I store my goods in the basement because it's cooler down there and my food will keep longer. In a SHTF situation I will be moving a lot of supplies into my attic. The attic will be my last area of defense before I bug out. Here's why:

1. I view my basement as a coffin in a SHTF scenario. Once trapped in the basement, the game is over.

2. My house is all brick. There are attic vents at each end of the house (tiny windows). Below the forward vent, there is the roof to my porch.

3. I have a sledge hammer in the attic to break out the vents and some brick around them so I can escape to the roof. From the roof I can hold off the horde with sniper fire. I can jump from house to house if I have too.

You are correct that the attic gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter so I would not want to stay up there for a long period of time. It is my last resort before I abandon my home.

So I think you are on the right track, stay mobile and prepare to shuttle between the basement and the attic IMO.

Hope this helps.

 

well in the attic you'll "precook" your supplyas so thats not a good idea and in the basement you'll need to guard against molt,mildew,rodents and general dampness.

Why not just use blackout curtains? Then you can just stay put in your everyday living quarters? Is there a burning need to hide out alla Ann Frank?

 

I think tha basement would be the best of the two. however i would split my supplies up. With the heavy items in the basement with a decent sized amount of suppies there as well. So that all five of you can fit comfortably in there. The rest of your supplies could be stored in the attic and you could get at them when you need them. remember though that when storing food it is best to do so in a cool dry place so all food should be in the basement. How is the basement accessed is it a basement that is buried on three sides with one side having a door? Or is it stair access from inside only ? switching gears now.If you keep it to where your attic has no stairs. Then that will make it harder for people to get to your supplies in the attic. And you will be able to hear someone try'n to get to them better.

 

I vote that you finish your basement and store your supplies down there. It offers the best protection of the two choices from the weather (ever see roofs get torn off during hurricanes?) and gunfire (wooden walls are a poor barrier). The temerature will not fluctuate like it will in the attic, which can destroy many of your supplies (food and ammunition). If the worst would ever happen and a nuke was set off, the basement offers far superior shielding than your attic will from the blast and fallout.

Would it be possible to add a secret escape hatch to the basement? It would not have to be anything huge. If you house has a wooden porch/deck outside, a tunnel from the the basement could be built so it would emerge under it. It will help to hide the access point and allow you to emerge from the tunnel undetected.

 

Hi all, thanks for the thoughts. I had never thought of blackout curtains, I guess I imagined hiding stealthily in the basement or attic, not giving off any light, and remaining totally undetected... as the hordes of hungry Bostonians wander through my neighborhood on their long walk to Stockbridge.

The basement is about half inground and half above ground - it has both a small door entrance on the side and two seperate staircases inside that lead up to each unit.

I hadn't thought about the poor storage conditions in the attic (re: heat) and the basement will definitely keep food longer. It's dry enough down there.

I would love to build a tunnel, but something tells me that digging one through the rocky earth in my yard would be difficult.

Thanks for the tips.

 

"I guess I imagined hiding stealthily in the basement or attic, not giving off any light, and remaining totally undetected...as the hordes of hungry Bostonians wander through my neighborhood on their long walk to Stockbridge"

I kind of believe if there any 'hordes' of people going through your neighborhood they will probably be in need of food and/or survival items, and will not just be wandering through, but will be doing house to house searches.

If they're already homeless and refugees, I don't believe they would just walk past potential food sources.

Thoughts of dying can make people do 'funny' things...I'd rethink your plan.

 

Its easier to shoot bullets into an attic...

 

Survival Foods should never stored all in one place. Set up a pantry with 6 months food you use on a daily basis. This is food that if found, can be lost without you giving all your stocks away. Hide long term food in several places in the house.

The LDS Preparedness Manual would be a good start. Call the Bishup of the local LDS(Mormon) Church and ask him if there is a cannery in your area. You do not have to be Mormon to use it and they do not preach at you.

Don

 

The best alternative is neither, of course.

However, I'd take the attic...presuming I had enough time to anticipate being overrun (say an hour). Remember: I live in the City like JoeInStl (same city, matter of fact). You can tell if trouble is brewing much better & faster in the city than in rural areas! You have to wait until it comes up your drive. Within less than an hour, I'd know "what's up." It's hard to hide public panic in a big city.

The attic is a good strategic position. I can snipe to my heart's content, and make an escape...provided I've designed a solid in-home defense to prevent intruders from entering the attic once they've busted into my home. That's the key.

 

Food for thought, always have a pack or ruck sack ready in your pantry already to roll with several days of food in it.

Also have ammo in it with Chute cord. Depending on your attic entrance location I would at this time study how to rig it in the event of take over.

Check this out I have several of them throughout my home and guest house
http://www.southwestcustomwoodworking.com/pistol_frames.html

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=411389&pn=7

If anything delay them so you can escape. Where I live is in the country, I have several fire arms in the woods vacuumed sealed with 100 rounds and placed in a threaded PVC pipe burried.

What ever direction I had to I have a fire arm within 20 steps.

 

You have an interesting set up. If I had a large enough place and lived in the country, I would probably do things in a similar way. However, I live in an apartment in a large town. I have several guns within reach right where I live. Anyway, anything we can do to get and stay prepared is a good thing.

 

Why not spend some time prepping the attic, insulate the roof so it stays at a constant temp then you can make it comfortable.
I would choose the attic over the basement, easier to escape from.
Turn the basement into your nuke fallout shelter and only use it when the bomb drops.

 

Does your house have a second story? if so, get an escape ladder that hangs from a window frame, and when SHTF board up the lower windows and doors. Use the ladder for in and out movement, and if someone tries to get it, they get a warning then a warning shot.

Staying kooked up in an attic or basement is going to do one thing... make you crazy really quick. The freedom to walk around and sleep in a bed and such will greatly add to your sanity and a healthy mind is irreplaceable.

just my ¥.02

 

im no expert on this subject but i store my jarred food in a cool dry place such as the pantry weapons i store in different safe locations so i'll always have one handy

 

That is a tough one. I would go sit in each one and see which one gives you a warm and fuzzy.
Basement is good for storage but no escape.
Attic is hot but more avenues of escape.

If I had to pick escape over security I would take the attic.

That being said, I prefer the basement. I feel comfortable shooting my way out of the basement should the need arise.

 

If I put myself in your shoes I would
1. Beef up home security. Better locks and all around higher degree of difficulty to gain entry into my home.
2. Stock foods in the cooler basment, some in pantry and perhaps some cached in the yard.
3. Stock all temperature indifferent items in the attic. That means tons of TP and since I doubt the temp will pose a problem to ammo, that too.

I would keep a low profile with the blackout curtains and low cooking emmissions, however if your from the same school of thought as Kev then you may consider BBQing in the front yard with shotguns and friends . Theres certainly something to be said for presenting a "No Vacancies" apearence with a show of force and being willing to back it up.

 

If I put myself in your shoes I would
1. Beef up home security. Better locks and all around higher degree of difficulty to gain entry into my home ...

The best idea would be to get some sort of bars and big locks that once SHTF you could weld them or something over the windows/doors ...

If you own a house I think the idea should be to secure the whole building. If you're interested in hunkering down and waiting out a disaster your goal should be to "upgrade" your whole house. Insulate the attic. Install stronger hinges and doors. Buy strong shutters to protect your windows. Make entry into your home more difficult than it is worth...

Here's one phase of our security upgrades. All windows have bars and the doors of the house have an additional exterior steel security door. A picture of our patio door is attached to my post in the French Door thread of Urban Survival.

http://www.survivalistboards.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5879&stc=1&d=1215294860

 

Tough choice... I can't add anything to the great suggestions all ready posted. And if I lived in your house, I'd probably have the same problem deciding as you have. Remember the movie "People Under the Stairs?" How awesome would it be to have a house where you could get around the entire thing through the walls? But, this is the real world... *sigh*

 

If you're planning bug in - be sure to remember that it can become bug-out at a moments notice. I wouldn't board anything up, it can keep you in as much as keeping people out. Not to mention that there is truly nothing that can keep people out. You can deter them... but never stop them. Early warning is the best way in my opinion. If it becomes apparent that you may have to bug out soon because you are in a local hot spot, there is something to be said for rotating fire watch if you have enough dependable people (not children, etc).

The only thing I would be willing to store in an attic are things that you cannot take with you, that are unaffected by heat, rats, bugs, etc... if you have a fireplace and don't want to risk going outside, put several days of wood up there, etc. It would also be an ideal place to store items after use (empty water jugs, empty food buckets) so they aren't laying around in the way.

I vote basement for food, for obvious reasons... but I wouldn't hole up in either an attic or a basement, you can only go up/down. If you're on the ground floor you have options in an emergency and can take any direction for evasive action.

 

Why not spend some time prepping the attic, insulate the roof so it stays at a constant temp then you can make it comfortable.

+1

Even foil backed styrofoam tacked up to the rafters will help. Do you have a ridge vent and soffit vents for ventilation?

I've no experience with basements but it seems like a false wall in one would be a good idea.

 

You can alway make make something like a secert escape tunnel too or something for your basement.

 

The best idea would be to get some sort of bars and big locks that once SHTF you could weld them or something over the windows/doors. The Attic would be hard to escape from since it would be high up I imagine. The Basement would be like a cofin as already said. Personally I would choose the cellar, and add some mods. Wish I could add a bug out tunnel to my cellar hehe. Theres a perfect area only about 100m away from my house, although it would prob cost a bomb to have build haha, and theres no way im guna get burried alive digging it lol.

 

If you own a house I think the idea should be to secure the whole building. If you're interested in hunkering down and waiting out a disaster your goal should be to "upgrade" your whole house. Insulate the attic. Install stronger hinges and doors. Buy strong shutters to protect your windows. Make entry into your home more difficult than it is worth.

A friend and I had a similar conversation a few weeks ago. We were wondering what would be the best way to defend your home in the event of armed assailants in the streets. We wanted some way to harden the house without being obvious. We thought a great idea would be to line the front walls of the house with sand bags. This would provide an excellent way to protect against gunfire while not being blatantly obvious from the outside.

 

If I was in a multi-level house, where I controlled the basement, attic and all-points in between, then I wouldn't choose, I would use both locations to their full advantage.

If I didn't need to, I wouldn't choose one over the other, because they both have pros and cons. If I *DID* need to chose, then it would totally depend on the situation.

- Is my house secure, can people get inside? If so, then the basement is a bad idea. The attic would let you hide out and defend yourself till the last moment. The basement, a coffin.

- What is the nature of SHTF. If its nuclear, biological or environmental, the basement may provide a more secure and stable area, where an attic may expose you to things you shouldn't, due to ventilation, poor insulation, and the general fit and finish of typical attic construction.

- Is it short-term or long term SHTF? How long will I have to stay there? What do my supply resources consist of.

As you can all see, there is no right or wrong answer, except everyone knows, NEVER hide in the basement if the apposing force consists mainly of Zombies. They'll gitcha! Every time!

 

I would use the basment.. when it comes down to it you need to beable to get stuff and if something happens it depends on what you might not even need to worry about people going around the place you can simply hide some supplys that are non persable in the atic and store most of the stuff downstairs being easy to geto would be the main thing.. the way i look at it chances are.. i rather use my whole house if something happend because very few things would force me to use only 1 room.. i can go the washroom out side ect... i dont see the need to board my self in.. because i know if i do things in the open it will look less supisous if you basicly go and disappear they might think hey that house looks abounded lets go check it out.. i plan on being out side and around my house for eample cooking over a fire out side.. but the real food will be hidden inside.. if it looks like i have a little not alot chances are people will think hey he just has what he has left in the pantry and is just useing it up for a longer time then i would start hideing the food and stuff the way i look at it chances are i will still need to get more water out side which i have a river at the bottom of the hill i plan on geting the water from.. its not the nices water ever but i can filter it thats the only reason to leave my house and i would be carrying only a pistal that would be hidden from veiw dont want people to see me as armed that way they wont look at it as hey he looks perpared lets sneak in when hes sleeping and steal what he has..

 

I haven't read most of the other posts here so forgive me if I make a redundant point here.

The basement is ideal for storing supplies and general protection. It's not just the people you have to consider in your scenario. While all of the people are busy going nuts, bad weather is still going to happen. I don't know what part of the country you live in, but if it's an area where a tornado can pass through, you don't want to be hanging out in the attic. Similarly in the winter months it's probably not too hard to keep a basement warm. Especially if, as you say, it's got limited room.

If the power fails you will have to practice noise and light discipline. If you are on some sort of generator for power you will want to be sure to cover the windows where any sign of electric lights can get out.

Ideally you will want to spend each day making your entire building your fortress so to speak. It's not doing you much good to hide in the basement if thugs move in and take over the rest of the building. Sooner or later they are going to find you. It's one thing to move your loved ones down to the basement to keep them out of the frey. But you can't stay down there forever. Sooner or later you have to come out if for no other reason than to use the bathroom. Have you considered where you would use the bathroom if the sewers quit working? Trust me, you don't want to have to be doing that in a cramped basement or a hot attic.