Those who have been preparing for the destruction of the world for a long time are already locked in their bunkers now with coronavirus.
As the Wall Street Journal recently told us, American preppers now have the opportunity to justify years of hard work and enjoy their personal shelters as the pandemic spreads to USA.
"I do not want to be part of the problem and go out there as a carrier spreading the coronavirus," a prepper named Joe told the newspaper, who built a $ 240.000 bunker at his home.
The shelters in our difficult days have their honor and the manufacturers they are now doing golden jobs for them. Most, however, say the pandemic has not affected shelter sales, as it is an expensive sport and takes months of preparation.
But the interest is huge and the companies that have built shelters for her Revelation do not manage to respond to requests. Drew Miller, founder of Fortitude Ranch, a series of shelters in West Virginia and Colorado, told Business Insider that the coronavirus panic has caused him to sell out all 160 luxury shelters.
"Most are not traditional preppers," he told the magazine, "but businessmen, retired officers and law enforcement, people who recognize the need to leave the city and suburbs."
The same impact is now felt by all those involved in such shelters, from the cheapest providers, such as xPoint in South Dakota with the $ 35.000 shelters, to the Survival Condo Project in Kansas, which sells its luxury bunkers for $ 1,5-3 million.
Even more expensive are the things in the so-called "billionaires' shelters", like the ones made by Vivos and you have to be a croissant to get a place in the ark of survival.
The shelters of destruction suddenly became a scary business. But how much do they cost?
At America, that such things are commonplace, one of the most economical and reliable solutions on the market is the one offered by Rising S Bunkers. The simplest shelter starts at $ 58.500 (€ 53.800), which does not include transportation and installation.
This economical solution includes a bunker for a small family with an armored door, chemical toilet, solar panels and amenities you would find in a modest hotel. Still others, like Disaster Bunkers, ask for $ 37.000 (€ 34.000) per 18 square feet of bunker of your choice.
The only problem with these shelters is that they clearly concern the high income classes. There are not many who can immediately allocate 50.000 euros for an hour of need.
There are only a handful of people who invest in unconventional facilities. THE community of preppers, of people preparing for natural or man-made disasters, includes detailed cost estimates for all wallets.
Most of us have a laid back attitude when it comes to painting a picture about a simple concrete bunker that costs $ 35.000. For integrated kitchen and such amenities, however, the cost skyrockets to 50.000 euros or more.
And all this without including the costs of digging and installation, as we are necessarily talking about underground construction. So one has to take into account another 20.000 euros to have a safe estimate.
A shelter that can really ensure survival, self-sufficiency and staying inside for months is not something cheap. You need equipment, food, drinking water and at the same time energy autonomy.
Belgian Patrick Geryl, guru in the European preppers community and author of many survival books, has set up his own Doomsday shelter in… South Africa.
There he tells us that he can live for a whole year locked in the bowels of the Earth and then rebuild a new world with the small community of preppers. With $ 130.000, he has ensured the survival of himself and his family.
Geryl has spent years plastering what he calls the "100 Essentials for Survival," including weapons and ammunition, a water purifier, solar panels, and more.
As for how to get to the distant land of salvation, he says he has enlisted a shipyard in Belgium to make him an "unsinkable yacht". Only it costs over 100.000 euros and he is obliged to raise money again.
Australian Robert Bast, who runs a survival website, has already spent more than $ 350.000 preparing for "the end of the world as we knew it".
He tells us that to be safe, you need more than $ 5.000 for food and water and at least $ 11.000 for basic equipment such as photovoltaics, batteries, generators, drinking water systems, etc.
Featured Phil Burns of the American Preppers Network reveals that you need it food for at least a year if it is to survive on something big. He has in his shelter close to 2 tons of wheat, beans and rice, worth $ 5.000. The rest of the basic equipment cost him another $ 20.000.
The amounts, he tells us, seem to be high in sum, but no one starts with everything. You gradually get things done, according to your financial ability, and at some point you find that your supplies can take you too far in terms survival.
Chris Gray, another American prepper locked in his family shelter now with coronavirus, points out that he lives the dream of survival with 137.150 dollars, which includes the 10.000 dollars he gave for 2 acres of farmland lost somewhere in the deserts of Wyoming.
His shelter cost $ 100.000, the solar panels $ 18.000, the well he opened for clean water $ 8.000, the heating $ 650 and another $ 500 the toilet. "A small cost for your survival," he emphasizes.
A shelter capable of ensuring survival when everything ends just cheap is therefore not. But the important question is another: is it worth it? Is it a good investment?