus the parts and hand tools to make quite a few more, two more (empty) 25 litre water drums (which I would admittedly need a few minutes to fill), plus an old scaffold pole that could maybe brace the upper floor if there was any chance of a blast nearby. A bottle of cheap bleach which can be used to sterilise water if you dilute it enough.

Rolls of black bin-liners - since I figure in the short term they can be used for a bunch of things, such as liners for a bucket (makeshift toilet) or to fill with earth from the garden, then piled up to form some measure of screening from gamma rays in case of fallout.

Various first-aid related stuff, some of it suitable for burns. 

There isn't really the space to do any more without adversely affecting ordinary life (who wants to spend a fortune or be forever falling over stuff for something that might never happen?), but I guess I am fairly satisfied that I've done what I can to increase our chances at modest outlay.

I know we can use burdock or silverleaf roots as a source of carbohydrate, and nettles are pretty ubiquitous for some vitamins, minerals, and even some protein. There are two more bottles of home-made rosehip syrup in the cupboard.

Longer term, it would depend on how much contamination and disease there was, how much hassle we'd get from folk (or the vestiges of the state) wanting to rip us off, and stuff like simple injuries going septic without better medical treatment.

I have plenty of experience in coping with short-term loss of electricity (1 - 14 days) and know it isn't pleasant but it's perfectly do-able. In the long-term I think the biggest effect that I'd find difficult to get used to would be the lack of flush-able toilets. Would our generators still work, at least until the diesel runs out? Would our windmills?

Losing all communication with the outside world is actually quite pleasant! Trying to keep warm isn't and I live nowhere near trees for fuel once our ample supply of gas bottles run out (probably 6 - 12 months). Food / hunting / raiding trips would need to be by boat for me to the nearest population centre / mainland so I'm thinking I'd probably starve over the winter when a sea crossing would be off limits! On the plus side, being raided over the winter is probably not a worry either! Although fishing is a good option around here once we've run out of / eaten all of the livestock around here - which might last a year maximum.

How would you cope @DongFeng5 ?

In that situation we'd have a complete collapse of the economy and probably society. I suspect I'd cope badly, but I have the resources and skills to survive in the medium term. I'm physically fit, I can hunt, the countryside starts less than quarter of a mile away and I could get enough food. Water may be an issue but there's a river not that far, I could could improvise basic filters, I have enough water purification tablets to purify about 2,000 litres of water, there's plenty of woodland nearby to be felled for fuel to boil water, cook and provide warmth etc and I have a couple of axes. 

I think I'd survive, it would be rough, tough and probably quite grim, but I think I'd make it and make sure my family did as well.