Survival Shelter–Consider a Dome

August 11th, 2008 |

Author: John

A few years back I had a geodesic dome made from PVC pipe and clear plastic sheeting, which served well as a greenhouse. It worked particularly well for growing cucumbers, since I trellised them up by tying twine to the highest parts of the framework.

In case you’re not aware of it, a dome can be used as a dwelling place, too. A couple of companies offer their customers what they need to build quite nice cabin-like dome homes at a fraction of the cost of a conventional home. In fact, a few years ago, the New York Times included an article giving the account of one couple who chose to build a dome home.

Whether it’s a greenhouse, a permanent dwelling, or something in between, such as a play area for the kids, consider where a dome might fit into your survival strategy. Start by doing some reading. Illustrated Dome Building: Step-by-step Complete Plans, by Gene Hopster is a 96 page paperback that provides information you need to build your own dome.

Here’s what a reviewer on Amazon.com wrote about this book.

This is the classic book on how to build a hexadome. Geodesic domes are great, the math behind the design is impressive, but they are complicated to build and the complication leads to leaks. Gene Hopster presents a simplified dome design he calls a hexadome. A Hexadome is not quite so efficient as a geodesic but its geometry makes it easier for real people to build! So you get the advantages (and beauty) of a dome and an approach that a carpenter without a PhD in math can actually understand and implement. The book is short but it explains the basics. It has some great house plans to give you ideas. Unfortunately we lost Gene Hopster a few years ago so he will not be updating this.

Click on the image featuring the book below to order your copy of Illustrated Dome Building: Step-by-step Complete Plans.

Click here for a few tips on building domes for survival shelter.

Click here for info on a book that shows you other innovative shelters.