Telling family there's no room in your bunker?

My wife and I want to and are planning to install a uesd container in our back yard. But one of our major concerns are how to tell family that when SHTF don't come a knocking. :-( If we could afford a bigger bunker and more stores I would love to have everyone stay. But fact is it'll be hard just for me my wife and two children to be able to make it 1 year. And if I say ok to say my brother. (My closest living relative. ) Then how can I say no to his wife? So to be fair were just saying no to ALL. it's what we can afford and were ready for it to be just us if need be. My father inlaw will be the one digging the hole how do we so when he's done btw your not welcome to stay in here if SHTF. :-( Thats going to be a major hurdle for my wife. She feels it may push her family away. Even if we could both pick 2 family members each it would make it even more difficult. So to wrap it up and to get to the sum of this thread. How does one go about telling family that there's just no room? Just 2 people cut our survival time by 50%.

You have to do, what you have to do! But remember there is safety in numbers. Unless the situation is one where everyone perishes overnight except for those who have prepped, you will be hard pressed to protect and take care of your loved ones. You need to explain your fears and the preps you have to deal with your fears. But don't go off the deep end. Start off simple. Explain your prepping as the same think as buying insurance for the house. Or whatever will appeal to your relatives. Out of my relatives and my wife's, I have one married niece whose husband is like minded. Unfortunately he lives a little far away and realizes he might not make to my house or BOL. As of right now, I can only count on my neighbor.

I can't think of hardly any scenario that a person would have to stay in a bunker for 1 year. Even the worst case nuclear fallout you could leave you bunker for short periods in a day and much longer periods a week later.
After 24 hours the radiation would be reduced to 1/100 the initial amount. It would probably be easier if they all knew before hand what you were doing and they had the opportunity to do the same. Now if you are talking about the normal short term emergencies like huge storms or a tornado they are usually just a couple of hours long and you probably could find room short term.

Like I said in another thread, GET MAD at anybody who tries to come begging food and shelter off you, who the hell do they think they are??
Get in the bunker quick and lock the door, and don't answer it when they come knocking, they'll never know you're down there!
If they try to contact you by cellphone say you and your family are on a skiing trip in the Alps or something.

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Anyway just play it by ear because it all depends what kind of Apocalypse it is.
For examp the odds are that it'll be a short-term disaster like Ricky said, so perhaps you could squeeze the scroungers in for a couple of weeks til the Govt hopefully get the power grid and water supplies fixed, and have got troops patrolling the streets, and food relief convoys and tent cities set up.
But if it's a longterm disaster such as a plague lasting around a year or more you'll have 2 options-
1- Let people in and you'll all be dead of starvation in a couple of months.
2- Lock 'em out and you and your family will be able to emerge after a year into a brave new de-populated world and take the place over..:)

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One of our fears are global climate change. And also a non stop beating by mother nature. Worst case scenario we want a sailboat so we can relocate to a cooler or warmer place if need be. And nuclear winters my worst case scenario.

A). Get someone other than father in law to dig,

B). Don't tell anyone.

C). If your secret is out and some one says what about me then sit them down and ask them how prepared they are, are they ready to add to what is in the bunker, and what are they going to do for you and yours when it's needed? I have some family (extended) that I hope make it to my BOL and others I'll just miss.

Don't tell them... just don't open the door.
Do you know what to say to a guy bleeding to death in your front yard? Nothing... you already told him to get off your lawn twice!

I have posted a similar response in another forum here. Outside of my wife/daughter I have no family near me. Friends - I have very few. If any came knocking, I know that they would be able to contribute. They are all military or law enforcement with a lot of useful skills.

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Originally Posted by Ripon

A). Get someone other than father in law to dig,

B). Don't tell anyone.

C). If your secret is out and some one says what about me then sit them down and ask them how prepared they are, are they ready to add to what is in the bunker, and what are they going to do for you and yours when it's needed? I have some family (extended) that I hope make it to my BOL and others I'll just miss.

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Some i'll just miss......love that..

I know that this is a touchy topic for some personality types and for other types it's just a mater of saying 'you're not welcome - get lost'. I have a code that I live by when it comes to this topic and it goes something like this . . .

1. Immediately, or as soon as possible, talk to your closest relatives or friends about your plans. Simply mention in a non-threatening way that you hope and pray they're doing something for themselves, too. Use a positive and upbeat tone and tell them that you would certainly hate it if they were not prepared and that your preps are for your little clan only.

Here is a line that we have used. "It would be wonderful if you guys could prepare for a disaster like we have. We love you very much and would hate to see you get caught with your pants down. We have prepared for our three family members only and couldn't support any more than that so we would be happy to help you with ideas for your own preps."

2. Let them know how hard you have worked to enjoy the peace of mind that comes with prepping and encourage them to do the same. But always slip in a few soft words to let them know that you are prepping for only 2, or 3 or 4 people in your own household. And that you just don't know what other people would do who do not get ready for an emergency like you have.

3. If you have lots of property and desire to have friends and relatives close to you in an emergency offer to loan them some land where they, too, can prep on their own. Offer a piece of your property to build some kind of a BOL or to dig a bunker or whatever but make sure it clearly intended for them to do their own preps. Make sure they know that you do not intend your own preps to be shared with anyone other than your own household members. This may cause a few seconds of discomfort in the conversation but it is critical that you get it out in the open. A few seconds of unpleasant discussion now is much better than a big blow-up when the SHTF further down the road. Depending on the type of crisis, it could mean life or death to your household members.

Something that many preppers do not give enough attention is human waste. The proper disposal of our own human waste is extremely important to reduce the possibility of serious infection and disease. Not to mention the unpleasant odor and mess it creates. This is one good reason to keep the number of personnel to a minimum in your BOL. In a crisis situation our diets will change (sometimes drastically) and diarrhea is a real concern. Can you imagine 9 people living in a bunker built for 3 and most having projectile diarrhea? Very nice.

Maybe it's just my medical background, but there are many millions of tiny organisms out there that want to kill us and the chances of their success increase with each individual that we add to our group. Something to think about.

Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail.