What to put in storm shelter?

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Stevie

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I just last Friday had a pre-cast storm shelter installed. Looks to be a pretty solid little 6'x8' bunker with two vents and thick steel door.

Anyhow...I figure at the least will need maybe 6 folding chairs...a 5 gallon bucket with lid(can of Lysol to go with bucket!)...maybe a small shelf behind the steps/ladder with a battery powered lantern and extra batterys and a first-aid kit. Maybe a gallon or five of drinking water and a cup or two. Maybe a radio and some extra batterys(not for sure we'll get any reception down the hole)

I also thought about including a bottle jack and an extension for it to shove the door open if by chance a storm toppeled the house onto the shelter(it's close to the house).

I really don't think it neccessary to turn my shelter into a long-term 'zombie apocolypse bunker'...or to turn it into a below-ground storage shed. However I just dropped a chunk of change to get a shelter..and substantial effort in getting in into the ground and bermed up.

Just what do you think the minimum amount of gear should be stored in a storm shelter?

Thanx..Stevie
 
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Good for you!

Easy fix on the antenna for your weather radio. Make sure you have one that gets am/fm broadcast also.

Use stranded bare copper drop it down through the vent into the shelter. On the outside you can string as much as you need, either to nearby tree on bury it a couple of inches in the ground. The more you have outside, the better signal capture you have. You can find it at Radio Shack.

Attach an alligator clip to the inside end and just clip it to the anntena on
the radio. Problem solved.

As far as the other goes:

3 bottle of water per person per day is the rule of thumb.
biodegradable toilet paper
spare batteries for the radio/flashlights/cell phones
Light sticks-these things are cheap and amazingly bright
first aid kit large enough for 6 people
Extra clothing
Rain gear for each person
2 coils of nylon rope, 50 foot each
Tools-Hammer,small hand saw,pliers,screwdrivers and a large pry bar.
blue poly tarps, 2 10x10 and 1 10x12 (these are cheap and useful)
Containers to carry water. Minimum 5 gals. One for drinking. One for other use.

Food: Then general rule is 1500 calories/day per person. Take it from there
Mre's are great as are many of the other types that are now available.

Medication: Most people forget about this. Anyone in your family dependant on prescription meds? Plan ahead. Diabetics can get insulin pens that no longer require refridgeration now. Put together a Go-Bag just for this purpose.

And of course whatever weapon(s) and ammo you desire.

Hope you never have to use it. But being prepared is just part of the whole thing. Have a plan in place and make sure everyone knows it.

Hope some of this is helpful.
 
12 ga. shotgun with a good selection of ammo sufficient for food gathering,anti-looting and self protection.A good handgun 38/357 or better and maybe a 22 rifle. WATER,some salt,and rather than a bucket try an RV store for an inexpensive chemical toilet.You might want some sleeping accomodations in case the house were totally destroyed.I would want a small camp stove and a few canned goods and utensiles to use until help arrives.A good camp knife, axe, hammer and hand tools.I know you said you didn't want a long trem bunker but you may have to use your shelter to live in temporarily.A good,well stocked first aid kit and any Rx meds. Nick
 
Last edited:
Water, seat, a radio for the all clear, and a way to jack the door open seem to cover it. Perhaps some keys/paper money in case the house is gone and you need to make your way to a hotel. I know the unit you are talking about, and you ain't goonna be in it for any longer than the duration of the storm.
 
smokey04 said:
12 ga. shotgun with a good selection of ammo sufficient for food gathering,anti-looting and self protection.A good handgun 38/357 or better and maybe a 22 rifle. WATER,some salt,and rather than a bucket try an RV store for an inexpensive chemical toilet.You might want some sleeping accomodations in case the house were totally destroyed.I would want a small camp stove and a few canned goods and utensiles to use until help arrives.A good camp knife, axe, hammer and hand tools.I know you said you didn't want a long trem bunker but you may have to use your shelter to live in temporarily.A good,well stocked first aid kit and any Rx meds. Nick
Click to expand...

+1! The only other thing that i would add to that is CASH!! Sometimes bad weather will kill the systems that run debit/credit cards. Having some cash could be come very handy in a disaster situation.
 
K1500 said:
Water, seat, a radio for the all clear, and a way to jack the door open seem to cover it. Perhaps some keys/paper money in case the house is gone and you need to make your way to a hotel. I know the unit you are talking about, and you ain't goonna be in it for any longer than the duration of the storm.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much the way we did it when I was a kid. Got our butts down the shelter with maybe a flashlight or two. I don't recall we had much gear down the cellar...benches along the wall and a chair. The well's bladder tank was in the cellar and it had a fawcet plumbed in the piping. We stored some produce down the cellar...but not all the time.

Seems like we had bad storms frequently in the mid-late sixtys thru the early seventys...spent quite a bit of time down-hole.
 
Interesting subject. The comment about the camp stove needs just one addtional comment: Do NOT use it in the shelter with the door closed. It wouldn't take long for the carbon monoxide and oxygen depletion to kill you.:(.

Also, I'd think that some kind of a carbon dioxide scrubber might be necessary even in the short term if you have 6 people in a 6x8x10 space(you didn't state the length of the shelter so I used a WAG) that's only 80 cubic feet per person. It won't take very long for the air to get stale unless your vents have fans to exchange the air. If for some reason the vents get obstructed by debris the situation becomes critical quickly. You'd have about 5 hours of usable air if everyone is being still.
Discovery Health "How much oxygen does a person consume in a day?"

Regards,

Hobie
 
Well if your in oklahoma I suppose you want it for tornados. Thats only a couple hour thing. If your house is gone, your papers, pictures and money would be nice. A strongbox or safe.
 
Sounds like you have the same shelter that I have. I've had mine for about six years, and thankfully, have never used it except to store potatoes and onions. I painted the grey door a blaze orange, so it would be visible to rescuers. Inside, I keep a couple cases of bottled water, a bucket with paper, a new flashlight, a couple of folding chairs, a Mini 14, and a air horn. It's a darn good shelter, but it is a spider haven - be careful.
 
I live in Oklahoma...tornado alley...tornadoes don't hang around very long...storms last for hours for sure..but it ain't like a hurricane or typhoon where you could conceivably have to hole-up for days.

At the most..a family may have to 'enjoy' the shelter for a period of several hours..possibly multiple times in a day.

In a worst case scenerio..a tornado wipes out the house and piles debris on the shelter sticking us inside(hence a 10-ton bottle jack with some sort of fabricated extension..maybe some blocks to jam the door open and a nail bar or two to pry out)....then we see if any running vehicles are left..or borrow a buddies vehicle and go to motel.

Looters?...Possibly..it ain't unheard of..however the average person around here will most likely be quite helpful in debris cleanup etc.

A gun ain't a bad idea to take down-hole..but I am not leaving one down there as part of the gear(it's unlocked and unsecured).

One possibly needed item I just thought of might be toilet paper!

I do see some really good suggestions..keep them coming so I can sort through it all(the air quality suggestion above needs thinking on)
 
I assume since you're in OK, it's for twisters. I'd stock up for a day, maybe two. I was a kid when the tornado outbreak of 1985 hit western PA and eastern OH, and my little town got about wiped off the map. Even then, with a number of deaths, nobody was trapped more than a day.
 
Stevie said:
I just last Friday had a pre-cast storm shelter installed. Looks to be a pretty solid little 6'x8' bunker with two vents and thick steel door.

Anyhow...I figure at the least will need maybe 6 folding chairs...a 5 gallon bucket with lid(can of Lysol to go with bucket!)...maybe a small shelf behind the steps/ladder with a battery powered lantern and extra batterys and a first-aid kit. Maybe a gallon or five of drinking water and a cup or two. Maybe a radio and some extra batterys(not for sure we'll get any reception down the hole)

I also thought about including a bottle jack and an extension for it to shove the door open if by chance a storm toppeled the house onto the shelter(it's close to the house).

I really don't think it neccessary to turn my shelter into a long-term 'zombie apocolypse bunker'...or to turn it into a below-ground storage shed. However I just dropped a chunk of change to get a shelter..and substantial effort in getting in into the ground and bermed up.

Just what do you think the minimum amount of gear should be stored in a storm shelter?

Thanx..Stevie
Click to expand...

Sir, it sounds to me like you've got it pretty well covered. I'd just add some blankets, toilet paper, and a privacy curtain around the bucket.

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.
 
Pick up some plastic storage containers for your gear and food items - keeps the varmits/bugs/spiders out, and everything dry. When we were kids and needed to bug out for a storm or tornado warning it was always pouring down rain so everyone was soaked by the time we got inside. My folks always had a good supply of dry "junk" towels down there to dry off with. I would think a porta pottie would be a nice thing to have as well. Be sure to rotate your food items and water supply every 6 months or so.

Hope you never need to use it.

Best Regards,
Pete
 
There's a dingus called a "luggable loo", that's a toilet seat designed to snap onto the top of a 5-gallon bucket. As a "pointer", I don't have a problem peeing in a bucket. A "setter", though, is another story. And sometimes "pee" ain't what you need to do. A cheaper option, maybe, would be to get 4 L-brackets and screw them to the bottom of a toilet seat, so when you placed it on top of a 5-gallon bucket it couldn't slide off.
 
Good reading material -- can get a little boring and tedious even with folks you like after even 24 hours in a very small shelter.

"War and Peace" for starters, as it will get you thru 2 weeks of evening reading and provide some great philosophical perspectives/dialogues with your sheltermates after calamity strikes (war, like hurricanes and tornados, alters the landscape one lives in).

"Seven Pillars of Wisdom" by T.E. Lawrence (a compelling read, will provide inspiration for handling adversity when the odds are stacked against you)
 
My sister's family already had to use theirs. It's probably the same unit as yours. Don't know what they have in there, but it was only in use for a couple hours each time. I assume they at least have a radio so they know when to come out. Maybe they get that info from cell phones. They're in Oaklahoma City, or just outside of it.
 
RightArm said:
My sister's family already had to use theirs. It's probably the same unit as yours. Don't know what they have in there, but it was only in use for a couple hours each time. I assume they at least have a radio so they know when to come out. Maybe they get that info from cell phones. They're in Oaklahoma City, or just outside of it.
Click to expand...

Yep...I've been on a waiting list to get a shelter for a couple months. We live about 40 miles from OKC...and this house is the first I've lived in without an underground shelter of some sort..and we've lived here for seven years without one.

After Piedmont Ok took a hit last year..and the other tornados bouncing around the Oklahoma area(some not far from me!)..we decided to just bite the bullet and get one.

I'm seeing some ideas I like..plastic storage containers for gear being one. I believe I'm going with some camping type collapsible chairs. I have some of these onhand will work for the time being. Probably just put some quanity of bottled water in the shelter.

I've even thought of using Igloo ice chests to store gear and then use as extra seating...I've got lots of ice chests.
 
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