Bunkers and other shelters

There are many threads all over the net about root cellars, fallout shelters, underground & storm shelters etc. even Bunkers.

This thread can discuss them all if people wish to contribute any of their ideas and links.

I had studied about bunkers and underground shelter in the early 1980's, even working on Mike Oehler's underground house digging the fallout shelter in his 2 story underground house in 1986.
Then I thought I Must get busy on my own survival retreat and bunker / fallout shelter which I mainly use as a good, secure storage area although I do sleep and live in it when it is cold and snowy.

And If any look at all of the pics in this thread they will see that I have not built a fancy bunker. I used what materials were available, mainly rocks, logs and salvaged much also such as 2 steel doors, steel beams, rebar etc. from an abandoned factory in Greeley, Colorado.
The main cost of my bunker / shelter was the 250 or so eighty pound bags of concrete that I used mainly on the roof. The total cost of my bunker / shelter is around $2,000 mainly for the bags of concrete and nails etc.

Even though it is not fancy or society approved it must be strong and well built since it has withstood up to 12 feet of heavy snowpack every winter since 1996 when I first put the roof on it. I hand dug the hole which is 20 feet long by 8 feet wide and 9 feet deep. It had to be narrow to be stronger and be able to withstand even a nuclear blast as I followed the small pole shelter plans in Kearny's "Nuclear War Survival Skills" book.

A defensible bunker and an NBC shelter are different. A shelter must be a buttoned-up, closed-in place that will protect the inhabitants from a hostile environment.

A bunker is designed primarily to defend strategic locations from hostile intruders. Obviously one cannot defend his bunker if he has his head pulled down so far he doesn't know what is going on outside.

The best shelters can include both which is what I have done and will show later exactly how I built it for about $2,000. People can also use their shelter/bunker as a storage area and root cellar. It would probably be best just to call it a root cellar or storm shelter instead of a bunker for most people.

First I will show some examples of bunkers which as you can see most of these can be used as storage areas unless needed for something more if/when the SHTF. Beginning in pic #9 I start to tell about and show the bunker I built on my mtn BOL / retreat.

Here is an underground bunker door and as you can see is made mostly of concrete >




Here is an above ground bunker for those who do not wish to go underground >




Here is one of Admiral Nimitz outside a bunker on Midway during WWII >




The next two pics show some about the bunker that the Ft. Fisher hermit lived in for years >







Inside of an 1800's root cellar >



Outside of a root cellar in a hillside >




The last example shows the inside of an underground bunker, mainly the work room and notice the ventilation >




And now I would like to explain exactly how I built my underground shelter/cabin which can be used as a storage area and even bunker if necessary.


First I bought remote land in southern Wyoming with a good sunny hill - mountain side for $8,000 in 1987.

Then I used the small pole shelter plans from the book Nuclear War Survival Skills and below are some of the plans from that book >




Digging the hole >




Roof of the bunker showing layers. This roof is made of 3 layers of logs, cardboard on top, layer of sawdust, sheets of plastic, layer of newspapers to protect the plastic then layer of dirt, then heavy tarp, more newspapers, much more dirt and rocks, soil on top and I have 4 kinds of grasses, raspberry bushes etc. growing on top >




Showing finished roof with grass on top with a dead tree also for more camo, stovepipe, plywood covered window etc. >




Close-up of concrete roof and stovepipe >




Back trap door showing 3 foot thick rock and concrete roof. Took 250 eighty pound bags of concrete mix to make the concrete roof. >




Showing the 3 layer log roof >




The ceiling of the main room of the bunker with ladder and bunk bed on the right >



Inside the main room of the bunker showing the bunk bed painted white. Not finished in this pic >


Wall of tools inside the bunker below the 3 layer log roof >




Plywood forms to make the cement wall inside the bunker behind the wood stove >




Finished concrete wall with green backpack on right >







Wall and black 3 inch thick steel door inside bunker in the same room as the woodstove >





Looking down into the bunker in 1997 before the front was completed >




MM Mike standing in the door of the bunker in 1997 >




Any other links, pics etc. are welcome and ANY questions, comments, even criticisms are also welcome.

Many more pics in the following posts If any want to see All of the pics >

Here are a few more showing the front door of the bunker >


Outside the door of the bunker, with mtn bike etc. >




Outside the front door of my bunker >




Locked door with logging chains and 2 locks >





Inside showing the metal bar barricading the front door of the bunker >




Large metal pipe about 5 feet long that I can look through and down on the private road 150 feet down hill >




Brown metal covering over the large metal pipe >




Inside the bunker getting ready to look out the porthole which has a view of the private dirt road about 150 feet down the mountain >

Standing in front of the front black steel door with elk backbone hanging near door and with the sunglasses flipped up >




Here is a good view looking down on my private dirt road which this pic was taken only a few feet above my bunker on the hill side. >





And a nearby fishing lake which helps show some of the beauty in my mountain area >





IF anyone else has a bunker etc. hope they will also post a link to it for I would like this to be an all inclusive bunker - shelter thread. A thread that people can come to and be able to find pics and info about bunkers. Which some can add any links to bunkers that are expensive of which there are many.

I have tried to show that it is possible to build a bunker and even a good retreat without spending a Lot of money. Including the price of the land and sheds I have spent about $14,000 since 1987.

And no one except myself will ever know how awful much time and work it took to build even this "crude" but effective and Strong bunker. I began digging the hole in July 1995, finished digging in August 1996 and even put over 100 log poles with 7 tree trunks in the bunker by Oct. '96. I had to use a power pull - come-a-long to pull the 8 foot long tree trunks up the hillside.

And carry 250 plus eighty pound bags of concrete about 200 feet from my truck across a spring, up the mtn side which is at 9,500 feet in elevation. No way I could get a backhoe up there to do the digging even If I could afford it or even wanted one.

Working off and on from June to Nov. when I am up there all the time since 1999, I have mostly finished the bunker. Although I might add some more concrete, rocks etc. and I would Like to dig at least another 20 feet into the mountain side like a tunnel. But that would take a Lot more work, especially by myself.

In other pic threads and even some on my homepage I show some of the beautiful area my land is located in. And I have said before that even IF the S never Hits the fan, then I have a good retreat to work, play and Live in. And hope to share it with a few others this summer and in coming years.