Storage container, how would you outfit it for a disaster?

[Diamondback]

Part of my design studies were, since they make open-side and -top "skeleton" containers, I was thinking one or two of those on top of the pile with railings welded on for OP/veranda.

 

[CamoDeafie]

There is this house on Prather and Buena Vista, some of you guys may know what I am talking about.. looks like an octagon design, 3 or 4 floors high and on the hill overlooking the areas to highway 99W and Corvallis road, I like that house design because of its 360 views and relatively long fields of views that can be defended pretty handily with .30 cal rifle weapons

 

[Cortes]

Here's what I've seen done and worked well.

Container walls framed inside with 2x3 kiln dried lumber. It is imperative that you use KD as the moisture in the lumber will make a hell of a mess in a sealed container.

Then spray foamed with closed cell foam. 1/2" plywood over that and painted with zero VOC paint.

Bulkhead with steel entry door and window put just inside the container doors, and provision made to lock the container doors open so any occupant could not be trapped inside.

I thought it was nicely done.

 

[Argonaut]

If you want insulation then buy a reefer container.

As Stomper mentioned, it would already make a fair Faraday cage.

And refer containers are already set up with an area to mount a generator. The down side to refrigerated containers is they require well designed ventilation if being inhabited. Containers are a wonderful invention.

 

[jbett98]

 

[The Heretic]

And refer containers are already set up with an area to mount a generator. The down side to refrigerated containers is they require well designed ventilation if being inhabited. Containers are a wonderful invention.

Besides that, they are insulated and my understanding is that they are already setup for ventilation. Also, I think they may have stronger walls.

 

[Diamondback]

View attachment 391084

That inspires another idea: Use Conexes for individual rooms, stacked to make up the bulk of the exterior sidewalls, with the gap-filling, end and roof sections designed so they can be broken down into sections and packed into a few more Conexes for transport--the idea being you just brace the stuff in each room, load the interior-space stuff into the "room" containers, dismantle and pack the structure around them, load 'em up and roll 'em out.

 

[Argonaut]

Besides that, they are insulated and my understanding is that they are already setup for ventilation. Also, I think they may have stronger walls.

Yes off course but the ventilation is only accessed through the end where the refer unit is mounted.....and it still has to be powered. If it isn't buried, several roof ventilators can work but for a buried application, it really takes some planning. We used this kind of housing to score on the ranges outside of Vegas. They become miserable really quickly if the generator fails. Ask an old Navy guy that served on a ship in the tropics. The walls develop condensation, the humidity goes through the roof and it is just miserable.

 

[The Heretic]

I would not use them for living quarters (although I know that this thread is partly about using them for that), and I certainly would not bury them.

I started a thread a while back where I wanted to put a 20' container in my shop to store supplies and put some gun safes into, such that it hides what is inside and makes another layer that intruders would have to get thru. Not that I have much crime up here - I don't - but I like the idea.

 

[rick benjamin]

Caveman Jim where are you?
We spoke of this very scenario, revetted, solared.
Camouflaged motorized quad 50 gun tub,
periscope in front of rotating toilet seat, multi-use facilities.

 

[01rednavigator]

How would I outfit it? Here is how I would: Beer, Whiskey, food, a nice comfy chair and a stack of Hustlers.

 

[Certaindeaf]

How would I outfit it? Here is how I would: Beer, Whiskey, food, a nice comfy chair and a stack of Hustlers.

And a dirt berm for the shootin'! lol

 

[01rednavigator]

And a dirt berm for the shootin'! lol

 

[albin25]

Then, of course, just add a few more containers, some stone and stucco work...
....and a hinged fake fountain to hide the real entrance. Easy-peezy!

 

[Bill in fl]

Good stuff has already been posted.

Oh and as crazy as it sounds, couple gallons of different colored paint. As the saying goes,"happy wife, happy life." Being able to change the wall color will be worth its weight in gold.

Absolutely not. The fumes from using paint in an enclosed container like that would overcome one, possible asphyxiate and kill one, or at the least make one sick or give them pounding headaches. There's a reason people wear filter masks when painting inside. Any painting that would be done inside should be done WAY before the container is habituated with people, and when it can be left open to vent the fumes to where it doesn't smell anymore BEFORE habitation.

All the below items take up space, so it depends entirely on how many people you plan to house in the container as to how much you can pack in there for supplies.

Take one of those swim "noodles" the kids use and cut a slit in it and shorten it, then place that around the rim of a 5 gallon bucket (with disposable plastic bags) to use as a cushion for a toilet. Lots of toilet paper. Put up high shelves overhead so you have maximum space to move around while storing overhead as much as possible. Don't forget medical supplies like penicillin, sutures for sewing up bad cuts, etc. At least two 55 gallon drums of water. (You will use lots more water than you think you will). Add a non electronic, retractable (kinda a cheap version of like in a submarine) mirror periscope to the top to watch for what's outside without having to go outside. Have a waterproof gasket trap door in the bottom and have the whole container raised so you could crawl out if necessary without using the regular door as well as protect it from flooding, (kind of like the bottom escape trapdoor in a military tank, as seen in the tank in the movie "Fury") . Get one of those generators that you pedal like a bicycle that you can use to charge batteries for a ham radio. Get a ham radio or at least a CB radio. Crossbow for silent work so you won't give away your position when looters come. Ladder for getting to cut out door for roof gondola so you can stand up and shoot out of the gondola if necessary. Put some of those wind turbines on the roof like the ones that vent hot air out of an attic when the wind blows, they can also be hooked up to a generator and batteries to act as windmill battery generators. Stock up on lots of dried beef jerky, peanut butter, honey (honey never spoils and can be used as a medicine on cuts too) and MRE's/survival food/canned goods. Guns and ammo and knives/machete/axe go without saying. Get some military survival books to read to avoid boredom and which are practical since you might as well read something that can do you some good. Skylights to save on batteries for lights. Insect spray and repellent. Small wood stove with pipe vented out the ceiling for when the propane runs out so you can burn wood or debris to cook or heat. Sewing kit. Can't have enough paracord for all kinds of applications.

 

[AK0perator47]

Absolutely not. The fumes from using paint in an enclosed container like that would overcome one. Any painting that would be done inside should be done WAY before the container is habituated with people, and when it can be left open to vent the fumes.

He is not using it as a bunker. More like a storage if his house collapsed in a earthquake

 

[Bill in fl]

He is not using it as a bunker. More like a storage if his house collapsed in a earthquake

Then if it were only to be used for storage and not for emergency habitation, then why would it matter if his wife liked the inside wall color or not? And why waste valuable storage space on storing needless paint cans inside it to paint the inside walls of a storage container that his wife would not be actually living in? If their house was destroyed wouldn't his wife have other worries more important than the inside paint color of a storage container's walls? Your quote said: "Oh and as crazy as it sounds, couple gallons of different colored paint. As the saying goes,"happy wife, happy life." Being able to change the wall color will be worth its weight in gold."

 

[11Charlie]

 

[AK0perator47]

Then if it were only to be used for storage and not for emergency habitation

He said.

I already have the one 20' and not looking to get more at the home I'm in now.

This would be a quake temp shelter and not meant to be sealed in except at night.

It is above ground and I like the elevate it with jacks idea.


Mostly this would be a way to keep all of my preps from filling my basement (inconvenient) and keeping them accessible if my house falls in on them.

So if it's not going to be sealed at night and possibly a temp shelter then you can paint it and not have to worry about fumes for one thing and the point is to be able to keep everyone's sanity from the loss of your home and what you have left is a metal coffin. He also said in other posts about it being vented.

Just pointing out what was said. Also giving SKrueger some entertainment.

 

[Joe13]

It's all good fellas, I apreaciate all the different ideas.

Right now the wife wants to turn it into a garden shed so I have some uphill work before I can even think about it unfortunately - I'll just have to keep tossing in ideas and chipping away at her.

She knows me too well and a simple shtf shelter could turn into a nuclear fall out shelter with tunnels and rations for years if I'm not careful lol.