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+--- Thread: Secure Shed (/showthread.php?tid=7508)
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Secure Shed - PrepperJohn - 18 January 2015
Following on from my Allotment Bug Out thread I would like to discuss designing a toughened shed that would stand up to the kind of abuse someone trying to break into an allotment shed.
It would be very difficult to build a practical shed that it was impossible to break into but we could design a hardened structure that would make it difficult to gain access to.
So if you were going to build a secure shed how would you go about it?
PJ
RE: Secure Shed - Geordie_Rob - 18 January 2015
At the same time as making it hard to get into, you want to make it look like it has just ordinary security that is typical of your average shed so it doesn't look appealing to anyone with criminal intentions. The obvious weak points are going to be doors & windows. Apart from traditional locks, I can't see any way to secure it.
When I built my shed in my garden, I made it with 12mm OSB3 boards, no windows & only 1 door on it. The walls of the shed though, on the inner frame I've put polystyrene insulations boards in the gaps where the battens are & then fastened this in place with wire mesh. After the mesh, I've put another sheet of ply so the interior looks like plain plywood all the way around (similar to what tradesmen do to their transit vans). I done this mainly for insulation, however if anybody wanted to smash their way in, it'd be a lot more difficult. But again, if it was me trying to break in, I'd target the door only.
You could always get one of those personal attack alarms & have it set with fishing line so if the door is opened, it triggers the alarm. Obviously you'd know & could unhook it before you trigger it, but as far as a burglar would be concerned, it's a shed alarm that's making a lot of noise & attracting unwanted attention while they're trying to get in. You could even swap the attack alarm with defence foam spray or the Henry Krank alarm mines
I'd be curious to hear other people's thoughts though as I'm sure there are plenty of things I've never considered.
RE: Secure Shed - Bucket - 18 January 2015
Asked about this a year ago -- http://forum.survivaluk.net/showthread.php?tid=4377
NR gave this great response
(24 February 2013, 14:38)NorthernRaider Wrote: One of the very best security things I ever saw was a friends timber shed, it had the normal shed lock but the devious bugger went to the side wall of the shed nearest the door and drilled three 5 /8 holes right through so line of sight the holes passed right behind the door. On the frame either side of the door he fitted a length of dexion angle iron with holes drilled through to match the position of the holes in the frame.
Then he simply slid 3 lengths of 1/2 steel bar through the she side, through both pieces of dexion this putting three solid steel rods across the back of the shed door. from the outside the only tell was three bits of green paracord fastened through the end of the bars so they could be pulled out easily, and a plant pot stood in front on the bars providing a screen of the bars. Unless you knew the bars were there you would never fathom out when the door would not open. On OUTWARD opening doors you need four pieces of dexion, one either side of the door and two on the door.
Did that ,and the enforced doorframe from Nimble (https://parazite.pp.fi/Nimble.pdf) means the shed is pretty secure now.
RE: Secure Shed - Steve - 18 January 2015
Consider how easy it is to bury a plastic barrel beneath your shed and cover it with a removable panel and some old matting / carpet. You could make a simple shelving system that can be lifted in and out of the barrel by hand or via a pulley on the ceiling. Every time you leave the shed simply lower the shelves back into the barrel and replace the covering, the covering could even be part of the shelf system.
RE: Secure Shed - Tartar Horde - 19 January 2015
Shipping container mate.
RE: Secure Shed - Mortblanc - 19 January 2015
I have done some reading on breaking into allotment sheds in GB and it appears that eventually all of them will fall prey to thieves. The more difficult one makes the job of stealing the better the chances the thieves will become irritated and burn the shed down.
I did enjoy the police bulletin from somewhere around Bristol where the police were demanding that the thieves and destroyers of allotment sheds in their area turn themselves in immediately and take their punishment.
Do they really expect someone to walk into the station and confess?
As was stated in the OP, you can get into anything if you have the tools and time. So I do not think I would place anything in an allotment shed I did not expect to see stolen. I would then place a moderately good padlock on it to keep the honest folks honest and call it done.
My home is tricked out with chains on both sides of each door, a crossbar on each door, deadbolts on everything and grilled/shuttered windows, but I still ask the neighbors to keep an eye on things if I am gone for a day or two. Your allotment shed is going to sit untended for days at a time and there will be no one that watches, or if they do watch they will not care.
Some of the security schemes I see here would cost more than the shed and all its contents and I suspect are more aggressive than what is on/in the average home.
Perhaps it is best if one not trick out the allotment shed "man cave" to the same standards as a gentlemen's club
and settle for a cheap solar light, a heater and radio from the thrift store, a folding chase lounge and a good book. It might irritate one to lose that to a thief, but it would not break the budget.
RE: Secure Shed - Midnitemo - 19 January 2015
good post Mort....allotment sheds are very vulnerable by virtue of where they usually are and not being generally overlooked....I think kitting it out minimally sounds good or perhaps as was said earlier a below ground cache but having to stow everything everytime you leave would be a right ballache.
RE: Secure Shed - Geordie_Rob - 19 January 2015
All of the things at my shed are cheap to replace (with the exception of the trailer tent kitchen unit) and as mort says, it'll be annoying if they get stolen, but I won't be devastated.
RE: Secure Shed - Devonian - 19 January 2015
I think if this is more of a 'retreat' than a real bug out location, then just keep a sense of reality, as after all, you are not going to be living or surviving for long in a 6'x8' shiplap or T&G shed no matter how much insulation or security you add to it.
Also location is a major contributing factor as to whether or not your shed is likely to be broken into. Around here, most of the allotment sheds don't even have locks and tools are often left outside stuck in the ground etc, there is simply no crime or problem of sheds being broken into. Obviously inner city allotments are going to be a completely different scenario, so be realistic about what is likely.
If however you want a genuine bug out location, well in my opinion, a simple allotment shed is unlikely to suffice. I really would suggest you need something more like a block structure........
RE: Secure Shed - Sunna - 19 January 2015
build you shed as normal then as digging and moving soil is quite normal , dig yourself some sort of celler under it , some sort of false floor ...job done.