How will you protect your homes bomb shelter?

I came upon one of my favorite Twilight Zones- called "The Shelter" about the dangers and reality of your neighbors mob mentality when the # really hits the fan.

This episode- as seen here, really opens your eyes to how your neighbors can quickly become your enemy when facing disasters or looming nuclear threat.
www.imdb.com...

I got to thinking- about the people who have bomb shelters in their own home. Our good friends have a small bomb shelter and their home which is built from the 50's. My husband and I are looking to purchase a home in the next year with a bomb shelter aswell- for protection against bombs, fallout, and tornados. With 2012 looming I'd rather be safe than sorry.

What I was wondering, is what happens when all your neighbors learn you have a bomb shelter. Lets say- your in our situation- where you move into a new house- but your neighbors have lived there for 20 years- and they knew that your home had a bomb shelter because the previous owners told them so. And that neighbor tells another- and so on.

As in the twilight zone episode, the neighbors break into their home while they are locked inside their shelter- with only enough air, food, and water to support their family- only. It would be easy enough for any neighbor to break through your windows and go to your basement to your shelter- and then- what then are you to do?

What is the best way to protect your own homes bomb shelter? Guns- Rebar Enforced Door? Any special type of ram proof hinges? Do any of you have bomb shelters? How are you planning on protecting yourself from your neighbors? What can the average person do that doesent cost a fortune to neighborproof your bomb shelter?


[edit on 1-1-2010 by xynephadyn]

I think the best protection would be not telling your neighbors you have one at all. Short of that, a 3-6" steel door and wall should help.

I'd buy a home and secretly build a small shelter. Itd be alot more modern and safer than an old coldwar shelter anyways. If the neighbors ask, tell em you are building a root cellar or adding a room onto the basement.

BTW, great TZ episode.

I have yet to see a home bomb basement bomb shelter that had the radiation protection for a large near by bomb.

There are a few backyard shelters that might work.

My problem with basement shelters is the lack of shielding and what if the house caught fire. fire is a big possibility in a nuke attack or from crazies starting whole towns on fire after a attack.

I am planing to use a old gold mine for a shelter as it provides very good radiation protection and is easy to defend.

Originally posted by ANNED
I have yet to see a home bomb basement bomb shelter that had the radiation protection for a large near by bomb.

There are a few backyard shelters that might work.

My problem with basement shelters is the lack of shielding and what if the house caught fire. fire is a big possibility in a nuke attack or from crazies starting whole towns on fire after a attack.

I am planing to use a old gold mine for a shelter as it provides very good radiation protection and is easy to defend.

plus gold for trading to mutants after it all ends maybe?!!

reply to post by xynephadyn


Kule. Happy New New Year, people!

I have to admit that this episode of the Twilight Zone is one of the most frustrating ones for me, for many reasons. Rod Serling was a writer of radio dialogue, right, and he brought that talent to television. You can always identify a Rod Serling screenplay by its verbosity — I mean, Rod gave almost every character a soliloquy, just very talk, talk, talky dialogue, and he didn't seem to grasp how much the camera could capture. The early Twilight Zones were, essentially, radio shows, performed on-camera.

In Serling's vision of the last day, neighbors turn on neighbors, it goes combative.

Now, in reality, I don't think this has to happen. If I went out and brought in a backhoe and a pylon-driver, and I started excavating a great big 10-foot deep bunker and brought in some rebar and concrete and tension cable, et cetera, I think I'd be drawing a great deal of attention from my neighbors. I'd tell them what I was doing and why I was doing it, which they would probably appreciate — and they might even install one themselves.

The way to protect your bunker is to either form a network with your neighbors, or simply don't tell them that you have a bunker (which is going to be difficult to hide as you are building it).

Happy New Year & Peace-Out


— Doc Velocity




[edit on 1/1/2010 by Doc Velocity]

reply to post by ANNED


But that is not how radiation from fallout works...

Its all about the distance you are from the particles. If you can filter the air you typicaly need from 2 to 5 feet distance from fallout particles. That is actual distance, not thickness of shielding material.

Even if you can get to a downstairs bathroom or closet that doesent have an exterior wall you should be OK so long as you turn off the AC and dont recieve a lethal dose in the first few minutes.

And considering that within a week most of the radiation should be gone, all you will need is a temporary shelter. Depending on the isitope of course, most radiation has a half life of less than 72 hours.

In this case, knowing really is halof the battle. Surviving a nuke really isnt all that hard if you know how radiation works and you are prepared.

So far as fire goes, that is a bit more difficult. Air is easy enough, you will need an air exchange anyway. The heat, on the other hand, is a major problem.

reply to post by xynephadyn

I dont like dishonesty but is it possible to lead them to believe it has been removed?

If it is in the basement you could spread the word that you removed it and then try to hide it.

If it is outside then send your neighbors notes saying how sorry you are for the construction of getting rid of that old fallout shelter but you thought it was morbid. Really, the construction is you expanding it.

All I can think of...

Originally posted by cavscout
reply to post by ANNED

 

But that is not how radiation from fallout works...

Its all about the distance you are from the particles. If you can filter the air you typicaly need from 2 to 5 feet distance from fallout particles. That is actual distance, not thickness of shielding material.

I know how radiation works i went through the US navy advanced NBC warfare school,
I also have been to fire department nuclear accident schools and Civil Defence schools.
2 to 5 feet of air is no shield at all so distance means nothing.
you need shielding with a good protection factor.

Put your protection in the spreadsheet on this site and see how it stacks up to real radiation.
www.alpharubicon.com...

Other sites with shielding information.
www.alpharubicon.com...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.doomers.us...

Since i don't know what the out side dose will be i am going to go worst case scenario and put as much shielding between it and me.

And i also don't know how long the attack will last a mine can be a long term shelter if there is a double attack.

500 foot of rock will give me the same dose as i am getting setting here at the computer.

That means if i have to go out for a few minutes after a couple days i will still get less long term dose.

Originally posted by cavscout
Even if you can get to a downstairs bathroom or closet that doesent have an exterior wall you should be OK so long as you turn off the AC and dont recieve a lethal dose in the first few minutes.

Well that would be Gamma radiation your thinking about here... Moves at the speed of light - nothing you can do about it if your unprepared and forgot to line up your portable 3" lead shielding between you and the 'event' - it's just gonna pass right through you... And hopefully not at a fatal level!

In the weeks, months and thousands of years after said event there will be radioactive fall out just about everywhere, eventually as it gets moved by the wind, people moving about vehicles, anything that will transport any dust specks. - Something that has a static charge will prob pick up more (good to remember I think, you can earth your self very easily) Think of the way dust settles on a TV screen... Now think about the static charge you naturally generate as you move around - especially in man made fibres.

Food, water and breathing are easy ways to ingest any thing including - radioactive particulate matter, so is touching your face or pretty much most things you do... Even sitting down while wearing contaminated underwear! (you have a mucus membranes at both ends of your digestive tract remember!!).

So in short, radioactive material has a half life... That is how long it takes for the radioactivity to drop by half... One particle could far out last your life time (by decades, century's or millennia), one particle settled in your lung could give you a nice case of lung cancer deadness!

edit - I use grammar bad

[edit on 1/1/2010 by Now_Then]

agreed... do not even tell anyone where your shelter is located... otherwise there is always the unthinkable to consider..... they are hungry and you have food.....it could turn ugly very quick...

the less you tell anyone about where it is or what you have the safer and better off you are going to be...

It would be easy enough for any neighbor to break through your windows and go to your basement to your shelter- and then- what then are you to do?

A shelter wouldn't have windows and it would be secured from the inside with a hidden air vent.

Just like anyone who would dare break in to my house, if they DO break in to my shelter, they would die quickly and painfully.