Hello people. I'm a thirtys guy that was born and brought up in the great state of Maine. I have always had an interest in survival and preparedness. I have a good core of basics and I am looking to expand on them. I have over 100 acres here with a brook running through. I believe this is a pretty good setup. Very wooded and populated with critters small and large. I am in the process of milling lumber for a house right now. Any advise on plans and fortifications would be good. I'm thinking of a bug in type plan instead of hightailing in shtf. A poured in place concrete safe in the basement, maybe 10 x 10? To store valuables and extra guns. A fortified closet upstairs for self defense made of stacked 2x4s? Well just a few of my ideas for now. Its getting late here so I am off to bed. Good night all. -Jason
Welcome from the Republic of Texas. You might want to do a few penetration tests of the most likely rounds you will have to defend against. before you build. Also offset the seams to prevent bullets from slipping through the cracks. Or, just invest in a few sheets of plasitcrete. Supposedly bullet resistant up to a .50BMG
Welcome from a fellow New Englander. There aren't enough of us around so I'm always glad to see new nor'easters. Enjoy the forum
Welcome to the Monkey!! There are a ton of excellent resources here- dive on in, the water is warm!! YD
Welcome to the Monkey Tree... Living where you do, I would worry more about staying warm in the winters, than fortifications, when starting out. the concrete is a good idea.... but leave yourself a "Get out of Jail Free Card" that doesn't expose your escape route, from the structure... if you have to run.... and what are you going to do for Comms..... that is really My Thing, besides live in the bush of Alaska......
I'd suggest the basement space also be configured to be a long term safe room if needed. That would suggest putting in drains for a low water consumption toilet and sink. Consider routing main house water to a big storage tank(s) down there. Run some power and several pipes to fresh air vents in various locations, at least two covert. Install a strong security door that opens inward (never understood why people would have their doors and vertical hatches open outward where exit can easily be blocked by debris or just parking a car on top of the hatch.) As BT suggested have an other covert escape route. The upstairs safe room may be good but the basement is clearly better as it may yield better bullet resistance, and is below grade for high wind protection. Investigate building the whole house with insulated concrete forms and the whole house becomes much more secure. Maybe re-think the traditional thinking of bedrooms upstairs and rec room in the basement and consider sleeping down stairs close to the safe room instead. Just a few ideas. AT
Another monkey in the tree! You might want to check out TheBoxO'Truth they do all sorts of interesting testing there. Best wishes, see you on the forum.
Thanks for the warm welcome. A lot of good ideas here. I want the back part of the basement as a wood shop, powered and non powered. Its worth learning to molest wood without power too. As far as the heat goes, i will have the furnace from the crappy trailer i live in now and a wood stove. Eventually i will have a mini split system too. Is three ways to heat enough? It doesnt seem i have enough time, wedding in october, saw lumber for the house in spare time, build a home in the spring (hopefully). If #2 doesnt get done there is no chance #3 gets done. The summer here has been pretty rough so far, a lot of rain or a lot of humidity. I dont do well in the heat so i back off when it gets real hot. I like it 60 and below. So how many other people here from maine? -Jason
