Fallout Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Fallout Wiki
F76 Vault 76 Main Door

Unlike internal doors, Vault blast doors[Non-game 1] or Vault gear doors[1] are designed not only to keep contaminants and radiation out but also to protect the occupants from danger. These massive doors are one of the iconic elements of a Vault, their gear design instantly recognizable in the wastelands.

These Vault doors had a projected 2% failure rate, in case of a direct hit by a nuclear missile.[2] The only known Vault to have been hit by a nuclear weapon is Vault 87 and the blast damaged the door beyond repair.[3]

Seal-N-Safe model no. 343[]

The No. 343[4] gear door model, first used in the demonstration vault. It was subsequently used in several Californian Vaults, including Vault 8, 12, 13, 15, and other installations. They were usually shipped assembled and installed whole.[5][Non-game 2]

The central element of the assembly is, of course, the gear-shaped door. Four yards (3.6m) thick at its thickest point and made out of heavy duty steel, they are designed to withstand a lot of punishment.[6] The twelve cogs of the door lock into recessions cut into the frame. The door was shaped like a cork, using friction wedge design to plug the door frame.[7]

When the correct password was entered, the door would be removed from the frame by a hydraulic press, placing it on the external track. A separate mechanical arm would extend from the external assembly, lock into the recessions placed on the back of the door, and smoothly slide it into a reinforced container on the side.[8]

An integral component of the door is the airlock, overpressurized to keep the contaminants out of the Vault. This long hallway's floor was covered in a grating, coupled with a series of wall-mounted vents for decontamination.[9] It terminates in a security door leading into the vault. Unlike other models, this one opened sideways, with interlocking steel plates on both sides and a slab of lead sandwiched between them for added protection.[10]

Advanced Vault door[]

FO3 Vault door 101 new
Vault 111

Vaults also used superior models, like the advanced vault doors.[11] Thicker and with nine cogs instead of twelve, it was fitted into the door frame snugly and was opened inwards, rather than outwards, by a large hydraulic arm suspended from the ceiling inside the airlock. The door had a clearance of 4.52 meters (14 feet and 10 inches), allowing easy entrance and exit. The door ensured that the airlock would remain overpressurized and keep contaminants out of the controlled environment of the vault. The door used a rail-magnetic system to roll to the side, when placed into the frame, metal "locking" rods are inserted into the frame keeping the door in place whilst metal clamps keep the rods in place. Each "tooth" of the door has rods which extend into the frame creating a near impenetrable seal. The fortified variant uses a thicker door with a different mechanical arm which "welds" the door in place. The door itself created a pressurized seal, meaning the seal itself creates a suction when it opens, strong enough to suck paper through the door.[12]

When activated, the airlock would initiate a purge cycle, equalizing pressure through the door-mounted valve. The safe distance for anyone in front of the vault door was 10 meters (33 feet). Once the cycle was completed, the door would be engaged by the mechanic arm, pulled back onto the internal track, and rolled sideways. The mechanism relied entirely on the mechanical arm, rather than a hydraulic press as in the No. 343 model.[8]

The airlock was also different. People entering the Vault would do so through a trench flanked with railings, observed from the control station by security personnel. The airlock was equipped with ceiling-mounted sprinklers, for easy decontamination.[13] The advanced model could also be further reinforced, with the resulting fortified vault door offering top-notch protection against assailants trying to get into the vault.[14]

Vault 76 has a unique blast door, where the cogs act as an extension, and are not as thick as the entire door itself like previous models. Rather, the door is pulled into the frame by several rods which then clamp down as the locking rods insert themselves in. It is the thickest and most durable door seen in any vault. The design means the cogs wedge the whole door into the mountain frame, and the entire frame is involved in the mechanism as seen when the door opens.

Additional protective measures[]

Dome elevator[]

The dome was an additional protective measure designed for Vault 111. Placed on the top of the hill overlooking the neighborhood, the dome would protect the interior of the vault by causing the blast wave to pass over it, without concentrating at any one point. In the center of the dome was a secondary blast door that protected the lift leading inside the vault. It appears that the dome has an emergency interface panel, which allows the blast door to be open manually using a crank and a wheel. The elevator itself has reinforced concrete walls and is approximately 310 feet, (94 meters) deep. Using in game measurements. (9[15]

Blast door[]

Vault 8 was one of the few vaults equipped with an additional door built into the side of a mountain. Embedded into a concrete wall reinforcing the slopes, the massive door was designed to seal the access corridor to the internal vault door. The circular reinforced concrete frame provided additional protection and ensured equal distribution of weight in case of a natural catastrophe. Vault 76 had a similar design.


Notes[]

  • Despite not having a visible keyboard, the door access panels on the east coast use a password (though it may be that the password is input through speech, as shown by there being a large speaker mounted on the panel's face).
  • Access panels are usually free-standing, supported by small metal columns set into the ground. The likeliness of them surviving intact after a nuclear blast, being almost directly impacted by it, is very low; most are still in working condition despite this.
  • The door in Vault 108 cannot close by activation of the access panel. Instead, the Lone Wanderer can activate the door itself.
  • Many Vaults in the Mojave do not have actual functioning Vault doors, as Vault 3 and Vault 22's doors function as a loading screen, while Vault 34's door has no control panels and as such cannot function.
  • In Fallout 4, the Vault 88 door is the only one that can be opened and closed any time; the other Vault doors cannot be closed after they are opened.
  • The welcome screen for Fallout Shelter Online uses a Vault door with eight cogs, though nearly every other art asset in the game uses a nine-cog model.
  • The Fallout 4 vault doors read "Societal Preservation Program" on the exterior.
  • In the D.C. Vault-Tec headquarters, a vault door can be seen hanging from the ceiling to the right of the lobby.
  • In the main hall of the Vault-Tec University, there is an unnumbered vault door displayed.
  • In the vault tech workshop dlc for fallout 4, another door is introduced; similar in design to the original design but with 9 cogs instead of 12. it is also thinner and smaller. It has similar locking rods that the later models employ. 8 to be exact, but these are in the frame of the door not the cogs, rather they lock into the door on hydrualic presses so it can be moved into and out of the frame whilst keeping the friction wedge design.

Behind the scenes[]

1e. Vault doors were in the tanker in San Fran, from which vault are they, and who brought them onto the ship?
They are unmarked models, planned for shipment somewhere up or down the West Coast. The "Vault Doors" were used for more than just Vaults, however, so the door may have been intended for some other facility. It's most likely just there because of designer caveat/designer privilege/game logic - the designer probably just needed something to fill up space in the tanker, and the door looked like good "junk.
Chris Avellone addressing the presence of the Vault door frame in the PMV Valdez' hold, Fallout Bible 6

Whether the No. 343 model would actually protect better against a nuclear blast is a matter of debate. The nine cog model rests in its recessions with mechanical stops to prevent it from collapsing inward under the shockwave. Alongside magnetic rods keeping it wedged against the frame, it is also thicker and heavier than the No. 343. By comparison, the No. 343 has a friction wedge and stops for the cogs. As a result, the shockwave would press it harder against the frame and complete the seal, unless the entire door frame fails. The newer model would allow the door to be opened even if rubble had fallen near the door on the outside. However, the newer model does seem to be more advanced and protect better, as the door's rods insert into the whole frame and are mag-locked, as one would have to bypass the entire frame in order to breach the door. Furthermore, as seen in Fallout and Fallout 2, the 12 cog model lacking the same support stabilisers and rods mean it is easier for external forces to breach the vault door; a super mutant is capable of ripping the door off of its frame. However the in game doors are not as thick or as heavy as they are in lore.

Gallery[]

Fallout[]

Fallout 2[]

Fallout 3/Fallout: New Vegas[]

Fallout 4[]

Fallout 76[]

Fallout Shelter[]

Fallout Shelter: The Board Game[]

Concept art[]

References[]

  1. Internal asset name from Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.
  2. Museum of Technology vault system tour: "Sleep in quiet comfort knowing that our impenetrable vault doors can withstand a direct hit by an atomic bomb with only a projected 2% failure rate."
  3. Vault 87 overseer's terminal: "...The main door to Vault 87 is damaged beyond repair and we are detecting extremely high levels of lethal radiation outside and in the entry tunnel.."
  4. Vault 15 town map
  5. PMV Valdez in Fallout 2 carries an assembled door frame in its hold.
  6. Vault Dweller's Survival Guide p.1-1—1-2: Important Vault Statistics
    Vault Number ............................13
    Starting construction date .........August 2063
    Ending construction date ..........March 2069
    Starting Budget .........................$400,000,000,000
    Final Budget, with interest ........$645,000,000,000
    Total number of occupants .......1,000 (at capacity)
    Total duration ...........................10 years (at capacity)
    Number of living quarters .........100 (hot bunking required if at maximum capacity)
    Door thickness ..........................4 yards, steel
    Earth coverage .........................3,200,000 tons of soil, at 200 feet
    Computer control system .........Think machine
    Primary power supply ...............Geo-thermal
    Secondary power supply ..........General Atomics Nuclear Power backup systems
    Power requirements .................3.98mkw/day
    Stores .......................................Complete construction equipment, hydro-agricultural farms, water purification from underground river, defensive weaponry to equip 10 men, communication, social and entertainment files (for total duration)
  7. Fallout intro
  8. 8.0 8.1 Behavior of the prop.
  9. Fallout intro
  10. Fallout intro
  11. Fallout Shelter
  12. Function and appearance of Vault doors in Fallout 4.
  13. Airlock appearance.
  14. Fallout Shelter fortified vault door
  15. Fallout 4 trailer

Non-game

  1. Vault Dweller's Survival Guide: "The simulation will now start. After a briefing by the Vault Overseer as to your immediate task, you will appear outside the Vault Blast Door."
  2. Fallout Bible 6: "1e. Vault doors were in the tanker in San Fran, from which vault are they, and who brought them onto the ship?
    They are unmarked models, planned for shipment somewhere up or down the West Coast. The "Vault Doors" were used for more than just Vaults, however, so the door may have been intended for some other facility. It's most likely just there because of designer caveat/designer privilege/game logic - the designer probably just needed something to fill up space in the tanker, and the door looked like good "junk.""
Advertisement