Survival Capsule

The problem is, in the case of an emergency, the owner might be unable to get to their capsule in time. However, if they added some kind of 'arm port' which would allow the user to stick their arm into a reinforced sleeve and glove and reach out, along with a mini 'airlock' to allow for shuttling things in and out safely, the owner could reside in one indefinitely, thus eliminating this window of danger.

It makes at least some sense from the perspective of someone living where tornadoes are a common occurrence.

But only “some”. It could be made significantly cheaper than traditional shelters because it’s made of aluminum, but there should be a way to anchor it to the ground - I have no desire to go bouncing around through a tornado, thank you very much.

The 4-person model is $17,500? I can get a larger traditional underground shelter for ~$8k installed. If I were in an area without the ability to dig down into the ground or where flooding was a major concern, this would be more attractive I suppose. As it is, it’s just spending 2-4x the money on an inferior solution.

This is probably the dumbest and least safe ways to take shelter from a Tornado. I mean first, they move at whopping 10mph-25mph and have a very very narrow damage path (most are less than a hundred yards). Every number of years you'll get a mega tornado somewhere, but those are rare events. Nearly all deaths in tornados are from people being where they are not supposed to be (first floors, or in a car) or not paying attention to weather warnings.

If you _had_ to, you _could_ simply move locations away from a tornado. If you move at 45degree angles to prevailing winds, for instance here in Kansas, that would be west or south, you could sidestep the mesocyclone. If you move northeast, you would increase the time for the mesocyclone to catch you. This is NOT recommended for obvious reasons: If everyone in a neighborhood tried to leave at once, a traffic jam would instantly form, and a car is the worst place to be. But still, if you had no other options, there you go.

The simplest form of shelter is a basement and is highly effective. Or on most new slab houses built in my state today, there's usually one room made of CMUs and has a timber ceiling (A 'safe room'). Even if you have a slab house, there are plastic tornado shelters you bury and provide ample protection if you _actually_ bought a house without a basement in Kansas.

This thing is the worst of all options: You can't move, you're trapped in it, it's above ground so it's susceptible to damage from flying debris (The main hazard in a tornado), it's not secured so you're going to be in a bouncing tornado hamster ball, and it it rolls onto it's door, good luck getting out.

Really the only use would be protect from flood events.

“One day I saw a newspaper headline reporting that the President suggested that if Americans had to buy their bomb shelters, rather than being provided with them by the government, they'd take better care of them, an idea which made me furious. Logically, each of us should own a submarine, a jet fighter, and so forth.”

— Philip K. Dick, describing his inspiration for the short story Foster, You're Dead!, written in 1955. Full text available: https://web.archive.org/web/20150419181303/http://american-b...

A A four-person model lists for $17,500.

I'd much rather have a used lifeboat[1] for $8,000 that can hold 20+ persons.

[1] https://commercial.apolloduck.com/boat/commercial-vessels-li...

The survival capsule site is awesome and looks like a time capsule from five years ago. No updates to news or Youtube channel since then.

I always wonder about websites stuck in time like this. Someone is paying for the bandwidth and site maintenance, yet no effort toward new sales/marketing.

I have a few mostly abandoned side projects in which I periodically renew the certs, update packages, and pay monthly hosting only because I can't bring myself to shut it down.

Wonder what the story is for the Survival Capsule.

Does it mention how the air vents work? They keep mentioning tsunami, but I'm unclear on how a sphere with air vents would work floating around in rough water. For that matter, does it even float upright?

"Survival Capsule LLC is an intellectual property company developing survival solutions for natural disasters."

"The Survival Capsule is patented as a personal safety system (PSS), designed as a sphere to protect against tsunami events, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and storm surges."

So are they building these or are they just building an IP portfolio to use for licensing? Looks like they are taking "pre orders" but the latest news is from 2017, and nothing has been posted on their YouTube channel for 5 years.

"The sphere will withstand the initial impact of a natural disaster, as well as sharp object penetration, heat exposure, blunt object impact, and rapid deceleration."

But will the occupents survive?

Somewhat tangentially related, if some item with a lid claims to be waterproof or airtight, are there standards for it? Specifically can we count on it to be bug/pest proof? I would expect something like this survival bunker to be bug proof obviously, but are there grades to being waterproof and airtight and is it possible that the products on the lower end of the spectrum might let bugs in?

Being stuck in one of these during a tsunami does not seem like a good idea.

If a large mass of debris collided with the capsule, the water tight seal or structure itself could become compromised. You'd then be left drowning in a capsule.

If the capsule is buried, how do they find you?

Looks basically like a tube-frame for a GT racecar, rebuilt as a sphere.

It has supplies of air and storage for a week of food.

But the feature list seems to lack any provision for handling human waste, or any kind of radio beacon.

It won't do you much good to survive the tsunami, get washed out to sea, and then sit idly on the waves for weeks after your food runs out because no one can find you or is even looking because you broadcast no long-range signal... Maybe I'm missing something?

Am I the only one that had the version of the Yes Men [2010] in mind?

https://youtu.be/_3a3XBnMe5Q

Sooner or later, one of these is going over Niagara Falls

Kind of like 63 year old Annie Edson Taylor’s pickle barrel that she strapped into and rode over Niagara Horseshoe Falls 120 years ago.[1]

[1] https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-barrel-rid...

So, ideally, this floats? I imagine it being as heavy as possible while still buoyant would be an advantage (say, in a high wind scenario).

This assumes of course that one wants to survive.

Get me to the pod!

https://youtu.be/XkU1LFgKS9Y?t=64

I think this idea of survival rather than living is rather an unfortunate characteristic of our time. People need to rewatch that german movie called "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". All you need is to go see the sea.

This is wonderful. The optional features include surround-sound music and a dry-powder toilet. Could almost be an April Fools article.

I can see this for hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, shockwaves from nuclear attacks.

Not so much for earthquakes.

Underestimates the force of a true natural disaster. Sure this looks good rolling around on your lawn. But the only sure way to survive a natural disaster, is to get out of the way.

The fact that Gavin Belson was never featured with one of these things in Silicon Valley is a huge missed opportunity.

What happens if it comes to rest hatch down. You can't always count on help in a mass disaster.

Wouldn’t a sphere be a problem? I can imagine a lot of unintentionally rolling downhill.

What if the capsule gets stuck with the door on to bottom and unable to wiggle?

That is the most stupid product I've seen.

Coming up, the designer of the 'Survival Capsule' is placed in the path of a hurricane to demonstrate his concept.

Hilarity ensues.