How To Hide Things - Secret Caches

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The Police Took My Stuff

• One of the biggest hurdles

preppers could face after
Zombie Apox. strikes is
safeguarding their food,
supplies, and ammunition
from Zombies, Deep State,
and marauders. That is,
unless they have a plan in
place beforehand.
Types of Caches

• We will talk about 2 types of caches, there might be

more, but these are the ones we consider most likely
to be needed.
• Long Term Caches
• Weapons/Ammo Caches
• Emergency Short Term
• Long Term
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.
Marking Your Cache

• You may use GPS coordinates to start with, but

consider that GPS may be degraded or turned off at
any time, and mark your location the "old fashioned
way" first.
• See TM - Trail Markers
Marking Your Cache by Bearing

• Or you may locate the cache by aligning it with an

old wall, or between distinctive boulders, under large
rocks or fence post. Just make sure the features are
permanent: bushes and gullies may disappear.
Marking Your Cache by Bearing

• Mark trees facing the cache.

Mark Rocks Near The Cache.
Don’t Make it Look Manmade
 North
• Also take a close-up
picture of the cache
location from at
least 3 bearings.
Marking Your Cache by Bearing

• It is a good
idea to take
compass
bearings from
several
permanent
landmarks.
Use Prismatic
and Lensatic
Sighting
Compasses
Marking Your Cache by Bearing
 North

60 Degrees

90 Degrees

160 Degrees
The North Pole is Moving
Caution

• Be alert to
construction
around your
cache, and if
the survey
stakes go
up, move it
out ASAP.
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.
Cache Security

• 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
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.
Cache Security

• 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.
• Any fingerprints on the contents of the cache may
enable the enemy to identify those who did the
packaging.
Cache Security

• In addition, you should leave "tell-tales", small

innocuous 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
patriot 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.
For Further Info See

• TC 31-29 Special Forces Cashing Techniques