I dug up my little DIY cache the other day...

[bannockburn]

About a year ago, after reading several threads on burying things ( primarily ammo), I wondered how viable it was to put together a quick cache of ammo. It took me about 30 minutes to dig a hole 3' deep, and another 30 minutes to put together my storage container. Basically I wanted to use things that could be readily found around the house and assembled in a short amount of time.

I started out with an empty plastic cylinder, in this case one that formerly held disposable hand wipes. The container itself is about 8 1/2" high with a 4" diameter, and has a sturdy snap-on lid. My ammo consisted of 4 boxes of American Eagle .22LR (40 rounds a box), 2 boxes of Wolf .223 (20 rounds a box), and 1 box of Winchester 9mm. (50 rounds). I sealed the 4 boxes of .22 in a Zip-Loc stoarge bag, along with individual bags for the remaining 3 boxes of ammo. I then taped over the bags with duct tape for additional protection. As it turned out, the tape wasn't needed; the bags held out just fine. Then I placed the ammo bags in a larger Zip-Loc bag and placed it inside the plastic container.

The container went into another Zip-Loc bag, and this was sealed up with duct tape. I followed this with two more large plastic bags and proceeded to "plant" the container in the ground. Once in the ground, I inverted an empty plastic flower pot to divert water over the container. After filling in with some loose soil, I planted a small shrub on top. From start to finish, it took about 1 hour for completion.

After one year, I found that the two outer bags were both filled with maybe a couple of ounces of water. The inner bag however had not been affected. Likewise the plastic container and the ammo were still intact and completely dry. All items within the container are still factory fresh, and function perfectly. Overall my quick cache experiment was successful and could probably be done on a larger scale with other containers.
vv[/IMG]

 

[Blackbeard]

I wonder if a food vacuum sealer would help with the water issue. You could vacuum pack a small handgun and several rounds of ammo

 

[Browning]

Why not use an ammo can or a 5 gallon bucket with a sealed lid?

They'd both work alot better than a baby wipe container.

 

[bannockburn]

Blackbeard

I think it couldn't hurt, though with the multiple layers of bags I used, there was not a problem with moisture in the innermost container.

 

[Atla]

Boston's Gun Bible has a section regarding caching weapons and ammunition.

It's a great book that every shooter should have a copy of.

 

[bannockburn]

Browning

Well because that's what I had laying around the house at the time. And I was curious to see if it would hold up under those conditions. It did, and from just using things thrown together at a moments notice, I thought that it worked remarkably well.

 

[Picard]

Well if you planted a Glock, you won't need to use a container.

In all seriousness, this does seem like a good idea. Buy a small, relatively inexpensive handgun and put it away with a few hundred rounds of ammo. If all else fails, at least you'll have some kind of firearm.

 

[goon]

The water in the bag may have been condensation. I've noticed it before with ammo that I pulled out of magazines. I stuck it in a plastic bag because I didn't have anything else to do with it.
A week or so later I took it out at the range and noticed that the ammo was wet.
It still shot fine and I know that condensation was the only way the water could have gotten there.

 

[CWL]

Buy a tube of silicone sealer to keep around. next time you're sealing a plastic tub, run a line of the sealer around the edge for a real airtight seal.

Plastic bags degrade very easily actually, that's why you found water in the first 2 bags.

 

[esmith]

That's cool! I should try this. Im willing to bet that water was from condensation. Either way, it made an interesting experiment.

 

[Sackett]

That is interesting. I'm curious what your impetus was (other than reading some posts last yr.). Is the idea that the antis in our govt. will finally succeed and they'll confiscate guns/ammo? I'm not saying that's at all unlikely, especially given the tangent my loony state is on.

Or is the idea that your collection could get stolen, house burn down, etc. and you'd want something up your sleeve? Or some other scenario I've missed? Gets the imagination going that's for sure.

Reminded me of the caches that Lewis and Clark set up during their famous trek. Any bookworms might want to check out "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Realbigo]

This is really interesting, as I was going to start a thread asking about other peoples expieriences w/ cacheing. I just planted two in the last week. one on public land, and one on private that belongs to a friend. They are just Rice and papers in sealed plastic buckets as a test. I figure I'll pull them after Hurricane season, and see how they fared.

 

[bannockburn]

goon

There was too much water to be condensation, besides which it was muddy; we had a lot of rain recently and the ground was pretty saturated. But I figured those two outer bags were going to get damaged anyways. They were just some additional protection to buy the container some extra time. Same with putting the plastic flower pot over the top.

CWL

I didn't think about the silicone caulk; great idea, will use it next time. Thanks.

Sackett

I don't know, I guess it was just to see if a quick cache could be put together and buried in a relatively short amount of time. And then, could it hold up for a year or more, with the contents still intact. I think it worked; though my next experiment might be on a slightly larger scale, perhaps with some type of implement involved.

 

[FatBoy]

Why not just use PVC pipe?? Get a length of pipe from Lowe's or HD and some end caps. You could vac seal the ammo/gun inside the pipe also.
FB

 

[bannockburn]

FatBoy

I'm sure there are any number of containers you could use; I just picked one that was handy. That was kind of my idea in the first place; could a secure storage cache be assembled from items around the house, in a short period of time, and have a reasonable expectation of being successful. Sort of a field expediency experiment, if you will. It worked, so now it's on to bigger and better things for the next planting season.

 

[ChrisVV]

As Atla said this is what I thought about when I saw your this post.

 

[Gerald in Ga]

Howdy,
Good containers can be obtained from most grocery store bakerys. The good kind will have rubber seals inside the lids. Ask for empty cake icing buckets. They come in different sizes and are given away for free. Good for storing bulk foods in also. Rice, sugar, etc.

 

[Guns and more]

Go to a Greek restaurant and ask for used olive containers. They are plastic, about two feet high, ten inches wide, and have a screw on lid. I used to get them to keep things dry on my boat. They'd be perfect.

 

[ilbob]

The reason you are getting moisture inside the closed bags is because they are not air tight. Moisture seeps through the seal and condenses inside.

Duct tape is not really the answer.

I suspect the vacuum sealed bags woud work very well, would just need to put them inside some thing to protect it from physical damage.

 

[doc2rn]

Hot glue gun is also one of my favorite ways to seal a container.

 

[Browning]

Building and preparing a cache for firearms and ammo

Browning

Well because that's what I had laying around the house at the time. And I was curious to see if it would hold up under those conditions. It did, and from just using things thrown together at a moments notice, I thought that it worked remarkably well.

Well it is interesting just to see what happens.

I just meant that if you were going to stick a firearm or ammo costing hundreds of dollars that a sturdier air tight container (that's still pretty cheap/$5 to $10) might be a better way to go and it's a better way to protect your investment.

5 gallon paint bucket with a sealed lid.

Tall 20 MM ammo can.

Also, if you place a foot to 6 inch high layer of rocks and/or gravel underneath the container (ammo can, 5 gallon sealed paint bucket with lid, sealed PVC pipe etc) in the very bottom of the hole then it drains off any rain water or moisture that will naturally seep through the dirt when it rains or if you have a high water table.


Tips on how to build a cache.

http://www.ssrsi.org/Onsite/cacheguns.htm

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1735279/posts

http://www.savvysurvivor.com/supplycache.htm

 

[Sistema1927]

I don't know who said it several years ago on this very forum, but it is still true:

"The time to start burying guns and ammo is the same time that you should be digging it up."

 

[walksbyhimself]

How about putting some silica gel or some other dessicant in there with the stuff? That oughta help with the moisture.

 

[thegriz]

I don't know who said it several years ago on this very forum, but it is still true:

"The time to start burying guns and ammo is the same time that you should be digging it up."

I think this is flawed logic. If a confiscation happens it may happen in a stealthy, sneaky way. Law enforcement officers can be masters of deception and they can be very creative in getting what they want. Take the tax evader, Ed Brown, in New Hampshire and his fortified home for example. The federal marshals deceived the Browns and got somebody on the inside. In that case it probably avoided a violent confrontation. My point is, at the time you need your firearms you might not have any unless you have previously hidden some. So, to that extent, your saying is right - it's time to dig them up. You just can't dig them up if you never buried them.

I urge everybody to exercise caution when burying firearms because it could end in tragedy or criminal charges if some local kids find your stash.

 

[kentucky bucky]

I would use a length of schedule 40 pipe and 2 end caps. If you glue them with plastic pipe glue, I know they would'nt leak. You might even be able to seal one end without permanently gluing it.