What is a survival cache, what is it for, and How to make one
Updated: Aug 15, 2021
Have you ever heard of a survival cache? In a situation having supplies is mandatory for surviving. Have you ever thought that you may never be able to return home or may have to leave unexpectedly?
This is where the concept of a survival cache comes into play.
What is a survival cache?
A survival cache is a secret hiding place for a valuable, emergency stockpile that is needed to survive when you have no other options. There are a few reasons why you would want to have survival caches. Survival caches are a good way to split up your supplies so that they are not all kept in one location.
On one hand you will be at home, or close when disaster strikes, and on another you would be away from home at work, kids maybe at school or at after school activities. which is a more realistic situation. There are several situations in which you might not have access to the supplies you have stocked up at home or at your bug out location. (BOL)
These situations include:
Your home and preps in it could be destroyed in natural disasters.
It's an evacuation situation and you had to go to a camp or facility.
Your home could be raided or robbed.
Something may happen to your BOL.
When using a survival cache you want to split up your supplies into multiple survival caches and bury them in between your your home and BOL, between home and your work place/ school, or between work and your BOL.
Do not bury them so close to your house like in your backyard to your BOL. More like a couple of blocks/ miles away from your house depending on how far you BOL is.
If your area is prone to floods or water disasters, I definitely suggest keeping them in your cars, and not burying them. It does you no good if the same the flood that wiped out your house has your cache under 12 feet of water. It does you no good if the same criminals that raided your house followed you for two miles before they gave up, and you buried your cache 1/2 mile away.
Situations in which you may need to travel in an emergency:
when you need to travel to a relative or friends house to check up on them, and make sure their safe and have supplies.
when traveling to and from your BOL.
when you don't have a BOL but still need to leave, For this I really suggest a bug out bag, and to keep it in your vehicle (if driving)
When trying to get away from people who want what you have.
you need to give careful consideration to what you will include in your survival cache. The contents of any emergency stockpile you assemble will depend on why you need the cache, at each location. Each cache may contain different items depending on the location and your needs.
EX.
You are traveling to a family members house to find an help them. Its about 50 miles and you have to travel on foot. The average person walks about 2-3 miles in a day, while a trained walker can walk up to 26-30 miles in a day.
So your walking and stumble upon a survival cache at 20 miles, this survival cache may contain water, food, a shelter, light, and a pair of clothes. Now the next cache may be at a camp site in the woods at another 20 miles, this cache may contain a fire starter kit, compact fishing gear, more quick rations and water. So I take you get the point.
Build these survival caches based on the traveling locations, amount of people traveling, and your needs.
Common items people stick in survival caches:
If you where forced to evacuate or flee you should prepare for this, you should have a survival cache that contains a bug out bag. This will ensure you have what you need if you can’t get back to your home or BOL.
Food, rations
water/ water filter
fire starter kit
tarp or shelter
firearms and ammunition
knife
rope
first aid
Bug out bags
flash light and batteries
clothes
maps/ compass
kids/ baby supplies
cash/silver/gold/coins
bartering items
If you are driving a long way think about including fuel, please be sure to do extensive research before hand. You MUST add fuel stabilizer and rotate these caches yearly. It’s advisable to make separate fuel caches since they will be more susceptible to discovery. you may want to think of separating the water from the rest of the items just in case it leaks or burst, we don't want any ruined equipment.
Traditionally guns stored long term are stored in axle grease. A waterproof ABS ammo can is also crush proof. any buried cache should be above the water line.
There are a minimal number of foods that will survive being stored underground for years, even if they’re packaged properly. Also, you should count on at least one package breaking open or blowing up due to being contaminated.
Your main cache should be AT your bug out location. Your bug out location is intended to be a resource center for planning, education and farming. It will be useless if all of those supplies disappear before you get there.
If your including emergency documents I suggest laminating them and still covering them in a waterproof bag.
Choosing a cache container may be a little bit harder for some people, but luckily there are plenty of already made cache container options.
What can be used as a cache container:
1. An Ammunition container
Many ammo boxes have a waterproof seal. However, they are still susceptible to corrosion and rust. Great for short term use. But there may be a way around the corrosion and rust situation, which I talked about in this article here.
2. Food grade storage bucket
These can hold large quantities of items. A storage container with a tight seal or screw on lid is ideal. The down fall is that they are pretty big and heavy depending on what you are storing in it, but still a great and affordable option.
3. PVC pipe
A go-to for many preppers when considering underground storage containers. PVC is a great inexpensive and fast way to hide something underground. It is also often done wrong. I'll walk you the process of getting it right the first time.
Materials:
length- diameter of your choice.
2 PVC caps.
1 test plug ( usually in the pvc section)
PVC cement/ or glue.
post hole digger
digger bar
a saw if your cutting the pipe to length.
Cut PVC pipe to desired length. Using a liberal amount of PCV cement or glue to attach one cap to an end of your pipe. Let the glue fully cure. The ground can be very damp if you don't live in a hot climate.
That temperature variance can cause condensation on the inside of your burial tube. Depending on what is packed and how you pack it you may seriously want to add an additional layer of moisture protection. You can use silica gel to absorb moisture within the tube. Its great for long term solutions. Be sure to wrap every item in a zip lock or vacuum sealed bag before hand.
Keep in mind that If the moisture content of the air drops below the moisture content of the silica gel the gel will release the moisture back into the air. Or use DampRid it also helps with removing moisture it only keeps absorbing it unlike the silica gel. Once saturation occurs it will drip down. Place the damprid in a small canister with holes in the top. This will catch any weeping water.
A test plug is a rubber gasket that has a wing nut and a washer. When you tighten the wing nut it pushes the rubber out to the PVC pipe creating an impermeable water barrier. Unlike the more expensive thread type pvc plugs the rubber test plug will not leak.
Insert the contents into the tube and tighten the test plug.
Pro tips: If you are going for long term underground storage remove the wing nut and coat the threads with a liberal amount of automotive grease. This will keep the threads from rusting, corroding or freezing up.
Take your 2nd pipe cap and cover the test plug. This will keep water and dirt off the plug. This will help prevent damage and make the plug wing nut easier to use in the future. Once finished bury the baby.
Mark where you want to bury your cache. Make note of physical land marks. Dig the hole at least 2 feet and drop in your newly assembled tube. Cover the hole and consider placing a rock, stone, etc on top to make finding it easier for you in the future.
Let's talk hiding and concealing your cache:
There are plenty of ways/places to store a cache but many where you shouldn't either.
Here are some places you DON'T want to store them:
Abandoned buildings- people tend to run there looking for shelter, or get burned down.
Anywhere that be a possible location for future development.
Storage facilities - A mega target
apartment building basements - It's like keeping all preps in your house.
the most obvious places people will go looking for help.
Do store your caches in these areas:
In easy access areas.
on the route to your BOL
easy access areas you know like the back of your hand.
In mapped out highway points, trails.
places you can get to buy a main route and back route
