Geiger Counter or Personal Radiation Detector: Which One Do I Need?

The threat posed by harmful nuclear radiation is frightening. Invisible, odorless, tasteless and capable of being absolutely deadly this is always going to be a lurking threat for humanity since we entered the atomic age.

Preppers might face radiation threats arising from a power plant accident, the utilization of a dirty bomb or nuclear warhead or any number of other scenarios. Since you cannot discern the presence of harmful radiation using your senses until it is too late, you’ll need the right tools for the job to help.

The two most common and most popular options are Geiger counters and personal radiation detectors. Which one does a smart prepper need?

A personal radiation detector is better because, compared to a Geiger counter, it can assess the type of radiation, its intensity and also the source – crucial information in emergency situations.

Both Geiger counters and personal radiation detectors can inform a user that there are significant amounts of radiation in the immediate area, but only a personal radiation detector offers the tools and capability to help you make an informed choice.

Nuclear emergency preparedness is a skill set that is completely neglected or nearly so for many preppers, but obtaining the training, skills and equipment doesn’t have to be difficult even though the subject seems impenetrable.

Keep reading and we will tell you a little bit more about both Geiger counters and PRDs so you can choose which one is best for you.

Geiger Counter Functionality

Geiger counters detect radiation in the immediate area around the device. These devices, also called G-M counters or Geiger-Mueller tubes, are simple but ingenious tools which consist of a sealed chamber filled with gas that has a wire running through the middle of it.

This wire attracts electrons and subsequently creates ion pairs and during this process it sends an electrical current through the wire.

The wire is connected to a display, typically a needle on a gauge and usually a simple speaker arrangement. as the current moves through the wire it makes the needle jump and indicate as well as producing a characteristic pop or click that so many of us would recognize from various shows, movies and video games.

The more frequent and sharper the clicking, the more current is being transmitted through the wire, indicating that there is more radiation in the area around the counter.

This simple physics lesson is important because it is the presence of ion pairs that inform us of the presence of radiation.

When an electron orbiting the nucleus of an atom absorbs energy from present radiation it gets knocked out of its orbit. This creates an ion pair of a negatively charged electron flying free and a positively charged atom left as a result. This process is called ionization.

Geiger Counters Have Limited Assessment Capability

So we know that Geiger counters tell us there is radiation in the area around the counter, but unfortunately that is really all it tells us.

It cannot tell us what the original source of the radiation is, how energetic it is or what kind of radiation we are dealing with. We get a certain number of clicks or indications per minute, known as counts per minute, but that is all we get.

Suffice to say we would like to have more information if dealing with potentially harmful radiation and uncertain or even life-threatening circumstances.

Just because your Geiger counter is going off does not mean you have dangerous levels of radiation around you. Your Geiger counter could be picking up so called background radiation from the sun, certain gases or even base levels of radioactive elements in the soil that are pretty much all around us all the time.

This makes Geiger counters useful in only a very broad and general way and you have to make plenty of intuitive guesses to make use of what limited data they can provide you.

Don’t get me wrong, if a Geiger counter starts going crazy, it usually means there is a problem, but typical levels of clicking and popping might give the user an indication that a dangerous condition exists where none does.

PRDs Do More

On the other hand, we have personal radiation detectors, or PRDs. It is helpful to think of a personal radiation detector as a sort of upgraded Geiger counter, and they generally work on the same principles.

PRDs come in many varieties with various sets of capability, but the most basic kind is worn on the body and functions by detecting and localizing the source of radiation in the immediate area around the wearer.

If you are dealing with a dangerous source of radiation like a dirty bomb or nuclear fuel leak, you’ll definitely want one of these.

A quality PRD provides all of the immediately useful indication capability of a Geiger counter while gathering more data and presenting it to the user in a useful way.

With this heightened capability comes greater complexity, however, and PRDs must be carefully manufactured, calibrated and tested to ensure correct and complete functionality.

But in exchange they are capable of detecting and assessing pretty much every type of radiation that might be threatening to a human.

Alpha, beta, gamma radiation and x-rays are all detectable by the right PRD. Even better, many units can be upgraded or feature semi-modular expansion capability for different tasks.

A PRD Tells You What Kind, How Much and Where It is Coming From

Depending on what kind of PRD you have obtained and how it operates, a PRD might be able to provide you accurate alert information about present or increasing amounts of radiation in the general area around the user or it might be able to provide a heading or bearing towards the source of radiation, allowing you to pinpoint a dangerous area or source.

Perhaps the most vital capability a PRD can provide is accurate up to the second dosing information such as count rate, accumulated dose, remaining safe time and peak dosage in areas featuring it sustained levels of radiation.

More specialized PRDs can do even more, and make working and traveling in irradiated areas far safer.

Some units can determine the type and strength of radiation in an area on the fly with no need to recalibrate as well as detect and analyze surface contamination levels.

Truly, if you are going to be dealing with a heavily irradiated environment, the kind that would result in the aftermath of a major nuclear accident or fallout from a nuclear weapon, you’ll need a good PRD.

Get a PRD if You Are Able

The bottom line is that almost any variety of PRD is a better choice for preppers compared to the old school Geiger counters. A PRD will give up no essential capability compared to a Geiger counter, but will typically provide much more in the way of detection and assessment.

You’ll have to pay more for a PRD, but if you just need a basic suite of detection you won’t pay that much more than a traditional Geiger counter.

We highly recommend preppers who are concerned about radiological threats acquire and get trained on the use and maintenance of a PRD.

Conclusion

Geiger counters and PRD’s both offer important capability for people who are concerned about radioactivity and attendant threats in their immediate area, but only PRDs offer the fine, useful detection and analysis capability that can help a user better assess and navigate a dangerously radioactive environment.

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