Cargo Container

40 long feet of prepper fun!

   Ok, I promised to get back to this topic later in the week and now its Friday so I better give this post to you, as promised. Yes, I talked Mrs. Prepper into letting me purchase a cargo container for our new land. “It’s sooo neat and all the cool kids have one, pleeaassee!” Actually, its not like that at all, Mrs. Prepper is probably into prepping 75% as much as I am! She actually asked me one time if we had a 50 caliber rifle yet and if not shouldn’t we get one just in case – I know, I know, now you’re jealous! She’s beautiful too! When you eventually see me in the upcoming videos you’ll know I tricked the poor woman for sure – sucker…

   Really how this came about was we were deliberating about what we would do for our “Well House”. This is the building, room or what have ya that holds the well pumps electrical switch and pressure tank! We get some real cold weather through out the winters here and this being a largely unoccupied retreat required a little extra forethought. We contemplated just building a small shed structure for this purpose. I’m not a big showy person at all but I appreciate aesthetics when it comes to my land. Doesn’t have to be perfect but I will always try to make my buildings somewhat symmetrical and keep all the paint colors coordinated if possible. Funny how these traits only seem to come out in me when it comes to things like this.

   We ended up deciding against the shed idea, which does happen to be the most common way the folks around here do it. We really needed secure storage, a well house, garage for the quads and tools, etc. Now, to be completely honest, I really did want to get a container but it had to make sense for our needs. Just so happens it was a logical choice for the needs currently at hand!

   I would be required to design something to maximize our usable space, while also heating and insulating the area for the well house. Just what a guy needs, a challenge, design how you want your containers floor plan laid out… Tough job but somebody had to do it.

   So, next we had to find one and for the allocated funds available. We knew that the best deals were going to be found in the port cities, Seattle, Tacoma or even Portland, depending on what the delivery cost would be from that distance? I got out the phone book and, who am I kiddin, I googled Cargo Container Seattle and with in a couple dozen links was able to secure a good price on a 40 footer. I also found that the 40 foot length is almost the same price as a 20 footer? Doesn’t make alot of sense to go with a 20 to save hundred bucks. I found a company that would deliver a guaranteed not to leak 40 foot box in “Good” condition for just about $2000 dollars. This was when the price of gas was at about the highest it got last summer. I had run the numbers for building a shed large enough to meet our needs and it wasn’t going to be all that much cheaper, materials and time factored in. Plus I could get all the buildings that I had an immediate need for, all in one.

   After making the decision based on all the practical requirements. I was then free to get excited about my 40 foot steel box with the extra secure features to make sure all my preps stayed where I put em! I am impressed with what you really are getting for a relatively small price. I wouldn’t want

this giant eyesore in my yard at home in Seattle but out in the sticks it is more like a badge of honor to have such a treasure…

   Well, right on time the truck showed up to drop the box off. I was surprised to see it came in on a trailer pulled by a 3/4 or maybe it was a 1 ton pickup truck. You would think that it might be difficult to drive around with a forty foot tail behind you but this driver made it look easy and he put the thing within a couple inches of where I told him to! Not to shabby…

   Let the fun begin! Like I said this was going to act as our well house so I had to determine how to get an insulated room inside. The logical place to put the room would have been at the back, leaving the rest wide open to use as storage. Not me brother, I put it in the middle. Doors on both sides and a storage room at the rear. I bet you don’t even have to use much imagination to understand why I wanted the storage room at the rear. Out of sight and out of mind, the neighbors minds that is… Not that we have alot of unexpected company but I’m fairly careful with the OPSEC… “If I tell you, then I have to”, you know the rest but needless to say ”Us Doomers of the apocalypse” like to keep our business and quirks, private!

   Like I was saying, I built the well room in the middle. I basically built a 12 foot section that had wall and ceiling studs and floor joists. This allowed me to bring in fiberglass insulation to try to ward off the cold and maybe keep in a little heat. It came out alright and left me enough room inside to add additional pressure tanks or what have you in the future.

   I cut holes large enough to allow the electrical conduit and water pipes to come up through the floor into the new room. This also meant I would have electrical available inside the container for lights, heater in the winter time, etc. On the down side, the container can’t be moved easily anymore because the utilities.

   I ended up with a 14 foot long by 8 foot wide garage/work room in the front portion and another one roughly the same size in the rear for storage. All door have locks to allow me controlled access. Never know what you might run across inside one of these owned by a prepper type?? More to come, stay tuned…

Prepper