# Prepping / Emergency Preparedness > General Emergency Preparedness >  thoughts of a secret room

## linkmissing

I was looking around the house and thinking what if looters made it into my house to look for stuff.  I think most looters go in all pumped up and don't think that clearly; they just want to get it fast and get out.  I thought if I was in a SHTF time I would hide/close up the entrance to a bedroom that is just off my livingroom by itself.  All the other bedrooms and bathroom are down a hall off the other side of the livingroom, but this one bedroom and bath are off the opposite livingroom wall.  If in the house it would not be noticable that there should be a door there to a room.  Even tho if you stood outside and looked at the house that bedroom has a window, I still think they would not put 2 and 2 together!  They'd just run thru the house and not look for secret rooms.  What do you think?  Check out your house and see if that is a possibility.  Even adding a false wall to shorten up a larger room so you have hiding space behind it would be great.

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## Rick

Well, first you have to believe your home is subject to being looted. Not robbed, looted. That's pretty far down on the list of threats for me. If I prepare my home to prevent it from being robbed, a threat pretty high on the list, then looters would be deterred. Making your home a less attractive target than your neighbor's home is what it's all about. Short of that, if I'm inside at the time, I'll make it very unattractive.

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## Ken

On a related topic.........

Thanks for the idea you gave me a while back, Crash.  It caused me to modify a simpler design.

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## linkmissing

Looting, robbing to me are about the same.  I assume you mean a robbery would be if you were at home.  Yes, do everything to defend, but if you fail, your kids/elders/wife could be in the secret room.  All your real important stuff would be in there too.

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## BLEUXDOG

Looting and robbing are NOT  the same thing. Check your insurance policy. It doesn't cover looting.

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## cowgirlup

Good idea.  DH just built a hidden gun cabinet in a wall for a client.

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## oldsoldier

Even a large closet "sealed and concealed" is a good idea.

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## Madhatter244

A hidden room is always a great idea because a person cant steal what they cant find.

If you are handy and have some mechanical skills then do yourself a favor and buy the book: Secret Rooms Secret Compartments by:Jerry Dzindzeleta.
The book could be a little better in regard to the diagrams being on one page and the descriptions on another but a great read anywho.

It will get your mind going in the right direction to begin constructing your own secret rooms. The book has some diagrams for hinges, different locking mechanisms, and lots of other ideas for hidden compartments of all kinds.

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## Justin Case

Bury some essentials in the back yard ?

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## crashdive123

> A hidden room is always a great idea because a person cant steal what they cant find.
> 
> If you are handy and have some mechanical skills then do yourself a favor and buy the book: Secret Rooms Secret Compartments by:Jerry Dzindzeleta.
> The book could be a little better in regard to the diagrams being on one page and the descriptions on another but a great read anywho.
> 
> It will get your mind going in the right direction to begin constructing your own secret rooms. The book has some diagrams for hinges, different locking mechanisms, and lots of other ideas for hidden compartments of all kinds.


Hey ther Madhatter - when you get a chance please stop on by the Introduction Section (it's not even hidden) and tell us a bit about yourself.  Thanks.  http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

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## LowKey

Be sure to leave treats. If you leave something you think they might want they won't look too hard for anything else.

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## doug1980

My uncle hid all of his guns and a small safe with important papers in between the wall studs in a closet.  You couldn't even tell it was there.  The sad part is he did this because my cousin, who lived with him, would steal their stuff to buy drugs.  Personally I would use the crawl space with a covered access door in a closet.  You could either build a water tight box or use some plastic tubs to store the items in.  Just an idea.

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## crashdive123

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## Rick

Leave treats. Now that's funny. 

Oooh. Look a twinkie!!
We're here to steal guns. 
Yeah, yeah. Twinkies. MMMmmmmmmm.

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## crashdive123

Seems to work with that Santa Clause guy.  He hasn't stolen anything when milk and cookies have been left.

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## pocomoonskyeyes

Well they even make doors that are made to look like a built-in bookcase.

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## Canadian-guerilla

http://hiddendoors.net/


http://www.hiddenpassageway.com/


http://www.hideadoor.com/

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## Old GI

You should have a "hard room" designated.  The safest area in your home to go to in the event of a tornado, etc.  May be a good start.

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## TucsonMax

An attic would work too, w/ pull-down steps... quite likely looters wouldn't be examining the ceiling.

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## Badawg

> An attic would work too, w/ pull-down steps... quite likely looters wouldn't be examining the ceiling.


Yeah, My attick has no "visible" access because I put a 30" fan where the Hatch used to be. What they don't know is the fan is hinged and has a concealed latch si you still can get up there. The heat and cold cycling up there are not good for food storage though so all my emergency food is concealed better elsewhere...

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## Rick

And if they try to crawl up through the fan just switch that puppy on.

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## trax

I met a guy up north, many moons ago, who built himself a hidden gun cabinet in the side wall of a clothes closet and had this really cool hidden switch so that wall just swung open slick as could be, then he showed it to me and showed me how it worked! That guy had about $4,500.00 worth of rifles, with ammo, in there. As far as I know, he still does (yes, it was tempting thank you) but I had to wonder, if the guy's so impressed with himself that he's showing this off for me, who else is showing? Kind of defeats the purpose, no?

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## Rick

I've often thought about the guys that installed it. The know every thing about it. You sort of understand why pharaohs had the construction workers killed.

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## trax

> I've often thought about the guys that installed it. The know every thing about it. You sort of understand why pharaohs had the construction workers killed.


Now, there's a thought.

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## Rick

Pharaoh: "Didn't you work on my tomb?"
Worker looking around at dead bodies: "Uh, no, sir. That was my brother, bubbanubba. I"m dubbanubba. You might have heard of me. I'm performing down at the Sphinx. Two shoes nightly. You drop buy and I'll get you a seat right up front (leans in close to whisper) and free drinks."

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## Camp10

> if the guy's so impressed with himself that he's showing this off for me, who else is showing? Kind of defeats the purpose, no?


Lol!  Back when I swung a hammer for a living we built a house with a hidden room for a store owner that wanted a place to keep the safe, etc.  The room was very well hidden...except his wife showed everyone who came to look at the new house and would brag about how smart her husband was for thinking of a hidden room!

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