# Fall out shelter



## Bakpacker (Nov 21, 2012)

Can a proper fall out shelter be built above ground?


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

A Canadian publication from the 60's includes what you can do if you have no basement or crawl space. It's called 11 Steps to Survival and it's mentioned on pg 24, basically says choose an interior hall or closet, and create the radiation barrier on the surrounding walls and the floor above your location as well, just as you would in an improvised basement shelter.

A publication from the 80's tells how to build an above ground fallout shelter separate from your house. Very detailed.

Both are at www.drum-runners.com in the downloads section under -edit- 'nuclear survival'


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

As long as you have 2 or more feet of dirt on every side and top and bottom, you can be above ground as far as you want.


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

Enough of any material... lead, dirt, bricks, wood even water and it can be above ground. Take a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_protection (about half way down) for the shielding chart. You're looking at a minimum of 10 times what is listed on the chart (as described above it), so 3 feet of dirt or around 4 inches of lead would give you the same shielding level.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

You can do it if ground water is a problem or if you cannot excavate. Wall and roof materials need to be considered critical. Your exterior walls and roof need to be sealed with tar or similar if you earth berm it. 

Look at Nuclear War Survival Skills for guidance. Kearney was Nuke guy for government and his book is still the bible of its genre. Some early publications could mislead you about shielding materials. GB


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