Whatever the rhetoric about the need for shelters, Americans even in 1962 were slow to build one in their backyard. However, the idea of communal shelter is gaining popularity because it can provide shelters for people at far less cost. This is why fifty families in Michigan banded together to build the largest privately owned survival shelter. The 112 foot long structure can provide space for a person for about $40 and has well water, a bottled gas powered generating plant and showers. But mass shelters present some perplexing problems. Their is only one main manual on the subject. All other answers must be found through the muddy maze of the federal government. Still some builders have moved forthrightly to incorporate mass shelters in their projects.