5 Personal Bunkers You Can Build, From Affordable To Bonkers Levels

Isaac Taylor

Surprising nobody, interest in bunkers spikes during periods of uncertainty. A glut of bunkers were sold off in the approach to Trump taking office. Sellers are also reporting that preppers unhappy with Biden are also buying up. Everybody has an antichrist. But even more are being sold now due to Putin puttin’ himself into other people’s countries.

A $6.5 million estate in Michigan is pulling international interest due to the fact its listing states it comes with its own 5,000-square-foot bunker, swish images of its plant grow room included. The installer of the bunker, Rising S, claims that since things kicked off in February, in just a few weeks they sold 35 units, as much as they would normally sell in a year. Their bunkers range from $70,000 to $120,000 a pop, or $2.5 mill for the one in Michigan.

U.S. Buildings Group, which also sells bunkers, has had a 130% uptick in enquiries. A little closer to the action, Italian bunker manufacturer Minus Energie spent the last two decades building a total of 50 shelters. Within the first two weeks of the invasion, they got hammered with 500 enquiries. According to a 2018 report, the prepper market was worth $75 billion in 2017, and was projected to be worth $423 billion by 2025. These numbers have no doubt been blown right out of the water in the last few years.

Silicon Valley tycoons are nuts about it apparently, according to LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman talking to The New Yorker about how 50% of Silicon Valley billionaires had some sort of bolt hole somewhere for when the worst happens. Billionaire Peter Thiel famously bought a backblock station in the South Island for when the worst happens. Rumour has it that Queenstown is peppered with bunkers, although finding any of them is a tall order. Owners don’t exactly advertise their locations, and American bunker builder Rising S, who has shipped multiple units to New Zealand, has become increasingly secretive in how it brings in its bunkers, to protect identities of buyers.

For those that don’t want to have to commute to their end times tomb, there’s always the option of getting one installed. Apartment owners need not apply. There’s everything from tiny boltholes to palatial underground estates, ranging from a couple grand all the way up to millions. So there’s something in every budget range. If you can’t afford a shelter, instead buy a tomahawk, the credit card of the apocalypse, and know the location of your closest one.