This is a response to @Alex516 who asked the following question, which made me think a little deeper on the subject, and I thought it would make a good post:
@Alex516 asked: “I’d be curious about your thoughts for using a storage unit as a layover. I’m thinking about caching some supplies in one on the far outskirts of town as the more I think about it, the less likely it is I’ll be able to defend my home. If I have to high-tail it out of here in front of a hungry mob, being able to grab supplies from a storage location on my way out would give me one more option. I’ve also be thinking about looking at the more industrial areas to hide out in as there will likely be plenty of empty buildings with fewer looters at least initially. A small storage unit on the edge of an industrial park may be a path to explore. I also may keep an eye on buildings that are for lease because many of them are empty for years. If I know beforehand that these X buildings are empty, it may give me a few places that will be safer to hole up. You can easily find buildings for lease on the internet and an afternoon driving around will tell you what’s empty. Most of the web sites will also tell you how long it’s been listed so you’ll have an idea if it might be a long-term vacancy. Even if you can’t get in them, many have covered areas outside that will make decent shelters. I’m mostly just trying to figure out how to get away from people.”
Good thoughts, Alex. Here is what I think. And keep in mind it is only an opinion. 😉
My thoughts on Storage Units as Shelters: I “sort of” like the storage unit as a shelter for a very short term timeframe depending on the situation at hand. Considerations you will need to make:
- Cooking: You probably will not be able to cook anything but readymade meals to keep the smell, smoke, etc. to a minimum. Think MRE’s and Dehydrated foods that can be reconstituted with water and eaten with little preparation.
- Light: You will have to block any conceivable area where light can escape. — Noise — Doors on storage units are not soundproof, unless you plan on soundproofing and insulating the door on the backside, you will have to be quiet or at a whisper. And even
- Hygiene: If you have nowhere to dump a porta potty, then you have a limited timeframe to use the facility. Even for a couple of people you are good for only a few days with one of them, unless you have multiple units. I am talking strictly about the ones you might take camping with you.
- Defensibility: I have a theory believe that storage facilities will be pilfered for resources, whether it’s for old dining and kitchen chairs to start a fire with, or for a search for perceived valuables and resources that the looters are trying to procure for trade or other commerce and use. In addition, you will not have the OPSEC to see outside the unit with the door closed, unless you can put a solar charger on the roof, connect it to a couple of deep cycle batteries and set up a small monitor and a couple 12 volt cameras outside in inconspicuous locations…
- Vehicles: If you plan on driving to your storage unit or fallback location then you will need a place to hide your vehicle unless you come by motorcycle and can bring it inside with you or unless you have multiple storage units and can park it inside.
- Water: Of course you will need ample water depending on the time of year. I have to imagine it gets hot as hell in those units in the summer. Assume more than normal if it is 80 — 100 degrees outside…
- Weather: Heat in the winter if you have to bug out to your unit in the winter. You will need adequate ventilation depending on the type of heat source you will be using. This could be a post of it’s own altogether discussing heat sources that will not emit enough CO to kill you and who you are with.
- Comfort: The upside is a storage unit is large enough to blow up an air mattress or to have a few cots that can keep your comfort level high and give you a good night sleep.
- Communications: Inside the unless you have communication with the outside world via handled radio, you will be cut off from the rest of the world. See defensibility above…
Therefore, I think that depending on the type of disaster situation (SHTF) and how far into it you / we may be, storage units may offer temporary solace early on, but as a SHTF gets worse or as it is prolonged, then they will be more at risk for looters. Your time there should be limited, in my humble opinion…
Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think
Hey thanks Suburban. That’s service. I also “sort of” like the idea but think it would have to be very short term, which is kind of what got me thinking about industrial areas. My concern would be security. Best hope I would think would be to have an inside unit and maybe spend a night or two in the hallway. I can’t say I’d like to spend the night inside one as someone could pretty easily lock you in.
As for industrial, I know from looking at space for my business that there are a lot of empty places, and most of them are ghost towns over the weekends now. I would think it may take a few weeks before people would really start to explore or loot them. There are lots of places to hide and with a decent stash, I could see being holed up someplace like that for a while. That’s obviously for a major event, not just a three-day disruption due to natural disaster, etc.
@alex516 Good points again, and great point about being locked in. Maybe there is a way to fashion a “false lock” on the outside to make it look like it is locked as a deterrent… Just thinking out loud.
It’s a reasonably safe place to stash a cache extra gear that you can’t find room for at home before the crunch. It could even be a temporary shelter for a couple of days, but if wide scale looting starts, they will be systematically dismantled. But you would need a group to defend one for any length of time … and you would probably have to secure the entire facility to do that. It would be a great place to stop on your bug out route to resupply and gear up … especially if your residence was a total loss. You could even store spare transportation in one.
I cover some of this same material in my book “Plan and Prep: Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse”. Basically I have chosen to use an outdoor mini-storage facility located about halfway between my permanent residence and my primary shelter site (PSS).
In my storage area I have approximately five days worth of food and water as well replacements for my consumables in my Bug Out Bag such as medical supplies, flares, batteries, flashlights, water purification and filtering supplies, etc. I also keep two matched tires for my primary vehicle, a roadside kit and a set of common tools such as a hammer, screwdriver, socket set, etc.
I keep materials for fire starting, wool blankets, 4 battery operated fans, 4 sleeping bags rated to ‑10 degrees and two spare sets of clothing and boots for each of my family members.
In a sealed container I also keep personal hygiene materials, ammunition for my firearms (need to add some .270 shells now), and cold weather gear.
My storage facility is not meant for long term sheltering but we could bunker there for an evening without much of an issue. The locking mechanism on the door is a rod based system that extends into locking holes when the outer handle is turned and can be circumvented from the inside meaning we cannot easily be locked in, although barricading is still an issue (although highly unlikely).
I also rent the storage container next to that one and leave it empty so that I can park my vehicle in it and hide it from view should we need to shelter there overnight.
Basically if we need any supplies or need to work on the vehicle for most minor repairs we can handle it at the storage site. In the future we hope to purchase another container in the same location to store a backup vehicle in case the primary vehicle becomes disabled beyond repair during our bugout.
ZombieApocGuy
@ZombieApocGuy First, it was great chatting on Twitter yesterday… 🙂 Thanks for the comments as well, and glad you could participate.
Great additional info and corroborates what @Mr Jones said below as well.
Besides being a useful place to store extra supplies I wouldn’t consider them useful for human habitation whatsoever for many of the reasons mentioned. You’re better off at home or on the run.
Besides being a useful place to store extra supplies I wouldn’t consider them useful for human habitation whatsoever for many of the reasons mentioned. You’re better off at home or on the run.
Interesting idea.…one that I have thought of myself. I also feel training is essential. I am considering taking a couse in survival at Sigma III Survival School (www.SurvivalSchool.US)
Nice idea…actually was thinking of this myself. I also feel training is essential so I am considering some survival courses at Sigma III Survival (www.SurvivalSchool.US)
Nice idea…actually was thinking of this myself. I also feel training is essential so I am considering some survival courses at Sigma III Survival (www.SurvivalSchool.US)
One very important thing to consider is how much cheaper it will be to simply burry a box out in the woods versus paying for two storage units. It’s insane to think you’ll be spending all that money for an event that will never happen.
It’s your money but considering how far people will go to prove a point baffles me. Defend your house first. If you have to leave have a better plan than living in a metal box.
Some simple things to ponder:
If your life changing event happens, how will you get in ? The gate runs on electricity. How are you going to leave when Mad Max has the gate blocked-off. Those places are crawling with pests so defend yourself against that first. They’re usually not super secure so expect a truck to ram into your door, kill you and take your stuff. You’re not supposed to live in them because they’re unsafe especially during your riotous quasi-zombie feeding frenzy.
P.S. Bigfoot just called from his space ship, he said your crazy and your idea is terrible.
As I’m rereading the posts above, it dawns on me that although I’ve prepped and defended my home properly against things that may actually happen, or better still; happen again the things that I should be seriously worried about never occurred to me.
I have actually read these things on these so called “Survival Blogs”
a). Mobs of people in search of loot or the supplies of those who are conveniently “left behind”.
b). The fall of western civilization because as a society, the littlest thing will destroy us all.
c). The collapse of the dollar. Since all mobsters and terrorists deal in US currency, I doubt they will let that happen.
d). The mere use of the word zombie and all that radiation green zombie gear I should be buying.
e). Nuclear, biological and the threat that Mexico will actually reclaim the northwest.
f). Obama, although the worst president since Cater, has no impact on anything other that a mouth piece for a crappy ruling class.
g). Neighbors turning on each other at the first moment of collapse. This is America and that has never happened. We’re better that that and we’re better that those who have no morals.
h). Snookie & Jwow. Nice racks but nothing close to the depection of American morality and values. Again we’re better that that.
I). Aliens, atheists, and the Mayan calendar. More BS for terrible cable television networks and by no means a way to run your life.
j). The evil media. Have you visited other countries ? Our media may be horrible, but seriously, blame something else.
k). FEMA camps. The last time I saw FEMA do anything right was packing up after an event. We will not be huddled into a camp under any situation. Remember, the government is broke.
l). The military turning against us. Only a communist would think that.
m). Any disaster that seems to be mind boggling probably is. The planet will never stop turning or it’s pole reversed. The earth will not specifically try to eliminate humans. Global warming IS a tax but certainly not real. Super volcanos, asteroids, aliens etc are best left to fiction writers and later generations to judge us all as morons.
n). People who think legalization or pot is a good thing.
o). Time to buy a shipping container and burry it. Time to live underground or worse, a storage unit. Any idea that makes you leave the safety and comfort of your own home makes you weak minded and vulnerable.
I could go one.
In closing, there are things that should be done to prepare yourself but not ruin your life over it. Subjects are abound with BS written all over them and you should use your noodle to sift through it. Just because someone has an idea.….a bad idea.….means we should call it out rather that playing along.
Prepare for weather events or terrorist attacks because those things have actually happened. Living in a metal box = a less desireable and shorter life span. Not worth telling your grand kids about.
Hey “Think before you act.” I appreciate the insights. Just a quick note on your neighbor turning on neighbor. Less than 24 hours after Hurricane Irene where I live outside NYC, I saw two neighbors going at it fist to cuffs, and the police no where to be found because they were too busy responding to other issues. I think it all depends on your geography, demographics, etc.
As for zombies, that is a metaphor in society for sheeple, currently… I would never take this literally.
As for leaving the comfort of your own home? Well, again, I think it goes to your geography and demographics. If you objectively look at where others live (not sure where you live), those sheeple will become those zombies looking for food. I know many in NYC and Northern NJ where I live that have no more than a day or two of food in their apartments. They don’t know better. The lifestyle in the area I live is to go out to eat five — seven days a week. Chicken breasts are $7 — $8 per pound in NYC. It costs as much to go grocery shopping as it does to go out to eat.