Burying supplies can be very helpful. . . .
A friend of mine that lives in northern Idaho has portable caches buried all-around in different areas he frequents and inside his bunker/shelter.
He took 55 gal. steel drums, which have lids with snap-ring secured lids. He takes a piece of 18" L x 6" dia. galvanized pipe and welds it to the opening he cuts in the center of the top. Inside the drum he welds dividers, where he places his items (food, flashlights, first aid supplies, etc.). After sealing the lids with a rubber gasket, he snaps the ring on and then JB welds the snap lever down (so they won't ever come loose). Next he sprays the entire outside of the drum and pipe with Herculines truck bed liner to protect from rust and decay.
He then takes the drums and buries them in the ground and leaves about 8" - 10" of the pipe exposed. He has many clever ways of concealing his drums. One is covered with a big, water-filled, pre-cast rock that hides the pipe. Another is covered by a dead tree trunk, which he hollowed out so that it fits snugly over the pipe and nobody knows its there.
To store and retrieve his goods he takes his supplies and puts them in doubled up zip-lock freezer bags. Inside each bag he places a piece of 3/16" thick, 4" dia. steel, cut from old car fenders he gets at the junk yard.
To retrieve his items he uses his 6' long walking stick. To the bottom of the walking stick he attaches a high powered 4" CB antenna magnet, with a screw. He slides his walking stick down the pipe and easily attaches the magnet to the metal in the bags.
When he showed me his invention, I though. . ."pure genius"!