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blu
Step on my cubes.
Joined: 19 Mar 2003
Posts: 4638
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Sevnn wrote: Blu, how have you felt about your above ground? I have the room in my garage for one, though I don't want to give up the floor space. I'm confident they'll hold out against 2x4s at high velocity, but i'm concerned about cars and other very heavy objects that get picked up and moved around. I definitely like the ease of use, storage potential, and expandability of the bolt together systems.
That is a really tough decision, of course. There are advantages and disadvantages that have to be weighed. Obviously, a below ground is safer for flying debris, but the above ground has several safety benefits as well. It should stand up to house debris, suction, etc. I do not have a clue what would happen if a car was thrown at it at high speeds. I don't think a car being pushed into it would ever be an issue, and I feel (hope?) as long as a car, even at high speeds, went through the house or into a car in our garage, it is unlikely to be dangerous. It is extremely well constructed of heavy steel, and bolted through the slab 3 times per panel (that is 27 bolts for my size shelter). It would be significantly more difficult to be trapped vs. a below ground, because I can unbolt the entire thing from the inside one panel at a time. It would be impossible to be flooded while in it, which can be a real concern with the amount of rain we have been getting lately along with the tornadoes (and my house and garage location with respect to the rest of the neighborhood).
To me, the deciding factor was "will I get in it, stay in it, and be willing to ride out the storm." I have lived in houses with below ground shelters before, and they are always end up as homes for spiders, damp, dark, cramped places. Even when storms were headed our way, we tended to not take shelter. This means, to me, that the below ground shelter was not very effective, because I wasn't in it. I can also fit a large wheelchair through the door, which I have personally been in a situation that I was unable to take shelter in a below ground for that reason before.
I have 2 small kids, and a 70+lb dog (usually 2). It is literally no effort to get my dog, kids, and wife to go hang out in the shelter for 30 minutes plus. My 3 year old wants to just hang out in it sometimes with no storms, it is truly a party room as brules put it. Ours is much more effective than a below ground to me, in that regards, because we use it without a 2nd thought. When we lose satellite and a tornado is in the area, we just go to the shelter and have internet, antenna tv, and radio. We can sit in there comfortably and hang out and watch the news. We even have a cot for the kids if it is during the night. We have basically everything we need in there, and do not even hesitate to put something in there.
We do not really lose a lot of storage space, because we just store stuff on top of the shelter. They claim you could store bricks up to the ceiling on top without any issue. We store half of our camping stuff in there, ropes, bungees, flashlights, fans, chairs, tools, toilets, pretty much anything that can hang on the walls or might be useful in an emergency. Hell, I put carpet in it. I will probably even bolt a safe to the floor in there.
Like I said, the deciding factor for us was "will we be in it when the time comes?" I have no question that we will all be comfortably sitting in there with additional protection (helmets, eyes, ears) when the time comes that we truly need to be. I have very little doubt that we will not be trapped in it after a major tornado, which is probably more of a concern for those of us who live out of town than those of you who live in town.
I don't think it's an easy decision, but I think it was the right decision for us.
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Fri May 31, 2013 11:37 am
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