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Some general thoughts and experiences-
Couple of tips from placing and pulling over the years.
PVC- use actual caps, not "test" caps, not the threaded caps. I know, you read someone's book who probably hasn't actually done this, nor retrieved it 20 years later that said use threaded caps for "ease of removal."
The couple of times I've pulled old ones that used threaded caps, they were all trashed from water infiltration. High high desert, perhaps not. Most other places, PLAN FOR IT.
Actual caps, glued on. Not the grease trick, PVC glued on.
Leave a small space at the end of the tube near one cap that's empty and mark that end with paint or permanent marker. You can always burn a little bit of the cap off, break off with rock, etc. if you lacked any tools or materials to remove cap.
Plant your tube HORIZONTAL. Yeah I know, you read some new prepper's book that never placed one nor retrieved it out of a swamp at O dark thirty 20 years later who said "place them vertical so the metal detector won't find it."
Well here's news- 1. The metal detector, even a cheap arse one, WILL find it, vertical or horizontal. And most importantly- 2. PVC tubes are MUCH easier and quicker to FIND and remove when placed horizontal.
A vertical, 3' deep emplacement means a BIG hole having to be dug 10, 20, 30 years later as the soil will have compacted around the tube. It's not always a question of putting a rope around the end and pulling. A horizontal emplacement allows you to FIND IT EASIER also. Trust me, when you go back 10, 20, 30 years later, stuff will have changed, your "foolproof" method of finding it will end up being not so foolproof. Given the expected conditions when we expect to RETRIEVE these, you can figure it will be dark, you will likely be COLD, WET, TIRED, HUNGRY. You might even be being PURSUED.
So you can't expect to be able to sit around that position for an hour pulling your gear up out of the tube via a cute little hoist system, or digging to China to free the bottom of the tube.
It may literally be that you have to snatch it and keep running.
With a vertical emplacement of say a 6 inch PVC tube, you have to hit a six INCH spot perfectly, 10, 20 or 30 years later WHEN things have changed, scenery is different, again potentially COLD, WET, TIRED HUNGRY at O dark thirty.
With a horizontal emplacement of say a 6 inch PVC tube 3 foot long, you have to hit a six inch BY 3 FOOT spot. Much easier to find (trust me on this) than the later.
I own a metal detector, do you know why I own a metal detector. I bought one specifically to find a vertical cache I dropped 15 years previous. I was WITHIN 2 FEET of the tube, but almost only works with hand grenades right???
Some general stuff-
1. Never put anything personalized in there. Big reason not to go ape crap with personalizing weapons also. You never know who might accidently dig it up.
2. Never put anything in you aren't willing to lose. Great Grandpappy's Colt that "won the west" shouldn't be in there.
3. I always put a knife in, some cord, firestarter, doesn't matter what the nature of the cache is.
4. For retrieval you can/should keep materials in your packs to cut the tube. Hard to keep a sawzall in your pack and a hacksaw blade half wrapped in duct tape will suck, but it might be your only option. They do make small hand saws for cutting PVC and I've seen guys use string to cut SMALL PVC, but I don't know how it works on larger PVC.
5. EXPECT and plan for threads to be stuck, water to be IN the container and the container to be "sucked into" or locked into the soil. I've pulled a fair amount of tubes, none of them came all that easy....
6. An E-tool, hacksaw cached in the area might be helpful, close enough but not too close. I'm always surprised to find shovels, etc. in the woods in areas where people have not worked in five or more years. They are typically in workable condition. A shovel with the blade sprayed with car undercoating, synthetic handle (no rot) tied around a branch of a nearby tree might be a lifesaver.
Bottom line, everyone talks theory about placing, the often overlooked aspect is PULLING the cache later. Put as much planning and thought into that as the placement and you'll do well.
Couple of tips from placing and pulling over the years.
PVC- use actual caps, not "test" caps, not the threaded caps. I know, you read someone's book who probably hasn't actually done this, nor retrieved it 20 years later that said use threaded caps for "ease of removal."
The couple of times I've pulled old ones that used threaded caps, they were all trashed from water infiltration. High high desert, perhaps not. Most other places, PLAN FOR IT.
Actual caps, glued on. Not the grease trick, PVC glued on.
Leave a small space at the end of the tube near one cap that's empty and mark that end with paint or permanent marker. You can always burn a little bit of the cap off, break off with rock, etc. if you lacked any tools or materials to remove cap.
Plant your tube HORIZONTAL. Yeah I know, you read some new prepper's book that never placed one nor retrieved it out of a swamp at O dark thirty 20 years later who said "place them vertical so the metal detector won't find it."
Well here's news- 1. The metal detector, even a cheap arse one, WILL find it, vertical or horizontal. And most importantly- 2. PVC tubes are MUCH easier and quicker to FIND and remove when placed horizontal.
A vertical, 3' deep emplacement means a BIG hole having to be dug 10, 20, 30 years later as the soil will have compacted around the tube. It's not always a question of putting a rope around the end and pulling. A horizontal emplacement allows you to FIND IT EASIER also. Trust me, when you go back 10, 20, 30 years later, stuff will have changed, your "foolproof" method of finding it will end up being not so foolproof. Given the expected conditions when we expect to RETRIEVE these, you can figure it will be dark, you will likely be COLD, WET, TIRED, HUNGRY. You might even be being PURSUED.
So you can't expect to be able to sit around that position for an hour pulling your gear up out of the tube via a cute little hoist system, or digging to China to free the bottom of the tube.
It may literally be that you have to snatch it and keep running.
With a vertical emplacement of say a 6 inch PVC tube, you have to hit a six INCH spot perfectly, 10, 20 or 30 years later WHEN things have changed, scenery is different, again potentially COLD, WET, TIRED HUNGRY at O dark thirty.
With a horizontal emplacement of say a 6 inch PVC tube 3 foot long, you have to hit a six inch BY 3 FOOT spot. Much easier to find (trust me on this) than the later.
I own a metal detector, do you know why I own a metal detector. I bought one specifically to find a vertical cache I dropped 15 years previous. I was WITHIN 2 FEET of the tube, but almost only works with hand grenades right???
Some general stuff-
1. Never put anything personalized in there. Big reason not to go ape crap with personalizing weapons also. You never know who might accidently dig it up.
2. Never put anything in you aren't willing to lose. Great Grandpappy's Colt that "won the west" shouldn't be in there.
3. I always put a knife in, some cord, firestarter, doesn't matter what the nature of the cache is.
4. For retrieval you can/should keep materials in your packs to cut the tube. Hard to keep a sawzall in your pack and a hacksaw blade half wrapped in duct tape will suck, but it might be your only option. They do make small hand saws for cutting PVC and I've seen guys use string to cut SMALL PVC, but I don't know how it works on larger PVC.
5. EXPECT and plan for threads to be stuck, water to be IN the container and the container to be "sucked into" or locked into the soil. I've pulled a fair amount of tubes, none of them came all that easy....
6. An E-tool, hacksaw cached in the area might be helpful, close enough but not too close. I'm always surprised to find shovels, etc. in the woods in areas where people have not worked in five or more years. They are typically in workable condition. A shovel with the blade sprayed with car undercoating, synthetic handle (no rot) tied around a branch of a nearby tree might be a lifesaver.
Bottom line, everyone talks theory about placing, the often overlooked aspect is PULLING the cache later. Put as much planning and thought into that as the placement and you'll do well.
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