Building a bug out location that is bullet proof?

Hello, my friend and welcome back!  I receive emails from readers all the time with some really cool ideas that they have come up with for making their bug out locations more secure and even bullet proof in many cases.  In today’s post, I’m going to share some of them with you, so sit back and grab a cup of coffee while we visit.

Mike, in Virginia, said he has built a bug out shelter that he thinks is surely bulletproof.  Here is how he did it:  First he used metal containers on top of the ground and connected 4 of them together to create a comfortable living space.  Next, he sprayed they outside of the building with Rhino coating to keep it from rusting.  Then he attached 2 x 4s on the outside of the walls and filled them with blown in insulation, after wrapping them in a moisture barrier, to help keep the inside cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Next, he used cinder blocks and built an additional wall, on the outside of the wooden one. Once the cinder walls were complete, he filled them with a mix of sand and pea gravel.    This adds yet another layer of protection.  Once this was done, he sprayed they entire outside with a water sealant and pushed dirt, about half way up the outside walls.  I personally think it’s a little overkill, but as he put it, his family is priceless and there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to protecting them.

OK, I will agree that the walls are about as bullet proof as the average person can make them, but what about the doors and windows?  He had a solution for those as well.  The doors he had custom-made and were built using 2 separate ½ sheets of steel plating with ½ in hickory planks sandwiched between each.  The door was set on rollers and could be slid into place, behind the normal door at moment’s notice.

Windows are made of tempered glass with a slide in panel just like the one on the front door, only a little larger than the windows, to reduce their weight.  While a high-powered weapon could possibly penetrate the window panel, he said it was the best he could come up with.  One thing is for certain, I don’t see unwelcome intruders climbing in through them.

This brings us to the roof.  He said he covered the roof with 8 inches of sand and then covered that with ¼ inch steel because of the weight.  What he did next was pretty interesting, to say the least.  He reduced the roofs slope to 22 degrees so that if anything was fired at it, the slight angle would force the rounds to simply bounce off and not allow them to penetrate the metal.  I have to hand it to him; I never considered using the roofs angle to deflect rounds which were fired at it.  He also pointed out that the sand beneath the steel plating would serve as an insulator it the roof was to be set on fire.

I asked him how much it cost him to build such a wonder and he wouldn’t say.  He only said he had a lot of people who no longer owe him favors anymore though.  You can tell by the way he talks about it that he is as proud as a new father when it comes to his shelter.  I have to agree, it should serve him well.  Nice job Mike!

Jimmy, in Kansas, took a similar approach; he purchased some old train cars that he got cheap at an old junk yard.  He pulled the wheels and axles off of them and sat them on the ground.  Next, he pushed dirt around them all the way up their tops. He used the top hatch and added a ladder to gain entrance to them. He also built a barricade with old logs all the way around the top for protection while shooting. While my old legs would not be able to handle the vertical ladder very long, it does sound like he has a secure place to wait out the worst of the apocalypse.  Nice job Jimmy!

If you have a shelter that you have built, that you’re particularly proud of, let me know and maybe I can start a monthly spotlight on unique ideas for shelters.  Well, I guess that is it for today and I hope you have enjoyed today’s post.  Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared.  God Save America!

-Sarge-