Secrets of a Good Cache

Some tips for the newbies about how to make a proper cache. Types of Caches and the technical aspects of how to seal containers for underground and deep woods storage. What types of Items should you store? Where? How? Lets start at the beginning, because even seasoned pros are cache rich with the wrong items and containers that are unsuitable.

What do you cache?
1. Items that you either don't want to have taken from you by other folks that decide they need them more than you do and will get rid of you to obtain.
2. The basic elements that may help you to survive when no other help exists.
3. Anything you don't want to be forced to share with others even within your group, or that they may conspire to steal from you.
4. Anything that needs special care or environments to maintain its usability.
5. Any ongoing items set aside for future generations. Time capsules if you will.

Lets break this down further with specifics.
1. Salt is King! Quantities of bot iodized salt, and large quantities of curing salt. Salt will become one of the most valuable commodities.
2.Gold and Silver. Along with a cheap hanging balance and a sharp chisel. Look up pieces of eight. No one will trade full rounds. 2 bits 4 bits 6 bits a dollar. Be prepared to cut and weight gold and silver bars,coins and rounds.
Best to have all coin stock so the origin/quality is clear.
3. Ammunition as in the other thread will be liquid gold. There may even be a time when most firearms are discarded due to lack of ammunition.
4. Certain electronics. Yes they will live through atomic blasts and EMP blasts if kept a certain way.
5. Spices......
6. Seeds stored in rotation to keep fresh.
7. Groups of pocket knives, pipes, small mirrors, razors and tobacco twists. Hudson bay trade items are the same items that should be cached for trade.

Next installment: Basic yet proven cache technologies

The first thing we will cover is protecting electronics.

Electromagnetic pulse can be overcome in on particular manner that is most effective. This won't hold up under a pulse generator, but a wave burst pulse or as would be most likely encountered is overcome as follows:

1. Secure the old vietnam era metal ammo cans with good rubber seals.
2. Secure anti static wrapping like you would find mother boards wrapped in.
3. Shredded newspaper or strip news paper.
4. Plastic cooler of a size to hold two ammo cans.
5. Tube of silicone sealer.
6. Tinfoil.
7. cardboard

Double wrap the small items in the anti static material after warming them for several hours about 10 degrees F above room temp, by placing in front of a heater. Warm the ammo cans after lining the interior with cardboard and filling half full of newspaper suspend small item and cover and fill around until newspaper holds in in the center of the can. clamp down the lid on the warmed can and contents. label and place cans inside warmed cooler. Apply silicone to sealing ridge and close lid, immediately apply a bead of silicone to seal the outside lid crack. watch it doesn't suck a hole in while cooling if so add sealer.

Bury cooler after tying closed with rope at a depth of 4' which can be inside a wooden box as well. after laying three feet of soil cover the hole surface area with a layer of tinfoil add 6 more inches and another layer then cap even with dirt and cover with debris. Buried deep in a cave may be better.

You will only be able to save a couple of things. A crank or solar radio might be nice, or heat detectors etc. A folding solar panel should also be around to power these items.

Next up was to be the cooler but we covered electronics and the cooler in one so we will go over sewer pipe next.

Sewer Pipe Cache.

Sewer pipe the kind without holes known as tightline can be cut and capped for waterproof containers. There are two types of caps, a permanent one and a smaller mass one for tests. either are fine. There are also collar caps with threaded plugs that can be used if the pipe is to be opened. If you don't get the plugged ends you need to allow room to saw off one end to open them. Food should be in food grade plastic bags and one large thick bag used to hold everything and protect against moisture inside the tube. These are heated as before when gluing the caps on and a second bead used on the lip of the cap.

These are hidden buried and marked with relation to local large land marks not rocks logs or things that can be moved.

Great thread. Quick question, why salt? and should I invest in buying some?

looking forward to more updates.

reply to post by Illuminis

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Good information on the caching techniques, but I don't understand why you think gold, silver, and electronic devices like radios will be useful..

You can't eat gold or silver, and as for their monetary value I believe in a sit x scenario it would be neglible. Gold is valued for aesthetic reasons. I doubt anyone will be very concerned about how chic they look when their stomach is rumbling. It's not even a good conductor. It's too soft to make tools out of, and finally it's heavy!

Radios, TV, etc. will be of little use as well. What are you going to listen to once all the stations and channels have gone off the air? Static? white noise? They'll just be sad reminders of what used to be, and what will probably be never again.

The salt I can see. Humans need it for their bodies, and it's a good preservative. Ammo is a given.. guns without bullets are as useless as radios without radio stations.