Update: found the videos. Apparently google/YouTube tracks every video you watch and you can go back and see your video history through your Google account. I watched these in a thread her 3 years ago. Watch what you do, big brother is watching you!

Videos:











Original: A few years ago there was a thread about a hand-dug bunker in Europe. It was a series of YouTube video, I believe they may have began with building a room onto the back of a residence to disguise what they were doing. Then they hand dug, removing dirt with buckets on a winch down the shaft, shoring up the shaft as they went deeper. They built a large concrete sliding cover to the shaft. The only clue to location was some newspapers visible in a shot in the video and someone here successfully identified the country through language recognition.

I can't find the videos or the thread... really want to review them and show the door idea to somebody I know...

OP updated, videos found and added for those that haven't seen this yet.

I will watch these later. My 15 yo and his buddy built a bunker out back. It's more of a foxhole than a bunker, but I was actually impressed. Walls made out of pallets and old OSB, roof covered with dirt they can stand on. About as deep as a pallet is long.

I sent him a link to those videos. Itll be interesting to see what he does with this information.

Unfortunately, we can't do anything like that where I live. The water table is far too high. Cool idea, though.

True, it will need tailored to your situation but still a really awesome series with some very well thought out features. The recessed, sliding door was what I was interested in. Done right you can hide a vault/bunker in plain sight.

Great videos, I remember that series from years ago!

Bill

Yes and no, as you can see from facemasks, facial blurring, the fact that all excavation activities are done within the envelope of the building, and the youtube account obviously created for the sole purpose of posting only these videos these guys take OPSEC and PERSEC serious.

At some point around video 4 or so you will see 3 large precast concrete pieces lowered into the shaft and set to make the start of a horizontal shaft or doorway before the vertical shaft is back filled with concrete. At one point near the end you will see a guy descend the shaft and disappear into that horizontal shaft or doorway. However, they never show what lies beyond the vertical shaft.

I wish they had shown construction of the horizontal shaft because I feel like that is one of the more difficult aspects and there was much to be learned from that.

The further you get in the series the more you will learn that while these guys are certainly limited on tools and such, they aren't just hacks. They are smart and every detail of this build was planned in detail.

Thanks for sharing OP, really cool!

Not to knock on their endeavor, but did the welds in video 8 look atrocious to anyone else?

Still, that's awesome.

Not for me.  I don’t like confined spaces anymore.

Some of them looked pretty bad but most of the welds were just to holds things together until they filled with concrete.