Caches and Essential Items

First let me say that I like your cache idea. Always good to have "checkpoints" to either hide out en route to your final destination or stop to restock yourself or others in your party.

With that said, your cache seems to hold a good deal of stuff in it. How on earth do you afford all of this for multiple locations? Next, is how do you protect it/hide it from the rest of the world that would happily loot you. Seriously, Im a fairly honest person, but if Im wandering through the woods and find a AR-15 in a tree trunk, its more than likely coming home with me.

You mentioned you likely wouldnt be able to turn people away who joined you, thats all well and good, but in reality, not you or I, or even super survivalist NR can take care of everyone. What he does with horses is a different matter however. Those who didnt plan ahead like you will need to suck it up and endure more hardships than those who planned. If you try and help everyone, in the end, you are helping no one.

Plan your caches, but plan small. There is no need to have 4 well stocked caches with so much stuff that you wind up leaving a good portion of it behind. Keep your "checkpoints" small, hidden and containing only the essentials, a little food, water, firestarter, knife, etc... and use the rest of your time and money preparing your long term shelter, be it a cave, cabin, tree fort whatever.

Originally posted by salchanra
First let me say that I like your cache idea. Always good to have "checkpoints" to either hide out en route to your final destination or stop to restock yourself or others in your party.

With that said, your cache seems to hold a good deal of stuff in it. How on earth do you afford all of this for multiple locations? Next, is how do you protect it/hide it from the rest of the world that would happily loot you. Seriously, Im a fairly honest person, but if Im wandering through the woods and find a AR-15 in a tree trunk, its more than likely coming home with me.

You mentioned you likely wouldnt be able to turn people away who joined you, thats all well and good, but in reality, not you or I, or even super survivalist NR can take care of everyone. What he does with horses is a different matter however. Those who didnt plan ahead like you will need to suck it up and endure more hardships than those who planned. If you try and help everyone, in the end, you are helping no one.

Plan your caches, but plan small. There is no need to have 4 well stocked caches with so much stuff that you wind up leaving a good portion of it behind. Keep your "checkpoints" small, hidden and containing only the essentials, a little food, water, firestarter, knife, etc... and use the rest of your time and money preparing your long term shelter, be it a cave, cabin, tree fort whatever.

Just in case anyone was not quite sure about caching containers, the commonest method appears to be cut sections approx 24 to 36 inches long of 8 or 10 in wide PVC drain pipe with end caps solvent welded on, The contents being protected within by those natty moisture absorbant crystals you buy from hardware stores. One 4 meter length plus 8 solvent fit end caps plus a bottled of plastic weld solvent gives you enough for four decent sized caches. its up to you what you put in them.

[edit on 20-1-2009 by Northern Raider]

SIMPLE METHOD OF CACHING

One of the best and easiest methods of hiding your emergency equipment is to cache it in some safe location away from your home or retreat.

The commonest method of caching is to bury it at a place that
A, you can easily find again
B, it can not be easily found or accidentally uncovered by someone else
C, it is in a position were it can be retrieved during a crisis without
Exposing you to danger
D, It is not likely to become exposed due to erosion or land slip or
Agricultural activity
E, it is not likely to become covered over by development or flood water

There are many locations for you to choose from, some will suit you some will not, its up to your own personal choice and the environment you live in. I hid my caches by burying them next to manhole covers, inspection pipe covers in rural locations along the various bug out routes I have chosen.

One of the best types of caching container I have used is the one made from plastic drainage piping, I buy a 4 metre length of 8 or 10 inch diameter heavy duty waste water piping and 8 blanking end caps, I chop up the pipe into 1 meter lengths and use either pipe welding solvent or external grade silicone sealant to seal an end cap onto one end of the pipe, I then fill the pipe with whatever I choose (maps/ rations/medical kit/ tools/ fuels/etc)
Then I add some moisture absorbent crystal sachets to the contents and seal the top on.

One point of note, you don't always need to bury the tube in a vertical position if the area is reasonably undisturbed and is not likely to attract the attention of animals you can bury it about 18 inches down, put a few rocks on it to hold it in place then back fill the hole, remember to put back the turf or whatever was on the surface so it blends in with its surroundings.

Thank you all for your comments - I do agree that my cache items comprise a heck of a lot of goods and could be extremely expensive, and lets face it, who has the time to do this sort of thing anyway.

However, I am working on the following premises:
1. we will be walking
2. the distance will be long (100 to 250km's)
3. their is a lack of drinkable water
4. the weather will be harsh (extemely hot or if travelling by night, extremely cold
5. there could be a lot of E&E (escape and evasion) to avoid possible hunters.
6. we will be accompanied by sick or injured people.
7. I don't always want to remove all items from caches in case I need to retrace my steps several times.

Most people planning caches seem to assume 100% health as well as short distances under ideal conditions.

Originally posted by deltaalphanovember
Thank you all for your comments - I do agree that my cache items comprise a heck of a lot of goods and could be extremely expensive, and lets face it, who has the time to do this sort of thing anyway.

However, I am working on the following premises:
1. we will be walking
2. the distance will be long (100 to 250km's)
3. their is a lack of drinkable water
4. the weather will be harsh (extemely hot or if travelling by night, extremely cold
5. there could be a lot of E&E (escape and evasion) to avoid possible hunters.
6. we will be accompanied by sick or injured people.
7. I don't always want to remove all items from caches in case I need to retrace my steps several times.

Most people planning caches seem to assume 100% health as well as short distances under ideal conditions.

You may need to consider a unibarrow, or cycle wheeled hand pulled trailer to carry the extra kit in and to give you injured/ infirm a rest every now again.

Like these www.cyclexpress.co.uk...

[edit on 21-1-2009 by Northern Raider]

reply to post by Northern Raider


Yeah - hundreds of gardens I can raid wheel-barrows from! How about shopping trolleys with all-terrain wheels? *grin*

I have also drawn up a list of stores that I would raid first (let's assume there is total anarchy and I won't need to worry about getting blown away by the local shopping centre security or police).

What shops would be on your list? Apart from the usual food/supplies stores?

First on my list would be the local gunstore:
1. need to get into the arms race pretty darn quick - trying to own a weapon in South Africa is an ordeal and most don't even bother.
2. lots of stuff I need there that I won't be able to get beforehand without a prescription or drawing attention to myself)

Just want to send out a shout to TheMythLives for giving me this thread idea.

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What shops would be on your list? Apart from the usual food/supplies stores?

First on my list would be the local gunstore:
1. need to get into the arms race pretty darn quick - trying to own a weapon in South Africa is an ordeal and most don't even bother.
2. lots of stuff I need there that I won't be able to get beforehand without a prescription or drawing attention to myself)

Just want to send out a shout to TheMythLives for giving me this thread idea.

None really, I try to stay one step ahead so if things turn sour politically or the weatherman says something nasty s coming I just increase the stocks of consumables in my caches and stockpiles. I keep enough food for at least 3 months at any time, when I'm worried about something I tend to icrease those stocks over a period of time to 6 months supplies. Also betwen my house and the areas I plan to bug out to if neccessary I have developed mutual support agreements with other survivalists.