Prepping a house to hunker down in

I live in an inner city house ( Not a bad area- it is fairly safe) that is one story with a finished basement. While I have a 4x4 Jeep, I have no one or any place else I could bug out for. So home is where it will be for me. I live in Michigan, so water is not a major issue.

Is any one else fortifying their inner city homes to survive in?

What steps are you taking if you are.

I am building up my food and bottled water reserves.
I have weapons. Plus 500 to 1000 rounds for each weapon. Plus extra parts.
I have bicycles.
I have fishing gear. I live a couple of blocks from a lake.
I have lots of all weather clothing.Including various kinds of Cammo gear.
I am in the process of building up a rather impressive medical kit.
I have a supply of motor oil and lubs.Extra car battery/ charger.
I am in the process of buying many gas cans.
I have extra tires.
I have many maps with various escape routes drawn out. Making sure to avoid bridges over rivers and the highways.
I have a weather radio.
I am looking at Short Wave and cb radios.
I have a cell phone.
I have cameras.
I have binoculars.
I have video equipment, although I don't why I need it.
I have televisions.
I have regular AM/FM radios. That can run off of batteries.
I have flash lights/candles and oil lamps.
I have various surprise defensive weapons no one would think a household would have.
I have lots of mechanics tools and some household maintanance tools.
As you can see I am working on it.

I know I need a generator, and I am looking around at them.
I am also looking at water storage tanks. I just can't decide how big and where to put it. I found a 1800 gal. unit, but I'd have to build an outside storage building to house it.I'd sort of like to contain all the water in smaller tanks in the basement.But how to do it effectively.

Anybody got any reasonable hints or suggestions. My house is approx. 1400 sq. ft. with a single car garage attached to it.
It has a fire place, it is natural gas heated and has central AC.

I do not have unlimited money, so I have to go middle of the road
on expenses. Some can afford the premium best stuff. I have to work within a budget....so keep it real!

WarDog

PS; I really wish I didn't have to worry about this sort of stuff, but, it is clear, we are in for a huge problems one way or the other. Global warming, terrorists, 2012, war,atomic bombs,
earth pole shift and earths roll to a new axis, alien invasion,
the return of Jesus, whatever...

It is time to lock and load and hunker down for the big one!

Is the fireplace a real wood-burning one or a gas fireplace? If it is real wood burning, consider a good ax, wood saw, splitting maul and possibly sledge hammer to cut and split your own wood for fuel. Learn how to split wood if you don't know how. It's not as easy as it may look on TV. Lots of work. These things should not cost a lot and don't take up much space.

Also, you just might want to cook on the fireplace fire if worst comes to worst. Can you do this? Do you have some old fashioned cast iron pans and/or dutch ovens?

Good Luck.

Consider alternatives to generator.
I have worked with 3 propane fired generators for 4 years-Onan 3.6 KW devices, and have experienced failure about evry 250 hours of operation for each one. Failures varied from electronics problems ( rotor failures, voltage regulator failures) and small engine failures. Onan makes a relatively high-end product, and failures might be more common in less expensive models. (alternate interpretation: onan makes an expensive, crummy product and I got screwed). We have converted to diesel vans with 150 amp alternators, three 12v deep cycle batteries and a 3KW inverter. Failure rate at this point is zero. Makes sense: dodge-mercedes diesel engines are more robust than the lawn-mower engines running a small generator.
Using a 12v storage battery-inverter based system opens up your generating opportunities-use the car, install solar panel trickle chargers, or power a small generator with a bicycle, wind mill, water wheel, hamster, coolie(http://www.majorsurplus.com/Generators-C268.aspx), whatever. The inverter is expensive at higher wattages, but is getting less so and is quite cheap in the lower wattages. This solves the fuel storege/ availability issue, and is perhaps more user-maintainable than a generator.

Never mind, too early to read

Can you drive to a suburb to a farm supply store. You can get water tanks of all sizes there, a cousin on mine who we camp with bought a 30 gallon tank and a 12v pump.
Similar for the gas cans, you can buy ones larger than 5 gallon in those stores, don't store too much gas in the house, the fumes start to become an issue, store some in a shed or something.
I'm bringing all my electronic gear together, lights, radios, NiMH battery chargers and powering them from automotive cords from a 12v battery. This 12v battery will be charged by solar or an old vehicle alternator. Buy a spare one that matches your current vehicle from ebay or a junk yard then you have a spare for your vehicle. I'm adapting a pulley to the bottom of my pressure washer so it can drive the alternator as a small generator, that way the pressure washer engine that site unused most of the time gets some more use.

I would cut pre-fitted boards to cover windows with. Something on my list right now.

Even though we don't get many tornados around my area that was something I did a while back, cutting plywood with small slits in them to cover all windows always seemed like a good idea to me. Never know when you will need to keep prying eyes from looking in.

I would like to see your medical-kit..

His post says that he lives in Michigan.

My bad, don't know how I missed that.

-Shadow_oo00

Is there a reason besides light that you're cutting slits in the plywood for?

Light would be one reason but the primary one I was thinking about is so that I can see whats coming at me, I only cut them in choice (tactical) locations, not all the windows. Hopefully the only thing they will be used for is light. But again I like to have all the bases covered.

This item immediately raised a red flag to me. If you mean you have the ability to access a medieval crossbow that drops from a hidden compartment in the ceiling when you tug the velvet rope in the corner (yeah, that would be a surprise!), that's one thing, but if you mean "booby traps," then you're setting yourself up for some serious liability. You could lose everything if some burglar is killed or seriously injured by a booby trap when you weren't home.

Welcome to the fire newguy.

My suggestion is you look out of each window in your house and see what you can see from them taking note of:
1. Possible cover (ditches, large trees, walls)
2. Possible concelement (shrubs, neighbor's windows, etc...)
3. Possible lines of attack (streets, alleys)

Then fire up Google Earth and use its measuring tool to measure the distance from each of your windows to the spots of interest you noted above. Print out several aerial photos of your house and draw lines between the windows and these spots of interest, and write the distance on the line. That way you know how to adjust your shooting to hit a particular spot. Mount these range maps near the windows and you are ready to go.

Side benefit: they make great conversation starters with your neighbors, babysitters, repairmen, social workers...

-Blast

I wondered if anyone has patented an X10 Claymore mine yet !!

Thats a lot to prepare for! My humble advice is to try and be a little more specific about what disruptions/events are more likely to happen. I know anything can happen but some events are much more likely than others. Otherwise, you might might run yourself ragged trying to prepare for everything and leave youself with a generalized perparation that doesn't adequately cover your most likely scenarios. Also, I'd say while staying in place and waiting it out is preferrable, there could be any number of situations that might require you to have to bug out (fire, chemical spill, contamination, etc, etc.) If you don't already have one, even a basic evacuation plan is a good way of covering your bases.

December 21st 2012 is just going to have to be one of those days to spend all day in bed under a nice warm duvet

That's contingency 354, for when a solitary vampire has you cornered in the study.

Contingency 355, when it's two vampires, is the second velvet cord.

Yup, I can picture it now...

Me:
[raking lawn, notices new neighbor Blast walking my way, pulling a super long tape measure]
Hi! Welcome to the neighborhood! Watchya doing there? Gonna put in some new sprinklers?

Blast:
Hi! People call me Blast. Y'know, like "Blast zone." Heh-heh.

Sprinklers? Naw. Just figuring out fields of fire. And I want to make sure all of my long guns are zeroed for the relevant distances from my front windows over there. The ones with the shooting slits, that is, not the ones I have completely sealed up with bricks.

[Then eyes narrow and a smile appears on his face] Say there...I like your rake...

Suprisingly, my neighbors take some measure of comfort when they see me walking around the neighborhood.

It's when they CAN'T see me that they get nervous...

-Blast

And they get scared when you are running.

First advice, deep breath.

Second advice, don't be afraid of your neighbors.

Third advice, if your "surprises" are improvized explosives/incendiaries/toxins and/or booby traps of ANY KIND, reread the forum rules. I'm going to say it before the Mods do.

As far as fortifications go, remember that anything that makes it hard to get in makes it hard to get OUT. And people who want in usually have time on their hands; people who want to get out usually don't. Window bars resemble BBQ racks for a reason. Talk to your insurance company, they will provide you serious information about making your home harder to rob and do it for free. But you are a lot more likely to have to get out RIGHT NOW becuase of a fire than you are to have to keep zombies outside.

Also, 1800 gallons of water... Unless you are in desert or Georgia, what can you reasonably see a need of that much water for, unless it is a swimming pool? Two gallons per day per person, plus one per day for doing dishes. Anything over 30 days is either something that by definition you can't sanely plan for, or a situation were relocation is strongly advisable if for no other reason than to maintain your income.

There is a fine line between paranoia and preparedness. I'm normally less blunt with new folks, but based on your first post, I think you're straddling that line or just over it.

Don't joke about it. I've seen plans for using the X10 system as part of a trigger mechanism.

And no, I won't show people where the plans can be found.

Obviously while making preparation for the known or potential problems I have overlooked one. What is the significance of 12/21/12 ??? What did I miss ??

I didn't see household batteries for the flashlights, radios and such. Fire extingushers, propane grill or camping cooktop. If you're trying to prepare for all of the things you mentioned I wouldn't count on nat gas. Most important may be knowledge...a few good books on the subject could be priceless.

As always, Wikipedia is your friend:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012

Among the notable events to look forward to in 2012, please scroll down to December 21.

A

12-21-12.... oooooooohhhh! Y2K all over again!

And, hasn't Nostradamus already predicted half a dozen Final Ends, none of which have come about?

YAWN.....

Oh, and Eugene, don't store ANY gasoline in the house! One cup of gas, properly detonated (even accidentally) is said to be equal to four pounds of high explosive. (http://home.earthlink.net/~jimlux/energies.htm#GasDynamite)

Sue

I worked Y2K from the tech side- the biggest risk was the human factor. At least a quarter of the prophetic traditions point to 2012 as being a fun year- I'm pretty sure the human factor is going to be interesting that entire year even if everything else fizzles like wet powder.

But you can't prep for an entire year.

au contraire...

http://www.areyouprepared.com/one_year_main_course.html

Gonna get you a T-shirt that says:

My name is BLAST
If you see me running -
try to keep up.

Check to see if it was converted from a wood burner if it is a gas fireplace. If so, you've got the best of both worlds. The set-up we've got is a wood burning stove with gas logs set in it. To convert back to wood would be relatively simple. Set the logs out, pull the gas line to out of the ash dump, & unblock the chimney.

LOL!!

Maybe add at the bottom, "Especially if I'm carrying a binder"

-Blast

I was thinking the same thing!

I was a shore patrolman on West MacArthur BLVD in Oakland California during the late 70s. There was a 'working girl' nicknamed 'Momma' who stood 6'6" barefoot, except Momma wore these Elton John 8" heeled boots with a matching silver lame' snakeskin hotpants outfit under her huge afro. You could spot Momma a full city block away, approaching like those elephantine vehicles in The Empire Strikes Back. Nobody messed with Momma. I made friends with Momma and she gave me a bit of advise that has profoundly influenced my life. Looking down the contrast of bright lights, dirt, bright people and dirty ones, Momma said " Chris Honey, In 200 years nothing that went on here will matter a whole lot, so stop your worryin and enjoy life." -----I don't know peeps. I go off for a few days to sort out horses still loose from the fires, found another missing person that went over a coastal canyon several years ago and had to yell at Pam Anderson once more not to tresspass on the ranch's riding trails or she would get run over by the half trained offtrack thoroughbreds still getting brakes installed. And I log on to find a thread along the lines of MARS ATTACKS!------ Do I lock the thread? Send out dire warnings? repeat forum policy? No peeps, I'm to tired and need a bath. All offending posters will sit still through the musical sountrack of that classic movie and think about boobytraps, polar reversals and the Lizard People as punishment. " When I'm calling you-----oooo-oooo-ooooo"

Ironraven has it right, in my opinion. Fire at home is a very serious issue. It is one of the most likely reasons to have to leave your home, and leave it quickly. Being in Southern California makes this a very real issue. Although plans to shelter in place are good, you also need plans to leave quickly. In both situations, it is best to work with and help your neighbors. This is why I have a one day emergency "kit" in a bag near the bed on the floor. If necessary, I can roll out of bed (standing up in a smoke filled room can be your last mistake), get the rest of the family moving, grab the bag a be gone fairly quickly. Again, please do not forget the risk of fire.

Spud

That assumes that you can easily unblock the chimney and it hasn't been compromised. I've seen one that was used as a wire run once. *shudders* This is something where I'd have a pro evaluate the thing first, then think carefully about it as a DIY project.

"Blast:
Hi! People call me Blast. Y'know, like "Blast zone." Heh-heh."

And here I thought you had named yourself after your favorite model of Leatherman multitool!

Come to think of it, I don't remember anyone ever recommending that model. I'll have to find that thread and ask about it.

Good point. You never know what previous owners have done. Even if you're the ones that drew up the plans for the last modifications, you can't know what the contractor did without as-built drawings. Ours was a wood burner until we switched it to ventless gas logs. We deliberately set it up to be reversible. Stuffed some insulation in the bottom end and put a sheet metal cap on the top to keep water & assorted life out.

Your first question is about generators. Diesel is the only way to go. Most gas-powered generators operate at 3600 RPM. While diesel units are usually designed for 1800 RPM On that difference alone it is a no brainer. The slower the machine operates the longer it will last.

Then look at vehicle life expectancy. It should really tell the tale. Even with the newest engines you are looking at 50, 100 or maybe 150 thousand miles before requiring a major overhaul. Also there are the time and cost of frequent tune-ups. The typical long haul truck is powered by a diesel engine. Other than oil and filter changes a million miles is more the rule rather than the exception. And face it those engines get used harder than your daily driver. So for long lasting reliability look at a diesel generator.

Because your place is heated with natural gas you might be tempted or talked into going that route to supply your power. The simplest answer is no. The natural gas generators use a modified gasoline engine. It will have the same deficits plus a few more. Part of it is you are dealing with a pressurized gas rather than a liquid. The tolerances have to be tighter and it needs to be a sealed system. In internal combustion engines the fuel can act as a lubricant. This is very good in a diesel, poor in a gas engine and almost nonexistent in a natural gas system. So which do you think will give you less problems and last longer.

There is an area where diesels have a greater problem. That is when the temperature starts to drop diesel starts getting the consistency of Jell-O. It tends not to flow well under those conditions. In your area a method will need to be planed to over come this.

Definitely forget those tiny portable generators. They are only meant for temporary and intermittent operation. They simply won’t last for your intended planning.

All generators regardless of the type you chose make a heck of a racket when in use. This would eventually drive you crazy. Not to mention the probability of drawing unwanted attention in a disaster situation. So it might be wise to look into ways of quieting things down. You will not make it completely silent but there are ways to improve the situation. The easiest way is to bury it. That is not quite as drastic as it sounds on the surface. What you do is build an underground bunker to house the generator and its fuel tank. Not only will this greatly reduce the noise but also it will help keep the fuel warm.

There is at least one book out there that describes exactly how this is done in fine detail. Essentially you dig a hole. Starting here you have a series of choice whether to use sweat equity or throw cash at it. A professional can do this, you can rent a backhoe or the like or there is the old pick and shovel method. It is the cheapest method yet takes a lot of time and heavy labor.

Once you have the hole you need to pour a slab for a floor. You set up forms to shape it and then decide if you want rebar or not. You can have ready mix trucked in. It is purchased by the yard usually with a minimum amount required. You can rent a small batch mixer for a day or so and go the DIY route. Yes, cement can be mixed by hand in a trough or bucket. This can work for very small jobs but is a bit much for something like this.

Next come the walls. I have seen them done using railroad or landscaping ties. Building block walls is probably better. You can roof it over with wooden planks. Use pre-cast concrete planks. Install steel girders and pour a lid. You talked about the possibility of building an outdoor storage shed. It could be built on top of the bunker to conceal it. Its floor would be the roof with an access hatch.

Because the engine needs air to run and for cooling flow you will need of provide provisions for air vents. These can be baffled and filtered to supply the needed air yet contain the sound.

Along with the generator and its fuel you might want to provide extra space for an eventual battery bank. For efficient fuel usage you will only want to run the generator a couple of hours daily to directly supply the large loads when needed. During these run times you can charge the battery bank. Then you can supply the minimal loads such as lighting and the like from the battery during the off times. For most efficient use you can install a 12-volt system in your home. Along with this you can use LED lighting, which use much less power. Also there are 12-volt appliances available from sources that supply RV needs.

WATER

During the winter if you have your tank in an unheated outdoor shed. You will either need to drain it or have an 1800-gallon brick and a possible busted tank. As for other storage methods we’ll start small and grow. First you have 2 liter soda bottles that can be stored almost anywhere. There are 5-gallon jerry cans to concider. They supply more storage but a little harder to store and hide. Then there are 30 and 55-gallon water storage drums available. They can be either plastic or metal food grade drums. You can line the basement walls and build shelves over them. Then hang curtains or false cabinet fronts to hide them. Or build racks along a single wall. Stack the barrels floor to ceiling. Again you can either use curtains or a false wall to hide them. With these you will need some sort of dolly to move them around. This can also come in handy if you needed to travel those couple of blocks to get water from the lake. Which also implies the needed for some sort of filter or purification method or maybe more appropriately more than one method. Then you can consider building a cistern. Which could be your tank or a concrete tank. Again an underground system, it uses earth tempering to keep above freezing. By no means store your water in the generator bunker. The fuel can contaminate your water supply. Even storing water in a garage need fuel stocks can cause contamination. Along with a cistern system there are systems that collect rainwater from the roof to think about.

You didn’t say whether your fireplace is run from natural gas or if it has provisions to burn wood. If not you might think about those outdoor wood burning home heating and water heating systems.

As for food acquisition you have fishing gear. Have you thought about laying in a supply of traps for land critters?

Have you thought about getting a pop up camper or utility trailer to match your jeep? If you do have to leave either would allow you to pack more than the jeep would hold. If space is limited for storage there are small utility trailers that fold and can be stored along a garage wall. Such a utility trailer can be very useful to haul supplies and equipment for any building projects you are thinking about. Along with any other hauling chores you can think of.

Yes not all of these are the cheapest things. But they are things to think about. They may give you other ideas or lines to think along.

December 21, 2012 is simply the end of the "long cycle" of the Mayan calendar, after which a new "long cycle" starts. Kind of like Saturday is the end of the week, after which on Sunday a new week starts.

If you're into planning, you should start now to plan the business of selling end of the world stuff in 2011.

I thought Doug didn't like threads like this on his site. Doesn't anyone else hear the "Survivalist" screaming within this thread? Yes, times are changing, but prepare realistically and practically. Post "End of the World" threads elsewhere. I'd like to see this site, particularly these forums, keep true to their original intent and not get wasted away to become another beaten down Survivalist site. I don't believe Doug wants that either.

I'll get off my soap box. Just encouraging everyone to spend their energy on things that really matter.

Cities are hard places to live if order breaks down.
I wish you luck.
It's almost impossible without your tribe (next door folks,friends co-occupants).
Fixed sites always can be breached by determined aggressors.
Of course you don't have to make it easy, but a community approach is typically more effective as it shares the workload and provides more diversity skills wise.
No matter how tactically prepared a person is, few can stand by and watch other suffer and ignore their plight like a Kafka novel.

The main lesson from Katrina is supplies for two weeks to 30 days if the Government doesn't intervene and years if they do.
BTW we still have friends now living in Baton Rouge recovering from all the "Help" in New Orleans.

"Just encouraging everyone to spend their energy on things that really matter."

ummmmm...... things that matter to other people or to you?

I've been a member of this site for several years now and, as shocking as it might be to some people, YES, we do have some survivalist types here, some fairly permanent and some who are just passing through. And thus far, the ETS site hasn't degenerated into a hardcore hide-in-the-woods-with-lots-of-ammo site. We've got a lot of people here who really seem to have their heads screwed on just fine, and nobody is going to change that.

And I'm going to add another thought here: I've never actually seen a clear line dividing survivalism and urban/wilderness survival. Most of us just pick and choose how far we want to go in either direction. And if we want to talk about zombie attacks and pirates, we will.

So, if you don't like the thread, just move on to another one. Simple.

Sue

Well Said!

Quietly checks and rechecks all nuts, bolts and screws holding head to shoulders.