[dinopello]

When bomb shelters were all the rage

I was born in the late 60's so I missed it, but I asked my mom if they had considered a bomb shelter in the 50's due to the threat of nuclear war with Soviets. Her answer was - no way! Basically, a combination of her attitude of whatever happens, happens and who wants to live through that? I am the same way, but I would like to see what others say. Comments and/or parallels with our current situation welcome!

So, pretend you are in your same situation as now (married, kids, single, whatever) but living in the 50's at the most nervous time of the cold war. Would you have your own bomb shelter?

[Twilight]

No, and here is my reason in three parts:

1

2

3

To summarise, the investigation showed a range of different bomb shelter designs would be ineffective against multiple strikes by a combination of ground and airburst strategic nuclear weapons.

[dinopello]

I wonder whose bright idea it was to institute those 'duck and cover ' drills. Dive under your desks, the nukes are coming!



We haven't had too many terrorist drills. We really need a peak oil drill... build the railroads, reform the land use!, [fade]powerdown.....[/fade]

[hubbertspeak7777777]

No, I wouldn't. Besides, it's really kind of pointless since any survivors would probably die of radiation exposure anyways.

[Cloud9]

My parents had a bomb shelter. It gave us a place to ride out the Cuban missile crisis. As for duck and cover, it gave little kids somthing to do that they believed would improve their survival rate. It calmed shattered nerves. It kept a lot of little kids from crying themselves to sleep. Trust me. When Kennedy sent the fleet to stop those Russian freighters carrying nukes, we were all scared shitless. What seems foolish now made good sense then.

[dinopello]

Now there is the psychology of previous investment, sunk cost...and people are probably loath to drastically change how everything is done (food production, to transportation, etc) for fear of looking foolish when some 'replacement' for oil came along.

[deMolay]

Every home should have one for several reason's. (1) Unless you get a direct hit, or are inside the blast zone itself, you have a very good chance of surviving with little difficulty if you are prepared. (2) They can also serve other functions, such as a shelter from tornado's etc. They can be used as a root cellar if constructed properly. They can be used as a place to cool off, in really hot weather. If the shit hit's the fan, it gives you a secure place to weather out the first few days or weeks until you can get out.

[deMolay]

Yah by the way I was around during the Korean War the Cold War, including the Cuban Missile Crisis. Those who had one had a lot more peace of mind than those who did not. I don't think anyone should count on the GUBMINT to help you when disaster strikes. Look at the newspapers of disasters all over the world. If you can't control your own fate someone else will.

[TheTurtle]

I'd rather be sitting in a fall out shelter when a tornado comes roaring along than sitting in a double wide trailer.

BAD


GOOD


THE BEST

(for those of you who were around during the "Duck and Cover" days and remember Bert the Turtle)

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'E')very home should have one for several reason's. (1) Unless you get a direct hit, or are inside the blast zone itself, you have a very good chance of surviving with little difficulty if you are prepared.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheTurtle', '
')GOOD

[deMolay]

The majority of the radiation is spent after a couple of weeks unless you are in a direct blast zone.

[deMolay]

Here is a good info link. http://www.ki4u.com/

[frankthetank]

Blast From The Past has one sweet ass little bomb shelter in it.

Where does one find the list of cities that would be vaporized?

Would Africa be nuked?

What about Iceland?

[TheTurtle]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dinopello', 'W')ow, and stone walkway and everything. That thing is sweet! Kids would love playing in that thing.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deMolay', 'H')ere is a good info link. http://www.ki4u.com/

[eastbay]

I was a kid who ducked and covered from first through sixth grades. I understood the reason to do this was to offer some protection against flying glass shards and other debris.

We even had thick, heavy, glass shard resistant curtains in our classrooms which were quickly closed by the nearest students when the alarm sounded.

[mercurygirl]

I grew up in a home with a bomb shelter in the basement, foot-thick door, etc. It was built in '41, I believe, guess there were doomers back then, too. We didn't use it for anything but creeping us kids out. We did go "down cellar" in the event of a big storm.

I vaguely remember ducking under the desks, too. It must have been the late '60s at least.

I wouldn't mind having one, and much more so having a basement again.

[dinopello]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eastbay', 'I') was a kid who ducked and covered from first through sixth grades. I understood the reason to do this was to offer some protection against flying glass shards and other debris.

[eastbay]

.... yeah, molten glass as well as shards. I suppose that was another reason for the thick ceiling to floor curtains.

When did they stop? In my school district they stopped in 1966. In others earlier ... and in others maybe later.