Survivalists and doomsday preppers—once seen as fringe outliers—are increasingly going mainstream. In addition to a popular reality TV show about preppers, more and more “regular people” are preparing go-bags for events ranging from hurricanes to blackouts to civil unrest. Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic, people who have a well-stocked bug-out location already prepared are starting to seem prescient. In his new book, Bunker: Preparing for the End Times (Scribner, August), Bradley Garrett—worldwide adventurer and author—explores communities around the world preparing for the apocalypse and shares an inside perspective on why and how they are preparing for the unexpected—and a close-up look at their varied accommodations. In this excerpt, he shares what life is like inside one such bunker.

The Survival Condo in Kansas—the most lavish and sophisticated private bunker in the world—was once a Cold War U.S. government missile silo. Built in the early 1960s […]