[Old Man]

I want to say that any plan is better than no plan. My question is on bunkers, I live in rural Mississippi and have 12 acreas of with full basement with some, not all have other plans my prepp's and we have a small farm with animals and plan to defended it, hopefully with family and neighbors. Now back to the bunkers. I watch on tv preppers add bunkers and they most have 2 ways in. My question is once your in the bunker you have lock yourself with only 2 ways out. You have no ideal what going on up above. Does that make it hard to know when to open the door. If anyones is up there waiting you out. I am looking for general answer not you plan. Thanks

 

[grinder37]

I'd think it would make it hard to determine if it was safe without a way of knowing or seeing.Personally if I ever get a bunker built,I wouldn't have a bunker without adding a periscope that could retract back down,or even one mounted inconspicuously remote and fixed looking at the bunker.I would also "hide" my fresh air and ventilation pipes in a nearby shed or something to prevent someone from tossing teargas down it or smoking you out (they'd never know what the pipes were even for if properly concealed).Septic and freshwater tanks would be buried as well with locking hatches also.All they would have to do is dump some gas or anything toxic in your water supply and then wait you out.I know you wanted general answers without plans but a bunker could easily become a tomb if not protected from the dirtbags that'll show up after "whatever" just to take whats yours,and yes i've given serious thought to building a bunker.

 

[Old Man]

I really enjoyed your comments.

 

[rickkyw1720pf]

My ideal of using a bunker would be in case of such bad weather or event (nuclear) that there wouldn't be anyone outside the bunker. Even if you could see what is going on outside with two entrances you are trapped. I would also have the escape doors that open up made so that I could force them open from the inside with a small hand operated hydraulic jack in case a tree or something was blocking it. I think the best thing would be also if one of the exits to the bunker was in your basement or house or small structure so that you aren't just coming out into the open.

 

[paraquack]

I read about a guy (story or true???) who put in an in-ground pool. This was cover to put in a bunker under it. He had a concealed entrance in his basement and all sorts of food, etc. He had an escape door that came up into the bottom of the pool house. Nice idea, but if he really did this, why did he tell people????? So I wonder, truth or fiction of a wanna be.

 

[grinder37]

My ideal of using a bunker would be in case of such bad weather or event (nuclear) that there wouldn't be anyone outside the bunker. Even if you could see what is going on outside with two entrances you are trapped. I would also have the escape doors that open up made so that I could force them open from the inside with a small hand operated hydraulic jack in case a tree or something was blocking it. I think the best thing would be also if one of the exits to the bunker was in your basement or house or small structure so that you aren't just coming out into the open.

I agree somewhat on the hatches.I would build the main hatch opening out and the escape opening in to dig your way out if need be.I do like the jack idea though.A bunker in a weather or nuke event,you could be trapped,but in a shtf scenario with hordes of staving people coming through consuming anything and everyone in their way,i'd be glad to be "trapped" in a well stocked bunker for a period of time.I also like the idea of entering/exiting into the home,but theres nothing to say that way would be any safer if the house is inhabited or collapsed from the weather/nuke event.

 

[Verteidiger]

Here is how the Nazis handled this problem in their underground bunkers on the Atlantic coast:

 

[Verteidiger]

Here is another link to WWII era bunker design, which shows the concrete observation posts with three viewing ports, built to allow viewing but to avoid gunfire or ricochets. The placement of machine gun ports in tunnels to the bunkers is also a characteristic of Nazi designs, and gave intruders a reason to fear entering tunnels, to say the least. Add in flamethrowers, grenades, explosives and booby traps to the mix, both on offense and defense, and you can imagine what hell could be unleashed.

These war photos are very interesting to view, since these bunkers were for Nazi leadership, and they used the bunkers to protect their mountain retreats (Hermann Goering used one of his bunkers to hide his looted art and treasures - the pictures show Allied soldiers hauling the loot away in wheelbarrows).

The moll bunkers are very interesting, and what I was looking at when I asked about fortifying your BOL in a separate thread.

I should note I despise the Nazi regime for its crimes against humanity, but I also study WWII history, along with war history post-WWII, and these pictures are interesting from a design position.

Of course, history also notes that those who built bunkers to survive often ended up dying inside of them, but that is a lesson one can learn (or avoid?) from studying the designs....

Bunker System

 

[Lucky Jim]

..My question is once your in the bunker you have lock yourself with only 2 ways out. You have no ideal what going on up above. Does that make it hard to know when to open the door. If anyones is up there waiting you out. I am looking for general answer not you plan. Thanks

A retractable periscope is a must like Grinder said so you can look around, but it should be camouflaged by having it come up in the middle of a bush. Same with your air vent and entrance hatch, plant bushes around them to keep them hidden, preferably thorn bushes all over the top of the bunker.
I haven't got a bunker because I'd feel claustrophobic and trapped down there.
Also, if the bad guys have got dogs, they'd soon sniff you out no matter how well dug in and camo'd your bunker was, that's exactly what happened in at least one post-apocalypse movie i've seen.
Bunkers main advantage is that they'd protect you from nuclear blasts, but so would a simple cheap hole in the ground big enough for you and your family, roofed with a corrugated iron sheet as the blast would simply sweep harmlessly over you.
This guy has picked up an old bus cheap and dug it in as a shelter which looks pretty good, his house would get blown away by blasts but the bus should be okay-

 

[Old Man]

I agree with a short term bunker for a nuclear blast or some sort of weather. I have a storm shelter for 6 people. But it is in way way made for long term, its just to ride out the storm. People I see on tv that plan to life 3,6, to a year to me are just asking to be trap in a hole. Not for me. May be a mistake on my part, but I want the flexabilty to move if need.