DIY Underground Safehouse Build

I am Currently in the process Of digging and Building a Underground safehouse or Shelter
This is a Complete DIY Project that is done in my spare Time
I have shared this on a Few other forums so I want to make sure there is interest here before spending time uploading a bunch of Photos Videos ECT .
The Small Project has kinda "evolved " Into a DIy That Just keeps Going and going
I planned at first It would be completed in a few months and would be just a simple Vietnam
style Dirt Or Bagged sandbag walled Hidden shelter and It has continually Grown Bigger and bigger
and The more I worked on it The more I researched Underground shelter Construction the more I wanted it to be more Permanent and something that Me and My Immediate Family Could stay In for storms, and even Civil Unrest or Collapse type scenarios

 

Underground bunker by PatriotSurvival, on Flickr

 

Great forum topic. A shelter seems a safe bet if you don't ever tell anyone where it is to be found and you have trouble finding it yourself.

In a civil unrest scenario, people set stuff aflame. What thoughts have you given to avoid getting smoked out by a smoldering wildfire?

 

. ... A disgruntled firebug isn't just anyone walking by... And fire is a valid risk to a forest retreat... And that if my DIY hole among the whispering pines isn't in the unpopulated frozen North, but rather someplace crowded and warm like maybe an Eastern Seaboard state, then copses of those pine scented Roman Candles and even whole forests are at risk to catch fire under dry conditions. If I had a hidey hole I'd expect it to sustain a low tech, long reaching fire and smoke assault. Almost makes one claustrophobic to ponder it.

I've read that fires produce toxic gases that are deadly. Smoldering fires too. I recollect reading that CO and CO2 are heavier than air and these toxic gases concentrate close to the ground in low points like caves and such. These toxic chemicals are further concentrated in human blood upon cronic exposure. So I'm wondering if I would invest in a battery powered carbon monoxide meter? Or those aluminum foil shelter tents the firefighters use?

 

pretty cool that youre doing this, thankyou for posting pics also. I'm curious of how this will turnout and it will be nice to see the progression instead of a "done" product.

 

The water table on my property precludes the possibility of an underground structure of any type but we have a property in the Ozarks we are purchasing from relatives that has three 90' deep large entrance quarry caves in a granite cliff over-looking a ten acre field that is suitable for a short landing strip with about 200 yards of heavy steeply sloped timber between the caves and the field. There is a single roadbed cut up the hill-side that the trucks traversed to the quarry but needs some serious TLC to use now. Our next step is to repair the goat-path and then begin designing the conversion of these "Caves" into domicile". I will be watching this thread with interest. There is fresh water collected in the backs of these three caves and the main rooms are interconnected and large enough for big trucks.

 

Is it possible to get a mask that would protect you from breathing in smoke and toxins from a fire that could be used for many hours at a time?

 

As far As Fire or Smoke Or Attacks to the shelter I havent worked out all the kinks And Nothing Is Full Proof
But recently I have Picked Up 2 MSA breathable Air Tanks at the Flea Market very cheap
Looks Like this Set But I dont have the Face masks yet Just the Tanks and Gauges

breathable air Tanks by PatriotSurvival, on Flickr

 

Also Have Been Looking At Baffles for The Intake and outake That Will Not Allow anything to be poured into Shelter
These are Expensive and I may Try My Hand at Making my own Or Just Might have to hide everything extremely well with a Briar Patch or something unsavory

Again Though No Plans Are Full proof and this will certainly not be a shelter that is state of the art . It is a Very Low Budget DIY that I am doing in my spare time

 

Soon I will be starting the Concrete slab Pour

 

Being something of a firebug myself, I would be more worried that the fire would suck out all the oxygen from your hidey hole and suffocate you long before toxic gasses would do you in. If I had an underground shelter where a raging forest fire could engulf it, I would want a way to completely seal it off airtight for as long as it might take for the fire to gobble up all the surrounding fuel and move on. If not airtight, then at least with an SCBA or a few O2 tanks and a respirator on hand.

 

So compressed bottles of air will only last so long. An 80 cubic foot scuba tank will last 2-3 hours depending upon one's exertion level. The SCBA tanks fire fighters use are typically a bit smaller to mitigate the weight. So got me thinking. You could bury say 1" PVC or PEX tubing from the bunker out through the woods for a hundred feet or even 2-3 hundred feet. Run one north, one south, one west, etc. Come up out of the ground with galvanized pipe painted to camo it with a stainless screen and vent cap that will let air in but keep water and bugs out. Then you could select which air line goes to fresh air and use a good sized hand operated diaphragm pump to suck air in and feed it to you gas mask's filter cartridge. If you want could add a battery operated pump. Key is to be able to well outlast a patient gang of bad guys and I wonder if bottled air gets that. Also keep in mind that a bullet hit to an air tank pressurized to 3000 psi isn't pretty especially aluminum tanks and in a small confined space. Just thinking...

AT