Burying Possessions

**BraggSurvivor** · 04-06-2008, 10:50 PM

Emergency Cash - Food - Maps - Presious Metals - Medicines - Guns - Ammo

With the talk of hoarding possessions lately, I thought I'd throw out a few questions.

Do you bury items?

If not, have you considered burying items for quick retrieval?

How would you bury items to keep them safe?

**beerrunner13** · 04-06-2008, 11:15 PM

When I was at the farm I had a 55 gal plastic barrel buried in the woods on the oter side of the property. Had some cash, couple changes of clothes,,22 and a 12 gauge, a backpack feady to go and some MREs along with an ax and some bug out tools,copies of all my important papers and contact numbers, 2 man tent,tarps and ropes and a bunch of other stuff I might need if the house burned down or I had to dissaper in a hurry.

**BraggSurvivor** · 04-06-2008, 11:21 PM

Good idea with the copies of important papers, never thought of that.

**beerrunner13** · 04-07-2008, 12:33 AM

Evet once in a while I come up with one. I thought of this after hurricane Andrew, but it works for a fire too. I get the Plastic drums becuse you son't have to worry about rust ing out and down here that humidity is high a lot of the year. I have gotten them in 35 gal also the big blue ones are cheap and water pruff , a foot or two of sand or dirt on top of them and it would take one heck of a fire to do any damage. If I were to do it now I would add a DVD of the house and it's contents for the insurance company.

Once we get to the homestead I will have a few of these por man caches around my property.

**Sourdough** · 04-07-2008, 12:34 AM

Hose guns with LPS#3 wrap in wax paper or Cling wrap. And then vacuum seal bags twice. Steel drums with snap'ring tops work best for securing from bears, badgers, wolverines, etc.

If you are going to bury stuff you need to leave the tool to extract it near the site. And if the ground freezes down 6' that is a digging factor.

We (Bush pilots) have Av Gas stashed all over Alaska.

**beerrunner13** · 04-07-2008, 12:59 AM

Excellent points Hopeak. I have shovels or etools in all our vehicals and freezing is not much of an issue here same for the bears you would most likelywould consider them overgrowen 'coons. but that is something I will remeber when I relocate and the gas thing is a great idea how long can you leave it befor it needs to be rotated?

**BraggSurvivor** · 04-07-2008, 01:01 AM

No sense in putting all your eggs in one basket.

Firearms I coat in cosmoline and put in a http://seallinegear.com/dry_bags.asp...tegory=DryBags wrapped in shrink wrap (make sure to add dessicant packs) Ammo the same thing with the exception of the cosmoline. I use 6" pvc pipe with end caps dipped in tar to store underground for long term. Spread scrap iron around the areas you are burying your cache for extra protection.

My son knows I have been bury cacheing for years and brought up a good question the other day, he said "if you and mom were to die or something, how an I gonna find all that stuff"?

Working that out right now. Any suggestions?

**beerrunner13** · 04-07-2008, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by BraggSurvivor

No sense in putting all your eggs in one basket.

Firearms I coat in cosmoline and put in a http://seallinegear.com/dry_bags.asp...tegory=DryBags wrapped in shrink wrap (make sure to add dessicant packs) Ammo the same thing with the exception of the cosmoline. I use 6" pvc pipe with end caps dipped in tar to store underground for long term. Spread scrap iron around the areas you are burying your cache for extra protection.

My son knows I have been bury cacheing for years and brought up a good question the other day, he said "if you and mom were to die or something, how an I gonna find all that stuff"?

Working that out right now. Any suggestions?

GPS? Maps and I have used the PVC trick myself along with the scrap metel trick the book I read suggested old car alts

**Alpine_Sapper** · 04-07-2008, 05:50 AM

Originally Posted by BraggSurvivor

No sense in putting all your eggs in one basket.

Firearms I coat in cosmoline and put in a http://seallinegear.com/dry_bags.asp...tegory=DryBags wrapped in shrink wrap (make sure to add dessicant packs) Ammo the same thing with the exception of the cosmoline. I use 6" pvc pipe with end caps dipped in tar to store underground for long term. Spread scrap iron around the areas you are burying your cache for extra protection.

My son knows I have been bury cacheing for years and brought up a good question the other day, he said "if you and mom were to die or something, how an I gonna find all that stuff"?

Working that out right now. Any suggestions?

Like Beerrunner said, GPS. Grid co-ordinates down to the second, with detailed instructions. Just make sure your kids are the only ones who know the location of the instructions, of course.

**Sourdough** · 01-06-2010, 04:13 PM

I have been thinking about this, I have some disposable firearms, bow-saws, pack-boots, tools, etc. that I was thinking of burying. But with the ground frozen 5 months per year, access could be a problem, Bears and other critters are a consideration.

SO LETS RETHINK THIS..........?

My current rethink is, above ground, and inside a heavy-wall 55 Gal. drum with a snap-ring removable top. Don't bury the drum but leave on top of the ground, cover with green/brown canvas, and local sticks & logs.

**Winnie** · 01-06-2010, 04:27 PM

How about partially burying it, in a slit tranch type affair with the drum laying on it's side. It might be easier to camouflage too.

**Sourdough** · 01-06-2010, 04:35 PM

Originally Posted by Winnie

How about partially burying it, in a slit tranch type affair with the drum laying on it's side. It might be easier to camouflage too.

That is a good idea, Winnie. Many years ago we buried them, mostly the 15 gallon size, so as to leave 12" AGL (Above Ground Level). Also I can place them with the Ski-doo, and back pack stuff to them. I am also thinking they don't need to be off the property.

**Winnie** · 01-06-2010, 04:57 PM

I suppose you could dot them here and there(as long as you can remember where you put them!) I've given this thought too. I have some stores in the garden shed, but that's not very secure, it's just somewhere that's not attached to the house to have a few bits and peices. I don't have to worry about bear-proofing stuff though.

**TucsonMax** · 01-08-2010, 09:50 PM

BraggSurvivor: a few assorted replies, where I can help:

- copies of important papers:
another way to handle this is to scan your documents and/or convert them to PDFs and save them on an encrypted thumb drive. A $5 drive could hold thousands of pages that can only be accessed w/ a password (and of course a PC and power.)

- the gas thing is a great idea how long can you leave it befor it needs to be rotated?:
I just rotated 1/2 my gas today. I rotate every 6 months and it works fine, as long as you mix in an additive to stabilize it, less it breaks-down. I use Stabil, about $11 a quart at Walmart (use 1 oz per 2.5 gals.) I have read posts taht say 1 year is okay, though I've never tested that long. I will test a 9 month batch in 90 days.

- My son knows I have been bury cacheing for years and brought up a good question the other day, he said "if you and mom were to die or something, how an I gonna find all that stuff"? Working that out right now. Any suggestions?:
Yes. If you have a family lawyer, or simply the lawyer you used to write your wills, he will (better) have original signed copies in his files. Write a letter explaining exactly where your cache is and any instuctions required. Seal it in an envelope marked: "To be opened only by our son (full name) in the event of our mutual or concurrent deaths (both names)." Give the envelope to the lawyer and tell him to put it in your file. Then give the lawyer's namer and contact info to your son with instructions to "contact the lawyer" if something happens. The lawyer won't open the letter and will abide by your wishes and shouldn't charge you for this little exercise (it's part of what you paid to have the wills written.) You might also consider including a second page of financial details (like your bank account names and numbers, mutual fund/stock accounts, life insurance, credit card and mortgage info, etc.) This document will save him tremendous headaches if something were to happen. Worse, what if he can't figure everything out by going through your desk and never discovers a long paid life insurance policy or bank account, etc?

If your Wills are over a decade old or there's been a substantial change in your family, you might consider sitting down w/ the lawyer just for a refresher and explain the envelope at the same time.

If you don't have a lawyer or don't like using one, consider the same thing with a sibling of yours/your wife or a life-long friend whom you trust.

Finally, if you don't have a Will.... get one!

**Nativedude** · 01-09-2010, 09:42 PM

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"!

**SARKY** · 01-10-2010, 02:22 AM

Because part of my yard is paved with stone, what i did was bury some goodies under this paved area. All I have to do is pull up a stone or 2 and dig down 6 inches. Noone would ever guess that anything was under the paved area.

**crashdive123** · 01-10-2010, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by SARKY

Because part of my yard is paved with stone, what i did was bury some goodies under this paved area. All I have to do is pull up a stone or 2 and dig down 6 inches. Noone would ever guess that anything was under the paved area.

Until the next earthquake you have out there. You pull up a stone or two and dig down 6 inches only to find that your cache has fallen to the center of the earth.

**2dumb2kwit** · 01-10-2010, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by crashdive123

Until the next earthquake you have out there. You pull up a stone or two and dig down 6 inches only to find that your cache has fallen to the center of the earth.

Cali just had a 6.5, but I'm not sure where, in Cali. Hope it wasn't at Sarky's house!