Parents starting an air raid shelter

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I've called my parents tonight and they’ve been telling me all about the shelter that they’re building in case Russia attacks. I feel like this is crazy! They do live near an army base (within 10 miles) so they’ve been packing food, water, games, bedding etc to survive a week! Is it me or is that insane? Are we really at that level of risk now? Should I be starting a pack? What do I even put in it?

I bet everyone said the same about the people who prepped for things ahead of Covid. They wernt the idiots running to supermarkets fighting over eggs and toilet roll 🤣

if you have children especially, you should always be prepared for things to go south be it a war or power outage or anything else. I mean building an air raid shelter does seem ott unless it’s built properly. You should have supplies etc.
we aren’t “preppers” but we always have 3-4 weeks stock of food and essentials in our pantry. Served us well during Covid

Friends went to work in Switzerland for a year, the place they lived in had a nuclear bunker, and I was very jealous. (Though to be fair. I’m not sure I’d want to survive a big old nuclear bomb.)

OP, you could get them a copy of When the Wind Blows… it would put things into perspective for them, but it’s on the bleak side, which might not help their frames of mind.

They're building it themselves? What are they building it out of?

Spoken like a true communist 🙄😂

In the 1980s my parents had a company round to quote on building a bomb shelter in our garden, in case of nuclear attack. They were advised it was pointless as we lived in a built up area and it would be covered with debris and we would never get out alive. So they stocked up on dehydrated army ration packs instead, and we had a lot of jerry cans in the cellar (not sure what was in them - water? petrol? vodka?). Nowadays we live within a stone's throw of a major US military base, so are guaranteed to be instantly incinerated in case of nuclear bombardment, which is fine with me as I don't fancy post-apocalyptic cannibalism. Also we sampled the ration packs and they were completely grim.

It is sensible to do that, I agree.

But I am amazed that OP's parents can build a shelter that will protect them from Putin's nukes.

a shelter I don’t think would be any help i face of targeted strikes and nuclear ☢️ whatnot… the threat atm is combined insanity IMO btw USA, Iran and it’s Allie’s Israel and its Allie’s … the situation in the Middle East is escalating and as an ally of USA (and it seems Israel) we can’t rule out being a target.. what that may look like could stem from homegrown terrorism increasing to at most extreme actual strikes but I’d hope we are some way away from that. This is grave and i can’t believe this is happening tbh.

IKEA flat pack?

I mean are they wanting a slow painful death alone instead of a quick instant one

Ehm I’m not saying I’m a prepper but all over Europe governments warn you to prepare. Not because of a possible bomb. But because (and it seems quite a few posters have missed this) for over two years Russia has been trying to sabotage cables in the seas and it’s also in case they are able to hack say the energy supplies etc. There’s a real worry they’re going to try and attack a country not with arms but by hacking systems (which they already do on a regular basis) and try and create chaos that way.. So whilst I’m not sitting here in my bunker, a little preparation doesn’t quite deserve the vitriol it gets on here.

An Anderson shelter!, they wouldn't take a direct hit, but would be able to protect you from flying / falling rubble.

Ah yes that's what it was.

I have a working and calibrated ratemeter (geiger counter) which I use normally for work, but in a nuclear strike its just what you need to determine whether you are buggered or not.

Love and enthusiastic pepper. Made me laugh. Your parents, if they are my age (Mid-late 60s) will have lived through some mad times with threats of nuclear war and all sorts. If it brings them peace of mind, why not?

Wow: not saying they're going to,but they really fo have the capability. Do you think it comes in a tree top level over Europe?!

Surely you are pretty much guaranteed to be buggered one way or another once the nuclear strike Rubicon is crossed.

In Sweden, where I grew up, recently every single household was sent a leaflet on how to prepare for war. This included advice on food, communication, water and shelter. Most housing blocks (in cities the majority of people live in blocks) have cellars that double as bomb shelters with huge steel doors. The Swedish government expects their population to be able to look after itself at least for a short while until services can resume.

Maybe building a bomb shelter is a bit overboard, but having basic things prepped isn’t completely left field

Yup, I'm in Finland and we're told to have 72 hours worth of supplies at home, in case of any emergency like extended power cuts (which could be due to sabotage) or cyber attacks affecting banking and shop systems, and other things like that. 72 hours is to allow for the government to be able to organise other help.

An old Anderson shelter? My GP's and their neighbours in Birmingham all had these back in the 60's. We used to play in them. Happy memories

We have technology that an detect and counter fire immediately. We have submarines and aircraft and god knows else watching all the time. It's nuts you think this would happen

Show them this map, set it for hitting the army base and go for a 750kt warhead with ground burst and radiation on. Then point the wind direction towards them.

Hopefully they will see the futility of the shelter. If they want to stockpile potassium iodide they will need a lot if they plan on staying in the area.

Nukemap: https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Tell them they need to build a nuclear bunker not a bomb shetler!

Exactly. We are in Europe right now for my husband’s work. I don’t really get the whole banter about it on here. Especially Finland must be so scary right now! I mean if we get hit by a nuclear bomb that’s the end anyway. But that is clearly not what governments are concerned about right now. Frankly I’m surprised that clearly this is not well known in the UK where it’s pretty common in Europe to know that you have to be prepared to last 72 hours with water, a radio, food and cash. Seems not then!

I'm sure if Russia wanted to take us out they could do so easily. But having stayed with my friends on a RAF Base I'm not sure a home made bunker would stand up to much. If it makes them feel less anxious I'm all for that. Where's the harm.

It’s highly unlikely we would be physically attacked anytime soon. As PP have said we are a long way from Russia (or Iran for that matter) and anything pointed in our direction would be shot down.
I do think there is a more real chance of cyber attacks. Particularly aimed at taking down the banking system, internet or the national grid.
so I don’t think it would be unwise to have a few solar power banks, cash and some non perishable food about for if something were to happen. Look at how successfully hackers have crippled M&S.