The Bomb Shelter Builders Book Paperback – March 23, 2012

husband suffers terribly from allergies. One day, during a particularly rough period, he exclaimed, "I wish we lived underground, away from the pollen, so I could have some relief!" We live in Oklahoma and have a tornado shelter, so the idea is actually not that foreign for us. We started looking at the pre-made "prepper" shelters on the market, and they are EXPENSIVE! My father was once a Civil Defense Director and taught people how to make bomb shelters, so I suggested maybe we could make one of those. It seemed like the plans should be easy to find on the internet, but we were not having any luck, and I was about to give up. Then we found this book on Amazon, and it was just what we wanted! There are blueprints for three different shelters, two underground and one above ground. The blueprints are so clear and concise that even I can understand them, and I've never even looked at a blueprint before! There are detailed material lists for each of the shelters which will make figuring costs and buying materials even easier. The instructions are also detailed and complete.I do not know if we will build one of these shelters or not, but the information in this book will make that decision much easier.

Written for constructing shelters from man and natures severe attacks. A basic primer for those who need/want such shelters. No frills and bells just solid construction advise.

The Bomb Shelter Builders Book is full of usable information. At 61 pages it is clear and to the point with no added fluff.The heart of the book comes from old government documents easily found on the Internet. What makes this book worth purchasing are the illustrations and plans (Prints). They are first generation clean and crisp unlike the drawings found on the net. If you are interested in small concrete subterranean bunkers I suggest this book.

Excellent information

very basic not good for much. you buy this book you'll wish you didn't. the layout is ok and the information is basic and you can find the contents of this book on the net if your hunting the forums and sights.

I got this book for my boyfriend for Christmas. We are keeping it in our library just in case we ever need it or have the money to actually do this. The book is very detailed and the blueprints are clever. I would suggest this book to anyone who is interested in making a shelter.

I bought this book for my collection of fallout shelter ephemera. I did not expect much out of this piece, and it is about what I expected. As typical, the book is basically two regurgitated Cold War plans (H-12-4 and the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization MP-15's Concrete Reinforced Fallout Shelter) with some afterthought changes (such as topics on French drains, and a foreward with some skimpy history information.) This is not to say the author didn't add some things, but the basic issue is that neither meets building codes, neither is an effective tornado shelter by modern standards, and the additions do not help the issues with the plans.International Code Council (ICC) 500 and FEMA P-320 are very strenuous in their design standards. This is very critical--in many localities, ICC 500 is triggered if IBC 2009 or newer is in effect. Old safe rooms are dangerous in tornadoes and actual emergency events. As an example, modern safe rooms are not supposed to have the ships ladders recommended here because people tend to use them incorrectly, like a stair, when you should actually enter and exit the stair with face toward the ladder. These devices are only typically allowed in industrial settings.Modern safe rooms have well-designed doors that can withstand impact with debris and are designed to not be blown off by high winds; they have standards on stairway slopes, ventilation, and foundation design. These standards are not meant to prevent you from building your doomsday hideaway; they are there to prevent you from getting yourself killed. The author recommends building in a secluded area. I suppose you might be able to hide from the pesky building code authorities/neighbors for a time, but this would be at your own risk.It is implied that you are going to build this concrete shelter yourself. If you are a concrete contractor or if you plan to hire one, you might be able to use this book. Otherwise, as the author notes with his recommendation of a concrete masonry manual from the Army Corps of Engineers, you will need more information--and, preferably, time, and an experienced crew to do it!If you absolutely insisted on building H-12-4.0, I would recommend H-12-4.1, an actual do-it-yourself manual from FEMA, which is extremely difficult to find. I got a downloaded PDF; it details everything you would have to do, every step covered. You might actually be able to get it through code authorities as a utility structure. But it wouldn't do well as a tornado shelter. And pouring concrete foundations, laying rebar properly, using high-hats to place the welded mesh correctly in the foundation, erecting the roof formwork, and other construction elements are much, much harder than they look. And, if you do it wrong, you'll have a weak structure on your hands with literal tons of forces that can collapse the structure.A modern safe room, built with FEMA-P320 standards in mind, may not help you survive the apocalypse, but it could save you from a tornado--and much more safely than the designs shown here.

You won't have any warning. In the blink of an eye you're vapor, burned, and or blind. The earth moves so violent that unless you're in a hammock deep underground, your brain will be splattered when the concrete wall moves 3ft in under a second. Good book to gift or maybe you'll be so far from any target it may prove useful.