Notes
on Lobdell's round concrete shelter:
Have drain tile on outside & inside of
perimeter or gravel w-w bed with drain.
Have a condensate drain or reservoir
& some device to collect condensate.
A freezer (or two) as a heat source
will raise the temperature to be able to use well water as a coolant for a
condenser.
Wood shelter:
Have a dip barrel (55 gal) for waste oil (crankcase oil) to
dip the ends of the pole in.
Put the barrel at an angle partially below ground
with at ridge pole between two tripods to hold the other end of the pole up
while soaking. Or bury the barrel 90 degrees in the ground and stand the poles
on end, be sure to back fill and tamp to prevent toppling if in soft ground.
MAJOR POINTS OF LOBDELL'S MODIFICATION TO KEARNEY'S POLE OVER TRENCH
SHELTER:
Main idea is for the shelter to last for several years rather than several
months. This requires more work and materials. It is wider and longer, 6'x16'.
One standard entrance, the other to be an escape tunnel/water drain/ sleeping
area/additional shelter/ventilation. Polyethylene plastic sheeting wraps the
walls and all pole surfaces to prevent wood rot and control humidity. Low
density fill in the center of the shelter roof (under the earth arch) to reduce
the load on the longer poles and to even out the force (failsafe) in case one
pole fails. On the lengthwise sides of the shelter, place lengthwise poles (on
the plastic) to rest the roof poles on. Use length wise poles on top of main
crosswise roof poles for backup and to transfer more weight to the larger cross
poles and to contribute to the lower density in the middle of the roof. Note on
the low density idea, you should have regular density (earth) on all parts of
the shelter for your radiation protection. The idea of the low density is that a
thick roof that has a protection factor of 10,000 in the center is wasted on a
200-300 PF design and too much weight for the increased length of log/pole. The
escape/drain tunnel should have one or two 90 degree or so angles in it for
better geometric protection from entrance radiation. Utilize the backhoe. It is
worth the money in terms of time and attitude. If the ground stability is
suitable, use double headed nails to hold up chicken wire on the shelter walls.
Trowel in concrete onto the chicken wire and paint white. This is a common
basement treatment in this part of North Carolina. This will work for dry clay,
another good reason for locating your shelter at the top of a hill in addition
to the geometry for radiation. The painted surface will reflect light better
reducing illumination needs, less primitive looking more "normal", it
is cleaner. Try to have a well in the main part of the shelter with full casing,
lockable cover, and concrete around the top of the casing to prevent
contamination. Seed earth with grasses and small plants native to region to hold
earth, not attract attention, and for food for game. You will have to fertilize
since the earth will be partially clay. You will have to have low spots in the
roof in the dog-legs of the tunnel due to the backhoe not being able to make
really sharp corners. However, a below grade roof for the entire tunnel is a
good idea so that there is no unnatural hump or rise in the ground along the
tunnels length (less conspicuous). Plant bushes around end of tunnel.
Good book - Protecting Family & Livestock - Purdue Univ. Coop. Exten.
Service, Layfayette,IND 47907.
You need a strong shelter manager to enforce rules and rations. Establish a
food/person, water/person ratio assuming the worse. Don't waste your ventilation
on fires for cooking, use sand as a fire extinguisher. Air requirements, KAP.
Water requirements.
TENT SAUNA
I have built and used more tent saunas (well, we call it badstu, and one
non-English word is as good as the other, so I use our language's word for it).
It doesn't have a stove, but a stone oven without a chimney.
I'd set up a tent on a framework, that can easily be lifted up by 4-6 people
and moved away some meters. The ground should be cleared of grass and roots in a
square of approx. 1m x 1m; the ground should preferably be sand, gravel or clay
in that fireplace area. Collect a lot of stones, and build an oven (the fire may
and should be able to leak between the stones, but there should be a cave in the
middle). Get lots of wood fuel, make a fire in the cave, and heat it for several
hours. When you think it's ready, you may be wrong, but let's assume you are
ready. Then you carry the rest of the fire out with a shovel (so the cave
opening must be wide enough for the shovel); sweep it with a brush e.g. of birch
twigs, carry the tent to stand with the stone heap in the middle, and there you
are: the badstu is ready for use.
You'll have a bucket of water available and a scoop so you can sprinkle small
amounts of water on the stones. Somebody must stand guard by the tent opening so
that whoever wants to, can be helped to find her/his way out.
Make sure the tent isn't of a cloth that will burn of a spark or melt by the
heat if it comes near the stones, fireproofed cotton is fine. It should not be
so heavy that it's dark inside.
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