50 acres with a man can

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As far as water is concerned.

May I suggest digging a pond?

My mother has a place in Ohio, with a 1/2 acre pond (9 ft. deep) behind it. It is supplied only by rain water, and it supplies all the water to the house. With 9 people living in that house, using toilets, washing clothes and dishes, taking showers, etc. it only drops maybe a foot by the end of the summer, then in the winter/spring it's practically overflowing. And they do nothing for maintenance.

If you positioned your building downhill, or underground, then you could easily gravity feed from the pond. And you can pre-filter it, by digging sections and then filling them with gravel progressing to fine sand were you get the water from.

You can also stock it with fish and have an endless supply of emergency food, or just have a lot of fun catching them for sport. My mom's pond is chock full of bass, bluegills and catfish. It also attracts other wildlife like giant bullfrogs, turtles, dear, etc. You also have the side benefit of having a nice cool place to take a dip when the summers really turn on the heat.

In other words it is basically the same idea you had, but instead of giant drums, just dig a hole. And as others have pointed out, you will probably not be able to place anything heavy on the roof. You are better off looking for property with a sloping grade and dig a pond, or semi bury your shelter.

P.S. A tunnel is a must. I would definitely have a tunnel if I were doing what you are doing. And when people say you're just paranoid, tell them it is an important second exit to the building should anything happen like a fire, etc.
 
Excuse my camera, it's a phone too, lol.
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^The black 'wall' in the center is the opening end of a 40' container (the black is damproofing) The two silver things are an air intake and an exhaust vent.

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^This is the interior framing. You can see a bit of the deformation but the next pic shows it much better.

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^Funny story about this happened. The container had been placed and levelled and following my days off was going to be framed. Well, the excavator arrived a day early and the boss had to get him working, so away they went and backfilled it. That is until the swamper looked inside and saw the sides bowing. It took a shoring jack and half a dozen shores just to get the roof high enough to drain.

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^These are the other ones. That's a 40' (red) and a 20' (wood panelled). The 40' is being framed with 5 individual rooms, each with an exterior door and an exhaust fan in the header.

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^This is how it looks when it's framed BEFORE being backfilled (the right way to do it, lol). The left side is framed with a 2X6 wall with the door openings framed in but not yet cut out of the steel. It's the (red) wall in the other pic.

I put a 40 amp subpanel in each one to run flourescent lights, outlets, and 110V ceramic heaters if need be. The red one with the 5 'rooms' is going to have a ~2" concrete slab with radiant heat. Both have a 3/4" water line fed to a hosebib for cleaning and filling water bowls. The first one has floor drains and the red one will drain out the doors.

Not sure what else might be relevant, so I'll try to answer questions instead. An interesting sidenote, the floors in these things are a 1" plywood that looks most like Ipe I'd say but man is this stuff ever tough. While cutting the floor drains (5 - 5" holes w/jigsaw) it felt almost like aluminum. I kept one of the rounds to rip into handle scales - the plies alternate between light and dark, so I'm thinking it might look cool after contouring.
 
I've always been a fan of these. http://www.bomb-shelter.net/

I'd like to put one under my shop. Go to work and disappear under a trap door till the zombies have thinned out a little.
 
A couple of things:

The tunnel, while it sounds great, is not very feasible. It would have to be a very long tunnel to escape anything. I would suggest a more temporary shelter that can be moved if trouble rears its head.

The containers are ok for short-term living. We have used them on deer leases before, but they leak and get drafty, so they need a great deal of work to live in for more than a few weekends/year.

You can pick up FEMA leftovers from Katrina still if you hunt around online. They run about $4k-ish and are in decent shape. I looked at them before getting ahold of a 40' camper to live in while in college.

Also, I am not very clear...is this a hideaway in the woods or a place to go and relax? If it is the latter, you need not worry about the sooper seekret squireel-type stuff...
 
Why not build a small 2 or 3 room cynder-block shelter above ground, and then build earth up around it?

its cheap and fast to construct, has the insulating properties of earth, and since its still above ground level, you don't have to worry about water collecting in it.
 
chuck buck said:
i own land and have been thinking about ways for a cheap, easy to set up shelter that can last. ive come to the conclusion of permanent tent. i know your sold on the container idea. but i just couldnt aesthetically enjoy living in a big square of steel in the woods.

however, if i was going to go this route i would consider burying the container into a hill. this way you have good insulation and can have runoff areas to collect rainwater. either way good luck with it. i love thinking of new ideas for simple non traditional shelters. -CB
Click to expand...

Instead of a tent have you ever thought of a yurt? While Mongolian nomadic herdsmen take them down and put them up when they move, many have them as virtually permanent structures.

Here is a link to a local resort that uses them for guests. It is located near the Nantahala Gorge.

http://www.fallingwatersresort.com/yurt_village.htm

John
 
I was just on a job in Africa where we had a converted container setup as an office. It was a very sturdy setup, but I found it just too narrow to be comfortable.

I've spent a great portion of my life living in a Weatherhaven. These tents are easy to erect, very sturdy (no problem in Arctic weather/snow/rain/storms), and very comfortable. We usually construct a 2x8 insulated plywood floor and the tent bolts to it with lag bolts. There are various options for insulation, and they usually come set up for a small wood or diesel stove for heat. The 16'x16' model 4 is my preferred model/size, it is perfect for four people for extened stays. They are constructed of heavy duty materials and have a warranty/life of something like 20 years (probably longer life if not in direct sunlight). I'm planning to do the same thing, buy some land and put up a couple of the olive drab model 4's as a huntcamp/getaway.

The orange/white tents in this photo are the Weatherhaven's, seen here in Greenland. The tents in the foreground are Jutland's (canvas Prospector):

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FYI - I checked on shipping before the high end diesel prices we have now. The containers were reasonably priced, around $2500.

IIRC, the shipping was only about $150 to $200 per container. This was from a lot located next to the interstate, about 45 minutes from my place with easy access.

I would have to rent a loader to unload and place it where I wanted it, so figure another $350 per day for something big enough.

We have a 55 HP JD 2WD, and the salesman said you MIGHT be able to tow the container around but it would be difficult since the frame on the underside would dig into the ground.

Much easier to drag with something that has tracks, or something large enough with forks to simply pick it up.
 
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