Extensive "CACHING" program.

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Sourdough

"Eleutheromaniac"
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Mar 17, 2018
Messages
6,100
Location
In a cabin, on a mountain, in "Wilderness" Alaska.
My caching program has been in existence for about sixty years. It has evolved over that period, learning from each mistake. It likely peaked about thirty or thirty-five years ago, when I had fuel and emergency supplies scattered all over Alaska. The fuel was for the bush planes, and emergency supplies were generally cached at covert bush strips, generally near mountain passes that were inclined to be weathered in (socked-in).

At this point my caching program is a critical foundation of my prepping/survival project. Most current cache sites are with-in 30 miles of the cabin/shack I reside in. There are several cabins, and debris shelters, with a lot of 55 gallon drums with snap ring lids. The smaller caches are mostly 120mm ammo cans. I like the 17 pound propane tanks for heat and cooking, as it eliminates smoke signals. Two of those tanks full are a pleasant load for an oldman to hump into the wilderness.

I don't bury caches, there are never any humans in the wilderness here, and bears have been my biggest headache over the years, but got that issue resolved. Most of my "Fall-Back" cabins are only 8'x10' with two bunks. That is small but better then a tent at 30 below zero.

Z-CORR and "BLUE-BAGS" work best for long term firearm cache/storage, and an AR-platform rifle fits nicely in a 120 mm ammo can, in fact you can get (2) Two AR-platform rifles in one 120 mm can, plus a boat load of magazines and loose ammo, spare parts and tools.
 
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I don't bury caches, there are never any humans in the wilderness here, and bears have been my biggest headache over the years, but got that issue resolved. Most of my "Fall-Back" cabins are only 8'x10' with two bunks. That is small but better then a tent at 30 below zero.

Bears are a problem where I am, so I would love to know how you resolved that issue.
 
VP it appears you have given this method of survival a considerable amount of thought. So the first question that came to mind, what do you think will precipitate your need to evac to a secondary position. Since it has not been mankind but bears that have troubled your the most, why do you feel that some event will force people to invade your territory? I like the concept of being prepared, most folks here do. I have my own plans and Venom Jockey has his and many others have theirs. My plan is to be the most painfully target going. Venom Jockey plans to simply disappear, to a very remote and hidden location. Your approach appears to be to move from cache to cache as you perceive the threat to be closing in. I am interested in your ability to survive the harsh conditions of Alaska without ANY fuel or food replenishment for the civilized world. No propane, no ammo, no canned goods, only the food you can find, shoot or grow. That is the only flaw I see in your plan to relocate between cashes. You also do not mention if there will be others in your plans or if you plan to go it alone. Survival in the wilderness is tough, let alone trying it without assistance. A simple scratch on your back, where you cannot reach, infection sets in and now there is a real problem. I am not a big fan of group survival but I do think it is better for two vs. just one. You might think about finding a trustworthy person of like mind to include in your plans. Now I also have to say I am not a big fan of caching weapons. I do not know your location, not do I want to know your location but unattended weapons can have serious results long after you and I have departed this world. If you really feel it is important to cache weapons, maybe store bolts and rifle in separate locations, so if one is found, it does not provide a working weapon to some untrained individual. Just a thought. Please keep posting as it is alway interesting to see each others thought process.
 
VP there's some good info, I agree with TMT about groups, I have tried that to some extent in the past. I have been doing something like you but my (our) caches involve people who follow a similar doctrine and we have a "co-op". Each person I have come to know over the years and after a time has their own resources . We all have our own separate lives and homes but we all agree that like you we need options, That in a nutshell is what I believe a prep lifestyle is for " Time and options"". Cause ya never know. We do not have a crystal ball but we will recognize it when something happens .
 
I am interested in your ability to survive the harsh conditions of Alaska without ANY fuel or food replenishment for the civilized world.

I have just under 49 years "BOOTS in the FIELD" experience living in remote Alaska. 35 years as a licensed professional Alaska wilderness guide and professional hunter/guide. About 40 years experience as a professional "Bush Pilot". I have built three remote Alaska homesteads, and two remote hunting lodges. I have about three years of food and propane, two thousand gallons of fuel, six generators, several cabins and trapline cabins. I have lived a subsistence lifestyle for most of that 48 plus years, I dip my salmon out of the river with a dip net, I have worked as a commercial fisherman at "Set net" sites. I have four years at RIT studying mechanical engineering, served a 8,000 hour apprenticeship to get my journeyman machinist papers. Was raised in the mountains of Pennsylvania in the 40' and 50's in extreme poverty. Other then that I am still learning.
 
I have just under 49 years "BOOTS in the FIELD" experience living in remote Alaska. 35 years as a licensed professional Alaska wilderness guide and professional hunter/guide. About 40 years experience as a professional "Bush Pilot". I have built three remote Alaska homesteads, and two remote hunting lodges. I have about three years of food and propane, two thousand gallons of fuel, six generators, several cabins and trapline cabins. I have lived a subsistence lifestyle for most of that 48 plus years, I dip my salmon out of the river with a dip net, I have worked as a commercial fisherman at "Set net" sites. I have four years at RIT studying mechanical engineering, served a 8,000 hour apprenticeship to get my journeyman machinist papers. Was raised in the mountains of Pennsylvania in the 40' and 50's in extreme poverty. Other then that I am still learning.


:cool: now tell us something about yourself, :D just kidding. Will you go it alone or do you have someone with you?
 
Bears are a problem where I am, so I would love to know how you resolved that issue.

I don't have a simple and short answer. There are many ways to deal with problem bears, starting with bear boards and bear shutters. And at the other end is DLP. Moth balls can work, but be careful, they are toxic. Rubber buckshot and/or bear poppers are an option. My issues are with bears that are huge, often 1,200 to 1,450 pounds of bad news. I have bears in the yard and trying to get into buildings all summer.

I live near the mouth of a salmon spawning river, and there are Coastal Brown Bear everywhere, even in the outhouse. At my fall-back positions and remoter sites, I simply accept that bear damage is part of living with them.

For caches in 120 mm ammo cans, I learned NOT to paint them. I also bury them (here near the cabin) in dead grass, pine branches, and dirt for several weeks, to get any smell off of them, before I move them deeper into the wilderness. I also position the caches after most of my bears have retired for the winter. That gives them even more time to loose any human smell.


Bear boards and bear shutters are the cheapest, and lowest maintenance solution.

I guess I could do some posts on bear behavior, and experience if anyone is interested.
 


I guess I could do some posts on bear behavior, and experience if anyone is interested.

Thank you! Please! I sure am interested.

The bears in my neck of the woods are deviling me and it is confounding because I never have enticing food odors outdoors or even in my vehicle, etc, etc. No bear has ever gotten a single bite of food around my cabin, so it's not like they are returning for more. They have pried my 1-inch thick window shutters open in attempts to get into the house... etc. etc. ad nauseum.
 
Bear boards and bear shutters are the cheapest, and lowest maintenance solution.

I have custom-made shutters on all of my windows with 1-inch thick wood...what can I do to make them into bear shutters or bear boards, and what specifically is that?

What just chaps my butt, is that the bears here must know how to read the Game & Fish calendars...because during bear hunting season, there are no bears to be seen on the property. Ha. Maybe they are picking up strong murderous vibes from me? (There is no hunting pressure here, so it's not that...) Anyway, I have a recipe for Bear Chili, and I am not afraid to use it.

All kidding aside, there are bears out there with my name on them, but I won't go outside the law. I asked G&F for a depredation permit, which was denied to me and more than a few others. What the heck? Many of the bears here have been habituated to humans because the Wildlife officers dump "nusiance" bears that they trap elsewhere into my neck of the woods, which is classified as a wilderness area. A lot of the bears in my area have been tagged, microchipped, etc., so the SSS principle is not a good idea. Nor do I care to explain why there is a bear microchip in my septic tank.
 
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http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=513
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Thank you! Please! I sure am interested.

The bears in my neck of the woods are deviling me and it is confounding because I never have enticing food odors outdoors or even in my vehicle, etc, etc. No bear has ever gotten a single bite of food around my cabin, so it's not like they are returning for more. They have pried my 1-inch thick window shutters open in attempts to get into the house... etc. etc. ad nauseum.
 
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All kidding aside, there are bears out there with my name on them, but I won't go outside the law. I asked G&F for a depredation permit, which was denied to me and more than a few others. What the heck? Many of the bears here have been habituated to humans because the Wildlife officers dump "nusiance" bears that they trap elsewhere into my neck of the woods, which is classified as a wilderness area. A lot of the bears in my area have been tagged, microchipped, etc., so the SSS principle is not a good idea. Nor do I care to explain why there is a bear microchip in my septic tank.

Bear boards on the ground under the windows and bear boards in front of the doors when you are gone. Or a 2"X6" or 2"X8" bear board attached to the bottom of the window sill. I like to use screws rather then nails on bear boards. WARNING........if there are children in the area, bear boards on the ground may not work well. You can also leave a "VERY" few moth balls (Not Flakes) under the windows, on the ground. AGAIN.......Children may think it is candy.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=513
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Bear boards on the ground under the windows and bear boards in front of the doors when you are gone.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=513
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Thank you!

Phew... the last bear tried to get into the house while I was home... I will take all the advice you've given...plus maybe I need to quit cooking my gumbo and other wonderful smelling foods. I have already given up cooking bacon and any kind of pork, because that's when I have gotten the most trouble.
 
Just shoot em and drag them down the road in the dark and roll it in the ditch. You can also "Liver" shoot them, and they will die about a 1/4 to 1/2 mile away.

There is also the "anti-freeze" solution. (if there are no dogs).
 
Well.........because of my age, and some annoying health issues, I have spent much of this spring-summer-fall removing caches.

I am getting too old to be climbing up cliffs too retrieve caches. It is getting on towards late fall here and I continue to disassemble my large caching program. Today I opened a casket that was designed with "Kick Boards" for quick and urgent opening if on the run........escape and evasion.

Well........hells'bells, the kick boards broke when kicked hard. So that was a failure. As luck would have it that happened to be a large camp and cache site. Found some crow bars and sledge hammer, it still took over and hour to open that casket. Doing this on a smallish ledge on a cliff was challenging. I did get a lot of photos. The contents are in perfect condition. Lowered it down with ropes to the bottom, and packed it in closer to one of the fall'back positions.
 
Update: The large caching program is terminated, or nearly terminated. Still two large ones to pull, but hey are each less then one mile from the cabin. So the far distant caches are pulled.

Have spent much of the last two years, retrieving all those caches. It has been a lot of hard physical labor backpacking all that freight out of the wilderness. The only good thing is this has compelled my near 74 y/o body to stay in shape.

No trails to any of this, so it has all been "Bushwhacking" through Alaska wilderness. So far everything has been in good shape that was hauled in, but much is not yet unwrapped. All the firearms that have been retrieved have been inspected, and zero rust or damage. Love those Z-CORR "Anticorrosion bags". Some of the food will likely not get eaten by me. Will likely use the "Not'sure-questionable" food for bait.

Have many hundreds of photographs.
 
Sourdough, in my bear cache I have stored emergency supplies such as sleeping bags and blankets, clothes and boots, etc. I have them double wrapped with large garbage bags and this has seemed to work keeping them clean. I obviously want to be able to have quick access to them in case of a cabin fire in the middle of winter. Any thoughts on a better method of protecting these items from the squirrels, schrews, etc? I'd hate to need these items emergently only to find that something has made a mess of them.

Back to your cache retrieval, what food items did you find held up the best with multiple freeze cycles?
 
Back to your cache retrieval, what food items did you find held up the best with multiple freeze cycles?

Mountain House Freeze dried #10 cans of food. But they need to be protected for rust. Even some that were on the shelf (inside) of fallback cabins had rust on the bottom of the can. It did not rust through. For super long-term I would spray the bottoms and lower inch or two with LPS-3. It is a spray cosmolene. Actually the cans inside the cabins have more rust then the ones in multiple trash bags and shrink wrapped.
 
Any thoughts on a better method of protecting these items from the squirrels, schrews, etc?
I mostly use 55 gallon steel drums with removable lids and heavy "Lock-rings". For slightly smaller the 120MM Ammo cans are wonderful.
 
How did you prep your firearms for cacheing?
That is a looong story, and looong learning curve. What works the best, is the same method the military uses, for "medium" duration storage. Z-CORR Bags or BLUE Bags or any of the anticorrosive treated bags. I then super seal the bags. Then put them in 120mm ammo cans or 55 gallon steel drums or I have simply put them in wood boxes. But he bags need to be protected from puncture.

Remember to include any tools (screwdrivers, etc.) and cleaning supplies. I also have a final check list......to remind me to have the firing pin dropped, and magazines empty, etc..

Speaking of tools needed and painful learning curve, I was building wood boxes using 2"X12" lumber, which worked fine. Till I could not get them open in the wilderness with no tools. Learned to leave a "catspaw" or crowbar in the area.

I retrieved 48 firearms, all with zero rust or damage. Note: Those bags are great for optics and ammo also.

Medium duration being up to around 15 years, as opposed to forever and ever in cosomoline.
 
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Z-CORR got bought out by BLUE BAG. I doubt there is much difference in the different companies bags. If it was super-super important you can also buy time release thing to but in the bag. Don't over oil the firearm, thinking it will help. The single most important thing is do what you feel is necessary to protect the from puncture. I am careful to pad sharp parts of firearms like front sights before putting in the bag. Depending on where your going to put it, it can be as simple as rolling the bagged firearm up in any old blanket or sleeping bag.......anything. then put it in several large trash bags.

I have several hundred step by step photos of everything, maybe 400 or 600 photos. I was going to do a book just about detailed caching. Everything about prepping stuff to recovering stuff. Sadly it is never going to happen.
 
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