There are many that believe history will show we are in the early stages of a new civil war – or an American Reformation. How exactly this war will play out is certainly up for discussion and dispute. Many believe there will be areas of severe civil unrest, guerrilla warfare, and scattered battles of varying sizes. Who will be the insurgency? That depends on location and political makeup of area/region.
So – why an Operational Cache?
An Operational Cache is a resupply of critical items often accessed while on the go. These caches are often – but not always – buried to hide from others. Major components often placed in an Operational Cache are defensive supplies. The possibility of immediate and unplanned relocation out of an area make having supply caches invaluable.
What to Put in the Operational Cache?
Only you know what will work best in your cache. The cache may be very mission specific or very general. It may contain supplies to feed, clothe, and defend – or something else entirely.
Here are a few general guidelines:
Rifle/Pistol
extra ammunition, magazines
tactical gear – holsters, vest, plate carrier, mag pouches(Condor chest rig is budget friendly and works great)
flashlight/spare batteries(lithium)
first aid kit/trauma supplies/tourniquet – visit DoomandBloom.com medical preparedness store
communications equipment – Baofeng UV-5R/disposable cell phone
spare clothes – socks/boots/underwear/pants/shirt/hat
gloves – Mechanix FastFit are a good choice
food – MRE’s are excellent
water filter – recommend Sawyer Mini Filter System and LifeStraw
spare contacts/glasses
multitool/knife
rope/paracord/various zip ties
tarps/tent/hammock
backpack – for carrying supplies away from the cache
toilet paper/wet wipes/hand towels/toothbrush/toothpaste
small notebook & pencil
Where To Place The Cache
An operational cache does NOT have to be buried but can be. It may be at a buddy’s house, in a storage unit, in the corner of your shed, or buried up in the mountains beside a large oak tree. The decision on where to store the cache is highly dependent on many factors including geographical location, contents, specific intended uses, and method and means of access.
A stump located out in the middle of nowhere could provide a unique location for an above ground cache hid deep down inside of it. Covered with vegetation a bypassing hunter could glance and never see what awaits inside.
Burying Firearms?
As far as burying a cache out in the country or in the mountain it does not go without risk. First – I would not bury anything that can lead back to you should it be discovered. A firearm purchased through a dealer and coinciding with a Form 4473 filled out will link the purchaser to that firearm. Only bury firearms purchased via private sale.
Quality of Contents
The most popular theory on cached supplies is to place secondary – or “B” grade items in storage. You may have a really nice high-quality Smith & Wesson AR as part of your kit. For the operational cache, a $350 Hi-Point 9mm carbine is stashed along with extra magazines and ammunition. Another example would be having a Benchmade Nimravus Tanto as an SHTF-EDC knife while placing a Cold Steel GI Tanto in the cache for long-term storage.
Another proposed theory is almost the opposite. If you are having to access your operational cache then things must be extremely dire. Now more than ever “A” grade equipment is needed.
I understand both perspectives and agree the absolute best equipment should be cached. The deal here is the absolute best equipment THAT CAN BE AFFORDED. It is certainly better to have a Hi-Point cached than nothing at all. If a duplicate Smith & Wesson AR can be cached that is all the better.
“One for me….one for the cache”
Summary
It is apparent the container type, contents, and the location is completely dependent on factors only known to those putting it together. It’s important to realize there is no limit to how many caches can be stashed. Having several over a wide area provides a security blanket no matter which direction one might have to travel.
JR,I hope you wipe all of this equipment down before you store it, otherwise if they find it, they can find you . you get my point.
What smith and Wesson models are those? Those matching guns are sexy as hell! I want one! Lol of course I want them all! But maybe I could save up, Model # please?
The old stump idea is exc.
Did anyone else watch 60 min. tonight ? The DRUG industry has been in bed with Obamas adm. and has tied the hands of the DEA.Thus OPIOD excess. Unfortunately
Trump may be making the very guy who passed a law to tie the hands of the DEA in prosecuting drug companies- please look it up online.His name is Cong. Merino and he must not be allowed to become the new “Drug Director ” under Trump. Trump may not be aware of all of this. Lightning
Vacuum pack metal etc with oxy-sorb.. Also ZCORR bags for long guns.. Monovault makes a good in ground product… (wind a significant length of poly rope around the top so you only have to dig out the top and not the sides. Anything that draws attention is some risk of course.. If you notch a tree and measure distance and degrees off of three points .. it need not be obvious. One thing you can use as an index to the general location is a witness stone.. (two stacked rocks…. or 3 – 4 arranged rocks..
Foliage changes very fast and what is apparent this year isn’t next year and not at all the following.. You can also cache near old dumped metal or scatter metal to confuse metal detectors… Anyway presumably a cache would be the same as a BOB in content ..(with an emphasis on emergency medicine) and if you are there not being able to locate it quickly would be not good .. and finding it gone worse.. (consider – two is one, one is none). If you have an out of the way storage area … mount your storage to the concrete floor.. mount a game cam near the ceiling looking at the door.. (I’ve thought “Locker Nine” , was a fair example of offsite storage cache not buried… and it is a really good read .. the second book is on preorder .. It runs in Parallel to the “Borrowed World” series by the same author. Franklin Horton.
One can get pretty paranoid, if you let yourself.. and that isn’t unwarranted..
Often budget is the limiting factor .. remember the more exotic the plan the harder it is to communicate it, or remember it .. My dive instructor had one rule that applies everywhere. “Every moving part you add is an opportunity for failure that can kill you.” So a balance of simplicity and being unobvious.. and remember rule one of fight club.. for opsec and parsec.
GG58
If burying your cache you can try digging a square hole then placing a pallet on the floor of it then pallets on all 4 sides to help maintain the integrity of the hole (helps when digging it all up). You then line the whole thing with heavy visqueen to help protect it from ground water. After that you can fill the hole with 5 gallon buckets of your supplies as well as any PVC tubes you have constructed. I have a good surplus store nearby and have purchased a few metal, rectangular military surplus boxes previously used for fighter jet bombs (there is an AF base nearby as well). I painted it with Rust-Oleum to help protect it as well and bought the boxes with the best rubber o-rings to help as well. After all is loaded in you over lap the plastic then top it with the last pallet (plastic ones work best as they don’t disintegrate as easily). Make sure the top of the pallet is at least a good foot or more below the ground surface to counter any erosion. Sprinkle some old car parts or metal cans around the area to dissuade anyone with a metal detector. Don’t forget to bury a good shovel nearby that will not disintegrate so you aren’t digging with your hands. Just some thoughts.