The Blast Shelter

[ Reading time: 26 - 43 minutes ]

Welcome to the New Home for Underground Shelter Online

[update in progress]

– Underground Shelter Online –
SAFE AND SECURE SHELTER

Last Updated on 03/15/98 by Richard Fleetwood,

This is the place to learn more about underground and safe shelters of all kinds, including fallout/bomb/blast shelters, earthsheltered homes, emergency and storm shelters, permanent and temporary shelters, and even self-sufficiency, self reliance, preparedness, survival, civil defense, and education topics and ideas. Look around the ENTIRE site to find all sorts of neat stuff and ideas to put to use. Always check The Blast Shelter Homepage for the LATEST additions to this website, and THANKS for dropping by to see what we have to offer to the world in general and YOU in particular.

SHELTER. You spend most of your time there. Working, sleeping, playing, living. Is it SAFE? Storms….burglars….drive-by shootings…maybe even worse. Civil unrest ever cross your mind? Home invasion? Riots? How about terrorist activities, transportation accidents, earthquakes, other earth changes…heaven forbid…nuclear attack?

Thinking a little bit more about YOUR shelter now? GOOD! This page is primarily a starting point for all who are interested in the following issues:

What IS this thing called THE BLAST SHELTER?

What IS this thing called THE BLAST SHELTER?

Let me start off by making a few comments about what THE BLAST SHELTER website is all about. You might better understand what my goals and plans are for the pages found here, and what you can expect, as well as what you WON’T find. I want all readers to understand my background, some of my beliefs, my reasons for this website, my ultimate goals for everything provided here, and what I think (or better, suggest) that all readers can and should do, if at all possible and feasible for them.

What you WON’T find here is information on anything non-family oriented, tips on anything that hurts others purposely, links to anything that is not good enough to share with the whole family, or ways to take advantage of others. The entire reason for this website is solely to uplift, educate, and help others to do the same, so they, too, can continue the thoughts and help themselves and all they interact with.

What is a Blast Shelter?

THE BLAST SHELTER is one of those phrases that has meanings at several levels with regard to this website.. The most obvious is the original meaning — a shelter for protection from the effects of the blast wave of an large, destructive explosion like those produced from large incendiary weapons, testing of rockets like the beginnings of NASA, or testing or use of nuclear weapons. This first level of meaning then is Shelter from large Blasts or Explosions’.

The second level of THE BLAST SHELTER is also shelter related, but not as high powered. I grew up in northern Texas, spent nearly all my life within an hour’s drive of Dallas. This just happens to be the area of the bottom end of “Tornado Alley”, the place in the world that has the highest occurances of deadly tornadic storms. While my family never suffered any direct damage or harm from these storms, death and destruction did happen all around us in the countryside, even in the town where we lived. I saw more than enough funnel clouds, terrifically spectacular thunderstorms, lots of large hail, and the effects that very high winds have on normally immovable objects.

Not having lived in a home that had any kind of storm shelter, I feel we were very lucky to have made it thru my childhood without any tragic occurances. Only harm I ever saw to a relative from the weather was an uncle who lived 5 blocks over from our house, who was on the telephone when a bolt of lightning hit the t.v. antenna, and traveled into the house’s electrical system. I was looking out our back porch window and actually saw the bolt hit the house, saying aloud to my parents “That sure was close to Uncle Bill’s house”, not knowing it was.

With the grace of god on his side, Bill suffered only first degree burns on the side of his face held against the phone. He said that a shower of sparks flew out of the receiver when the bolt hit, and the power went out. He never lost conciousness or suffered any aftereffects of this event. Having read “Saved by the Light” a few years ago, about Dannion Brinkley, the man who went into cardiac arrest and died from the effects the exact same thing, only to have a near death experience about it, really brought it closer to home.

Also, we have lived in the central Alabama for almost 5 years now, and in that time we have had two very close calls with tornadoes (including the first deadly tornado in the United States in 1997 in Tuscaloosa, in which the tornado struck at an intersection we had driven thru ten minutes before, crushing a grocery store, a pharmacy, and destroying many homes, and tearing up a cemetary), two meetings with hurricanes (Opal, which almost crushed our house under an 80 foot tall hickory tree, blown over by the roots, and Danny), and our own little visit by a lightning bolt thru the roof.

Since it wasn’t as deadly or scary, I won’t mention the Blizzard of ‘93, where we got 26 inches of snow here in Mid Alabama the first week of March, losing all power and modes of transportation for several days, just one week after moving here from Texas. So, this second meaning of THE BLAST SHELTER is Safety and Shelter from the Storm.

The next level brings it to a closer point of view, or what we might say is a Daily level of Self Sufficiency. With all the crime and poverty in the country right now, with murder, rape, robbery and burglary occurances on the rise, and the growing problems of hate crimes, domestic terrorism, and the lack of sufficient and old time education available in our schools, where is a family to turn for guidance, strength, and security?

The first place should be inwardly, looking at our selves and souls, using every fiber of our being, if need be, to accomplish our daily treks out into the world. We should use every experience, every meeting, every thought or action that we have had in our life, to help us mold ourselves into a person who knows what needs to be done, what we are capable of, what we need help with, and what we still must do to educate ourselves, so that we can reach and obtain the ultimate goals that we set for our lives. Most of us having reached adulthood should have a fairly good handle on the difference between right and wrong, and should at least feel the pangs of guilt for taking advantage of things we shouldn’t.

I suspect nearly all readers of this page will be way on the good side of honesty. The second place we should seek wisdom is from our family. Everybody has one, everybody at times needs one, and everybody should be able to know all they can about the lives, and experiences, of their relatives and ancestors. Spending some time learning your geneological history is not as difficult as you might think. In just a few short months of searching, my wife Annie has taken the beginnings of our tree, originally started by my father in the 1960’s, just for my paternal line going back to the 14th century, and she has added many, many more branches all across the entire tree, many going back to the 1500’s, with work done by distant cousins, complete strangers, and even the LDS church.

Having names, and lately faces from old pictures, placed in an historical setting of the turn of the century, the Civil War, the War of 1812, even in a few cases in our tree back to the original 13 colonies ( one ancestor we found recently was the first doctor in the colony of Delaware) and the old world of Europe, we can EASILY see that our ancestors HAVE made a differance, in some cases going into the history books, in helping to build this great nation we have now.

And if THEY could do it, with little to no technology to help them survive, we can also, with much more learning material, tools, easily accessable wisdom and many, many sources of answers, more available now then EVER existed back then. The third place we will always find wisdom is with GOD, both personally and thru the fellowship of fellow admirers and practitioners of our chosen faiths, whether its at our local church, temple, synagogue, or mosque.

He has all the answers, knows all that is and all that was or will be, and will talk to anyone who asks prayerfully, with a still and small voice that we all can hear if we just take the time to listen. The Daily level of Self Sufficiency is preparation for what CAN be expected with regularity, not what might happen as in the first level or what does happen occasionally, though seasonally in most areas in the second level..

Underground Shelter Online Beginnings

The final level of THE BLAST SHELTER is here, at the bottom of this lengthy, personalized treatise. Its in a sense trying to make ones self inwardly bulletproof. It deals with helping and training yourself to get thru the surprises, shocks, worries, and disasters that any person can go thru in a week, or a lifetime. It’s having, and sustaining, a confidence in yourself that you can and will deal with whatever might present itself in front of you at any given moment. It’s knowing one little secret that the LORD has shared with me these last few years.

It is this- GOD will never give you any more to deal with then you can possibly handle. He will make a way, give you a skill, or push an angel in your direction that helps you climb that last foot, shovel that last load, or run that final distance to get thru your trial or tribulation. Knowing this has given me an extra layer of confidence, a sixth sense hidden from the rest just below the surface, where only I know its there. You know…underground, sort of…….

As I do my daily job, working at my chosen career as a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service, I see the same families, in the same settings, growing and changing as the seasons rise and set. I see change happen either quickly or gradually, but always. I have seen life and death happen on the streets in front of me. I’ve seen much more of the bad side of people, too. Much more in a few short years in this job then I ever would have wanted to even think about.

Drug dealers standing on the corners….burglars breaking in to old folks homes…robberies of fellow letter carriers right on the street next to their mail trucks. WHY? Don’t these criminals have any concept of humanity? Of giving so they shall receive? Of helping others just because its the right thing to do?

I know, its all been discussed before, by many much more intelligent, eloquent, and scholarly people than I could ever be…..but these people have never walked out thru the projects EVERY single day, seen the fight these people have to live, talked to them by just saying hello and how are you today?, or just shared a bright smile with them. They have never had to hit the ground when shots rang out; stopped and prayed when some morons in a souped up, self painted Monte Carlo cruise by slowly with the ungodly loud bass speakers deafening the neighborhood and point a satin finish .357 at them just for fun; or had to almost dive out of the way as a late model Chevy Suburban comes spinning and rolling towards them after being broadsided by a drunk driver who ran a stop sign.

I’ve had these last three things happen to me personally, and I will continue to deal with whatever the LORD sends my way. It’s my job to deliver mail, but my calling to deliver my concern and when needed, a helping hand or strong back or bent ear. Ten years ago, I would have walked away from the rats nest I’ve just been talking about. I would have found something better to do with my time and very precious energy. Something changed, and it changed without any help on my part.

I began to see that I had much more responsibility than I had ever planned. I had three young children who had no one to raise them but my wife and myself. I knew that no one in my family would really want to help, unless it was an emergency, and when that did happen, they still wouldn’t or couldn’t. My wife’s family was the same, only far worse. It came down to me, my skills, my blood, sweat and tears, and my courage and strength. These last two I had very little to start with, but they have grown much on their own these last few years.

It has taken a lot of pain, energy, and sleepless nights, but now I have wonderful, bright, happy children-ages 10, 13, and almost 15 – and these kids know how to do things, how to learn things on their own, how to be compassionate and caring, what its like to have a complete family unit that exists as such because its the way it should be. AND it’s because I made a decision to be a part of that unit, to guide, nurture, and weed those skills that I had to learn either thru trial and error or shere dumb luck. My wonderful wife Annie KNEW from the beginning that these kids would get the love that most never see, and she helped me to see from the right perspective.

But where’s the UNDERGROUND SHELTER’s?????

The original idea for this page (and even the website) was just this reason. I had spent many months, and many long hours looking for anything I could find that had to do with storm cellars, earth sheltered homes and plans, fallout shelter designs and specs, and just good technical information. Some of the reasons why are made plain above. I have a quite respectable hardcopy library on these topics, and have been studying and planning such a home for years, but I was looking online to find out if, and where, there was more of the same. My ultimate reason for gathering and studying this information is to build and live in an earthsheltered, high efficiency heating and cooling system, off the grid powered, low maintenance factor, high protection providing, permanent HOME. Nothing more, and nothing LESS. My family deserves security, and it’s my job to provide it.

While I was searching, reading, indexing, and collating the data from the few different sources I found, I was realizing there was more to the basic need for shelter then just the roof over my family’s heads. I already have self sufficiency in my life and have developed many habits that help us economically survive on one income with three homeschooled teenage kids, several pets, decent shelter, and the tools we need to accomplish most of our day to day needs. We have two used, older, dependable vehicles that we paid cash for, and I have the skills and tools to keep them running indefinitely.

We have the obvious technology that we need for teaching, communications, news gathering, and basic survival skills. We have many hundreds of books on ALL topics needed for a full, complete satisfying education, including sets of enyclopdieas, current, world, and American history, languages, math, literature, and much more. 99% of these were gathered thru frugal and selective shopping at many local thrift stores, flea markets, and a very good friend who owns a used book store in the local college town of Tuscaloosa. My whole family is confident and capable of using the great resources of the internet, and in using the tools available with it to learn ANYTHING they have the mind to, at their own pace, and in their own method. What all this adds up to is more than enough self-taught conservatism, practicality, and common sense to do anything we set our minds to.

What we want and what we are is a family that IS THE BLAST SHELTER. We also feel that we cannot possibly be the only family, or individual, who feels the same way. Hence, we now present you with the REST of THE BLAST SHELTER, with discussion, hints, tips, recommendations, suggestions, links, and insight as to how you, too, can become ….

Your Very Own Blast Shelter!!!!

Please understand that this IS a work in progress….most of what you see below is in outline form, but WILL be added to with regularity, with much comment on my part and hard facts, addresses, and examples you can use to help become, and build, your Blast Shelter.

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SAFE AND SECURE SHELTER- Topics – UPDATED 12/05/97 by RAFLEET

• Definitions of different kinds of underground shelter
• Threats requiring earth shelter or strengthened conventional shelter
• Full time shelter
• Part time shelter
• Emergency shelter
• Safe rooms or strong rooms
• Security topics, options, recommendations
• What threats would require an earth shelter, fallout shelter, blast shelter, storm shelter, modified conventional shelter, permanent or temporary shelter, dual purpose emergency shelter, additions to previously built shelter, etc. ???

Finally ….the reason you found this page! First, some much needed…..

Definitions

Earth Shelter Home–This is a home originally designed to be either partially or completely covered with a layer of earth from 1 to 5 feet thick, which greatly increases insulation efficiency and has a profound effect on heating and cooling costs of a home. Besides offering reduced energy costs, they offer the greatest security from weather phenomena, improved lifestyle, enhanced use of alternative energy production such as solar heating and cooling, better personal privacy, reduction or elimination of enviromental noise (traffic, aircraft, etc.), greater security from vandalism and crime, and better land preservation thru more landscape availability of added earth surface area.

Fallout Shelter–This kind of shelter protects the occupants from the effects of radioactive gamma rays and nuclear detonation fallout. It can be below ground, above ground with sufficient mass in the roof and walls, in a basement with a corner or wall of the basement protected by another dense material (like bricks) wall to give a small room surrounded by dense mass material all around, under a workbench or table piled high with lots of heavy books like encyclopedias, underneath the concrete slab of a conventional home by excavating below one of the concrete wall footers in an emergency, or in a hole dug in your yard covered with some doors from inside your house and the excavated dirt piled on top of the doors. A boat in open water would make an acceptable shelter from fallout provided some means is available to wash off fallout and radioactive dust as it collects on the external surfaces of the boat’s cabin.

Blast Shelter–A blast shelter is usually constructed in areas that are NEAR possible nuclear targets of known enemies of the United States. They are VERY heavily fortified, have special blast vents and specially constructed heavy duty blast doors that can withstand severe overpressure, and are completely self contained. As an example, when I lived in North Texas in Denton, there was and still is a FEMA regional office that I used to drive by regularly. This facility is VERY unique. It is a couple of stories aboveground, and MANY stories below ground. The hill this building rests on bristles with radio antenna for every conceiveable band for national communications. What I thought was REALLY cool was the covered silos, from which REPLACEMENT antennas could sprout in the unlikely event of a nuclear blast wave ripping down the original antennae. I never got to go on a tour of this facility, but next time I visit Texas, you can bet I’m going to try to see if they give tours!

Storm Shelter - (also known in some areas as a storm cellar)–This kind of shelter mostly is for protection from tornadoes. There are several companies that make prefab shelters that can be buried in your yard, and these can also be built from a hole in the ground and a truckload of cinderblocks and a load of concrete and a strong door. Some links can be found on my links page. NOTE that any fallout shelter design would make a great tornado shelter.

Modified Conventional Shelter–A little strange sounding, but simply a regular above ground home that has either been partially or totally strenghthened inside or out using extra material, bracing, security doors and windows, working shutters, strong rooms, etc. You get the picture….

Permanent Shelter–This is what I would classify as an earthsheltered home. It’s not going anywhere, and its got lots of protection for the above and below reasons built-in to the design.

Temporary Shelter–This can be either emergency shelters for storms or attacks that are ONLY used for this reason, a shelter that can be put together in a few hours in a basement or yard, or expedient field shelter for fallout, built out of materials on hand.

Dual Purpose Emergency Shelter –A shelter that was built specifically for protection, but can also be used as a game room, storage room, sewing room, workshop, library, or a combination of several of these or other reasons.

Additions To Previously Built Shelter–If you already have a house, farm ,barn, cottage, trailer, or mansion, but want to ADD an underground fallout or storm shelter after the fact, then you’re planning an ADDITION. FEMA has a great plan just for this purpose.

Threats requiring earth shelter or strengthened conventional shelter

Most visitors to this particular page have found it because they have a VERY strong need or want for a place of safety in times of bad weather, national security, or stress from other likely sources. What are the OBVIOUS reasons to have an underground shelter?

Personally, I need one because I have PERSONALLY seen the damage a tornado can do to an aboveground home, and I want a safe place for my family to hide while a possible approaching tornado does its damage where I’m NOT. Before I tell you my story about NEEDING an underground shelter, let us list some reasons for actually getting one your self. My most obvious reason is for tornadoes and high winds usually associated with hurricanes, two of which we’ve suffered with the past three years. An underground shelter can deflect the high winds, windborne objects, and utter damage that severe windstorms can bring. Another good reason, especially in these fluctuating political times, to have a shelter protected by a layer of earth is to be sheltered from possible enemy, or foreign or domestic terrorist attacks, either nuclear or otherwise. Fallout shelters, blast shelters and bomb shelters are heavily fortified, usually concrete, always below ground level, and preferably pre-stocked with food, water, and basic living needs for a few weeks of living safe from radioactive fallout. An important sidenote here….both storm cellars and especially fallout shelters MUST have the capability to be refreshed with clean, filtered breathing air while individuals are either temporarily waiting, or camped out for the duration. I am currently working on another page at this site that, when it is completed in the next month or two, will enable you to step by step build your own fallout shelter in your homre or yard. Visit it at this link: http://members.aol.com/rafleet/fallout.htm and watch it grow until it’s finished.

AND NOW, HERE’s WHY I WANT AN UNDERGROUND SHELTER…..

On January 1997, a tornado hit Tuscaloosa, Alabama on the eastern edge of the city, having dropped VERY unexpectedly from a passing severe thunderstorm late in the afternoon. (DOWNLOAD SOME VIDEO OF IT HERE Jan. 1997 tuscaloosa tornado video ) This tornado was seen on the ground minutes before it was seen on radar. It dropped down south of Interstate 20 at McFarland Boulevard, and traveled skipping thru the city for several miles. As it came across Alabama Highway 215 at its intersection with 216, it hit a large Food World grocery store and Big B Pharmacy, doing extensive damage and virtually destroying most of both buildings as dozens of people huddled inside. Many cars in the large parking lots were destroyed, either being flipped upside down, slammed into other cars, or in one instance, DROPPED into Isle 3 of the store, thru the roof.

My boys and I passed RIGHT THRU this intersection not ten minutes before this storm hit, only catching the beginning rainstorm which hid the spinning funnel inside. We drove home about 25 miles east down Highway 216, which passes a half mile from our home. After the tornado hit the two stores, it drove right into the heart of the upscale neighborhood behind the shpping center. Many homes were destroyed, dozens were severely damaged, one man was killed sitting in his vehicle when a very large tree branch was thrown end first thru the windshield.

Also sustaining major damage were a large apartment complex, a very large cemetary, and a small general store across from the cemetery. A one hundred foot tall oak tree was ripped from the ground before the cemetary and literally tossed end over end across the cemetary, with most of its branches ripped off, and trash, roofing material, insulation, and god knows what else wrapped around the stubs of the broken branches. A four wheel ATV motorcycle was thrown, or carried, a half mile and tossed into the middle of Highway 216, and trees on the north side of 216 were broken off at ground level for one hundred yards, showing the path of the funnel on the ground. All this I learned early the next morning when I drove back into town on another errand.

As I got home from this trip into town on the afternoon of the storm, I turned on the TV, exactly at the same time that the local tv weatherman was breaking into programming with a tornado warning. Guess what? That tornado I didn’t know was on the ground was now headed FOR ME!

Immediately I jumped into preparation mode…..our 80 year old house we live in has a hand dug basement with a poured cement floor, and cinder block walls, both put in years after the house was built. It was not a place to really hide from a tornado, since the house could easily collapse into that basement with a decent shove. Instead, in the center of the house is a large pantry 3 feet by 7 feet. with no windows, a narrow doorway, and clapboard paneling on BOTH sides of the 2×4 framing that the house is made of. Structurally a very strong room.

We pulled out some boxes and cases of food, and put two large mattresses and all our pillows into it, giving us plenty of padding, and the most protection we could expect in this old house. We left the tv on for continuous tv radar coverage, and I tuned my 200 channel handheld scanner to the national weather services’ local channel 162.5500. After making sure the kids were in the pantry and my wife Annie was keeping an eye on the tv screen, I then went outside, with the video camera in hand, and began scanning the southwest horizon, watching the rainstorm build, the hail begin to fall, and a lightning storm from hell begin to strike all around us. It was truely one of the scariest moments I have ever felt, yet I KNEW that we would be fine for some reason.

After waiting for what seems an eternity, the storm lightened up, and as I looked to the northwest I could see the remnants of a wallcloud beginning to disipate. The lightning was still all over the place, and as I looked upward from my back porch, I could see the very backside of the passing thunderhead. Looking straight up, I could see the entire back of the storm as it passed, with a dark blue sky directly above it and the evening’s first stars beginning to show. I got some great footage of the cloud being lit up from inside by the giant bolts of electricity on the video, as well as some huge lightning strokes jumping out into thin air behind the storm as it passed.

This little story is completely true, every single word of it. The images this storm created, the damage done to buildings, vehicles and people, the life taken, and the fear I felt in my heart for my family are all just as real as the breath you take now. This fear I felt of not being completely protected from the tornado should it decide to run right over our home made me REALLY sit up and take notice of what I COULD do in the future to prepare for a very likely reoccurance, as far as taking care of my family was concerned. This is the reason I have created this website….to help others prepare for the inevitable event that makes them wish THEY had a safe place to hide while the storm or problem passes them by.

Full time shelter

A full time shelter can be defined simply as a place where you live or work. The most likely underground shelter that I would consider full time would be any kind of earthsheltered home or business. During the 1970’s and early ’80s there was a LOT of activity iin the design, manufacture, and growth of the technology that we now take for granted. The fuel crisis of the 70’s and 80’s helped create a need for high-efficiency, low maintenance homes, and earth sheltered homes fit this bill perfectly. There have been many dozen books written on the subject, and some notible mentions are anything by Rob Roy, who has just released an update for the 1990’s of his classic 1979 book _The Complete Book of Underground House: How to Build a Low-Cost Home_ . The new book is150 pages long, and cost $15. Roy also was one of the innovators of cordwood masonry design. He is now offering workshops on building earthwood homes in New York state. You can contact him at (518) 493-7744 about either his books or his workshops.

The magazine _Mother Earth News_ has had several articles on earthsheltered construction, and their book shelf page offers several books on the subject, all reasonably priced. _American Survival Guide_ has had a couple of articles as well, including a newer design home, that while not underground unless you want it to be, offers great safety and security. Monolithic Dome Homes are homes that are made completely out of sprayed concrete. The site offers complete step by step details of the construction process, lots of pictures of various designs, and much information about the livibility factors, and especially the safety advantages of this unique designs. These homes have suffered direct hits of both hurricanes AND tornadoes, and suffered no more damage then a few small chips of the concrete. THAT is a lot of bang for your buck if you ask me. I have also found several building contractors who specialize in earthsheltered home construction, such as Davis Caves, Performance Building Systems, and the Earthship organization.

In the near future I will produce a list of all the books I am aware of that cover the topic of earthsheltered homes.

Part time shelter

Part time shelter qualifies as that which is only used or needed in an emergency BUT can be used for other things such as a game room, storage room, sewing room, workshop, library, or a combination of several of these. It can be a permanent part of your home, a basement area that is specially strengthened in the ceiling area, a buried fallout shelter in the yard that also houses a pump and filter system for a swimming pool, or any of a myriad of different uses. These kinds of shelters can be dual purpose so that your investment in the shelter can stretch your everyday living area a little more.

Emergency shelter

IN WORK AT THIS TIME…..COMING SOON TO THE BLAST SHELTER!

Safe rooms or strong rooms

IN WORK AT THIS TIME…..COMING SOON TO THE BLAST SHELTER!

Security topics, options, recommendations

IN WORK AT THIS TIME…..COMING SOON TO THE BLAST SHELTER!

Why this page, these topics, these ideals…

Safe and secure shelter

– earth shelter, fallout shelter, storm shelter, modified conventional shelter, permanent or temporary shelter, dual purpose emergency shelter, additions to previously built shelter

Taking care of ,and providing for, your family

Food, clothing, safety, medical, transportation, education

Basic neccessities – income, food, shelter
Knowing, and expanding, your skills and capabilities
other basics – safety, medical, transportation
Having, and keeping, your faith
Setting Priorities
Having GOALS!

Preparedness and training for any situation or possibility

planning for the inevitable and/or inconceivable – Storms, accidents, options, avoidance, insurance,

What do you need to prepare for?
Knowing hazards in your area
Dealing with accidents
Planning for the inevitable and/or inconceivable
Storms, disasters, man-made problems
Mitigation of any possible problems for your area
Insurance

Self Reliance and Self sufficiency

If you had no one but yourself in a situation, would you make it out?
Having the skills to live anywhere with anything you can
The tools available to be as self reliant as possible
Communications, news gatherning, staying alert to changes

Food and Water storage

what, why, when, where, how?

what, why, when, where, how?
Can ANYONE store a years worth of food and water
where to store and keep foodstuffs
Sources for storable food, tools to do so, hints and tips
Where to find more information
What are the BASIC needs?

72 hour kit

the best defense is a good offense when disaster does happen!
What is a 72 hour kit?
Who needs one?
What options you might have with a kit
Sources of tools, food, shelter, etc to put in a kit
Sources for complete ready to use kits

Survival

what you don’t know could kill you, what you might know could save OTHERS.
Just what is Survivalism?
What would I have to “Survive”?
Primitive Survivalism
Army, Navy, Air Force types of survival
Is there an EASY way to learn this?

Weather

it effects everyone everyday…know whats going on where, WHEN you need to know.

it effects everyone everyday…know whats going on where, WHEN you need to know.
How to figure out the ‘forecasting’ game
Use your computer to plan your treks into the outdoors
sources of online RADAR, water vapor, historical climatilogical information, storm tracking and storm survival information
dealing with the aftereffects of weather disasters

Education

We must NEVER stop learning. What, where, and how to stay on top of the I-way
Using your computer to learn
Correspondence training
Homeschooling your children, or yourself
Online college courses and degrees
using the power of the internet to stretch your education – newsgroups, mailing lists, search engines
What do YOU want to learn?

Books and sources for follow-up study

what’s the next step?
sources for online books, the Gutenburg project, public domain text books
finding and ordering books online – Amazon.com for example
Looking in your neighborhood for used book sources- thrift stores, college stores, flea markets
Magazines, newspapers, newsletters

Planning for future needs

is there something you haven’t thought of yet?
stocking up for future possibilities
Controlling and Maintaining your assets
having savings and security
Children, aging parents, catatrophic illness
the future – whats in line for YOU?

HAZARDOUS Areas MAPS

United States-zones for tornado, earthquake, nuke attack, fallout, more…

LDS PROPHECY(Mormon church)

8 files full of good reason to store food, have faith, help one another..

Underground Shelter FAQ

Some basic questions answered (work in progress-add a question!!)

If you find any of these topics thought provoking and worth following up on, then stay tuned.

WANT TO HELP?

Do you have any material regarding the above mentioned topics that you feel might be useful to the online community? Articles, website URLs, photos, books, plans, suggestions, or reviews of previously published information would be greatly appreciated.

The MISSION of this site is to be the ONE STOP SHOP for anything UNDERGROUND SHELTER related. Email me with your ideas and info. If you have hardcopy you feel would greatly serve the world (via the internet, of course) contact me and we’ll make plans to get it online.

My main reason for this page is to build a WORLD CLASS SITE offering much needed and yet extremely hard to find information on a topic that should affect EVERYONE on the face of the planet, and THAT is SAFE AND SECURE homes and shelters. I also want to cover skills and training that can help everyone make their homes, shelters. careers, and lifestyles more useful, better organized, and give greater benefit to those in our lives.

I would like to find individuals with similar interests to share information with , and to help anyone I can who might have a question about anything found within these pages. SO, look around, check out the links, send me some email, and let’s all concentrate on making the world around us a lot better for those that mean the most to us.

Enjoy this site, and be sure to visit my other pages while you’re here!