Posted: 6/6/2017 8:15:12 AM EDT
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I have a 6" PVC caches I've made for burial. One end is a cap while the other is a threaded clean out. You can imagine the useful things that can go inside. I've also included a tent, tarps, water treatment, various tools and misc parts.
I've run into issues with storing food. Freeze dried pouches inside a tube would work great but it is a little bang for the buck. Normally I put Mylar in a plastic buckets for food storage and have a lot of various types for dry storage (oats, corn, rice, wheat). The issue comes with keeping it dry in the ground. I know for sure the rubber lid gasket will not hold out long in the ground and soon the water will begin to accumulate inside the bucket. Anyone have experience with medium or long term food storage in ground and willing to share their experience? |
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Take the time to ditch the threaded end cap and just glue on a pvc end cap. I've had a couple of losses from threaded end caps over 25 years of putting stuff in the ground, including a pistol that was absolutely trashed.
Never had a loss with glued on caps. You can get the 1 gallon size mylar liners and mix rice and lentils together with a little bit of salt and put bags of those in there. You can cook them together if need be. Some individual main dish MRE entrees fit well also and are more moldable to fit in crevices. |
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Not to sound like a dick, but if the time comes when you have to rely on stuff you buried in the woods years ago then the severity of your situation is such that spending the extra money for the freeze drieds might be worth it.
Whatever you store in that tube has to be stored with the assumption that some degree of moisture will get into it. So, while the tube is your first line of defense against moisture, it shouldn't be your last. Whatever you pack in there should have it's own waterproof barrier as well. To my way of thinking, a 6" PVC tube is kinda small for storing large quantities of any kind of food but is a good size for keeping several days worth of food for when you're "on the run" or "on the move". To that end, were it me, I'd get some of the freezedried meals and MRE entrees, wrap and seal them in the heaviest waterproof material I can find, and tuck them away. For larger quantities, like you said, of plastic-bucket-sized quantities I'd try my best to find an alternative to in-ground storage. |
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I'm just going to throw it out there:
Some stored MREs in a PVC pipe buried somewhere in God's country aren't going to save you. Period. You do realize you can go a while w/o food, right? You do realize that you probably will pass TONS of wild edibles on your way to spend precious calories digging up (after trying to locate, and likely digging a *few* extra holes) a couple thousand calories of MREs, right? Hope you bring tons of water for that physical exertion. If this is an 'on the move' cache, then it needs perhaps a couple long term ration bars, but most importantly a water filter, cash, knife, etc. Stuff that is important. Maybe a booklet on wild edibles  .
Mad Max situations just don't happen. OK, they theoretically can, but the odds are insanely low. We don't live in some God forsaken 3rd world desert. There is tons of food here if you know where to look. And no, you don't have to resort to eating spiders and worms. Although worms are very high in protein... If said Mad Max scenario happens, I guarantee you that a few thousand calories of carbs isn't what you will be wanting. It will be ammo, cash, PMs, etc. If you get caught off guard due to house fire, natural disaster, stuff that actually happens; you will be much happier having a spare credit card, cash, USB drive with insurance info, contact info, spare ID (if legal, or legal variety), emergency pre-paid cell phone, etc. Again, useful stuff. Better to get a hotel somewhere than to sleep under a bridge or something. Hard to get a hotel with no ID, credit card. Most hotels (that I have gone to) won't even take cash anymore without a CC for damages. |