Dug up my Y2K Cache Capsule Today!

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Greetings All!

Back in Jan. of this year I decided to try a little experiment with something that had been rattling around in my head. I wanted to devise several cache options to stash away emergency food stores as well as possible places to stash some of my weapons,ammo,and valuables.

A co-worker of mine had an old gun safe for sale. Actually it was practically a give-away at $25.00. It was idea for the plan that I had in mind. First, let me explain where I decided to place this stash box. Out behind the house I have several storage sheds,I picked the oldest looking shed for my stash site due to the fact what's kept there is some of my junk. You know,stuff that you just hate to throw away,but have nowhere else to put it!

Anyway,first I dug a hole deep enough to allow the safe to be placed down flat in the hole with the door facing up.Before putting in the hole I spray painted the whole safe with several coats of rust-proof paint.I lined the hole with thick plastic sheeting allowing enough excess to be folded over the top.After the safe was placed inside the hole,goods placed inside,plastic folded up over the door,I then placed a wood cover(pressure-treated 1/4" plywood with handles on each end)over the plastic.The reason for the wood cover was to keep dirt off of the plastic,makes it easier to get into,just remove dirt down to the handles,then remove cover,unfold plastic,unlock safe door,easy access to your stash.

I stashed several items within this capsule to see how effective it would be against water and mildew.I might add that this shed does leak when it rains and water does run down through it from the slope in the backyard.Location within the shed was in a far corner that had a stack of old tires placed above,mind you those tires still have some good wear on them!

Some of the items placed within the capsule were as follows:

2-Rifles oiled and vacumed sealed,wrapped in cloth first.

2000-Rds. of ammo,also vacum-sealed.

2-Gals.-water.

First-aid kit.

12-cans of veggies.

6-cans of meats.

6-cans of fruit.

Weeks supply of rice and flour,both vacum-sealed.

Wind-up solar radio with extra batteries,flashlight also.

That's about all I had room for. I did throw in a few other items that were unprotected just to see if they would make it. I'm very pleased to report that everything looked exactly the way they did back in Jan. As a matter of fact,I'm gonna start several more of these stash holes. If I could find a few more old safes,come to think of it,the abs plastic tool boxes that goes in the back of truck beds would work well. Guess I'll start hitting the yard sales and estate sales.

Take care All!

-- Ex-Marine (Digging In@Home.com), July 17, 1999

Answers

Ex-Marine,

Cool! How'd you vacuum-pack something as big as a rifle? I've done food but nothing that large.

-- Jill (jdance@mindspring.com), July 18, 1999.


How do you vacum pack anything?

-- Bob (kabob@snet.net), July 18, 1999.

I don't know about vacumn sealing rifles, but a good vacumn sealer was our first Y2K purchase last Aug. We have used it to seal pasta, biscuit mixes, medical supplies, spices, nuts, books, lots of things. We even vacumn sealed all the beef we had butchered last fall. Meat will be good for 5 years, unless of course, there is no power. We are butchering another one this fall, so we have started to can the beef we have frozen now. We do have two generators with mufflers & lots of fuel, so maybe we can keep the freezer going.

-- Carol Ann (JCclass69@aol.com), July 19, 1999.

Hi Jill!

Re: How do you vacum seal a rifle?

First off let me explain my reasons for doing this,considering that the vacum sealing bags do not come cheap. I have a very large amount of weapons ranging from muzzle-loaders to the exotic varieties. I have always been a collector as well as my father. We were looking for a safe way to stash some of our weapons in the likely-hood of a total 10 scenario.

The vacum bags can be obtained in rolls, we generally purchase the 8 1/2" x 20 ft. rolls that you can cut to length. Seal one end after desired length is obtained,oil weapon good,wrap in an old beach towel or other type of covering,this was done to prevent sharp edges from piercing the bag during the vacum-sealing process. This will keep the weapons safe from any possible moisture damage.

As far as obtaining the bags goes we used to get ours from our local hardware store, but due to supply and demand,they're getting harder to come by. So ,lately we started ordering through Cabela's,it's cheaper than our hardware store and we recieve our orders in less than 3 days.

Believe me,there's no end to what you can seal with this product,I personally believe it was the best buy our family made. BTW-there's alot of great tips in the archives concerning the usuage of the Foodsaver.

In closing I would like to add that some may read this thread and think that I am another so-called radical gun nut or psycho-marine,but let me assure all. That's far from the truth,we're just simple mountain country folk that believe in the rights that our fore-fathers strived to obtain for all. My handle speaks for it self in regards to our outlook for the coming roll-over.

Take Care All!

-- Ex-Marine (Digging In@Home.com), July 19, 1999.


Thanks ex-marine, I was hoping you'd be saying you used the Foodsaver, since I've recently acquired one. For the person above who asked how you vacuum pack anything, here's the answer... a Tilia Foodsaver. It's a countertop appliance (I bought mine at Service Merchandise)that vacuum seals bags and canning jars. If you can't find the info you need, e-mail me and I'll see if I can help.

-- Jill (jdance@mindspring.com), July 19, 1999.


Ex-Marine,

How was the ammo? I was afraid to vacuum seal mine since the negative pressure might 'pop' the bullets out of their casings. Any problems there?

-TECH32-

-- TECH32 (TECH32@NOMAIL.COM), July 19, 1999.


TECH32

Re:Question concerning negative pressure when vacum-sealing ammo.

Before trying this I consulted with an ammunition dealer here in our state-Ga.Arms,just to be on the safe side.The reason I chose to ask them was because I buy alot of special calibers that I don't have the dies for. There ammo when bought in small amounts comes vacum-sealed in plastic bags. Just to be sure I opened several packs and rechecked my overall length. I tested some of my own loads as well as some factory rds. Did'nt have any problems with overall bullet length in either!

Hope this helps!

-- Ex-Marine (Digging In@Home.com), July 20, 1999.


Another method for avoiding rust on stored guns: Try Oxygen Absorbing Packets packed inside the bag. You can get them in various sizes from a company called 'Intertek'. They have a web site but I can't link it for you, www.foodsave.net. Since oxygen comprises about 20% of the normal atmosphere, the absorption of it will create a partial vacuum and, more importantly, will eliminate ALL the oxygen. No oxygen, no oxidation.

-- Derald Yancey (yancey-dv@webtv.net), July 24, 1999.

Ex-marine

I was at the Army/Navy Surplus store just today. I wanted to pick up bunny boots and some more mylar water storage bags. 120 liters bags - 4 @ $5.00. The bags are big enough to compartmentalize into several individual niches for various goods. This way I can store a weeks worth of food in one place without disturbing any other bags or sites. I like the idea of caching in different places. One may not be able to get to a particular stash on an *as needed* basis. To seal off the different areas I use an iron, and have toyed with the idea of using a metal pizza cutter (hot) to seperate the items.

Using ABS or PVC pipe is a first choice for me. It provides security from water, critters, and visuals from unfriendlies when buried. It also is easily adapted to vacuum or nitrogen with a common tire valve stem.

Vacuuming can be accomplished simply by cutting a small hole in the corner of the mylar bag, inserting a small tube (large straw, small diameter tubing, etc) and drawing the air out with a household vacumm cleaner or I use a 12v auto tire pump w/deflator nozzle accessory. It is very easy and cheap. Just seal the bag with an iron or similar, after extricating as much air as possible. Add desicants as needed and you've got it!

Sorry if this is running long but one more thing. I saw a very interesting article while at the Army/Navy Surplus store. For $7 bucks I could have purchased an authentic, heavy duty, water tight, canister(s) that recently held 120mm ordinance. It was so neat, I know I will just have to return soon an get one [probably 2]. The thing that worries me is being seen carring those things to or from a cache site, LOL, any way I just love looking around in that place.

PS. Canisters look big enough to store a rifle (broken down), and ammo, but I don't do guns.

-- Michael (mikeymac@uswest.net), July 25, 1999.


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