# Caching Food?



## OrneryOldBat (Feb 10, 2017)

Any tips on caching food underground? 
I'm thinking sealed in mylar - 5 gallon buckets with the lid seam taped for belt and suspenders.
Avoiding standing water makes sense. Can groundhogs chew through plastic?


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

you got more to worry about than standing water - unless you're out in the arid Southwest - the ground pressure water will push right thru your tape and the locking lid gasket .... you need a much better container than a bucket ....


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

No sure that cache food is a solution to a problem. 

1st why?
2nd Why

unless you are caching food short term..under a few months and you are just putting away rice, beans and or other dry things..you are going to have problems


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Caching food would be a strategy if your worried about being over run or forced to temporarily flee in a SHTF situation. Having experience with small amounts could prove useful. If no metal is in the cache then hiding it would be a lot easier. That would make canned goods a give away to a metal detector. So you may want to separate what you cache.


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

Camel923 said:


> Caching food would be a strategy if your worried about being over run or forced to temporarily flee in a SHTF situation. Having experience with small amounts could prove useful. If no metal is in the cache then hiding it would be a lot easier. That would make canned goods a give away to a metal detector. So you may want to separate what you cache.


I have emergency boat rations included in my burial caches on the property - the caches are my re-building core in case I lose the house and the bulk of my supplies - great product for this kind of purpose ....


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## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

My son bought an old milk truck can hauler, buried it , vented it, and uses it as his root cellar, seems to be working great, with home canning, he has enough to feed a family of four , for about two years.


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## OrneryOldBat (Feb 10, 2017)

1st scenario - overrun and able to come back at primary location.
2nd - food shortage (real or engineered), government confiscating from "hoarders."
3rd - cached on BOL prior to being able to build much or live there. This is the most likely. Going to have land before I can move onto it 24/7. Need a life expectancy of ~5 years in the ground.

I'm thinking several caches. No metal. Boat rations, MREs, other long storage dry foods, essential survival supplies. 

Concerns: 

- Not attracting bears or dogs with smells. Using low-odor food, in packaging, sealed in bag, in 5 gal. bucket.
- Water. I can wrap another layer of heavy plastic around the bucket and heat seal it. At that point, if water gets in, it's up to the inside packaging.

I want to have a cache too for a backup handgun, ammo, knives, etc.. Need to think about to deflect anyone with a metal detector. Right now the only thing I'm coming up with is bury deep and/or dump a rusted out washer carcass on top.

Thoughts?


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

OrneryOldBat said:


> 1st scenario - overrun and able to come back at primary location.
> 2nd - food shortage (real or engineered), government confiscating from "hoarders."
> 3rd - cached on BOL prior to being able to build much or live there. This is the most likely. Going to have land before I can move onto it 24/7. Need a life expectancy of ~5 years in the ground.
> 
> ...


I would skip the MRE's for a cache. Stick with long term storage items like rice which has a 25-30 year shelf life. Get 1 gallon Mylar bags for the food and then store in the 5 gallon Mylar bag. That way you have individual packets for several days instead of just opening the 5 gallon bucket and having to use it right away.

The metal cache, use washers, nails and screws and scatter them around the area. Take a post hole digger and bury a few here and there but at different levels. Instead of on large item on top of the cache, have a couple other large items nearby so that the cache is not just singled out. You want to represent a small junk pile. Just hope a scrapper doesn't come around, LOL.

Don't forget the Oxygen and Moisture absorbers.


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

If you have a freeze line then you will want gravel or pebbles on top around the cache and below the cache so the moisture does not freeze the ground and you can get to the top of the cache to open it. I have also heard of taking a piece of thick insulation and placing on top of the cache to help insulate against the surface.


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## TomFR (Mar 26, 2017)

For what it's worth, it always just seemed like way to must preparation and risk for the reward. So much could go wrong if not done properly.


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## Flint'n'steel (Mar 29, 2017)

PVC pipe with caps on either end and seakant around the caps?


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## Flint'n'steel (Mar 29, 2017)

Thats supposed to be sealant. Curse you thumbs!!!!


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Any food I would bury, regardless of the overall container (bucket, PVC pipe etc) would be sealed. You can buy a small food sealer for über-cheap, and vac-seal meal-sized or even one-day meal sets in a single bag. 

I would then use a large enough bag to enclose everything, or break all the smaller packages into 2 or 3 larger bags, and vac-seal those.

I've never been taken with the notion of burying a cache........ of anything. Very low rewards/risk balance. I suppose if you have the financial means to test multiple methods, then sink a lot of dough into the 'final' product, sure.... go right ahead.


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

Back Pack Hack said:


> Any food I would bury, regardless of the overall container (bucket, PVC pipe etc) would be sealed. You can buy a small food sealer for über-cheap, and vac-seal meal-sized or even one-day meal sets in a single bag.
> 
> I would then use a large enough bag to enclose everything, or break all the smaller packages into 2 or 3 larger bags, and vac-seal those.
> 
> I've never been taken with the notion of burying a cache........ of anything. Very low rewards/risk balance. I suppose if you have the financial means to test multiple methods, then sink a lot of dough into the 'final' product, sure.... go right ahead.


vac sealing would keep it clean and dry in the correct burial cache container - that's all ....


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## Back Pack Hack (Sep 15, 2016)

Illini Warrior said:


> vac sealing would keep it clean and dry in the correct burial cache container - that's all ....


Never said it wouldn't. But there's far more to it. Frost heave can bring a cache out of the ground. Floodwaters can wash it away or expose it. Landmarks you use to pinpoint it's location can change or disappear.


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## Marcgoodwin (Apr 17, 2017)

Sorry mate, I can't give your best solution about caching food. Hope someone others will help you.


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## Illini Warrior (Jan 24, 2015)

Back Pack Hack said:


> Never said it wouldn't. But there's far more to it. Frost heave can bring a cache out of the ground. Floodwaters can wash it away or expose it. Landmarks you use to pinpoint it's location can change or disappear.


point I'm making is that vac sealing isn't a long term preservation method - for this burial discussion just an organizer method ....

as far as the cache not succeeding - shouldn't be burying on any property but your own ... if it pops up with a frost heave or you're burying in a flood area - can't help stupid .... bury expensive gear that your life could depend on - then lose it? - double up on the stupid ....


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

The guy that hiked the Grand Canyon cached food for the 50+ mile sections with no access to the rim. He sealed it into metal cans, but the ground is dry there.


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