Underground den

[Onoff]

Just throwing thoughts out there, you never know what might come up as available.

Stacked railway sleepers. Quick and easy to build.

Wire gabions? I wonder if you could mix top soil and cement then fill stacked up gabions...

I think we need to take a step back here and realise the fact that kids often have more fun with the box. In my day the cardboard box a washing machine or sofa came in was an instant camp. Imagination fills in the gaps. So....

How about...a 4x2 wooden frame. Partially sunk into the ground, say 4' in and 4' above.

Then cover in AstroTurf. Teletubby esque.

You could wrap whatever structure in a dpm and back fill the sides with gravel for drainage.

Echoes of Andersen shelters but without the added weight of earth.

What's your ground drainage like there? Could maybe build on a bed off free draining crushed stone in the base of the pit.

Here's a nuts idea...could you fence off a square in the garden using the same posts and fencing you have there. Build an above ground camp behind this but with a "secret", decent sized door in the fence. Spy hole to look out etc. Basically a shed hidden in the fencing.

 

[selectedgrub]

In my day a den was something you made in the woods from fallen branches covered in ferns and leaves!

In my day a den was somewhere you went and paid a lady, not wearing much more than pair of stiletto's, to whip you.
Sounds more fun than twigs and branches.

 

[Onoff]

In my day a den was somewhere you went and paid a lady, not wearing much more than pair of stiletto's, to whip you.
Sounds more fun than twigs and branches.

Was that Cleopatra's in Dunedin?

 

[toddy]

In my day a den was somewhere you went and paid a lady, not wearing much more than pair of stiletto's, to whip you.
Sounds more fun than twigs and branches.

be carfull you will get @Parm come asking questions.

 

[MysterG]

Yeah well he won’t be getting a full on underground secret lair complete with fake volcano and 360 degree CCTV system, but the pair of them have been bugging me about this for ages so they might get a semi buried used diesel tank covered up with turf nicked from the school playing fields and a periscope made out of an old drainpipe.

I had a den made from an old packing crate. Above ground, felted roof etc.
Anyhoo where Father worked they got loads of these large crates for nowt from the near by MOD place. Apparently one day they opened one up and it had a periscope in it...

 

[Trevorleach]

It was I'm sure discussed on here and a video of the company you refer to put up. It was in a thread on potential workshops.

I have no idea, I watch all sorts of crap on youtube, and always end up going off on a tangent somewhere!

 

[Onoff]

be carfull you will get @Parm come asking questions.

Like "Can I have the address?"

 

[Parm]

Like "Can I have the address?"

I have several

Which one do you want?

 

[magnet]

There is a great old book your kids might like.
Shelters shacks and shanties by Dan Beard. It's full of stuff to make. There is at least 1 underground den in there

 

[Onoff]

I really think that kids who's Dads build this sort of project are the envy of their friends, top of their peer group and are talked about in awed tones. They go on to have loads of girlfriends, a hugely successful and happy life etc.

How do I know this?

'Cos I never had a ****ING underground camp!

 

[Onoff]

How about...

A concrete sectional garage? Often given away free on say Gumtree etc...if the taker removes it. Won't last forever in the ground and will likely leak like a sieve...

Damp dungeon springs to mind!

 

[Keith 66]

When i was about 13 we dug out a collapsed WW2 dugout in the woods, roofed it with logs & covered it with ivy & leaves, proper den. One day Dad & I were coming back from shooting & passed by the den, we were sitting inside when we heard my mates approaching, they were carring some sheets of old corrugated iron to replace the roof. Dad pushed one of the roof logs aside to make a gap pulled his old jacket up over his head & just as my mates got there arose through the ivy & leaves making an awful moaning zombie noise. They were utterly terrified & ran screaming like rabbits dropping all their tin & gear with a clatter.
My Dad was helpless with mirth for an hour & still laughed about it 40 years later.

 

[Ali]

Todays digging session didn’t go to plan, but I could see the cogs turning as he realised at least part of what I’d been trying to explain to him was true…sometimes you just have to see it for yourself



Enthusiasm however, undampened.

 

[Barking Mat]

Hobbit house time above ground, me thinks.

 

[colnerov]

Todays digging session didn’t go to plan, but I could see the cogs turning as he realised at least part of what I’d been trying to explain to him was true…sometimes you just have to see it for yourself

View attachment 331470

Enthusiasm however, undampened.

Hi, Just like the Somme. Tell him that's what his ancestors had to put up with during the Great war.

Colin

 

[bigegg]

Todays digging session didn’t go to plan, but I could see the cogs turning as he realised at least part of what I’d been trying to explain to him was true…sometimes you just have to see it for yourself

View attachment 331470

Enthusiasm however, undampened.

On the other hand: now's a good time to get him interested in frogs.

Or swimming, if he keeps digging.