Bomb Shelters Reached Their Peak During The Cold War, But They Never Truly Went Away: 3 Ways Preppers Improve On Classic Bomb Shelters

Bomb shelters reached their peak during the Cold War, but they never truly went away. Modern survivalists and preppers have actually improved their designs over the years. They have taken these beacons of Cold War paranoia and repurposed them for a new era. Below are just a few ways that the classic bomb shelter has been improved.

Built to Last

While the classic bomb shelter was meant to help a family to survive when the bombs started dropping, they weren’t actually all that durable. They were short-term shelters that were really meant to provide a sense of safety more than anything else. The modern prepper, though, has taken the concept and made it what it was meant to be. Dropping in industrial cabling and components from companies like AvioTech Ltd., adding off-grid energy sources and even providing space for growth allows the modern shelter to be better than anything that classic designers could have hoped to make.

Staying Connected

Another way that the modern prepper improves upon the old bomb shelter design is connectivity. The original bomb shelter design was absolutely meant for solo survival—if there were others outside, the best one could hope for would be a radio connection. Thanks to modern technology, it’s entirely possible to outfit a bomb shelter to have a solid internet connection as well as a dedicated phone line. While the classic radio set-up can still be useful for many survivalists, there’s something to be said for being able to stay in contact with the world outside when and if the shelter must be put into use.

More Utility

Perhaps the biggest improvement that preppers have made on classic bomb shelter design comes back to philosophy rather than just building materials. Modern preppers are rather less focused on nuclear disasters than their predecessors, instead looking at the possibility of many different society-disabling scenarios. As such, many preppers create their survival shelters to be safe havens from more mundane emergencies like floods or earthquakes. This not only means that these shelters tend to have more utility overall, but also that they provide a much safer base of operations if things do go wrong.

The modern prepper hasn’t just improved on bomb shelter designed—he or she has revolutionized what it means to have a disaster-proof space. From improving materials to creating more versatile spaces, these survival areas are far more useful than those built in the past. Hopefully, though, these shelters will see just as much use as the bomb shelters of the past.