One of the hard realities about emergency preparedness is that essentially everyone is on a budget. That budget has to cover everything, not just cool stuff.
Many non-fiction preparedness books and nearly all prepping novels are written by wannabes who have no clue about this fundamental requirement. For example, imagine that you’re concerned about social unrest, so you want your preparations to include some means of self-defense in case you’re forced to fend off rioters and looters.
Most non-fiction preparedness books that cover this topic go way overboard on stuff they suggest you buy to prepare for this eventuality. If you believe them, you’ll think you’re hopelessly under-prepared unless every adult in your family or group is equipped with a high-end tactical rifle, a dozen spare magazines, a night-vision sight, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, at a cost of $4,000 or more per person. Call it $25,000 for a family/group of six people. Which is great, if you can afford that much without noticing the cost.
The reality for most people is far different. They need to budget to cover food and other essentials. For the many who have trouble keeping up with routine expenses, spending even $25 on defense means they’ll have $25 less to spend on food or other essential items.
The trick is to do what you can reasonably do without putting yourself in a financial hole, even if that means your total spending on defenses is a used baseball bat that you pick up at a yard sale. And that applies not just to spending money on weapons, but on everything else. The trick is to maintain balance.
We know people who’ve spent thousands and thousands of dollars on weapons, but have only a week’s supply of food and no stored water. They worry us more than a little. If there is a sudden emergency, are they planning to use all those guns to take food and other necessities from other people at gunpoint?
Conversely, we know more than a few families who have a year’s supply of long-term food storage or more, but absolutely no way to defend themselves. Perhaps they think they’ll make friends with the well-armed first group and feed them in exchange for providing security. Good luck with that.
As always, the key is to strike a balance. If you can’t afford everything you need or want all at once, buy some in each category. Don’t buy that year’s supply of food and nothing else, and don’t buy the infantry squad’s worth of tactical rifles and ammunition to the exclusion of all else.
Start as small as you need to to keep within budget. If you can’t afford more, buy one rifle or shotgun and 100 rounds of ammunition for it. If you can afford more, buy two or three, and then keep adding to your arsenal and ammunition supply as you can, without shorting yourself elsewhere. If that means buying .22 rimfire rifles, fine. If you ever need to defend yourselves and your property, you’re far better off having every adult armed with a .22 rifle than having only one of your group armed with a tactical rifle. Half a dozen .22 rifles beats one tactical rifle every time.
And the same thing goes for other categories. Rather than buy one $70 Streamlight or Surefire flashlight, you’re far better off equipping your whole group with six or eight $4 flashlights and spending the rest of that $70 on other priorities.
The reality of preparedness is that you need checklists, not wishlists.
Thanks for the sound advice about balancing food and defence supplies. Reminds me to do more on the food side, since I’m well stocked on the other. I have a tiny gun-nut nickpick about your terminology – an “arsenal” is where the government makes, repairs and stores firearms. One’s private firearms are just that, not an “arsenal”.
While I’m on terminology – I noticed you refer often to “PA”. I gather that doesn’t mean Pennsylvania in the context of your writing on prepping, but what does it mean?
Post-apocalyptic.
As to arsenal, its common definition is any facility where firearms are stored, manufactured, tested, or maintained, and, by extension, the contents.
How about “arms room” an Army term.
Very good points here; I’m like unto Mr. Denis, in having the scale tipped right now a bit toward the defense side of things but intend to remedy that this very week!
“How about “arms room” an Army term.”
Now that I have my Fed Curio and Relic License I’ll refer to mine as my “collection.”
Prep stuff this week:
Played with the Harbor Freight solar panels. Charged every rechargeable battery I have: 18650, 14500, AA, AAA. Need to get some CR123 rechargeable to play with.
Researched 55gal water storage drums. Is about $55 delivered a good price? I can’t find anywhere to get one in Vegas (yet). There are some micro brewer supply places here that might have something. These come UPS Ground from CA. I need bulk water, but don’t want a 250gal+ tank in the garage. I’ll put 4 55’s on a pallet so I can move them around with the pallet jack.
Checklists vs Wishlists: Still hemming and hawing on canned vs freeze dried for a 30-day emergency supply. Maybe I’ll go 50/50 since it is to just sit there in case of SHTF. I’ll have to bug out from Vegas, I think, to KS.
“I’ll have to bug out from Vegas, I think, to KS.”
You’ll have to rig up an armored vehicle column with scouts and gunners…or rustle up a nice fast chopper and get ‘er done ricky-tick.
I was on “vacation” so got diddly done on prepping but I hope to make up for it this week and balance out the defense stuff with more FOOD!
Another critical item that we should be working on is a means of commo, if only just to listen for WTF is going on around us and in outward-spreading circles. Shortwave, scanner, ham radio, etc. I’ll get cracking this week on the Technician license again and figuring antenna stuff for the radio gear I already have, based on our location and structural circumstances.
This while also negotiating with an Indianapolis recruiter for a remote Red Hat Linux gig in East FumBuck, South Dakota.
Finally, finally finished the basement room that will also include storage. In total, a two year adventure, just unbelievable. Murphy was working overtime, both on misadventures with the room, and with my ill-timed health problems last year.
All that remains is for the electrician to actually hook up the power. I’ve done all of the wiring in the room itself, but I refuse to touch our antique 1930s fuse panel. No hurry, that can happen any time. Meanwhile, I’m running the lighting off an extension cable plugged into an outlet in my work room.
Now, my wife is pestering me about shelves. We found some reasonable looking wooden shelves at a local center. Next step is to buy a few sets and assemble them. I hope to get to that this coming week.
In Defense of White Dudes
Seem to be seeing a lot of this kind of article lately….
@RBT, should today’s topic be “July 26, 2015”?
“I hope to get to that this coming week.”
LOL. I also “hope” to get to a bunch of stuff this coming week. But expect Mr. Murphy and Miss Monkey Wrench will make their usual appearances. One coming up Thursday when I have to somehow negotiate Montreal rush hour traffic again to pick up the 87-year-old MIL at the airport there and get her back to Vermont. Last time I did this was for Mrs. OFD and it was a nightmare that took hours.
“Seem to be seeing a lot of this kind of article lately….”
Indeed. Shouldn’t have to be, but it’s like explaining “2 + 2 = 4” to certified idiots and still getting nowhere. They’ll just keep shouting and covering their eyes and ears.
The dude was right about the huddled masses busting down the fences and doors to get into WCESM (White Christian English-Speaking Male) countries, but it’s not necessarily to live here peacefully and assimilate, either. Many just want to loot and pillage and rape and murder, but he doesn’t mention that. He might refer to this:
http://humanevents.com/2015/07/01/media-hide-facts-call-everyone-else-a-liar/?utm_source=coulterdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl
Or numerous other non-MSM stories that are available with a little digging.
I want a night vision monocle. Former USMC son says that it makes one guy equal to a dozen guys at night. Only $3,500 and chews batteries like going out of style.
Rent out that game room and buy a couple.
You’ll be able to spot both types of coyotes running around at night out there.
I’ve looked at some of that stuff but it’s way above my pay grade at the present time; I’ll have to rely on intense white lights, based on my continuing research and study of flashlight and lens technology on this board.
Have I mentioned flashlights lately?
@Lynn McGuire
No, I decided to start titling some of my posts a bit more descriptively.
How about starting the day’s title as the date, then changing it as the main topics of discussion become clear? That would give an air of some 19th Century English literature: In which flashlights are discussed for the 117th time; a consensus is reached that all members of the dominant political parties in the United States are reprehensible, albeit in different ways; and the opinion is ventured that the 1911 is not the ultimate handgun in this or any other universe.
No, I decided to start titling some of my posts a bit more descriptively.
Gotcha.
A quick scan of some days in the past would certainly get some titles changed to “Flashlights,” “More Flashlights,” and “Still More Flashlights.” The ramblings of many of us on The Current Situation, politically speaking, tend to pop up at random, but occasionally an entire day or two gets dominated by them, which is fine. And of course “Why There is No God and Religion Sucks,” would come up once in a while, too.
Lately there’s been a shit-ton of prepping stuff; some of those days were devoted to specific gear, say, flashlights, and other times it was more about strategy and tactics.
No, the 1911 Colt pistol is not the ultimate handgun, BUT the 1611 KJV Bible IS the ultimate Bible in all universes.
I prefer the NRSV nowadays. Used to like the NIV a lot but that has fallen out of favor at our church for some reason.
The S&W model 629 with 6 inch barrel is the ultimate handgun.
Yes, I am clinging to my God and my guns. But, I do not think that I am bitter.
Our Catholic Church uses a RSV-type Bible which I do not care for, but what can I say? I grew up with the KJV and BCP and see no huge reason I should dump them; as it is I also keep on hand the daily and Sunday missals and the Catechism.
My ultimate handgun? Any of the flintlocks in reasonable condition as carried by one G. Washington and his best generals.
For defense? Whatever works best for ME. Right now the CZ P09 and the Shield.
For just habbin’ me sum fun? My lovely Ruger 6.5″ .41 Magnum with Altamont Imitation Stag grips.
I am also clinging to God and my guns and am, in fact, still kinda bitter.
The King James has one problem. Some of the words have changed meaning over time. Some of the annotated KJVs point this out, but most don’t. The language there is very beautiful, more poetic than most of the contemporary translations.
There is a good book on the creation of the KJV, God’s Secretaries that tells what we know of the men that did the translation, their deliberations, the sources, and their methods.
I realize the changed word meanings, but they don’t bother me in the slightest; it is my own little peccadillo. It is for the language, which, four centuries later, as you say, we still find beautiful and poetic.
And that’s a very good book on its creation. Some of those guys weren’t known to us until the last century.
OFD wrote:
“…the 1611 KJV Bible IS the ultimate Bible in all universes.”
Amen brother. There’s hope for you yet.
Lynn wrote:
“I prefer the NRSV nowadays. Used to like the NIV a lot but that has fallen out of favor at our church for some reason.”
I never really liked the RSV, haven’t looked at the NRSV.
My problem with the NIV is that it doesn’t indicate the interpolated words in the original to English translation. The KJV does this (by putting those words in italics). (I found out after I’d spent a good chunk of dough on a leather bound Scofield NIV.) I just didn’t enjoy reading it. My 40 year old Scofield KJV is looking a bit the worse for wear, so much so I’m almost afraid to pick it up.
I also like the ASV and NASB.
ech wrote:
“The King James has one problem. Some of the words have changed meaning over time. Some of the annotated KJVs point this out, but most don’t.”
I have a Scofield KJV, my sister got it for me in 1974, published by OUP in 1968. A number of passages are updated (with indications, and the original word/s). Words like ‘prevent’, which have changed meaning. And there are some updates related to Dispensationalism…
Thanks, Robert. By that definition, I indeed have an arsenal, but then I am also a licensed firearms dealer…
What I object to is the improper, but popular, usage of “arsenal” in the sense of the storage of *any* quantity of arms and ammunition, no matter how small. That often appears in breathless anti-firearms media reports, where somebody had two guns and a few hundred rounds of ammunition (i.e. at or below the barest prudent domestic minimum), but is nevertheless described as having an “arsenal”.
Ultimate handgun? Whatever floats one’s boat… I suppose. Personally I rather like the CZ 75, Browning High-Power and IMI Jerico pistols (which are all more or less clones of the original JMB design). For revolvers, the S&W Model 64 in .38spl or its .357 Magnum cousin are very dependable. If I absolutely, positively must put a tiny hole in a precise location, my Walther GSP is hard to beat. For fun, my 6″ Colt Python. et cetera…
Bibles – not really my thing, but the scholars of the “Jerusalem” NT version certainly did a pretty good job of translating from the original Greek. I’m not qualified to say how good their Hebrew was.
-eyes rolling- Some decades ago I saw a news report about a robbery, maybe of a gas station. The breathless twit on the TV said, “The suspects are thought to be heavily armed with 9mm and 357 pistols.” Yes, “heavily armed” with a pistol apiece. At the time I carried a 9mm or .357 all the time and slept with a Beretta under my pillow, and if I wanted to be “somewhat heavily armed” I’d sling my folding-stock shotgun under my arm and wear a long coat.
My favorite beats that. When I was living up in the Cleveland area in the late 70’s, the news crew broke into regular programming to announce breaking news that the cops had surrounded a “sniper with a shotgun”.
Speaking of snipers, an email this morning (Monday, 7/27/2015) from the NRA offers a training book claiming to make me a Navy Seal Sniper. Gotta get a bigger gun and better eyes.
Regarding Bibles, I am a fan of Parallel Bibles (translations side by side). My only “requirement” is that the KJV be included. I find the “evolution” of words and what it does to meaning to be fascinating.
And that is where the Urban Dictionary also makes interesting reading.
Finally, suggestion on RBT’s Daynotes Titles, I like the date and would like it to remain in addition to the addition of a major topic when it develops. Of course there are also keywords.
‘When I was living up in the Cleveland area in the late 70’s, the news crew broke into regular programming to announce breaking news that the cops had surrounded a “sniper with a shotgun”.’
I once heard from a reliable source in the UK that armed police were summoned to a scene where members of the public had reported finding *spent .22 cartridge cases* on the pavement.
Which reminds me, I must make sure to clean all ammunition, both live and spent, out of my pockets, luggage and vehicle, before taking the Channel Tunnel…
My primary issue with much of the PA fiction I’ve read is that the characters seem to have had unlimited budget to make preparations. Basements full of HK tactical rifles, M203 grenade launchers with ammo, 3rd Generation night vision, fully equipped and supplied second homes in remote areas with defensive perimeters … etc. And these people are depicted as middle class working stiffs. Who spends ALL their time and spare cash on prepping instead of, say, taking an occasional cruise, or a Hawaiian vacation? Single minded, obsessed, borderline crazies IMHO. I prep but also have a life. Have 3 man/yrs food, reliable water supply, 7 rifles ranging from an old Skeet gun to a basic AR and a couple of Ruger 10/22’s with RELIABLE 50 rnd mags. (my experience with extended magazines is poor so I pay top dollar for quality). I have a small amount of precious metals and couple of months of cash on hand. Since I run my own ATM company I could lay my hands on LOTS of cash in a hurry if needed. I also take vacations with my family, and spend time doing things other than sandbagging the front room. I’d LOVE to have a fully equipped bolt-hole but an old 5th wheel on a few wooded acres will have to do.
Speaking of “arsenal”. When we lived in the UK, 1995 – 2000, we heard in the paper that a home in our neighborhood had been raided and an “arsenal” discovered under the floorboards. Looking at the terrifying photo of the arsenal in the paper I could make out two .17mm pump air rifles, one .22 single shot rifle, one CO2 BB pistol and a small hand crossbow. Now I hear that the UK is on the verge of banning pointed kitchen knives … loved the place but the people have given away their rights …
“My primary issue with much of the PA fiction I’ve read is that the characters seem to have had unlimited budget to make preparations.”
Roger that. Ditto. It would actually piss me off reading that stuff; Joe Blow and his wife just happen to have all their chit ready to go when TSHTF, and cutting-edge, too! Most of us poor slobs gotta work at jobs and/or tons of regular chit to do around the house and property while trying to find jobs or otherwise generate revenue, not to mention the usual SCADS of family issues and problems that must be dealt with constantly.
Doesn’t leave a whole chit-load of time, money and energy for sandbagging the living room and tweaking the dozen ARs and AKs and rolling up pre-1964 silver coins.
As long as changing the title doesn’t change the link or page address, I’m OK. I like to leave the page open and just hit refresh throughout the day though.
When I was studying that sort of thing, I liked the Oxford annotated, and the new American. I’ll admit that I don’t have a lot of comparison volumes. I think the one I grew up with at home, The Way, should probably only be used as fire starter.
Nick
” I think the one I grew up with at home, The Way, should probably only be used as fire starter.”
There it is. While you’re at it, throw in the “Blue Jeans Bible,” the “Good News Bible,” etc.
One Bible I found rather useful, however; the “Reese Chronological Bible,” where the books are arranged in order of their historical events and writing thereof.
Remember that most PA fiction is written as a thinly disguised instruction manual. That means the author writes the items he wants people to have as the best examples, and ideal gear. It’s also why there are so many info dumps.
It’s possible to prep quite thoroughly for little money, as I try to demonstrate. It takes more time, but most people have more time than they think. They watch tv, spend hours a week commuting, waste time with family drama, etc.
I think it’s important to integrate prepping into your daily life. Whether it’s camping, working in the yard, gardening, raising animals, bargain shopping, or continuing skill building/learning, if you a enjoy it and it’s part of your life, it takes less time and energy than treating it as a separate activity.
Nick
“…waste time with family drama, etc.”
Indeed. I find it a waste of time, mostly, but find it hard to avoid sometimes; I’m smack in the middle of the matriarchy up here and the angst and melodrama are regular and fairly often. In fact, I can see it on my radar this week and will again be sucked into the middle of it, seemingly unavoidably.
But yeah, points well taken; working in the yard is daily, occasional bargain shopping, and working on skillz. Most of this, while not necessarily joyful, is endurable.
@ofd,
I had to move away to escape the drama. Fortunately, my wife and I have similar feelings about the issue for our families I’m not looking forward to being outnumbered 3 to 1in about 10 years in my own home. Oldest daughter has all the indications of drama queen tendencies so we are trying to counter those early. Don’t know if it will make a difference, but gotta try.
My personal time waster is the internet. Too easy to lose a morning to blogs. 🙂
Nick
s
“Remember that most PA fiction is written as a thinly disguised instruction manual.”
Yeah, with (almost always) very bad advice.
My paupers guide to arming for the apocalypse … budget $1000
1) Buy the Chinese nockoff Remington 870 (Hawk or whatever) for $200
2) Instead of one high end AR or AK or HK or whatever for $800+, buy 3 Ruger 10/22’s for $660 total at WalMart and a few thousand rounds of .22 LR (if you can find it)
3) Get a cheap 9mm semi-auto (9mm because you can find the ammo anywhere)
Then – Practice – practice – practice
What are your budget selections ?
Idea of an “ultimate handgun” is nonsense. The .50 cal desert eagle that will keep a Grizzly off your back is too big and heavy to carry around town. The semi-auto you carry around town may jam on your bargain brand ammo but the S&W Bodyguard revolver won’t. But the revolver only has 5 100% reliable shots when you may need 10 … each tool has a best use scenario. For me, the “best” handgun is the one I feel most comfortable carrying because it ain’t worth shit if I leave it at home.
“Oldest daughter has all the indications of drama queen tendencies so we are trying to counter those early. Don’t know if it will make a difference, but gotta try.”
I tried, but was on thin ice from the beginning, being just a stepdad, and my efforts were sandbagged and sabotaged repeatedly by the matriarchs. Now they sing a different tune but it’s too late, baby, it’s too late…etc. Good luck, sir. You will need it; a major part of the problem was the publik skool indoctrinations and the blizzard of MSM and net entertainment, plus good ol’ peer pressure from idiot friends. At least she’s not a druggie or boozer or criminal and has been brilliant at her studies; but the behavior persists, though not as bad as before.
” For me, the “best” handgun is the one I feel most comfortable carrying because it ain’t worth shit if I leave it at home.”
There it is.
Frankly, Mr. Harold, I’d rather have the $800 AR than the three Rugers but YMMV, as always. Agreed on the other stuff, though; a good 12-gauge and the 9mm.
I pointed out to my wife yesterday morning that there are an awful lot of arguments in this house, and she’s involved in every single one. I had to use the superior volume-producing capability of my greater-volume lungs in order to be heard over her screaming at Son#1, and my observation was, of course, met with denial.
There it is. I hear the same sorta reports from my two married brothers; they use the terms “pushback” and also “denial” a lot when they attempt to use outmoded patriarchal concepts like reason, logic and common sense. They are also more outnumbered than I am, and have suffered grievously over the years. They feel they are mostly treated like mangy ol’ dawgs for the most part and that the hens can’t wait to see them off in a wooden box.
Mrs. OFD up here, though, has lately shown signs of coming around to the old fart’s POV, but we shall see. I won’t hold my breath for Princess to do the same.
My sympathies, sir. My usual recourse in such circumstances was to take a nice long walk outside somewhere, even in a torrential downpour or raging blizzard. It was that much more pleasant.
” I think the one I grew up with at home, The Way, should probably only be used as fire starter.”
There it is. While you’re at it, throw in the “Blue Jeans Bible,” the “Good News Bible,” etc.
I like “The Message” occasionally but then I like Cowboy Rap (CRap) occasionally also.
Frankly, Mr. Harold, I’d rather have the $800 AR than the three Rugers but YMMV, as always. Agreed on the other stuff, though; a good 12-gauge and the 9mm.
A friend of mine had a home invasion in the house next to theirs in the early morning last winter. His wife heard the screaming and called the sheriff who showed up ten minutes later. He has now hid six, yes six, S&W revolvers (the little 5 shot 38 bodyguard) around the house and garage. He is fairly sure that the home invasion was an inside job but he has daughter drama also.
My sympathies, sir. My usual recourse in such circumstances was to take a nice long walk outside somewhere, even in a torrential downpour or raging blizzard. It was that much more pleasant.
This is why I am building a man cave on the back of the house. When the fems start watching “Dont diss the dress” or some other dreck like that, my testosterone gets backed up and causes severe issues. The wife was talking about putting some of her stuff in the man cave this weekend and we had to have a timeout talk.
They feel they are mostly treated like mangy ol’ dawgs for the most part and that the hens can’t wait to see them off in a wooden box.
Cardboard is cheaper. Just sayin’.
“…I like Cowboy Rap (CRap) occasionally also.”
Is that the same, or roughly the same as, the mix of bluegrass and hip-hop, like on the theme music intro to “Justified?” Like, i.e., Gangstagrass?
“He has now hid six, yes six, S&W revolvers (the little 5 shot 38 bodyguard) around the house and garage.”
I hope he hid them strategically and well, and that he and his wife remember where they’re all at. And using .38+P JHPs, too.
“…but he has daughter drama also.”
We had a retired Rochester, NY SWAT sergeant over for dinner last Thursday, my wife’s training colleague, and a former pastor; he’s got daughters and stepdaughters and has also been through that same mill. He was kinda laughing inside, I could tell, when he found we just had the one daughter.
“…and we had to have a timeout talk.”
Ain’t those fun? Usually helps to clear the air, though, ’cause it’s all about COMMUNICATION, which they love in the abstract.
“Cardboard is cheaper. Just sayin’.”
Roger that. I’ve told wife that’s all I want, or plain pine at the most. No embalming b.s., either; just throw me in the ground. Some abandoned ol’ boneyard out in the woods, slate headstone with winged skull and Latin epitaph.
Is that the same, or roughly the same as, the mix of bluegrass and hip-hop, like on the theme music intro to “Justified?” Like, i.e., Gangstagrass?
Yup, nailed it in one. Also Cowboy Troy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwdOF2eIpcI
And the MuzikMafia (some people call them Big and Rich):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HflDc7PUT2g
Yup, dat second one be mo’ my style, cuz.
I hand translated 5,000 lines of Win16 Smalltalk to Win32 C++ one fine day with that second song on continuous rewind.
Better U than me, podner!
My translating was with Old English, Latin, etc. Too rusty now, though.
If it can’t be written in Pascal it isn’t worth writing… 🙂
Lynn, tell the old lady she can store a bit of stuff in your retreat if you can buy a whole lot more prepping stuff.
If it can’t be written in Pascal it isn’t worth writing…
Pascal sucks. I wrote in TP (turbo pascal) for a number of years and then Turbo C came out. I fell in love! I do wish that C had Pascal’s counted strings though, that would solve so many bugs.
C++ is just so cool because you can live as high as you want or down on top of the metal when needful or expedient.
Lynn, tell the old lady she can store a bit of stuff in your retreat if you can buy a whole lot more prepping stuff.
No freaking way, dude! The man cave is mine and anything in there is subject to RUTHLESS trashing. The fems now have three bedrooms (one is guest but they have the 10 ft by 4 ft closet stacked to the max) and the study when the man cave is finished. I would block all fem access but the new laundry is through there. I got a verbal warning on that.
And I am not calling her an old lady. I gotta sleep some time.
I bought the four new doors (2 interior, 2 exterior) for the addition Monday and the dudes are tearing the brick and soffit off the back of the house today. We just changed the window in the bathroom to a exterior door for easier pool access. BTW, here is a drawing of the addition:
https://www.winsim.com/gameroom.pdf
The builder home plan is:
https://www.winsim.com/perry_homes_plan_2991.pdf
C/C++ reminds me of Hebrew – a complete mess. Looks like a fly with inky feet walked all over the page.
Hass the Mrs acquiesced your hoarding?
Hass the Mrs acquiesced your hoarding?
Nope. But I started the addition without enough cash to finish it so, I am hoarding cash at the moment.
As regards to hoarding XXXXXX prepping, I have decided that if I ever build a house from scratch then the kitchen pantry will be a safe room. I have been reading “The Secure Home” by Joel Skousen very, very slowly. BTW, that is 700 pages of 8.5 inch by 11 inch book, it can be used as a weapon if needful.
http://www.amazon.com/Secure-Home-Joel-Skousen/dp/1568610556/
Once you get past his advice on how to live your life, the book is quite informative. I would like for the kitchen pantry (safe room) to have a concrete block liner and concrete ceiling. And a toilet / shower. And a secure door. And many shelves for organizing your food storage. Kind of a basement which we do not typically have here in The Great State of Texas due to the high water table. Would need to be 20 ft x 10 ft or something along those lines.
C/C++ reminds me of Hebrew – a complete mess. Looks like a fly with inky feet walked all over the page.
C++ is very subject to the organizational level of the programmer. Portions of our user interface code resemble that inky fly, especially the CAD front end which was originally written in C. Other portions are extremely organized since we wrote our own user interface toolkit for dialogs with almost 600 classes.
I especially like my tuple methods that I ripped off from Smalltalk:
vector tuple ()
{
vector aVectorOfInts (0);
return aVectorOfInts;
}
vector tuple (int int1)
{
vector aVectorOfInts (1);
aVectorOfInts [0] = int1;
return aVectorOfInts;
}
vector tuple (int int1, int int2)
{
vector aVectorOfInts (2);
aVectorOfInts [0] = int1;
aVectorOfInts [1] = int2;
return aVectorOfInts;
}
and so on and so forth.
I’d use concrete block with rebar and filled with concrete.
Don’t forget the hidden escape tunnel in case you need to get out unobtrusively. Also don’t forget escape equipment like a wrecking bar, big saw, etc. just in case you have to cut your way out. Which is a good argument for having the door open inwards.
Also, just in case your house burns down around you, it’s a good idea to keep a cylinder of oxygen in there, and something to absorb CO2. Ordinary lye works well for that if you put it in a thin layer, ideally a non-aluminum mesh like an older fiberglass window screen or two.
“…I have decided that if I ever build a house from scratch then the kitchen pantry will be a safe room.”
I’ve never been real keen on the idea of ‘safe rooms’ in a house, and such a room is not really feasible in this house anyway. Unless I extensively remodel a corner of the cellar, but I’m somewhat claustrophobic and would rather go out in a blaze of glory in the open air, so to speak, than be stuck inside a cell, suffocating slowly or roasting as the house burns down around us and on top of us. We don’t have the financial means to construct all that sort of stuff plus a tunnel, etc., etc., and Mrs. OFD would never go for it.
If it ever comes down to it, we’ll have our last stand in the house itself or just outside it and let the chips fall where they may.
“The Americans fired a few rounds and then retreated—all but 65-year-old James Miller, whose house sat just downslope. Saying he was “too old to run,” Miller stood his ground, firing steadily at the oncoming British until cut down.”
http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-menotomy-first-blood-1775.htm
If the house burns, then the people in the safe room are toast. Literally. Unless you have a deluge system with a very large 10,000+ gallon tank. Not gonna happen.
A back entrance out of the safe room into a master bedroom closet would be nice. Escape tunnel, really? The water table is at 3 to 5 ft down around here. Less if it has rained recently.
I’ve never been real keen on the idea of ‘safe rooms’ in a house, and such a room is not really feasible in this house anyway.
Safe rooms are for more than just home invasion. Also tornado, hurricane, blizzard (ha, ha, ha around here), etc. Fire is just a bad thing for Safe Rooms. The “Panic Room” movie with Jodie Foster is a good idea of what can go wrong when using the safe XXXX panic room:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=him0NfgFOH0