Panic/Bug Out Room

In my business, going through walls to find things is the norm. I don't care, if it's sheet rock, even doublesheet for firewalls, a boot can go right through it.

Another poster gave some really good advice. You are responsible for yours. Ultimately.

Ideally, a "safe room" of reinforced concrete, separate air supply, and even escape crawlspace to outside is built with the house. It's expensive and difficult after the fact.

Doors should swing to the outside, but you should have the means to open it to the inside in the event the outside is blocked. Note that most bomb/survival shelters include a jack for forcing open doors.

I always liked "down and out." Go in here, go down, and then out.

I wish you the best, but a good, short, reliable shotgun is a fair defense. If you get a pump, just racking a shell into the chamber is usually enough to make sane, rational, prudent people call it a night and haulass.

reply to post by Jkd Up


I was typing my reply for a half hour, then lost my work, so here is the shortened version.

First, if you could share a bit about the layout of your house, it would be helpful.
By that, I mean, is it a split level, bi-level, ranch, etc…

Do you have a basement? If so, is it partially or completely underground?

I remember that thread you mentioned about resin and bullet proofing, and I wasn’t buying it.
My opinion is, for someone on a budget, sand is the way to go.

Believe it or not, roughly 6 inches of sand will stop a 9mm, .45, .223, .308, 12 ga. Slug, and even a hard-cast 510 grain 45-70.

box o' truth

All that stopping power, and that is without a hard surface up front to mushroom the bullet initially.

Sand is also an acceptable barrier to radiation, and doesn’t burn.

A regular concrete block, available from any home improvement store is 15 5/8 inch long, and I’m guessing the studs in your home are spaced 16 in. apart.
Handy, no?

A roll of plastic thermal barrier is cheap, and will help prevent the spilling of sand, as well as set you up for a plenum chamber type Plenum Chamber air filtration system.
Here is a Link that goes a bit more in depth.
This filtration system basically keeps the air pressure (filtered air) within the room at a higher pressure than outside the room.

The downside to this is the space required, hence my curiosity as to your home’s layout.

With a bit of research, scavenging, and using your own labor, you can have a handy little space for several hundred dollars, depending on what you have to work with, space wise.

I have built vault rooms.
These also make great safe rooms.

They were built as a add ons to homes and built of concrete block with a 5 foot entrance way of block and double steel fire doors.

They were primarily for homeowners to store valuables during the wild fires here in Calif.
but people have used them for safe rooms and many people have used rooms of the same design in the Midwest for tornado shelters.

One thing i have for my house is a large can of bear repellent. If i can i will envelope them in a cloud of pepper spray/mace as they kick in the front door.
.
This is the same stuff they is sold with a different label for controlling prison riots.
Just before entering your safe room you fill the outside room with a cloud of gas that will drive any thief out before he has time to attack your safe room door.

Another thing to have is a phone line into the safe room or a cell phone antenna that you can plug into your cell phone.
Another thing is a switch for a siren on the outside of the home.
The thing thieves hate is load noises and ones that sound like cop sirens will likely drive then into the flee mode.
Plus your neighbors will look out the windows to see what is going on and see the thieves running.

I have built vault rooms.
These also make great safe rooms.

They were built as a add ons to homes and built of concrete block with a 5 foot entrance way of block and double steel fire doors.

They were primarily for homeowners to store valuables during the wild fires here in Calif.
but people have used them for safe rooms and many people have used rooms of the same design in the Midwest for tornado shelters.

One thing i have for my house is a large can of bear repellent. If i can i will envelope them in a cloud of pepper spray/mace as they kick in the front door.
.
This is the same stuff they is sold with a different label for controlling prison riots.
Just before entering your safe room you fill the outside room with a cloud of gas that will drive any thief out before he has time to attack your safe room door.

Another thing to have is a phone line into the safe room or a cell phone antenna that you can plug into your cell phone.
Another thing is a switch for a siren on the outside of the home.
The thing thieves hate is load noises and ones that sound like cop sirens will likely drive then into the flee mode.
Plus your neighbors will look out the windows to see what is going on and see the thieves running.

Originally posted by mydarkpassenger
reply to post by Jkd Up

 

By the way, the door needs to be framed so it opens outward, not inward.

I understand the reason for making the door open outward, but that also puts the hindges on the outside...

Alot of really good advice here! From particle board walls to sand... Indeed, a nice array!

Originally posted by Jkd Up

Originally posted by mydarkpassenger
reply to post by Jkd Up

 

By the way, the door needs to be framed so it opens outward, not inward.

I understand the reason for making the door open outward, but that also puts the hindges on the outside...

Opening outward means they can't kick the door in.

That's why you need brackets on the inside of the door with horizontal bars, so even if they take the hinge pins out, they still can't get the door open.

That's an unlikely scenario though. If someone takes the time to pull the pins on the hinges, you are no longer dealing with a simple home invasion; you've got someone trying to make a hit.

reply to post by Oaktree


The studs in a wall are not 16" apart but rather 16" on center (from the center of one to the center of the other).
Were you meaning for him to stack the block between studs or lay them in front of the wall?