Repost: (+) THE ART OF THE (WEAPONS) CACHE (+)

www.sit-rep.com (defunct website?) ^ | March 1, 2001 | Travis McGee

[SW6906]

This is a repost from 2001. Here is the original (locked) thread

Sad to say, the march of anti-constitutional laws continues to quicken the pace. Today tens of thousands of law abiding citizens face becoming "armchair felons" because they are not gullible enough to comply with mandatory registration and licensing of long owned firearms. Collectors have been raided on bogus pretexts, then arrested for "paper violations", and had their assets seized. It's a shame, but in many jurisdictions your AR-15 or SKS is an "outlaw rifle", and you are at risk every day that you keep it in your house. It is doubly a shame because these are exactly the types of arms the founding fathers were speaking of when they wrote the 2nd Amendment...

So if you will not register or turn in your weapons, and are reluctant to keep some of them in your house, what is to be done with them, to preserve them for use at some future date? Many folks just say "bury them" but this is simplistic and may be self defeating, for a buried gun may be rusted, forgotten, or paved over in time. The "art of the cache" is then the subject of this lesson.

First we must define a few terms, for there are several classes of caches. A fighting cache or ready cache is one where a rifle or other weapon is kept, sighted in and with the correct ammunition and cleaning gear, available on short notice. A long term cache should be able to lay undetected for years if need be. An Escape and Evasion cache will contain a complete getaway kit in addition to a firearm, against the day that the owner finds himself pursued by enemies.

An E&E cache will contain the items listed in Squantos' E&E kits, as well as hair dye, "instant tan" lotion, scissors, a razor, a nylon windbreaker and a hat for a quick appearance change. Cash, gold, a space blanket, a poncho for shelter and a pistol would also be included. All of these items can be kept in a .50 caliber metal ammo box available at any army surplus store.

What arms to cache? If you are considering caching any weapons, it makes sense to cache both your black "outlaw" firearms and your cheap surplus military rifles, the Enfields and SKS's and so on. The former may land you in legal trouble, the latter are inexpensive and may best prove their worth by waiting hidden and silent for the moment of need. Pistols also should be considered, particularly inexpensive surplus police revolvers. There is no other type of firearm which may be handed to a complete novice with confidence that the new shooter will be able to use it effectively on the first try, and you may someday be in the position of arming a complete novice. Millions of non-shooters may become ardent RKBA advocates in the years to come and you should consider arms for them as well as for yourself.

Where should you locate your cache?I will consider three broad areas: rural caches, urban caches, and underwater caches.

The Rural Cache: In the countryside, cache options abound far beyond the cliched hole in the ground, although that option is not to be left out! In the boonies, look for old private junkyards, every big farm has at least one on the back 40! Rusty forgotten tractors, cars, refrigerators and farm equipment are made to order, full of hidden nooks and crannies where a rifle or three may be inserted, yet remain readily available. Of course, hiding firearms in and around old iron negates the chance of technical detection. Abandoned farmhouses, barns, ruins, and foundations provide countless hiding places, as do small caves, worked out mines, and graveyards. And of course you can just bury your package, preferably near or around some clutter of old scrap metal to provide magnetic camouflage.

The Urban Cache: In cities and towns you must be a bit more creative to find a good cache location which will remain undisturbed for years. Abandoned factories and warehouses, forgotten steam tunnels, scrap yards and neglected corners of basements and attics of some buildings may be used. You need to find a quiet dark out of the way corner were you can remove some tile or blocks or panels to create a mini vault, then hide by replacing the cover. Old large diameter pipes or pump casings may be used as is. Sometimes it is possible to create a cache by adding a bogus utility box or fake run of pipe which has no other purpose than to look old and nasty, and hide a gun or two.

The Underwater Cache: Arms may be sealed into a PVC pipe, then sunk for a great cache. Ammo packed inside around the arms will provide enough weight to sink the tube. Tie a strong nylon or monofilament line around the middle of the pipe, and lower the cache under an old rotten abandoned dock or wharf. So much junk accumulates under old docks that one more slime and barnacle encrusted pipe section will attract no attention at all. Tie the top end of the line to a piling down under the waterline, the entire line will soon be so nasty that no one will ever touch it, except you!

Packaging the Cache: No matter where your cache will be located, you should go to great pains to make sure that it remains sealed and moisture proof. As mentioned, large diameter PVC pipe fits the bill perfectly. If you want access without cutting open the pipe, you can buy an end cap with a threaded center. For really long term storage, release the springs from your magazines and operating rods where possible. A chunk of dry ice dropped into a watertight package and allowed to "steam off" before sealing will purge out the rust producing oxygen. Store bought silica desiccant bags may also be used. Wherever ammo is stored, beware of using penetrating oils, as in time they may deaden the primers.

Plastic five gallon buckets with sealed lids may also be used, as well as heavy duty "white water rafting" bags, marine "flare kit" boxes and containers, surplus military ammo and ordnance boxes and many other types of containers. Where possible, for long term storage seal the lids with a bead of silicone glue.

Where tight cache space is a consideration, you may have to merely wrap your weapons in plastic. In this case use the biggest thickest heavy duty lawn and garden bags you can find. After placing the arms inside, suck out all the air you can, twist the end, put a few strong wires ties around the neck, fold it over, and put more wire around it again. Then do this again inside another bag. Long rifles which will not fit in a bag will have to be wrapped in industrial plastic sheeting, taped up, and kept in a fairly dry location. This type of packaging may be considered where a weapon may be in a "fighting cache", ready for use on short notice.

Locating Your Cache: Nothing is worse than stumbling around looking for a cache so well hidden that you cannot find it, so give a lot of thought to the landmarks you will locate it by, and write them down! Don't put the entire location on one piece of paper (for security), just the final directions which will not make sense if the paper is compromised. Remember, your cache area may look very different in different seasons, so choose landmarks which will stand out in summer foliage or winter snow. It is a good idea to take compass bearings from several permanent landmarks, as well as pacing the distances where possible. Or you may locate the cache by aligning it with an old wall, or between distinctive boulders, just make sure the features are permanent: bushes and gullies may disappear. Be alert to construction around your cache, and if the survey stakes go up, move it out ASAP. You may use GPS coordinates, but consider that GPS may be degraded or turned off at any time, and mark your location the "old fashioned way" first.

Cache Security: When you look for a cache location, consider that you will need a "cover for action" to explain your presence in the area. If you jog cross country, go on hikes, bike or four wheel drive you have it made. The cache location must have terrain or vegetation cover to conceal your loading and unloading it: forget the "cover of darkness", in this era of NVGs that is a thing of the past.

Before returning to a cache do some counter-surveillance: loop around the area looking for the "watchers" who may be staking it out, or a new "utility box" which may contain a remotely operated camera. When finally approaching the cache, don't go directly to it, first "fish hook" your trail, double back and observe your own path in to check for followers. Finally, walk right past your cache and make a "false unload". If you are taken down at this point, they may not find the true cache, and your "cover for action" (eg.: taking a leak on a routine hike) may pass muster. Only when you are truly sure of your safety should you go to the cache and unload it.

In addition, you should leave "tell-tales", small innoucuous secret marks which will tell you if anyone has disturbed and replaced your cache. It is a favorite trick of security forces to put tracking devices into cached weapons in order to follow the guerrilla back to his base and catch the entire band. A tell-tale may be a bit of thread or a pebble etc. placed in such a way that if the cache is disturbed it will break or fall out without the security forces noticing it.

In Summary: I hope this has been an informative and thought provoking article. Even if you do not think it is necessary to cache any weapons (or an E&E kit!) at this time, you will at least be able to take walks in the woods to scout out some likely sites for future use. Look for sites at various distances from your home from a short walk to a day's drive: don't keep all your eggs in one basket. It is a good idea to "load" a cache with some old tools just for practice. See if they rust, see if the local eleven year old boys find them, see if you can get in and out of the area without being seen. Practice makes perfect, so try some "dry runs" today so that you will be a seasoned pro if and when it becomes necessary to cache "the war iron" for real and for keeps.

And don't forget to BLOAT! Buy Lots Of Ammo Today!

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

All the best cache locations have been taken long ago. It's too late to try.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

It was a truly stupid event that got blown out of proportion and turned into a pissing contest. I miss him.

[archy]

NEVER tell ANYBODY about the fact that you own a gun

Hide like a good little chicken.

No thanks. We need to grow some spine, not give up the last of it.

Clearly, some of us are more firm in our convictions than others, some would dearly love to still believe that *it can't happen here* and will wait until the most egregious examples finally prove that it has, and some have much more to lose than others.

No problem, that just means that some will serve as *canaries in the mine* for others who come later to the party, and whose reinforcement will be desperately needed. See the late Colonel Cooper's thoughts on such matters in his story Survivor, telling of one Gerhard Tauchnit's escape from a post-WWII Soviet concentration, in Cooper's anthology To Ride, Shoot Straight, and Speak the Truth."

[Dead Corpse]

some would dearly love to still believe that *it can't happen here*

An attitude which pretty much assures that it WILL in fact happen. The time to fight is when you are still strong and casualties may still be light. Later, after your enemies have wittled down your support, limited your options, and marginalized you totally... it may be too late to do anything other than get on the box car with everyone else.

The path to avoid this is to NOT GIVE UP GROUND NOW. Take a pro-Constitutionally protected Right stance as extreme as you can bring yourself to believe it. Most of your really tough battles will be with those on your OWN side and if you do have to compromise a bit, make sure you STILL have a net gain from where you started.

This isn't hopeless. We CAN effect change without triggering TEOTWAWKI. There is no need to "run and hide" or bury the very tools we have a Right to be proud of.

[Neo-Luddite]

The one I really liked was SA's Scout m1a from a few years back. I've got a pal that bought one on the 2nd hand market and decked it out to his liking.

Oddly, my latest purchase has been a pair of yugo sks's.
Now, If I can find some Norinco steel core to feed them...

[archy]

There is no need to "run and hide" or bury the very tools we have a Right to be proud of.

I'm a firm believer in having spares, and it doesn't hurt a bit to have additional gear available for those who might not have theirs or have expended it appropriately.

Do I have all my personal tools hidden or buried? Not at all. Do I have some spares and extra ammo cached far enough from anywhere I might be expected to return as a likely target but close enough to be useful? You betcha.

I can't quite swim the river carrying 20,000 rounds of 7,62 ball in one load.... [24 M2A1 .50 ammo cans worth]

[CWII ping]

[Dead Corpse]

Do I have all my personal tools hidden or buried? Not at all. Do I have some spares and extra ammo cached far enough from anywhere I might be expected to return as a likely target but close enough to be useful? You betcha.

"Always be prepared".

Eh... maybe I'm just bitter because I really don't have anywhere to squirrel stuff away at. ;-)

[ozzymandus]

This "bury your guns" stuff pops up every time the RATS get power (not without good reason). Some farmer plowed up a Mini-14 in a PVC capsule in this area a couple of years ago.
The sheriff said if the owner came forward he could have his gun back, as he hadn't done anything illegal.

[archy]

"Always be prepared".

Eh... maybe I'm just bitter because I really don't have anywhere to squirrel stuff away at. ;-)

Huh? I thought you were from Texas? I can think of several Texas FReepers who'd be glad to accomodate or assist you, and if you don't figure that's suitable, I can think of a couplke of alternatives.

[Dead Corpse]

Leaving Texas next June/July time frame +/- a month. Family reasons.

[OldSmaj]

I'm a firm believer in having spares...

As am I. Redundency is a good thing in this case.

...and it doesn't hurt a bit to have additional gear available

Quite right.

Both good points.

But I also keep some "throwaways", specifically for the "grabbers" and the stupid idiots that failed to prepare and wish to affect my standards by taking mine from me.

If my "throwaways" give me just a few moments time to get to my good stuff, then it was worth it.

I do not flaunt my possessions, most particularly my firepower, for the simple reason that knowledge is power and I refuse to give anyone any more power than I can.

If my "throwaways" divert the attention of the "grabbers" (whether they be Jack Booted Thugs or the local gendarmes) long enough for me to get into my preplanned tactical positions, then it has been worth it and I don't feel like a "rabbit" for having done so.

I'll live to fight another day.

And ain't that what it's all about?

[t_skoz]

this is the one I meant to say was a good post. The other one was OK, but this is the one I meant. hehehehe

[archy]

This "bury your guns" stuff pops up every time the RATS get power (not without good reason). Some farmer plowed up a Mini-14 in a PVC capsule in this area a couple of years ago.
The sheriff said if the owner came forward he could have his gun back, as he hadn't done anything illegal.

I'll see ya and raise. A decade or so back during a national *military weapon amnesty* in Finland, the bored army troopers running one of the collection points found themselves overwhelmed by one Finnish farmer, a veteran of the 1939 Soviet *Winter War* invasion and the following *Continuation War,* who showed up aboard his tractor pulling a donation for them, having finally decided to turn in the 88mm WWII German FlaK 18 cannon that'd remained in his barn for some five decades, along with several dozen rounds of high explosive and armour piercing rounds for the thing.

The real purpose of the *amnesty* was to collect former Finnish Army equipment that'd stuck too well to the fingers of long-serving veterans, explosive ammunition that'd become unstable over the years, mostly WWII German and grenades, and some of the 100,000 Sten guns distributed to the population in expectation of another Red Army visit following their successful vacations in East Germany in '53 and Hungary in '56. Accordingly, picking up the old feller's outdated ammo was probably a wise move, but it was not corroded and rusty, but well-maintained by a gunner who took care of his equipment.

[-=SoylentSquirrel=-]

Howdy

Is it possible you mispelled Gerhard Tauchnit's name? I Googled it and came up with nothing; His sounds like a compelling story and I would like to know more about it.

[TLI]

reference ping

[archy]

If my "throwaways" divert the attention of the "grabbers" (whether they be Jack Booted Thugs or the local gendarmes) long enough for me to get into my preplanned tactical positions, then it has been worth it and I don't feel like a "rabbit" for having done so.

I'll live to fight another day.

And ain't that what it's all about?

Struesbob, and bakgat, SarMajor, for being both on the same side of the *line in the sand* that I'm on, and standing pretty well near of the front rank of those who see it coming and won't be taking the chicken run. Whether we're side-by side or holding down the opposite flanks of the line is pretty much immaterial, but my spares and half my biltong and bunny chow are yours should you find yourself in my neck of the bush.

I'll live to fight another day.

Hope so, and me too, if possible! But like Trooper Padgett said, You may find me one day dead in a ditch somewhere, but by God, you will find me in a pile of brass!

[archy]

Howdy

Is it possible you mispelled Gerhard Tauchnit's name? I Googled it and came up with nothing; His sounds like a compelling story and I would like to know more about it.

Yep, it's very possible; should be *Tauchnitz*, IIRC. I also once mangled it as *Taubnitz* which would be derived from the German word for pigeon, and is also the name of a town in North Moravia in the Czech Republic.

There's no retelling of his story on the web of which I'm aware, though there's a thought at one of the Amazon book reviews that gives a fair estimate of what others think of Cooper's *Survivor* tale: Cooper is an excellent writer, and while some readers may find parts of this book uninteresting, there is something here for everyone. I even read a few of the passages out loud to my pre-teen daughters in front of a campfire a few weeks ago; they were riveted to their chairs. (The Passage titled "Survivor" should be standard reading to every school age student; it brings a certain amount of humanity to WWII in a way that is shockingly personal.) [4th review down,

Additional reading for you arriving via FReepmail.

[archy]

Leaving Texas next June/July time frame +/- a month. Family reasons.

Not a problem. Leave something usable behind, which in itself is a middlin'-fair reason to someday return to Texas for a visit. Pick up equipment suitable for your new locale, and for leaving there in a hurry if need be, either back to Texas or on to a more welcoming spot.

If you need a more welcoming spot, FReepmail me.

[Hazcat]

CMP will still sell you one (with some miles on it) and plenty of ammo for a relative song.

Who is CMP?

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

Indeed it is.

Suddenly, Travis McGee doesn't seem nearly as nutty as he once did. He was just misguided in his choice of targets.