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Post by SA Hunter on Oct 20, 2022 19:54:28 GMT 10
We spent 24 hours exploring 575 underground bunkers in the middle of South Dakota being converted into the worlds largest prepper community.
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Post by SA Hunter on Oct 20, 2022 20:03:41 GMT 10
A very balanced video from the perspective of those making the video, and those living in the community.
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Post by Stealth on Oct 20, 2022 21:30:26 GMT 10
Huh, I really enjoyed that. It's nice to see 'normal' people looking in and coming away thinking that folks are organised rather than batty. And it sounds like a pretty cheap piece of real estate when all's said and done. I don't know that I could live in one full time myself. I've spent a lot of time in small places without windows and it gets a bit much at times. I like to have an escape route lol.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Oct 21, 2022 7:49:31 GMT 10
Yes and no.... Yes, safety underground, but its really earth covered, not truly underground living. No, a resupply plan, too cold for growing much, reliant on generators for power, but solar was mentioned. Unfortunately, solar needs the sun and solar panels covered in snow aint gunna work.
It Was reasonably balanced.
Could we live there ? A big No.
The climate is probably the big one. At least up here its possible to grow something all year round, we have water, trees for wood fuel and so on. But I can see it would suit those who have the resources (money) to provide years of food, water and so on.
Like I keep saying, eventually the supplies will run out, whats your re supply plan ?
There was a movie called "the 666 man," about a chap who sought safety in an underground bunker when WW3 happened. The earth moved and he was trapped underground, he knew his time was now limited due to no air, so he started on a project to determine the "name of the beast". Just before he died, he found the "name of the beast", mans number, yes, it was 666, hence the name of the movie.
Being underground may not be the best move if the earth quakes happen due to the nukes.
The world can survive without Politicians, but it cant survive without farmers.
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bug
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Post by bug on Oct 21, 2022 13:14:46 GMT 10
That part of South Dakota is possibly the worst part of the lower 48. It's bordering on being badlands territory. It's effectively a cold desert. This means low density grazing and no ability to grow veges or keep chickens etc.
The cost is good, but that $35k seemed to be the base cost of an unlivable concrete shed. By the time you fit it out, there's another $100k+ to add to that. The roads look awful.
Every single person has external power supply. Yeah, 6 months of diesel sounds great. But your generator is outside. So are your solar panels. Guess what's going to become a cold, dark coffin once your batteries run out?
The biggest threat (not mentioned) seems to be that some PRC stooge tasked with selecting targets is going to see this on google earth, see that it's clearly military style and in currently in use and fire something at it.
Could you live in it for now? Well, yeah. But not with kids and definitely not comfortably.
In all honesty this should be steered clear of. Better off getting a place in a forest 10 min away from a small town. Maybe Arkansas. Cheap, unfashionable, small towns everywhere, no big cities, hardly ever snows.
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moopere
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Post by moopere on Nov 4, 2022 11:47:55 GMT 10
Thanks for the link - was interesting to watch.
In my opinion this communities value is probably more for a scenario where you need to weather a storm (so to speak) for perhaps 6 months to a year. Others have mentioned its obvious unsustainability over the longer term and I agree, but I don't think its been built for an end-of-the-world situation nor even for the classic WROL scenario
Positives:
- Its far enough off the beaten track to not be visited by randoms. People who know its there and are malign will still come to see you, but those should be relatively few
- If you need a place to live and can't be 'at home' because its unwise to be available to your local governing body. So, low level non compliance, this would be the place to be. A seriously malicious government body would still send enforcement out to your encampment though so this utility is limited in scope.
Negatives:
- Its indefensible. If you were prepping for WROL or SHTF scenario's then this won't work. The individual bunkers are widely spread over an enormous area and you can't even see outside when you're in a bunker, so defence would be impossible.
- Long term scenarios would see you lose your power and (possibly) water sources, keeping multiple years of food is really not easy for individual families. I'd rather be in an earth covered bunker than out in the woods of this area, particularly during winter, but honestly, I'd rather not be in this area at all over the long term.
- Like any bunker prep or static defence you would be at serious risk of being marauded. It would be known by locals that there are circa 400 bunkers stocked to the gills just outside of town. In the leadup to, or in the first days or weeks of a bad scenario I'd fully expect to be visited by local 'authorities' to basically clean you out.
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bug
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Post by bug on Nov 4, 2022 13:40:34 GMT 10
Are you sure about the 'not attracting randoms' thing? If there's a sizable community living in an unusual place like that, the whole state is going to know about it.
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tactile
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Post by tactile on Nov 4, 2022 14:56:11 GMT 10
Place is custom made for cluster munitions.
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moopere
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Post by moopere on Nov 5, 2022 14:04:14 GMT 10
Are you sure about the 'not attracting randoms' thing? If there's a sizable community living in an unusual place like that, the whole state is going to know about it. Oh sure. After the youtube video people across the country and the world will know - sorta makes you scratch your chin about how smart allowing the filming really was. When I say randoms though I mean truly random. People stumbling down the road on their way to no-where who absolutely randomly decide to knock down your door. To get to this bunker complex requires a plan, some thought, and willing purpose. As I bulleted later in my post, you'd absolutely be at the mercy of a local authority with enforcement capability within days of logistics chains breaking down - that would probably be your biggest single threat.
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moopere
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Post by moopere on Nov 5, 2022 14:11:46 GMT 10
Place is custom made for cluster munitions. Yeah I got it. Watched the video all the way through. It was quite interesting. It was originally built for a specific purpose but defensibility of the entire complex wasn't one of them Honestly I think the only reason those preppers chose this area is: Its cheap to buy and is somewhat remote. If your primary concern was a nuclear problem then you could do worse than a concrete bunker covered in dirt I guess - though I really wonder about survivability past the first few days or weeks. At least you'd get past any initial blast if something big was dropped relatively nearby ... assuming you were already sealed inside when the SHTF. I suppose as with all these types of plans and strategies it depends on your own perception of the highest likely threat.
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Nov 5, 2022 18:20:49 GMT 10
Quote:
- Its indefensible. If you were prepping for WROL or SHTF scenario's then this won't work. The individual bunkers are widely spread over an enormous area and you can't even see outside when you're in a bunker, so defence would be impossible.
I disagree. It would be very easy to put a sangar made from sandbags with a metal roof on top of those bunkers. A bullet proof wall, elevated position, intersecting fields of fire between nearby bunkers and it would be very defensible. Anyone who managed to cross that wide open ground and reach your blast door should be easy pickings for your neighbours in their rooftop sangar.
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moopere
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Post by moopere on Nov 5, 2022 19:41:50 GMT 10
Quote: - Its indefensible. If you were prepping for WROL or SHTF scenario's then this won't work. The individual bunkers are widely spread over an enormous area and you can't even see outside when you're in a bunker, so defence would be impossible. I disagree. It would be very easy to put a sangar made from sandbags with a metal roof on top of those bunkers. A bullet proof wall, elevated position, intersecting fields of fire between nearby bunkers and it would be very defensible. Anyone who managed to cross that wide open ground and reach your blast door should be easy pickings for your neighbours in their rooftop sangar. Thats a great comment. The site has potential but would in my view need a professional and quite large force deployed to utilise that potential. However, I didn't see any evidence from the short video of such preparedness. A team of sappers could put some sangars up within a few hours probably but I wonder if the preppers shown in the video would be capable of such in a relatively short period of time? If not, then theres the 'prep' missing from the strategy. I think a strategy like this could work, and pretty well, for a military or properly disciplined militia - for civilians I'm not so convinced: - Needs to be prepared well in advance of the actual need - Need enough internal community discipline to actually man the sangars 24x7 during turbulent times and stay alert. Its hard enough to get a company or battalion of actual soldiers to do this effectively - The site is huge. To make the equivalent of a defensible fortress out of tower (sangar) mounted defenses you'd need comms and lighting as well as simple logistics that all need to work whilst potentially under threat. 10 or 20 years ago this type of thing would have really appealed to me but I've had a serious re-think about the value of a static defense over recent years. I'm really struggling with it now and will make my own thread about this I think.
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Nov 5, 2022 20:14:46 GMT 10
Thermal optics would negate the need for lighting. Lights would be one of the first targets for a raiding force so wouldn't last long anyway. Modern high end thermal scopes are a real game changer, and not that expensive (mine only cost about $3k). Uhf comms would be crucial, but every prepper has them already, don't they. A 100 or so sandbags each bunker, double layered, held together with a line of barb and you get to hit the enemy whilst they don't get to hit you. The only real problem is getting everyone on board. Which is what happens in almost every communal endeavour. There's always an anchor or two.
Which is why my community is just my family. As patriarch I get to insert my boot into the backside of any anchor and turn them into a propeller.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Nov 6, 2022 8:10:06 GMT 10
"Which is why my community is just my family. As patriarch I get to insert my boot into the backside of any anchor and turn them into a propeller. "
Same here, all 9 of us are family, but WTSHTF I have invited a few close friends to join us as well.
Sometimes the weight you need to lose is not on your body.
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Post by Joey on Nov 6, 2022 12:02:30 GMT 10
If there were a few hundred people living down there after an event, I see it being destroyed from within by simple human nature. There will be cliches, internal power-grabbing, gangs etc that will pit everybody inside at war with each other after only a week or 2 being down there and nobody would be able to leave as those vying for the ruling class would lock the doors and put guards on them
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bug
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Post by bug on Nov 6, 2022 14:52:12 GMT 10
If there were a few hundred people living down there after an event, I see it being destroyed from within by simple human nature. There will be cliches, internal power-grabbing, gangs etc that will pit everybody inside at war with each other after only a week or 2 being down there and nobody would be able to leave as those vying for the ruling class would lock the doors and put guards on them Yup. When there's no ability to grow food or collect water, the only power sources are external, all your opponents have to do is turn off your generator, cut the wires on your solar panels, set a fire at your door and wait.
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malewithatail
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Post by malewithatail on Nov 6, 2022 16:39:07 GMT 10
Too true, it will become your coffin.
No resupply plan, no defense plan, end of story.
Nobody watches you harder than the people that don’t like you. Give them a show.
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