Well my Neighbor is a prepper.....

[Wise Old Owl]

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Imagine the Neighborhood surprise when this pulled up our street this week The tube appears to be a 15 foot x 90 feet and there is a second section that attaches to it. The second tube appears to be 30 feet and has two escape tubes about 6 feet each.

The digger was there for a week so my best guess is this is above the water table which is 26 feet down.

[Wise Old Owl]

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here is the Crane for the lift... it was here for the weekend.

[Wise Old Owl]

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Here are the tubes being lifted over the house to get them to the back yard.

[Wise Old Owl]

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Here is the approach tube and escape tubes in the front yard.

Not sure how it attaches but my guess is this is an underground lobby to the entrance.

[madmax]

Good Lord! Is he burying a nuke!

[kyratshooter]

From what I see his shelter is now worth more than his house!

[Antonyraison]

Hopefully I shan't offend, I am just really surprised at how serious American populous takes preparedness, a lot of people seem to have fall out shelters, and the alike.
I can understand in some areas where Natural disasters are prevalent. It just seems very foreign to me as we do not have any natural distastes such as hurricanes,typhoons, volcanoes,earth quakes, or nuclear fallout danger (until we actually implement nuclear energy) our dangers lie with-in a possible civil war due to protest action against our government due to service delivery/corruption/failed promises.

My interests lies in Wilderness survival, as I live in southern Africa, and spend Time outdoors camping and hiking etc, so for me having these skills are a great thing, as being a lost hiker can happen, or being kidnapped can happen, as hijacked and left alone in the middle of no-where does happen (in fact i have been hijacked)
and large parts of our country outside of suburbia is all bush..
I am just curious as to how often a scenario would take place that would warrant the need of such shelters?
forgive my ignorance

[Antonyraison]

But saying all that above, that is one insanely huge shelter, and I too reckon that thing is likely worth more than his house.
Wonder what it looks like inside, and what possible dangers is your neighbor trying to be prepared for?

[madmax]

I think most of us think it's overkill. Unless you're building the ultimate mancave.

[Antonyraison]

I think most of us think it's overkill. Unless you're building the ultimate mancave.

this is certainly my impression

[finallyME]

Hopefully I shan't offend, I am just really surprised at how serious American populous takes preparedness, a lot of people seem to have fall out shelters, and the alike.
I can understand in some areas where Natural disasters are prevalent. It just seems very foreign to me as we do not have any natural distastes such as hurricanes,typhoons, volcanoes,earth quakes, or nuclear fallout danger (until we actually implement nuclear energy) our dangers lie with-in a possible civil war due to protest action against our government due to service delivery/corruption/failed promises.

My interests lies in Wilderness survival, as I live in southern Africa, and spend Time outdoors camping and hiking etc, so for me having these skills are a great thing, as being a lost hiker can happen, or being kidnapped can happen, as hijacked and left alone in the middle of no-where does happen (in fact i have been hijacked)
and large parts of our country outside of suburbia is all bush..
I am just curious as to how often a scenario would take place that would warrant the need of such shelters?
forgive my ignorance

To each their own. Most of the US population feels the same as you. This is a very small minority.

[kyratshooter]

I am just curious as to how often a scenario would take place that would warrant the need of such shelters?
forgive my ignorance

The persons that go to this much trouble are usually of the opinion that it only takes one incident to kill you, and just because it has never happened before does not mean it will not happen tomorrow.

Almost every part of the U.S. has some predisposition for natural disaster; earthquake, bushfire, flood, tornado, blizzard, nuke accident. Many local and regional governments will assist in funding the installation of shelters to withstand these natural disasters. In my village there is one man that makes a living installing prefabricated fiberglass storm shelters. Normal preparations would include an intent to outlast the event and return to normalcy, and then there are those that prepare like the above individual.

While most of us like to spend time in the bush, and this is a wilderness oriented forum, we still spend the majority of our time in civilization, meaning that the majority of the emergencies we will face will be inside the realm of "modern problems" with technology at hand.

While my first aid kit will work if I am mauled by a wild animal, injured by my axe or knife or fall from a cliff, the chances I will use it to treat the victim of a vehicle crash on a crowded highway are much higher.

Much of our knowledge, and equipment, is usable in a multitude of circumstances.

[Wise Old Owl]

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She placed it central to the back yard which explained the activity a few years back when she moved the worn out drain field over and further back. The circles to the left of the ditch digger are 8-10 foot piles of split wood. The Garden is further in the back and the chicken coup is under the trees and not in the picture... all she needs to do is complete the better fence.

Don't ask how I got this picture, No I don't have a drone.

Well That's all I have - I really haven't met her, I keep to myself and I am perfectly happy with my 6 month store room in the basement... Just thought I would share how others are doing it. I am not sure who she used for the build... but it was all put in place in less than two weeks.

[Wise Old Owl]

Hopefully I shan't offend, I am just really surprised at how serious American populous takes preparedness, a lot of people seem to have fall out shelters, and the alike.
I can understand in some areas where Natural disasters are prevalent. It just seems very foreign to me as we do not have any natural distastes such as hurricanes,typhoons, volcanoes,earth quakes, or nuclear fallout danger (until we actually implement nuclear energy) our dangers lie with-in a possible civil war due to protest action against our government due to service delivery/corruption/failed promises.

My interests lies in Wilderness survival, as I live in southern Africa, and spend Time outdoors camping and hiking etc, so for me having these skills are a great thing, as being a lost hiker can happen, or being kidnapped can happen, as hijacked and left alone in the middle of no-where does happen (in fact i have been hijacked)
and large parts of our country outside of suburbia is all bush..
I am just curious as to how often a scenario would take place that would warrant the need of such shelters?
forgive my ignorance

I see you are outside of the country, so I will attempt to best answer this question from my knowledge of the problem. If you come to visit you would never be able to guess that the USA is transforming into a third world nation. The national socialist press here is providing a positive spin to accept illegal immigration from South America and 1/4 of the population of Mexico now lives here. Recently S.A. Catholic priests visited west Philadelphia last year and saw the poverty first hand and said it was worse here than Guatemala in some places. There are very few to grocery stores in the Democratic city, and our location here is 25-35 miles west of the city. In the last ten years vagrancy, foot traffic, and illicit drugs has doubled in the suburbs. The war on drugs was lost, our 18-30 year old men & women cant get a job, stay home, live with the parents and smoke weed. Divorce among young people has exceeded 30%, and unemployed young African American men are well above 50% from the national census. Most people here in the USA are unaware that 95 Million people including myself are not working. I lost my job last month. The press won't talk about how bad it is, its a non-sequitor. For example, a few years after the current administration took office, the rampant poverty here in Philadelphia, and Camden changed. Many took to living under the highways and set up tent towns in NJ and PA. The last time that happened was when we had Hoover-ville's. Today they are called Obama-ville's, they are allowed to exist for a few years and quietly they are scuttled and moved to new locations or absorbed into sub housing.

More to come....

[Wise Old Owl]

As poverty rises in the city so does the need for subsidized housing and EBT food cards to be distributed. Liheap programs provide the dead broke heat and some electricity. So we are experiencing a shocking amount of Democratic subsidy being provided to everyone below middle class, including the working poor, and non working poor.
Housing, food, discounted cable, free cell phones, free medical, free just about everything... odd not free water. But for some, many are fleeing the city for the burbs and Montgomery County to the north is feeling the pressure as well as Delaware County.

Violent Crime is on the rise here, and the current situation is unsustainable. The Federal Prisons are providing early release and over 100,000 violent criminals are out this year due to Presidential Penmanship. Muslim Donte Brooks, aka Abdul Wahi was serving 15 years on weapon and drug violations and was released last year after serving 9 years. He fail to show up for his Probation and failed his drug tests. A year later he shot Police officer Dorman in the face with a stolen gun, here in Delaware County.


Those that graduate college and have good careers are completely blind to what I am describing as they live in nice quiet neighborhoods that I service.

I hope that answers your question...

[Rick]

I have been to Guatemala. Trust me. We are not worse than them.

Smaller shelters are fairly common here in the Midwest. I suspect further west as well. You only have to see one tornado coming at you to start digging a hole. The flip side of the post is it's her money. Imagine your surprise if something does happen and you find your self knocking on her door. Underground door that is.

[kyratshooter]

I know that if I had a storm shelter with access from my house I would use it three or four times each year. That is about the number of really strong storms that cross my land.

I stood in my back window and watched a x4 tornado touch down about 1/2 mile away back in March 2012. That one had skipped across IL, IN, most of north KY and into OH killing more than 20 people on its journey.

When I went outside the next morning it looked like a B52 had made a run across the country side. Pyres of smoke from burning buildings showed its path clearly.

Yep, I wish I had one, perhaps not as extensive as shown in the photos but a nice 10x10 block structure dug into the hill and roofed with concrete.

I have to agree with Rick on the poverty thing. We are in good shape if you have ever witnessed real hopeless mind crushing poverty with starving not just a possibility but a common occurrence.

And WOO, you have your crime figures mixed up with the 1970s, We were up 1.7% last year from two years of decline and we are still below the figures of 5 years ago, according to the FBI.

We are way below the figures from the 1970s-1980s for violent crime.

[madmax]

Kelly and I dug in under a weight bearing wall when a huge red oak came down on top of our small home during a hurricane. It scared the crap out of us. The roofers who came later were amazed at our little 1945 yellow pine home that gave the finger to the hurricane. Paid less than 30 grand on a VA loan. And we had to paint it before they approved us. My best buddy (Battalion Chief) showed up with the whole frickin' fire department to see if we were ok.

Am I blessed or what.

[M118LR]

Here in Florida they better equip that shelter with scuba tanks if they intend to inhabit it. Number one natural concern is flooding, and underground isn't the place to be during a flood natural or otherwise. So location trumps preparation when stuff hits the fan. (Any location where the stuff ain't hitting the fan wins. JMHO.)

[LowKey]

I guess your neighbor isn't a stealth prepper. LOL.
I'd love to have one of those, but the water table here is about 9 feet. IOW, just about as deep as my cellar floor.
I'd like what KYRat described. A concrete blockhouse built into the back hill with a heavily reinforce roof. We've had more tornado warnings in the past 5 years and one could come in handy.