question about shelters !!!

[nikosmihalakis]

I ve always wanted to ask this and as far as i read articels here , i havent seen the answer yet ... I always look at underground shelter pictures and i cant understant one thing .... if the have air filtration , ( if the dont the constractions are useless in my opinion because in every case senario you will have to deal with toxic gasses . Even if a nuclear event occured or a toxic or a enviromental pollution or war or terrorism .) the pipes are about 1.5 to 2 meters from the ground in the best case ... How is this safe to a) distraction of the pipes b) flood??

if there is a huge toxic rain or flood or tsunami are this shelters protected or are you going to play fish in there ???

Thank you !!!

[Kingofthenet]

They are u bended pipes or have a rain shield, like your chimney.

[Mtnman Mike]

Originally Posted by nikosmihalakis

I ve always wanted to ask this and as far as i read articels here , i havent seen the answer yet ... I always look at underground shelter pictures and i cant understant one thing .... if the have air filtration , ( if the dont the constractions are useless in my opinion because in every case senario you will have to deal with toxic gasses . Even if a nuclear event occured or a toxic or a enviromental pollution or war or terrorism .) the pipes are about 1.5 to 2 meters from the ground in the best case ... How is this safe to a) distraction of the pipes b) flood??

if there is a huge toxic rain or flood or tsunami are this shelters protected or are you going to play fish in there ???

Thank you !!!

Thanks for the questions but not Every scenario would have toxic gases or even truly need air filtration.

Such as for most storms, tornadoes or as in a bunker with protection mainly from bullets and small bombs.

But if the underground or other protective shelter is for fallout protection then it should have air filtration, although in the link below it is shown that good ventilation is even much more important! And it is not absolutely necessary to spend a lot of money to get it either as this link shows from the free book Nuclear War Survival Skills > http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p917.htm

Hope many will read that chapter and even most of the whole free book since it is full of good, useful info that might save lives someday!

Here are some quotes from that chapter that are interesting and what many probably do not know or understand > "For most shelters built or improved hurriedly during a crisis it will be impractical to provide filtered air.
Numerous tests have shown that the hazards from fallout particles carried into shelters by unfiltered ventilating air are minor compared to the dangers from inadequate ventilation. A 1962 summary of the official standards for ventilating systems of fallout shelters stated: "Air filters are not essential for small (family size) shelters..." More recent findings have led to the same conclusion for large fallout shelters."

In regard to flooding etc. it is wise to have good drainage and if an underground shelter is built on a well drained hill then even better. My bunker is about nine feet deep but it is on a high dry hillside. Even when it rains hard no water gets in. Snowmelt is worse but still almost no water gets inside the bunker / underground shelter.

I will be glad to answer any other questions about bunkers or underground shelters in this thread or in this long info packed thread where many questions are already answered throughout its many pages > http://www.survivalistboards.com/sho...d.php?t=107463

[Jerry D Young]

There are many options to install air handling intakes and exhausts. Most commercial shelters just show the standard ones, as you described. The options to conceal or camouflage them aren't shown much because the ones that do it that way don't want to give away their secrets. Plus those 'typical' installations are sometimes just dummies, with the real ones hidden. They can give an attacker a target so they won't look elsewhere.

It is a matter of looking at the shelter location and the items around it, if any, that can be used to incorporate the piping in better locations for the scenarios you brought up, plus many others. There are pros and cons to each idea, depending on the actual scenario being discussed. Higher is usually better, but not always. Multiple sets of intakes and outlets, each of which can be opened and closed, can be installed to handle multiple scenarios if the surroundings will allow. Something out in the middle of a corn field doesn't have many options, though there are some. A shelter near a building has several.

Just my opinion.

[nikosmihalakis]

thank you guys !!!

[PalmettoTree]

The truth is you cannot prepare for every eventuality.

[Scoo]

I for one would install an elevated pipe with a "mushroom cap" on top or similar to filter out the worst of radioactive particles (a scenario that to some extent worry me), they would fall to the ground. Or use a barrel where I'd cut open the bottom and elevated it a bit by placing bricks beneath or attached legs to the drum sides. Then I'd attach an air pipe/hose (say vacuum cleaner hose) to the top of the drum that's connected to a blower inside (e.g. vacuum cleaner again if mains power works).

I don't worry about toxic (industrial) agents, if one would encounter those just hole up in a sealed building or similar space. One can stay in such a sealed place for as many hours as there's cubic metres [1 cubic meter of air = ~35 cubic feet] of air per person.