Got sand bags?

[Stomper]

I'll have plenty of sandbag fixin's after first time ANQUEEFA and BLM hordes come through my barrio demanding we GTFO and GIVE them our houses.... it may start to stink after 3 days, but I'll stack 'em upwind in a strategic fashion.

 

[gatmandoo]

It's been proven to cause stunted penile growth.

Ahh, so that explains it! I was wondering why they were so small...did I mention that I now have three?

 

[sobo]

did I mention that I now have three?

Well, that certainly opens up some interesting possibilities...

 

[gatmandoo]

Well, that certainly opens up some interesting possibilities...

Just waiting for a couple more to sprout, then I can use rubber gloves as condoms.

 

[Stomper]

Ahh, so that explains it! I was wondering why they were so small...did I mention that I now have three?

Well, that certainly opens up some interesting possibilities...

Wow... a guy could simultaneously play in the grass, the mud, AND get a reach around with that set up!

 

[gatmandoo]

Wow... a guy could simultaneously play in the grass, the mud, AND get a reach around with that set up!

Yup! As a teenager I got all three stuck in a bowling ball. Carried that damn ball around with me for weeks.

 

[PaulB47]

I built an "earthbag" house once, with a friend. Well we never finished it, but got all the outside walls done. I had a bobcat, which was absolutely necessary moving around that much dirt. The standard soil around the house was about perfect, yielding an adobe type mix. We would fill the mix hole with some water, scrape around with the bobcat until we had some good mud, get a load of mud in the bobcat bucket and take it over to the house, lifting it to the top of the wall. Up there we would shovel mud into the feed bags and set the bags on the wall.

The problem with feed bags (and probably with any kind of plastic bags) is that sunlight deteriorates the bags. Pretty quickly, too. An earthbag house really needs some good roof overhangs, and some grout or other surface treatment on the outside walls.

If I were trying for a defensive setup, I would use those interlocking concrete blocks people use for enbankments, a couple feet away from the house walls. Then use a bobcat or other such device to push up enough dirt to make a decent berm, outside of the blocks (I wouldn't bother with trucking sand in). Of course it would look a little strange. If looks mattered, I would just get some steel and maybe some bricks for the inside of the house.

 

[sobo]

 

[Pete F]

I have a question for you Pete. Some of my family are from St. Helens and as a kid, probably around 1982, some cousins and I swam in the cooling ponds near the shut down trojan plant. Was that safe or should I be expecting some horrible form of cancer from it? I've had no problems so far luckily!

Those ponds that people fish and swim in are not cooling ponds. They are part of the wetland area. The cooling water came from and returned to the Columbia River - some went up the cooling tower. It is considered secondary cooling water and does not contact any radioactive water (usually).

I wouldn't swim in those ponds because of all of the goose excrement. YUK!!!

 

[The Heretic]

 

[The Heretic]

But this caught my eye years ago:



Shutters on all windows up and down. The shutters could be made bullet proof with firing slots. It would be hard to get into the ground floor.

 

[ma96782]

Those ponds that people fish and swim in are not cooling ponds. They are part of the wetland area. The cooling water came from and returned to the Columbia River - some went up the cooling tower. It is considered secondary cooling water and does not contact any radioactive water (usually).

I wouldn't swim in those ponds because of all of the goose excrement. YUK!!!

reminds me of......

"I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it."

― W.C. Fields

Aloha, Mark

 

[clearconscience]

What about digging out your crawl space and using the vents as shooting windows?

I've heard of people digging out their crawl space for bunkers and storm shelters.

 

[HaveGun]

If I reached the point that I thought that building sandbag barriers and such was a good idea, I'd just move to a better area. It's a bit sad to think that some folks live in areas that could potentially become an area where bulletproof areas are necessary.

 

[The Heretic]

What about digging out your crawl space and using the vents as shooting windows?

I've heard of people digging out their crawl space for bunkers and storm shelters.

My current house is a manufactured triple wide and tied down on a concrete pad. No digging and not enough space to shoot from.

 

[The Heretic]

If I reached the point that I thought that building sandbag barriers and such was a good idea, I'd just move to a better area. It's a bit sad to think that some folks live in areas that could potentially become an area where bulletproof areas are necessary.

I live on a mountain that is relatively sparsely populated, so not as likely to encounter heavy gunfire, indeed, probably little if any gunfire.

But here is the thing - preppers stock up on guns and ammo, at least in part to defend themselves, their family, their supplies and their homes. Doesn't it make sense to have a home that is actually cover from gunfire? If you stock up on guns/ammo in anticipation of being in a gunfight at your home, then shouldn't you prepare your home for that gunfight too?

Stuff happens, and most residences have very little resistance to gunfire. If your house was not built from the start with that in mind, then how do your prepare for gunfire? If you don't anticipate a gunfight, why do you have guns and ammo?

My current house provides little protection from gunfire. Indeed, attackers would have better cover outside the house than people inside my house; there are large conifer trees surrounding my house that someone could hide behind and pop out for a few seconds to shoot into my house. I and my family would be sitting ducks in my house. Some sandbags strategically placed would provide temporary cover.

As for moving, I had planned to move - to buy land further out and build a house with the goals of providing some cover from gunfire and being more energy efficient. ICF walls bermed with earth would at least partially get me there.

But CV-19 happened, I was forced to retire (unlikely to get the income I once had, unlikely to get a job again) and I am somewhat short of the resources to do what I planned to do - so right now I am considering my options.

 

[scarlo]

But this caught my eye years ago:

View attachment 737055

Shutters on all windows up and down. The shutters could be made bullet proof with firing slots. It would be hard to get into the ground floor.

That cabin is cool. Had to google around and find out more about it...found this link:

Judith Mountain Cabin | Woodz

Judith Mountain Cabin is located in the mountains of Montana modeled after an old forest service fire tower designed by architect Jeff Shelden.

www.woodz.co

 

[Dinglenutz]

If I am ever able to build a house/shop, it will be ICF,

I built an ICF home 15 years or so ago. They are pretty nice, but contractors don't understand how to work with ICF and need some hand holding. The general was fine, but the subs, like the HVAC and plumber, were very confused.

 

[The Heretic]

I built an ICF home 15 years or so ago. They are pretty nice, but contractors don't understand how to work with ICF and need some hand holding. The general was fine, but the subs, like the HVAC and plumber, were very confused.

Yeah, the contractors need that experience. A local up the road from me built a very nice ICF home - but she is taking her time, it started several years ago. I hear she is doing all the custom woodwork herself.

 

[Dinglenutz]

Yeah, the contractors need that experience. A local up the road from me built a very nice ICF home - but she is taking here time, it started several years ago. I hear she is doing all the custom woodwork herself.

For me, the key on round two would be to take a clue from older building techniques and be willing to burn a few inches of interior space here and there to have designated 'wet walls' that are framed outside the forms but inside the structure using either metal or wood frame materials, allowing plenum space for HVAC, plumbing, and even most electrical to travel vertically.

Even the drywallers got confused a few times on mine, which didn't matter most places but there were a few Red October moments.