Where I am, we have some elevation and varying terrain. Living on a sandspit does mean water drains quickly through lawn and as long as there is that bit if slightly rolling hills, it's OK. For those not familiar with how flat FL is, they place signs when approaching an overpass that says "Caution Hill Blocks View"...............
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Securing guns during a disaster
- Thread starter tony pasley
- Start date
Where I am, we have some elevation and varying terrain. Living on a sandspit does mean water drains quickly through lawn and as long as there is that bit if slightly rolling hills, it's OK. For those not familiar with how flat FL is, they place signs when approaching an overpass that says "Caution Hill Blocks View"...............
FrankenMauser
New member
That only works until the water reaches the level of the air vent in the door, the drain tube running to the kitchen sink, or the circuit board that shorts out and starts the dishwasher while that stuff is in it -- whichever is lower.Has anyone mentioned dishwasher yet? Put in your guns and important papers and close the door.
Not a terrible idea. But, as with everything else, it has its limitations.
Going through this right now actually thanks to, what else, yet another hurricane.
Honestly I brought my entire stash with me....rifles, shotguns, pistols, and ammo. I couldn't bring other things like all the cleaning gear, targets, etc, but I consider those to be ancilliary.
Thankfully I'm in a friendly state ATM where CCW has reciprocity. Seeing police kicking people out of hotels whose reservations ran out and they don't want to leave.
Honestly I brought my entire stash with me....rifles, shotguns, pistols, and ammo. I couldn't bring other things like all the cleaning gear, targets, etc, but I consider those to be ancilliary.
Thankfully I'm in a friendly state ATM where CCW has reciprocity. Seeing police kicking people out of hotels whose reservations ran out and they don't want to leave.
I live in Sugar Land (SW of Houston) in what became an evacuation zone, so when the river was predicted to jeopardize the levee system, my wife insisted that we evacuate. I took the hand guns and AR with us, hid the other rifles upstairs without magazines (to prevent quick use by looters), and left the less expensive shotguns in the safe downstairs expecting insurance would be adequate to cover those losses. We had a couple of hours to pack the car the night before leaving early morning. (Don't drive at night during flooding rains and high wind - you can't see flooded roads, downed trees or debris in the road - we detoured around or dodged all of the above.) Actually, our first attempt to leave was not successful due to flooded roads and clueless officials; we returned home after 90 minutes of high stress exploration. We made it out the next morning, no thanks to poor and erroneous official road conditions information.
I would have sheltered in place if alone. The drive was the most dangerous part of the event.
As others have said, grocery shelves for many items were bare even before the bad weather hit, gas was quickly unavailable, and as soon as roads offered a route out (or back in afterward), they were clogged with slow traffic. Local officials discouraged evacuation prior to the arrival of the bad weather. The rain was unprecedented and when it became apparent that many areas should have evacuated, they couldn't. Dire predictions of failing levees and massive flooding had everyone frightened and stressed to the max. Another foot of rain would have been truly catastrophic.
It turns out the river didn't get as high as predicted, and water did not get into our house. But it did flood hundreds of houses in our city and thousands across the Houston area, and boats on the streets were rescuing less fortunate people from homes half a mile away. 50 inches of rain will do that. My church alone had 1200 volunteers muck out 130 flooded homes this week.
Most of Sugar Land has very low crime. The police did a great job protecting the city from looters.
I would have sheltered in place if alone. The drive was the most dangerous part of the event.
As others have said, grocery shelves for many items were bare even before the bad weather hit, gas was quickly unavailable, and as soon as roads offered a route out (or back in afterward), they were clogged with slow traffic. Local officials discouraged evacuation prior to the arrival of the bad weather. The rain was unprecedented and when it became apparent that many areas should have evacuated, they couldn't. Dire predictions of failing levees and massive flooding had everyone frightened and stressed to the max. Another foot of rain would have been truly catastrophic.
It turns out the river didn't get as high as predicted, and water did not get into our house. But it did flood hundreds of houses in our city and thousands across the Houston area, and boats on the streets were rescuing less fortunate people from homes half a mile away. 50 inches of rain will do that. My church alone had 1200 volunteers muck out 130 flooded homes this week.
Most of Sugar Land has very low crime. The police did a great job protecting the city from looters.
Just dodged Irma.
Left 1/4 in safe. Stored 1/4 of them. Buried some of them.
took some with me when I evacuated. The rest were secured
in a lockbox in a vehicle trunk. The approach ensured only a certain
amount of loss, if something went south.
Downside is getting them all back in their regular places.
Left 1/4 in safe. Stored 1/4 of them. Buried some of them.
took some with me when I evacuated. The rest were secured
in a lockbox in a vehicle trunk. The approach ensured only a certain
amount of loss, if something went south.
Downside is getting them all back in their regular places.
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TrueBlue711
New member
Lots of good ideas for hurricanes and flooding. What about fire? A lot of the west is dealing with that. A good gun safe is the obvious choice. Is there a way to make your safe "more fireproof" (i.e. handle higher temperatures)? Like a certain paint or coating or something to cover it with?
mikejonestkd
New member
TrueBlue711, several friends have built their gun safes into enclosures that are lined with multiple layers of drywall to supplement the safe's fire lining.
Think of it as building a lined closet around your safe.
Think of it as building a lined closet around your safe.
FrankenMauser
New member
Drywall as an insulator, is only as good as the framing supporting it.
If the framing can burn, melt, or collapse, it's of little value.
Structures that are threatened by wildfires in this part of the country, that are not near good fire breaks or on the edge of a city/town, are generally surrendered if the fire takes hold. By that, I mean that fire crews give up and let it burn, rather than trying to save the structure while the fire continues to move around them.
To survive that, you need serious fire protection, and a safe enclosure that can hold up to having the entire building structure collapse on it while still burning.
And once the structure is gone, it may be weeks before you can return to the site. So, the safe enclosure will be exposed to the elements, and possibly water from fire fighters coming back in to extinguish the smoldering ruins.
There is no easy win.
Pick your risk factors. Prepare as you see fit, within your means.
Take everything with you, if possible.
If the framing can burn, melt, or collapse, it's of little value.
Structures that are threatened by wildfires in this part of the country, that are not near good fire breaks or on the edge of a city/town, are generally surrendered if the fire takes hold. By that, I mean that fire crews give up and let it burn, rather than trying to save the structure while the fire continues to move around them.
To survive that, you need serious fire protection, and a safe enclosure that can hold up to having the entire building structure collapse on it while still burning.
And once the structure is gone, it may be weeks before you can return to the site. So, the safe enclosure will be exposed to the elements, and possibly water from fire fighters coming back in to extinguish the smoldering ruins.
There is no easy win.
Pick your risk factors. Prepare as you see fit, within your means.
Take everything with you, if possible.
tony pasley
New member
I went to the expense to build a concrete room for my guns and because many are family heirlooms that can not be replaced. I had a halon suppression system put in to protect from fire and water the fire fighters would use.
tony pasley
New member
Both active and passive humidity control
I stored most all of my shooting supplies in my finished basement when I lived in Colorado. We had some fairly historic floods in the front range in either 12 or 13 that came very close to flooding the basement. There was no good place to store everything on the 1st floor so I moved it to the 2nd floor. The weight of the ammunition cracked the ceiling plaster on the 1st floor.
TheGunGeek
New member
If you can't take them with you, then the re-usable VPCI vacuum sealed bags should work. This will also provide protection from rust due to the excessive moisture in the air. It's probably not a bad idea to keep 1 for each firearm on hand.