The Elements of a Good Safe House

by **ZombieRob** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:52 am

This is meant to be a sort of "think tank" thread for safe house preparation. We've mentioned a lot of the nitty gritty details in threads here and there, but I thought it might be nice to have a place to discuss the specifics of what makes a safe house, well, safe. Things like location, terrain, materials, barricades, etc.

For the purposes of this thread, any assclown who wants to put heat-seeking sharks with frickin' laser beams on their foreheads on parapets at the perimeter will be regarded as an assclown, and I for one will ignore them. Please keep it to a practical, realistic level. After we get a small structure figured out (say for a group of four or six), we can expand on that to design "safe towns."

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by **Gyro** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:57 am

I think a building on a hill will be best, and closeto civilization but not too close that there are lots of zombies

by **ZombieRob** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:05 am

Gyro wrote:I think a building on a hill will be best, and closeto civilization but not too close that there are lots of zombies

While I don't discount that a building on a hill has its uses, I do think that such a structure would require more extensive drilling and the like for water collection (depending on the environment) and other resources.

"Close to civilization" is a highly relative term. My parents believe that they live close to civilization because it doesn't take an hour to get somewhere (it only takes half an hour). I consider "close to civilization" to be two blocks from the nearest convenience store. Okay, jokes aside, I would like to nail down something a bit more concrete than "close to civilization." The average person walks at a speed of about four miles an hour. That means that in a ten-hour day, not accounting for breaks, a normal person can walk forty miles or so. I'd say that's a safe distance from any major population center. However, you also have to take into consideration that people will be moving out of the cities and toward the isolated areas when the shit hits the fan. Consequently, would it be better to build a safe house within the city? Just food for thought.

As for being too close to civilization because of the zombies, you should keep in mind that zombies are nomadic. They move consistently, without the need for sleep or personal breaks. They follow the food, so either way you scramble the egg, you're going to have to deal with some number of zombies at some point, and there's no way (that I can think of) that you can accurately calculate where zombies will and will not go.

I think you're on the right track, Gyro, but I do think there are many, many, many variables to be considered. Thanks for the input.

by **sob** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:53 pm

A trench would be a good idea. If you run razor wire in it and conceal it could be used on human infiltrate's.

Security lights on your perimeter. Either from flood lights or trip flares.

Black out curtains

Escape rout and vehicle for when you need to get out.

Security bars on the widows.

A observation post to watch the approach routs.

by **Whaturmuva** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 4:26 pm

The main element that comes to mind for me is having no ground level accessibility. What I mean by this is having high or blocked windows and the door entrance totally blockaded. Your exit should be made from an upper level.

by **sob** » Wed Feb 22, 2012 4:34 pm

Good idea a ladder entrance is a good great. You can raise it in times of need.

Having open space around you where there is no cover. Will make sneaking up on you harder

by **ZombieRob** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 5:13 am

I'm a fan of reducing the surface area that hostiles have to attack a safe house. For that reason I prefer underground bunkers, though I could also see the application of an above-ground structure with an elevated entryway. The only problem I see with that is this: if you're living by yourself, are you going to leave the ladder down while you're away? If you live with others, are you going to have someone on "ladder duty" so that if you need to get back up in a hurry they'll see you coming?

If you're going to have a ladder, I would suggest having some way in which you can get it to move "on command." It wouldn't be terribly difficult to rig up a system like those used on carnival "dunk tanks" to lower the ladder, so all you would need is a projectile (like a baseball or a rock) to activate it. However, I've never had a good throwing arm, and I wouldn't want to waste a bullet on shooting the release panel every time. For that reason, I'd still prefer a subterranean bunker.

Another option is to have a staircase on the exterior, like homes built on stilts near potential flood areas. You would want to enclose the staircase and install a gate for which you would need a key. There are multiple problems with that, however, especially if you've got Zed nibbling at your heels in a hurry. The advantage to a subterranean structure is that it only gives Zed one angle of attack, and a door which is heavy enough will keep Zed out for a very, very long time (perhaps forever). It would be easy enough to weld a framework of reinforcement bars and steel plating to create such a door (the only question becomes: how do you lift such a heavy door?).

by **sob** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:52 am

You can use a lever or block and tackle

by **sob** » Thu Feb 23, 2012 10:57 am

But I do not want to be trapped in a bunker alone. And where will you find a bunker.

by **Bob** » Sun Feb 26, 2012 2:30 am

Actually I thing it is closer to 3 miles an hour.
Walking at a decent clip it takes me 20 minutes to walk a measured mile.