# Cool premise: inflatable emergency shelters **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982 "2008-11-10T03:34:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/1 "2008-11-10T03:34:28Z")
[Wired article](http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/inflatable-hous.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp) > [@](#): > > In tough circumstances, sometimes all you need is hope, but other times you need a blow-up survival shelter featuring a bed, a couch, freeze-dried food, a 50-gallon water bladder, a first-aid kit, a radio and a cookstove. > > And the latter is exactly what the “Life Cube” from startup Inflatable World is designed to provide. Packaged into a four-foot-tall cube, it inflates into a 12-foot-tall structure built from the same thick plastic as a bouncy house. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/2 "2008-11-10T04:45:58Z")
Putting aside the 50 gallons of water, a tent, air mattress and and everything else can fit in a decent sized backpack and cost maybe a couple-three hundred bucks. Leaving $3600 for a 55 gallon drum and tap water. Maybe if they throw in a hooker and blow, I’d go for it. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/3 "2008-11-10T04:51:50Z")
yeah the price is not part of the premise that works. But the packaging seems quite sturdy and able to potentially endure things like airdrops and such. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/4 "2008-11-10T05:02:30Z")
Wealthy survivalists aren’t going to be airdropping these. And while it makes sense, nothing in the article suggests these were intended to be delivered by parachute. In fact, that rigid cube design seems really vulnerable to damage from a drop. BUT IANA engineer and I could be wrong about that. Also, as far as some kind of shelter for 3rd world areas like rural Pakistan – these are WAY too expensive. It looks like – what, maybe 6’x4’ floor space – enough to hold 3 or 4 people max? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/5 "2008-11-10T05:12:19Z")
I’m not sure I agree with you about the cost factor: $3900 doesn’t seem too bad when you consider it’s including a radio and cook stove with power supplies for both that are presumably shelf-stable for a period of years - without maintenance. I also don’t know how much food is included. It seems conceptually similar to inflatable life rafts with long storage times, as shown [here](http://www.landfallnavigation.com/surviva.html). I agree it’s expensive, but you do have to pay for the engineering for storage and reliability. I don’t doubt that you can acquire and maintain a personal emergency kit for far less - but often the people who would need this will have lost any such prepared reserves, if they had them in the first place. ETA: The question I’ve got: How many of these four foot by four foot cubes could be stored in a standard shipping container for rapid transport to a devastated area? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/6 "2008-11-10T05:35:54Z")
This isn’t for individuals. If you’ve got space to store the thing packed, then you could just dump the glorified tent and camp in that space, instead. The article is looking more at mass-deploying them for disaster recovery, but for that kind of purpose, it seems like these things would be too high-maintenance. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/7 "2008-11-10T05:39:32Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Putting aside the 50 gallons of water, a tent, air mattress and and everything else can fit in a decent sized backpack and cost maybe a couple-three hundred bucks. Leaving $3600 for a 55 gallon drum and tap water. > > Maybe if they throw in a hooker and blow, I’d go for it. Didn’t Dean Martin in a Matt Helm movie use one of those back in the 60’s? The inflatable shelter, and yes, it even had the hooker… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![usmc8408](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/usmc8408/32/12878_2.png) [@usmc8408](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usmc8408)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/8 "2008-11-10T05:52:06Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Putting aside the 50 gallons of water, a tent, air mattress and and everything else can fit in a decent sized backpack and cost maybe a couple-three hundred bucks. Leaving $3600 for a 55 gallon drum and tap water. > > Maybe if they throw in a hooker and blow, I’d go for it. haha, you beat me to it…i was going to ask about the hooker too…but the blow is another great perk 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/9 "2008-11-10T06:03:08Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Putting aside the 50 gallons of water, a tent, air mattress and and everything else can fit in a decent sized backpack and cost maybe a couple-three hundred bucks. Leaving $3600 for a 55 gallon drum and tap water. > > Maybe if they throw in a hooker and blow, I’d go for it. On second thought, forget the survival gear. ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/10 "2008-11-10T06:08:34Z")
> [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](#): > > [Wired article](http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/inflatable-hous.html?npu=1&mbid=yhp) Inflatable ER shelter? Inflating one of these during a weather disaster (hurricane, tornado)..doesn’t that = FAIL? Sounds like something for people with more money & imagination than common sense. Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/11 "2008-11-10T06:10:01Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > ETA: The question I’ve got: How many of these four foot by four foot cubes could be stored in a standard shipping container for rapid transport to a devastated area? About 24, if my math and guesses are right. (They’re roughly about 8 feet wide and high, with lengths from 20 to 40 feet or so.) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/12 "2008-11-10T06:11:05Z")
> [@phil417](#): > > Inflatable ER shelter? Inflating one of these during a weather disaster (hurricane, tornado)..doesn’t that = FAIL? > > Sounds like something for people with more money & imagination than common sense. > > Love, Phil You blow it up _after_ the hurricane or tornado has gone through, not _during_. ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/13 "2008-11-10T06:33:15Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > You blow it up _after_ the hurricane or tornado has gone through, not _during_. Is this specified in the instructions? AKA idiotproofing. We all know that as soon as one idiotproofs instructions, someone else come up with a dumber idiot. Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/14 "2008-11-10T08:22:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Maybe if they throw in a hooker and blow, I’d go for it. No, but it includes a blow-up hooker… Something similar, but much better IMHO is an emergency shelter made of cement impregnated canvas. Basically a large plastic bag with a plug on top, you fill it with water, hook a compressed air line to another plug and the thing blows into a large, hangar like shelter. After some hours the cement sets and the thing stands on it’s own strength, no worries about air leaks, woodpeckers, or bored, oblivious survivors deciding to play darts on the inside. Ah, [found a link..](http://www.ihapsnet.org/?q=node/2143) No water or food but as a shelter it seems more appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-premise-inflatable-emergency-shelters/471982/15 "2008-11-10T08:45:56Z")
[Shelter box is a similar idea.](http://www.shelterbox.org/home.htm) Its smaller and doesn’t come with its own water, but it has water purification equipment and a 10 person tent.