safe room

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randyt

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the last couple days I've been ill and felt so terrible I would not have been able to think, defend my self etc.
Times are pretty laid back currently but what if times were without law. What then? I live in a rural area but still.

If I were to get sick like that in times like that, I would have to hole up until I felt better, It should be a place that would be difficult to find, a few supplies, could be locked down, unseen.

I have a big family and this really isn't a concern but if one was a lone wolf type that could get interesting.
 
I went to work friday morning and went and did a little job. Then took a couple men to another job to line them up. All the while I was feeling worse and worse. Then I was getting ready to go about forty miles to another job. I told my apprentice that I wasn't going to make it. So I went home came was kinda worried about the drive. Got home and took my coat off and collapsed in bed. Not sure if I took my boots of, didn't undress, felt like crap and that is a gross understatement.

After feeling better a bit I though what would a person do in a emergency and came down with the crud. It could be grizzly bear trying to come through the door. Not in my case though, there is no grizz here.
 
I went to work friday morning and went and did a little job. Then took a couple men to another job to line them up. All the while I was feeling worse and worse. Then I was getting ready to go about forty miles to another job. I told my apprentice that I wasn't going to make it. So I went home came was kinda worried about the drive. Got home and took my coat off and collapsed in bed. Not sure if I took my boots of, didn't undress, felt like crap and that is a gross understatement.

After feeling better a bit I though what would a person do in a emergency and came down with the crud. It could be grizzly bear trying to come through the door. Not in my case though, there is no grizz here.
There are likely many people in history who did not survive if they were not close to medical help or home. I knew a man who had a medical situation while driving and had a car accident that killed him.

As I look through genealogy information, I see that one family lost three children to something treacherous, maybe small pox, in a matter of days. Great aunt died of the Spanish flu, but I wonder how many others had it, but survived. Safe room to protect others from our illness? Quarantine rooms?

In a video I shared on electrical space heaters, a family had a member catch COVID and wanted to isolate him. They had a space they could use for that, but not everyone does.
 
Some houses are laid out well enough and sneaky enough that you could use a large closet for a safe room. One of our previous homes had a few sneaky spots.
In a home with a basement, if you felt adventurous enough, you could put in a false wall and have the safe room behind that; have the entrance be through a 1st floor bedroom into the basement.
 
If I had the equipment, land, time, and funds it would be cool to buy an old retired shipping container. Then dig a hole along your home, or better yet a shed a bit away from the house. Have a tunnel to the freight container that's burred with entrance in the structure. A guy did this on youtube and it is pretty nice but the container alone was pretty expensive.
I like the idea of a false wall.
 
If I had the equipment, land, time, and funds it would be cool to buy an old retired shipping container. Then dig a hole along your home, or better yet a shed a bit away from the house. Have a tunnel to the freight container that's burred with entrance in the structure. A guy did this on youtube and it is pretty nice but the container alone was pretty expensive.
I like the idea of a false wall.
I've seen interest in burying shipping containers. I have looked at them and they are a few thousand $. I think it would be better to build a basement type structure with poured concrete, and then cover it with a deck, a concrete patio or a shed.
 
I'd be worried that the shipping container would collapse or seep water. Why not do a basement, only accessible by a small outbuilding
Yeah in the video I saw he had to add gravel under it with a sum pump then left space on the sides with metal bars over the top. That's true I like that idea better.
 
I've considered safe rooms as well. It could be as little as a crawl space if it had to be. Or you could make a room with a nearly inpregnable door. 48 hours of provisions, basic med supplies, and built ridiculously strong. There are probably enough blueprints available online that a person could adapt one to their own needs...
 
I've seen interest in burying shipping containers. I have looked at them and they are a few thousand $. I think it would be better to build a basement type structure with poured concrete, and then cover it with a deck, a concrete patio or a shed.
Yeah I think if I remember right he spent something like 9 grand on it. Yeah on second thought I like that idea better. Plus less people in the know since you don't need a simi to deliver it. You can bring all the supplies to the area. Yeah I like that idea the building on top would prevent someone from accidentally collapsing it from driving a heavy vehicle over the top plus if course give you a hidden entrance.
 
Yeah I think if I remember right he spent something like 9 grand on it. Yeah on second thought I like that idea better. Plus less people in the know since you don't need a simi to deliver it. You can bring all the supplies to the area. Yeah I like that idea the building on top would prevent someone from accidentally collapsing it from driving a heavy vehicle over the top plus if course give you a hidden entrance.
I have thought about this. One thing I have considered is a potential shelter for radioactivity. That is where a concrete patio over the top of an underground shelter would be good. Steel beams for the ceiling could also prevent a collapse, and I know they wouldn't be cheap. I have also wondered about having a safe room under a garage. Steel beams would almost be essential. Safe room could be developed and stocked up for a variety of purposes and include a bed, stored water and food, other supplies.
On the other hand, having a shed over the top with a hidden staircase down would have other advantages.
I also like the idea of a hidden entrance in the basement of a house with a tunnel over to the safe room.
What I had previously thought about and had confirmed for me this past summer is that you cannot survive a fire above you, as in a bunker. It is not the heat, but all the oxygen is consumed by the fire.
 
I have thought about this. One thing I have considered is a potential shelter for radioactivity. That is where a concrete patio over the top of an underground shelter would be good. Steel beams for the ceiling could also prevent a collapse, and I know they wouldn't be cheap. I have also wondered about having a safe room under a garage. Steel beams would almost be essential. Safe room could be developed and stocked up for a variety of purposes and include a bed, stored water and food, other supplies.
On the other hand, having a shed over the top with a hidden staircase down would have other advantages.
I also like the idea of a hidden entrance in the basement of a house with a tunnel over to the safe room.
What I had previously thought about and had confirmed for me this past summer is that you cannot survive a fire above you, as in a bunker. It is not the heat, but all the oxygen is consumed by the fire.
Great point I didn't think about fire taking the oxygen. Some say having your entrance in your house is bad because of raiders that will be looking to rob or even live their.

As far as beds go, hammocks can be quite comfortable if you get the right length, fabric, and hanging angle. (Everyone is a little different) plus a hammock tucks away and takes up little space when not in use and can be stacked as high as the ceiling is for multiple people. Although you would need an under quilt. (insulation like a blanket held against the underside of the hammock) to keep you from getting the bridge effect chills.
 
Have thought about how difficult it might be to "harden" one of the interior rooms of our house, it also happens to be our master bedroom. It being on a crawl space, I'm not sure how I'd attack that one.

In this case, probably the biggest threat is a tornado rambling through. But of course, safe rooms can be "multi-purpose".
 
I would love to have a basement. But in our particular location, digging down deep enough for a basement would require much dynamite. We live in a very rocky location such that even digging for fenceposts can be a royal pain in some places. Would also love to have a root cellar but that would be difficult as well. About as close as we'd get is to build up a place on a hillside for the root cellar.

One of the reasons I had wondered about making our bedroom a safe zone was since that's where we'd be sleeping, and even emergency storm weather radios aren't usually that helpful for warnings. A tornado could sneak up on us pretty quickly.
 
Safe rooms.

I included 1.5 .

One was built as a falout shelter and includes a decontamination vestibule. The Princess has started to stock it.

The 1/2 is hidden and I can say no more.

Re: underground complexes

The Princess used to draw maps of them in her youth. But later learned that she is claustrophobic and will not enter an enclosed space.

Ben
 
Safe rooms.

I included 1.5 .

One was built as a falout shelter and includes a decontamination vestibule. The Princess has started to stock it.

The 1/2 is hidden and I can say no more.

Re: underground complexes

The Princess used to draw maps of them in her youth. But later learned that she is claustrophobic and will not enter an enclosed space.

Ben
I wonder how large of a space works for her?
As has been said a few times in other threads, having more than one entrance is important. It makes it more vulnerable to be breached, but provides alternatives for escaping.
 
I wonder how large of a space works for her?
As has been said a few times in other threads, having more than one entrance is important. It makes it more vulnerable to be breached, but provides alternatives for escaping.
She started to climb into a reproduction of pharoes tomb at a museum and freaked out just at the entrance. She watched the video I shared of the Atlas Shelter and questioned if she could handle it. It does have an escape hatch.

Ben
 
Husband has claustrophobia, too, and then there's the stairs to contend with. And fresh oxygen. Wonder how long it takes to use up air, in lets say, a 25 ft x 25 ft underground.
Regardless of the size it is just a matter of time before fresh air is requured. There is a blower included in the Atlas shelter for that purpose.

Submarines have air processing plants to get rid of the CO2 but they have an atomic power source to run them.

Ben
 
Engineer775 will fix you up!

https://youtube.com/c/PracticalpreppersLLC
This is a tour of one of his shelters



This video shows some of the installation.



Ben

I should add a plug for Engineer775

He specialises in prepper projects. I learned about developing a spring from his channel and purchased my first spring box etc from him.

He also has enlightened me on

Hydraulic ram pumps
Solar panels
Battery backup
Inverters
Wells and pumps
Canning (as in tin cans)
Water storage
livestock watering

If you have the budget he can handle most prepping needs (we do NOT). But we hav considered contracting him to consult on our water resources. At the very least his channel has a lot of info that can help us do it ourselves.

Ben
 
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