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Preppers

Panic room anyone?

21 replies

LadyMaryofDownt0n · 15/11/2015 11:54

Ok, I know this is at the extreme end of the prepping spectrum however I'd really love a "panic room".

Actually not really a panic room as such more really a secret room in the house. I'd like it in the kitchen, hidden behind a cupboard door, kind of like a large larder. I'd use it as a store & of course in the event of a break-in or god forbid a SHTF event.

I've always wanted on it's not a new idea linked specifically to prepping. As a child my grandparents would take me to castles & large estates which all had hidden room/corridors & I've been fascinated ever since.

So what am saying is, is it possible to have one, realistic, expensive, doable? We are building an extension next year maybe I could add a room in, it wouldn't be huge.

Indulge your secret room dreams here.

OP posts:

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Stratter5 · 15/11/2015 12:41

I get this, secret doorways etc appeal to the whimsical side of me - strictly fun, I can't imagine ever needing an actual panic room. I love the thought of being able to disappear behind a bookcase

Stratter5 · 15/11/2015 12:42

Btw, Sims is an excellent game for indulging your zombie house/panic room fantasies. We've built some cracking basement bunkers in ours

cozietoesie · 15/11/2015 13:03

Not for me, I'm afraid.

We live in an old house - lots of nooks and crannies - so I can have 'safe places' for things in the event of burglary if needed. The house isn't viable in the long term, though, so I'm a 'Get Out and Keep Mobile' advocate - if I survived initially, I'd probably hang around for a short time to see how things were developing but if it looked like a SHTF situation, I'd leave.

I'm probably influenced, though, by a book of short stories that was around the house and which I read as a kid - 'The Nightmare' by CS Forester. There's one story in that collection (about Nazi Germany) concerning a 'safe room' constructed with great care inside a large house. That story, which includes the effect of The Room on the people inside it, remains in my thoughts.

FuckTheseSixFishInParticular · 15/11/2015 13:24

Here you go, LadyMary

I have always wanted a secret doorway too. Not overly bothered about a panic room, but I read too many adventure books as a child to not want a hidden door!

TotalConfucius · 15/11/2015 15:56

There was one in this house when we moved in! This may out me.
It was hidden off the hallway and the door was disguised as a bookcase. It was about 10ft by 8. I was recently explaining some changes I'd made to the lady who used to clean the house before I owned it and she was totally oblivious to the fact there had been a panic room!
There was even cctv in it so you could see what was going on around the outside of the house.

It's an en suite bathroom now. The real panic room is hidden about 200ft from the house.

Zetetic · 15/11/2015 18:59

I have already earmarked the Narnia one for myself.

mentalfloss.com/article/49776/10-real-life-panic-rooms

atticusclaw2 · 15/11/2015 19:33

My friend has one. Her DH works in high profile security for celebs and she was targeted at home once to try to get to him. Someone broke in and held her at knifepoint.

They now have a panic room.

Kacie123 · 15/11/2015 19:41

Saw this and thought "awful movie"

howtorebuild · 15/11/2015 19:45

You need two staircases or a lift, according to the film.

howtorebuild · 15/11/2015 19:46

Some of those linked seem claustrophobic.

Kacie123 · 15/11/2015 19:58

God yes, imagine getting sealed into the Kevlar cube.

Not too sure about the realities of panic rooms having looked through those links. A hidden room would be awesome, but a panic room that's totally sealed off would freak me right out. And I'm not claustrophobic either!

Zetetic · 15/11/2015 20:12

I think I would be first into the Kevlar cube in a category 5 hurricane. At least we don't have weather like that in the UK.

cozietoesie · 15/11/2015 20:13

That's a particular risk, atticus - I think I'd probably go for one in such a situation.

anorakgirl · 15/11/2015 20:17

My father's occupation when we were growing up meant we had a safe room (think diplomat based in unstable region). We never used it and I used to be terrefied of it, my siblings used it as a playroom!

TotalConfucius · 15/11/2015 20:22

I came to the conclusion that the previous owner of this house must have been a drug dealer, although the neighbours all laughed when I asked them and told me he was a central heating engineer. Which created further mystery since the gas boiler was condemned the first time it was inspected a fortnight after I moved in. I still think drug dealer.
This is by no means a posh house, and it's really rural too, it was a strange little room. But it makes a lovely en suite.

cozietoesie · 15/11/2015 20:30

Cobbler's children, Confucius. (Although why a heating engineer should need a safe room beats me!)

TotalConfucius · 15/11/2015 20:58

Well exactly. This is why we own a car business yet I have squeaky windscreen wipers.
There was something very dodgy about that bloke. The cctv could only be viewed from inside the panic room, which was about 30 steps from the main living area, what was the point, any intruder would be long gone by the time you got up from the sofa, walked to the panic room and looked at the screen.
It's all gone now, but I've left the cameras up outside for effect.
And why wouldn't you let the cleaner clean the panic room? Because of the drugs stash, obvious innit!
The new 'hide' is much better.

cozietoesie · 15/11/2015 21:03

Goodness. If you have a panic room - or another type of room - you don't tell anyone about it! It would be all round the local hostelry by the end of the week.

atticusclaw2 · 15/11/2015 21:09

We looked at a house once with both a panic room and a bunker. The bunker was freaky. The back of the triple garage was made of metal and you'd never know but there were sliding metal doors and then a staircase to a whole floor below. It was enormous (at least double the size of the triple garage on top of it). The thing I'll never forget were the fake windows painted with scenes of fields etc presumably to try to make you forget you were in a bunker.

At the time (9 years ago) I thought it was mad, now I'd probably think it was pretty cool .

We didn't get to see the panic room since they would only show people the room after exchange of contracts.

Apparently the one time chief exec of one of the big banks used to live there.

LadyMaryofDownt0n · 16/11/2015 20:52

Oh these are fab! Thanks for the inspo. Am on a double shift at work so can't reply properly but I've got some great ideas now.

OP posts:

AGnu · 17/11/2015 16:47

We're toying with the idea of building our own house... I'm talking DH into incorporating a secret room or 2. I saw a programme a few years ago & one house featured had a priest hole that could only be accessed by lifting up a hatch in the stairs. No-one would think to try lifting up some stairs to see if there was a secret room behind! I'd keep all my stash under the stairs & have it completely ready for use. We'd love to have solar panels so we could still have electricity even if we were in hiding! I've yet to figure out what to do about the whole toilet issue though...

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