In Pete’s house, we relaxed in his music studio, careful not to upset the flamenco guitars, the microphones, or the Fugazi records, propped against the insulated grey walls and the long, ugly ventilation system. I can’t speak for everyone, but I know I speak for at least a few when I say that when the bombs fall, I’d like to be good and drunk.Īs a result, many of these down-home bomb shelters have been turned into places where you can drink, either informal places to crack a couple with your buddies, or full-blown bars, with stools, taps, and teak table-tops. “The only good man cave is one that is fully soundproofed and ready-stocked for the apocalypse,” Pete says. After all, if the walls can withstand a 12-megaton thermonuclear blast, they can probably withstand your guitar amp. My friend Pete, a Canadian who works for an NGO in Geneva, has converted his into a music studio. In the event of a nuclear holocaust, it appears the main survivors will be cockroaches and the Swiss.Īlthough the Swiss are required by law to keep their fallout shelters in good operating order, most have been converted into gyms, rec rooms, sewing rooms, and other sundry places. If you don’t live in an apartment, or your house happens to be built before 1978, there are plenty of communal bomb shelters, stocked full of emergency rations and fresh water.

Since 1978, any new residence built in Switzerland must have a room able to withstand a 12-megaton explosion-800 times larger than the Hiroshima bomb-at a distance of 700 meters (765 yards). Your choice on whether to comply or not depends on how thoroughly you think the inspectors are going to look at your new home.

At least, every Swiss home is required by law to have a nuclear fallout shelter. Every Swiss home has a nuclear fallout shelter.

Nuclear fallout shelters