Need tips on turning my basement into a survival/emergceny shelter bunker.

I am moving to a new apartment in october. I have never really thought about survival much because I never had an area to use for an emergency shelter. I have read many posts on here and have done some internet research. The apartment comes with a 400 sq foot indivual basement space. I have planed to go there for tornados, chemical diasters, home invasions,severe storms and stand offs. It does have washer and dryer hookups and a drain by the hookups to drain water. There aren't any furnances, water heaters or gas lines down there. It is a full concrete basement with a very small window with a window well. The hallway has no windows and I can lock it.
Here is what I already have or plan to get. A table sturdy enought to get under.I have a card table right now but is that sturdy enough? A chair, bottled water, shelf stable food, small battery powered fan, battery powered TV, emergency radio, blanket, first aid kit and some extra clothes, socks. Since I have so much room I can add a lot more stuff.
I was planning on getting a vinyl shower curtian and duct tape to seal off the window if I need to. In each of these different situations what am I going to need? I have a front and a back door so I was planning on going out the back door to the basement as it is an outdoor entrance. What kind of food what stay good for at least a couple years so I don't waste my money? Any tips I am going to read more through the survival forum but so far I have not read a lot that pertained to my situations. The most common diaster we have here are tornados and there have been stand offs in my area before where residents have been told to go to their basements. I am always going to prepape a survival backpack in case i need to leave the area. I am very quick on my feet and very creative so I am open to ideas that are outside of the box.

I have a very small budget though so think of items I can get off amazon, at walmart or dollar tree/general. I also have extra things that I do not use that may work in an emergency. With weather getting more voilent and crime becoming more prevelant in my area I really need to start thinking of these things.

Originally posted by dreamseeker
I am moving to a new apartment in october. I have never really thought about survival much because I never had an area to use for an emergency shelter. I have read many posts on here and have done some internet research. The apartment comes with a 400 sq foot indivual basement space. I have planed to go there for tornados, chemical diasters, home invasions,severe storms and stand offs. It does have washer and dryer hookups and a drain by the hookups to drain water. There aren't any furnances, water heaters or gas lines down there. It is a full concrete basement with a very small window with a window well. The hallway has no windows and I can lock it.
Here is what I already have or plan to get. A table sturdy enought to get under.I have a card table right now but is that sturdy enough? A chair, bottled water, shelf stable food, small battery powered fan, battery powered TV, emergency radio, blanket, first aid kit and some extra clothes, socks. Since I have so much room I can add a lot more stuff.
I was planning on getting a vinyl shower curtian and duct tape to seal off the window if I need to. In each of these different situations what am I going to need? I have a front and a back door so I was planning on going out the back door to the basement as it is an outdoor entrance. What kind of food what stay good for at least a couple years so I don't waste my money? Any tips I am going to read more through the survival forum but so far I have not read a lot that pertained to my situations. The most common diaster we have here are tornados and there have been stand offs in my area before where residents have been told to go to their basements. I am always going to prepape a survival backpack in case i need to leave the area. I am very quick on my feet and very creative so I am open to ideas that are outside of the box.

How about this idea. Stop worrying about your death.

DP

reply to post by TsukiLunar


I am not I just want to be able to survive the above scenerios. I posted this on here because I know there are a lot of survivalists that go on ATS. If I don't plan and do nothing I could die in a tornado when I don't need to. In Joplin the reason why people died is they weren't prepared. Tornados happen a lot in my area so not planning ahead is well foolish. I don't have a death wish here.

Pretty much everything made of stone will come crashing down in a really strong earthquake (there are many to come) so a basement shelter isnt really the best choice. If its the best you have however, I would say stocking up on non perishable food and plenty of water, at least a couple months worth. Survival supplies are a must too. It isnt as much about surviving a 'disaster' than it is living after it is said and done. An indestructible underground bunker isnt really that great with no food and supplies to live on; the same goes for any shelter.

Canned tuna generally lasts for three years (remember a can opener). I personally have a 10 pound bag of quinoa (pronounced keen' wah); it's an amazing grain that can be eaten raw if need be. It has the most essential amino acids of any single-item food on the planet! Some people might think is silly but I have a 3 pound bag of chocolate chips too, for quick energy and good taste.

I like tuna. I can buy that for like 50 cents a can. I will buy a lot of that plus a get can opener down there. Because the space is so large there are so many possiblities. I wasn't even thinking of using this in an earthquake. I would say that Tornado/Severe Storms is most likely scenerio here. The second would be home invasion or stand off.
Just yesterday I experienced a storm with Hurrican force winds. The chance of me experiencing an f3+ in the next five years within a 20 mile raduis of me is a good 90%. IN 1999 an F3 came within 3 miles of my house. The outflow winds almost shattered the upstairs windows and knocked out all power. In 2003 an F3, F4 came within 5 miles of me. In 2008 an F3 almost hit my apartment head on. I had to stay in my apartment for 10 hours afterwords due to damage,no power and not sure if it was safe. I stayed in my bathroom for 3 hours. My building did shake as we were impacted by the winds and my door was almost blown upon but because it was locked it jammed in the locked position. I only had a front door so I had to climb in and out of my window for a day and a half. Believe me the likihood of me having to stay down in the shelter for at least 3 hours if not more is 80%. I am on the edge of tornado alley. Thanks for responding and when I am hit by a tornado again I will post on here abouy my experience.

First you need to sell off all battery powered stuff ( batteries run out) and buy everything hand- cranked! Get a cot that is lightweight so you are off cold floor, as for cooking get a propane jet burner or any small backpacking stove in case you have to leave the area! Power bars and roman noodles are lightweight! Get a few buckets with lids for when nature calls! If the reception on the radio is bad try wrapping a small wire around the antenna and either run up the wall under the window and tape to wall or run it out the window (you can still shut and tape up window). Get a good hiking backpack! You can find most of this stuff at thrift stores or yard sales and online! There is just to much to list here but just try to stay down there over a weekend and you will see just what you will need! I hope this helps you get started. also don't forget to tape up the door too.

One other consideration.... Unless you have a gun or way to defend yourself, in a real bad situation people WILL get in there. I have a young daughter so have thought about building a small brick enclosure in the crawl space under the house that could hide the family short-term. This would allow a hiding space that would appear as the regular house foundation/wall.

We don't know what will happen when the dollar collapses or whatever else is in store in the next few years. Always better to be prepared and think about it once in a while.

Well it depends on what you are preparing for. In general, I think you should consider.

Water - Water storage (barrels, jugs, bottles), water filtration, water boiling. Storage on the cheap in soda bottles with 2 drops of bleach to stop mildew/mold. Replace stored water every 6 months.

Food - Beans, Rice, Lentils, Sugar, Flour, Honey, Salt, stored in mylar bags w/ oxygen absorbers, and 5-6 gallon buckets. Paint buckets at walmart are generally food safe plastic, you can search out oxygen absorbers, and mylar bags on google. I get beans, rice, etc.. at warehouse stores.
I store lots of food in several general categories:
Cans (canned food you eat, corn, beans, peas, spaghettios, chili, tuna, chicken, tomotoes, olives, mushrooms,etc...)
Juice (generally lasts pretty long), powdered drink mixes and milk, canned soda
Dehydrated, cured, vacuum sealed, or canned (glass jars) food
Dryed long term stored food as above on the rice, beans, etc...
MREs - meals ready to eat, you can home make or buy, search youtube for homemade MRE

Light - flashlights, batteries (some type of solar charger), wind up hand powered, solar lanterns, oil lanterns, propane lanterns, coleman multi-fuel, candles, etc... consider ventilation required so you don't kill yourself.

Heat - Kerosene storage, kerosene heater, propane heater, blankets, survival blankets, possible wood stove piped out window, consider ventilation required so you don't kill yourself.

Sleeping - cots, air mattress, hammock, blankets, sleeping bags, survival blankets, foam, etc...

Knowledge - books dealing with survival, radiation, cooking, medical, etc..

Medical - Medical supplies, medicines, creams, maxi-pads, tape, scissors, tweezers, bandages, quick clot, chest seals, gauze, scalpels, surgical tools, etc... many good videos on this on youtube, search first aid or trauma kit

Weapons - Guns, Ammo, Slingshot, Bow/arrow, Knives, Bats, Batons

Tools - Shovels, Knives, Multi-tool, Hatchet

Knives - Good knife, sharpening system

Hygiene - Shampoo, Soap, Toothbrush, deodorant, Toilet paper, tampons, etc...

Misc - sewing kit, fishing kit, trapping, snaring

2 is 1, 1 is none. So redundancy is key.

Everyone else has their own basement in this complex. I don't like the ideas of guns. If looting were to happen after the tornado or something I would just let people have my stuff over my own life. Unless you live at the complex you dont even know there are basements down there. They can't be seen from street veiw or google map veiw. They are pretty much hidden for that reason so others who don't live on premises go there.

reply to post by zestor


All accept for the guns these are great ideas and the type of suggestions I was looking for. I have a lot of the stuff already. This basement area which 6 and half feet underground was one of the big reasons I picked this particular apartment.

reply to post by dreamseeker


I've been in eq's, hurricanes, a bad ice storm with a prolonged power failure, plus one tornado.

It doesn't sound like it's a well-aerated place, so the first thing that came to mind is a radon gas detector as well as a CO2 detector. Please don't shrug these off, as they have saved many lives even though we don't hear about them that much.

Keep a whistle or a loud bell so that people can hear you if it should be necessary. To keep abreast of what's going on, I bought an inexpensive windup radio. That was probably the most helpful item for me.

I have lots of food, but in a SHTF situation, I've found that food you can eat straight out of a can such as brown beans and spaghettios, or dry crunchy cereal are handy. I recently invested ten dollars and purchased a couple of small disposable BBQ grills in case the power runs out and I have to cook up my freezer food. Ice packs in the freezer are also a must.

As for a place to crouch, not directly under floor beams, but near them, in case they should split and collapse, you would be in a safe pocket.

Hope this is the kind of stuff you're looking for. All the best.

not sure if your able to get any lighting down in your basement, but if you are I would build a aquaponics system. Im going to build me a greenhouse with the aquaponics system in it. WIth it you can have unlimited meat (fish) and vegetables.

aquaponics

I do not think you are in a particularly good position. You are in an apartment complex. How many other apartments are there? There will be lots of people around. Do you really think hiding in your allotment of basement space is going to help? Whatever you store there will be a cache for everyone who survives. Don't worry about firearms in your situation. Other people will have them and they will use them to take whatever you have.

Having said that, don't forget to store extra TP!

top 2 priorties water and going to the can.

address those everything else is gravy

food and blankets hell even one of those gi collapsible cots as many as you need.

air circulation would be another priorty.

what you stock depends on how long of a stay you plan for and things seldom ever work according to plans.

Keep it simple. Use empty drinks bottles. Like a bottle of milk.
Clean with bleach. Then rinse out and fill with water.
A very very small amount of bleach will keep it from going bad.
Put the bottles all over. For food, bags of nuts or fruit. Things that will last.
You need the water the most.use the empty bottles to pee in.
and bags for the other! A very loud whistle. Mobile phones.
You will be there for two days to two weeks max.
that’s if FEMA are doing the clean up.
Do NOT Use Any thing to cook or heat with. You may start a fire or use all the air.
If you can see if you can add a pipe for more air.

Think about scenarios where you could leave the basement for a few moments, or after danger has passed, and possibly access your regular apartment. In other words, a shelter rather than an ark.

Most people, even here on ATS simply cannot hear what I'm about to relate. But think it through and it will revolutionize your thinking.

If you can create a shelter that will reduce 85% of the alpha radiation coming in for 3 days, you can survive nuclear fallout and live into your 70s with only marginally increased health risks. [stand by for the storm of hate for saying this]. Now that the cold war is ended, the chance of you being attacked really powerful a-bomb are really quite low. Even then, unless you are within about 5 miles of ground zero, it is completely survivable.

If your basement is in a multi-story building, it will need much less reinforcing that you'd think.
This thread points you to the specifics, while This other thread of mine explains how to build a non-electronic fallout meter, so you can tell how much radiation you're actually exposed to (key information, for subsequent treatment as you age.)

A bunch of people will tell you it's hopeless to try and prepare for nukewar; but remember, I've given you specifics, while they just tell you to give up....

Don't get "a can opener", get several. How screwed would you be if your sole can opener broke?

For me the #1 best tip for survival food is to store what you would normally eat. If you like tuna and eat a can per week, get 100 cans. Then use your stored food instead of visiting the supermarket. Same goes for if you drink bottled water - buy a ten dozen! Buying in bulk is cheaper if you shop around, so your survival food will actually benefit you financially.

Also, don't underestimate how much water you might need.

I wouldn't worry about a table to get under. If your basement roof collapses, you are screwed.