A bug out safe haven club / insurance policy

[DanielDay]

Hi all,
I’ve been thinking about a private members’ club model and wanted to get a sense of whether there’s any real interest before putting serious time into it.

The rough concept is a small, vetted private club based around an existing woodland site in Devon that already has some infrastructure. The idea would be:

Members pay a monthly fee for a secure on-site storage container (around 10ft) for tinned food, gear or supplies.
Right to use a designated insulated yurt (sleeps five, with a log burner for heat and cooking) for a limited number of days per month (thinking around 3 days). This lets people visit, check their storage, and get familiar with the place. I would do more, but the site is ran as an active business.

Here's what the site has to offer...

Unlimited water from a well on site.
Unlimited firewood plus firewood processing facilities.
Access to a bunker for “just in case” situations.
Priority access if things get serious in someone’s area (properly defined in the rules, not just vague “SHTF”).

For members who live further away, the club could receive, stack and store food deliveries and other supply deliveries into their container on their behalf.
It would be run as a genuine private club with a constitution and clear rules — members-only, with vetting. Not open to the public.

The practical main purpose is a self-sufficient backup site for people who might need to bug out and live among like-minded people for a period of time.

If we have a power outage, bug out to site.
War threats. Bug out to site.
Cyber attacks and infrastructure down. Bug out to site.

Its insurance for your family essentially.

On the monthly cost (I’ve been thinking around £400–500): a standalone storage container is often £50–150 a month anyway, and three nights in a yurt would usually cost more than £500 on its own. So the fee is roughly covering those two elements, with the rest of the site resources and community access on top. I know the cost seems high, but I think for a lot of families the security of having a ready “hide out” would make it feel reasonable.

The current owners would also bring skills to the table as members of the club: a GP with 15 years’ experience and an ex-Marine with 10+ years’ service.
Capacity would be limited to start with. I’m mainly trying to understand:
Does this kind of thing appeal to anyone here, or does the monthly cost still feel too high once you factor in the storage and the five nights’ use?
What would actually matter most to you — the storage, the yurt access and ability to visit regularly, the self-sufficient resources (water/firewood/bunker), the skills in the group, the crisis access, or something else?
Any obvious problems or red flags you’d see with this model?
Not looking to sell anything right now — just testing whether the idea has legs or if I’m missing something fundamental. Happy to answer questions as far as I can without giving too many specifics.
Thanks.

[itsybitsy]

Hi Daniel, welcome to our community. I've approved this post but please, before we approve anything further, can you provide us with a little introduction to you and your prepping motivations in the New Members Start Here section. Thanks.

[Peter]

I thought of a similar thing, you PAY me to store your preps at mine, saves me a FORTUNE

[Frnc]

Sounds like an ok idea to me, but personally I'm 9 hours on public transport away, and mostly living off the state pension, so it's out of my league. I know storage is expensive.

[Frnc]

I thought of a similar thing, you PAY me to store your preps at mine, saves me a FORTUNE

I have two rooms that used to have lodgers in!

[GillyBee]

I think distance as well as finance would be the killer here. The price is way out of my range. The 6 hour (for me) drive is too far for weekending and would definitely multiply to a 24 hour drive if SHTF.

[korolev]

Problem I can see is that if word gets out what/where it is then "non-members" are going to come knocking. How do you propose to keep them out and stop them nicking all the grub ?

[Bijela]

Hi, its a bit vague on quite what the group is. Cost is high for most people even if its the same for 1 person or a family. You maybe luck and find people that fit. But, I see some issues

If you have 1 yurt, what happens if the grid goes down and everyone turns up standing outside ? Maybe get planning permission and have mobile caravans with well water flushing toilets and septic tank. Then you could plan that each family has 1 with 2 large propane cylinders and bottled water for 2 weeks just incase the well water becomes unsafe to drink. Then you have a weekend retreat to offer. Let them stock food they want.

Bonus of a weekend retreat is that people would meet and if there are any personality issue you can resolve it without a potentially stressful situation at the same time.

Maybe look to find others with sites so you can have a emergency use deal. For example, if Devon could easily have a storm that floods both people's homes and the site or brings the trees down flatting it. Where as East Anglian area could just be a bit wet.

[Kiwififer]

Not a fan, sorry. The whole idea is transactional and it would place your wellbeing into the hands of others that you would only have a financial linkage to.

Post event, what’s to say that the person in change would stop charging you? It wouldn’t necessarily be money, it could be your stash of food, clothing, a shot of your daughter and so on. Don’t get me wrong, survival would depend on cooperation so I get the concept but any cooperation for me would be based on people I have relationships with and whom I could trust.