Doomsday Bunkers @ 10pm Tonight on Discovery

[Ronald Silver 2]

And what about all the other issues?

Food have expiration dates. Will they rotate them all?

Insects & animals getting to your food supply?

All that moisture is going to cause major molding unless he's running an climate control system around the clock.

I didn't see any well. Won't jugs of water get contiminated over time with bacteria and plant seeds? Will he really treat his water with chemicals?

Where's the electricity coming from? Don't generators need fresh air & aren't they really loud? Isn't that a giveaway to your location?

How did he ever get his family to go along with this?

[Babyface Finster 45]

Regarding the ventilation system, aren't they hooked up to NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) air filtration systems. So wouldn't bleach or smoke not really do much , especially if they are rated for Nuclear, Biological, Chemical issues?

 

I'm no expert, but I've never seen a commercially available NBC filtration unit that was designed to cope with deliberate sabotage. That's assuming the structure actually even has one. They are generally designed to filter bacteria, viruses, particulates and vapors as far as I know, not liquids. Seems to me that a couple gallons of bleach would soak the HEPA filter and overwhelm the scrubber. Then the fumes would be coming out the vents. It doesn't take much chlorine gas in an enclosed space to cause severe distress.

 

Could be that there are more sophisticated designs I have never seen, but I bet they would be budget-busters for the typical individual buyer.

 

 

 

After they run through an infiltration gallery (constructed hydrogeologic recharge basin). Anything you pour down there is not going inside. Blocking them off would work. Eventually. If you found them all.

 

I don't think anybody ever said you are supposed to hide in a family bunker for six months while hundreds of people gather and plan and prepare and build equipment to get you. That's not what a family bunker is for. Just because it should be tamper resistant doesn't mean you should hole up in there against deliberate attack by determined onsite humans.

 

As for the door being tough, those super-special SWAT demolition expert people used 3 pounds of Tannerite. They probably bought it at Cabelas for $30 on the way to the show. It has a low brisance. Great for reactive range targets, OK for moving earth, shitty for cutting thick steel. Especially in quantities that small.

 

Concrete - well, most family "bunkers" focus on the principles of nuclear blast shelters. For small ones, concrete is not the best medicine. Something that flexes, such as steel, is usually better. Even wood can be better than reinforced poured concrete if the shelter is near the surface and suffers a large overpressure and ground shock.

 

I don't remember anyone on the show even mentioning an NBC system, let alone an infiltration gallery. If I'm correctly picturing what you are talking about, I expect the additonal power requirments alone would make it highly impractical to use in a bunker like the one with the airsoft security system. Based upon the loose blocks used to construct the generator enclosure, I just don't see anything being too well thought out in these. I would not be entirely surprised to find that many of these structures have a simple HEPA filter, a squirrel cage blower and a single air intake not very well hidden.

 

I agree that it would be foolish to plan a 6+ month stay in one of these, but isn't that exactly what this guys said he was planning for? I would rather be prepared and mobile in the event of some catastrophe. Plus, if secrecy is the key to a bunker like this, what do you do about the contractors that had to work on it? I don't think the manufacturer is doing the install so someone else has to be brought in. Even if the manufacturer does put it in, is no one going to notice the heavy equipment and the bunker itself being brought onto the property? Someone is going to know and will probably talk about it.

 

I would also have fears about the only exit being blocked. Someone attempting to breach the door could very possibly make it inoperable or just brace it closed out of spite. No thanks.

 

Overall, I think the show sucks. Typical manufactured reality like the "the guy's on his way to see it and we're not even CLOSE to being finished" and the idea that this guy had to develop a door on his own like there wasn't already something available. The airsoft security system was just the icing on the cake.

[mipafox 438]

 

 

I'm no expert, but I've never seen a commercially available NBC filtration unit that was designed to cope with deliberate sabotage. That's assuming the structure actually even has one. They are generally designed to filter bacteria, viruses, particulates and vapors as far as I know, not liquids.

 

Many blast shelters in the US have been built to deal with intentional sabotage of air vents since the 1950s. If you go to the library you will find many examples in acedemia, media, survival, and Civil Defense publications.

 

Seems to me that a couple gallons of bleach would soak the HEPA filter and overwhelm the scrubber. Then the fumes would be coming out the vents. It doesn't take much chlorine gas in an enclosed space to cause severe distress.

 

Could be that there are more sophisticated designs I have never seen, but I bet they would be budget-busters for the typical individual buyer.

 

HEPA does nothing for bleach (aka "Acid Gasses" in the respiratory protection business), volatile organics, CO (fire), or most of the challenges you would expect in a bunker. HEPA should be the lowest priority for air treatment if you would choose any air treatment at all.

 

Actually, I don't remember seeing any designs with a scrubber. But scrubbers would be particularly suited to chlorine gas and any reasonable one I could envision would have no problem with the chlorine from a couple gallons of bleach. I could design one for you if it comes up. But, again, don't remember seeing one on a bunker design myself.

 

 

I don't remember anyone on the show even mentioning an NBC system, let alone an infiltration gallery. If I'm correctly picturing what you are talking about, I expect the additonal power requirments alone would make it highly impractical to use in a bunker like the one with the airsoft security system.

 

I don't know what you are envisioning, but the power requirements are zero.

 

You can't live in a small blast shelter without pumping air. Forget about oxygen and contaminants. The buildup of heat alone will kill you. Pumping air is normally done manually as needed. Electrically powered air (when included) is usually intended for the preparation period and not a primary system. If you read the Civil Defense books prepared by the people that were designing these systems at the Oak Ridge National Labs, their highest priority recommendation for somebody that might need to shelter in the future was - ...not dig a hole...not buy a UST...not stockpile food...

 

...it was, make a hand pump for air. If you do nothing else, have a hand pump made to pump bunker air if you need to dig a hole to live.

 

Obviously a more sophisticated system is desired, and always used in deliberate construction, but man-powered air turnover is always the top priority.

 

If you check the literature on these types of improvements, infiltration galleries and NBC systems have been standard for blast shelters for generations. I didn't see it on the show, either. I'm assuming they are meeting 60-year old, time-honored standards. That is the way things are done.

 

I would also have fears about the only exit being blocked. Someone attempting to breach the door could very possibly make it inoperable or just brace it closed out of spite. No thanks.

 

One thing they DID mention during the show was that every shelter always has at least two exists.

 

Again, this is not new. I have blast shelter designs from 1950s China, made out of wood and earth, and they have two exists. No underground blast shelter has ever been designed with a single exit. Still, getting trapped is always possible.

 

Get away from the "6 months" garbage they are using to up their accutrments and understand that a shelter such as one of these is designed to protect you from a discrete exposure that would kill you above ground. These shelters are NOT castles to be used as defensive positions. That would put you in the worst position against a determined adversary. As I said before, Yes, they should be somehwat tamper resistant. But you don't hide in a box underground and wait for somebody to figure out a way to get you. You will always lose that game.

 

Overall, I think the show sucks. Typical manufactured reality like the "the guy's on his way to see it and we're not even CLOSE to being finished" and the idea that this guy had to develop a door on his own like there wasn't already something available. The airsoft security system was just the icing on the cake.

 

All the shows like these suck. I criticized it a bit in this thread but I think I could still get a little entertainment value out of a few more episodes. Not everybody will.

 

 

[Ronald Silver 2]

"All the shows like these suck. I criticized it a bit in this thread but I think I could still get a little entertainment value out of a few more episodes. Not everybody will."

 

As long as someone is stimulating the economy with $$$, who cares what they buy :-)

[Tmost 17]

It's an interesting show but these people are real wack jobs! LOL