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The time my bunker door jammed shut with me inside for 4 hours
I was testing out my new air seal on the blast door in my parents' backyard shelter in Des Moines last Saturday. Got it all snug and then the handle mechanism locked up tight, no way out. Had to bang on the concrete wall with a pipe until my neighbor heard me from his garden. Now I keep a crowbar and a cell phone inside at all times, lesson learned the hard way. Anyone else ever get stuck in their own shelter?
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kim.nina2mo ago
Ngl I kinda disagree with all the panic here. Honestly if your shelter is sealed that tight, it means it did its job in a real emergency. Four hours is annoying but its not the end of the world. Tbh you proved your air seal works perfectly and that handle is actually strong enough to keep out intruders or worse. I'd say you won this test more than you lost it. Keep the cell phone and crowbar inside sure, but dont beat yourself up over a solid design.
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morgan_king362mo ago
Oh man @kim.nina you're not wrong about the main point but I gotta say the handle thing is a bit off. Ngl if a handle is that hard to turn from the inside, it could be a safety issue if someone needs to get out quick in a fire or something. Still agree the air seal is a win though.
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the_fiona2mo ago
Ngl you're totally right about this. Had the same thing happen with my storm shelter last year. Got stuck in there for like 45 minutes cause I wanted to see how long the seal would hold. Ended up just sitting on my phone watching cat videos until I realized I forgot to bring the handle release tool inside. That air seal was tight though, no dust or anything came in. So yeah, definitely a win even if it was annoying. Pretty sure I'd rather be stuck for a few hours than have a weak seal that lets in smoke or gas.
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