Bomb shelter industry sees spike in sales.

[Termite]

For some industries, bad news is good news. Just think about the panic swine flu has caused around the world, and it's no wonder that Popular Mechanics says the economic downturn isn't hurting all businesses equally.

The bomb shelter business is booming. At least that's the consensus of the men and women who design, construct and install underground sanctuaries. They attribute the growth in business to Kim Jong Il's erratic missile lobbing, the intransigent Iranian clerics hell-bent on getting nuclear weaponry, the impending total collapse of the global financial system, and the end of the world in 2012, as predicted by the Mayan Calendar.

When you put it like that, it kind of makes the housing crisis seem minuscule. What good is a home going to be if the planet has been obliterated? Well, possibly a lot, at least if you manage to squeeze into your bomb shelter before D-day. And that's where Popular Mechanics' list of their top six bomb shelters comes in handy......

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[Johnnyreb]

The telling bit is at the end of the story.

"The government is buying up all the shelters. We can't make enough."

[randy]

If I ever have the chance to build my own home the way I like it, I would never put in something as paranoid sounding as a "bomb shelter".

Now, an underground storm cellar capable of withstanding a direct hit from an EF5 tornado...

[cu74]

If I ever have the chance to build my own home the way I like it, I would never put in something as paranoid sounding as a "bomb shelter".

Now, an underground storm cellar capable of withstanding a direct hit from an EF5 tornado...

That would be something like the "safe room" in our basement, built to our specifications. Eight-inch reinforced concrete walls and ceiling. Well-anchored steel doors with double sliding deadbolts. We don't know if it will survive an EF5 tornado, nor do we want to find out..........

[Les Nessman]

Yeah, if I had the wherewithal to build a home to my own specs, I certainly wouldn't advertise that I had a 'bomb shelter'.
I'd inform the construction crew that they were building a 'big, sturdy fruit cellar' off of the main basement. I'd explain that the thick concrete was needed there to 'keep the cold in to help preserve the fruits & veggies' or some such b.s. It may even be true.

[Termite]

I'd explain that the thick concrete was needed there to 'keep the cold in to help preserve the fruits & veggies' or some such b.s. It may even be true.

If you put it on the north side of the house, at least 6 ft underground, and plenty of shade trees, it is true, even in the South.

[Mud_Dog]

Yeah, if I had the wherewithal to build a home to my own specs, I certainly wouldn't advertise that I had a 'bomb shelter'.
I'd inform the construction crew that they were building a 'big, sturdy fruit cellar' off of the main basement. I'd explain that the thick concrete was needed there to 'keep the cold in to help preserve the fruits & veggies' or some such b.s. It may even be true.

I like mushrooms myself.

I think I want one of those underground houses anyway. Not much heating and cooling to worry about. Also it'd probably be best to make it on a hill or the side of a mountain though, so I don't have to worry about flooding.

[cu74]

Think "Wine Cellar" - that was the tipping point for my wife...

[Les Nessman]

I think I want one of those underground houses anyway. Not much heating and cooling to worry about. Also it'd probably be best to make it on a hill or the side of a mountain though, so I don't have to worry about flooding.

Actually, I've always dreamed of a man-sized 'Bag End' underground house, with all the modern conveniences, of course. I think it would be quite cozy. Plus, you could always tout it as being super energy efficient and 'green'. Slap some solar panels on the grass 'roof'.Maybe even get some 'free' gov't money or tax credits to build it.

[Johnnyreb]

Now, if I'm going to climb up on the roof with a fiddle and start singing "If I were a rich man"...

The problem with buying a missile silo is then you have to live where Uncle Sam built the thing. I saw a real nice one online... but it is 20 minutes from the commies in Denver. Buy that one and you'd better stay hidden if it hits the fan. Just because the blast door is thick don't mean someone won't think of pouring gasoline down the air vent shafts. But on the other hand, the control areas would make roomy quarters and the silo itself a 10 story warehouse and pantry. Some of those complexes had 3 silos.

But oh, yeah if I were a rich man would I have me one of those Castle looking thick stone walled two story houses with bulletproof windows, a basement bigger than the house and with more levels, another basement hidden elsewhere on the property, and enough solar and wind power for double or triple what I think I might need, plus spares and spare spares for everything. And secret tunnels and passages , lets not forget them. A man's home can't be his castle after all if you can't get from the master bedroom to the kitchen and the armory utterly undetected.

And for some reason, even though I haven't read a Peanuts cartoon strip in years, I know that I would name the place Fort Zinderneuf.

Hehe, short of that, someday I hope to have a good tornado shelter and enough solar and wind power to be off the grid. Sure that's at least a hundred grand. But that's more likely to really happen than say, winning a nice huge lottery. Esp. since I haven't bought a lottery ticket since I moved away from Texas.