[mongoose33]

A friend of mine mentioned a method by which he thought the military used or invented (hazy memory on his part, doesn't matter) to bury ammo. That was using PVC Pipe (6" in diameter or some such) with the end caps cemented into place.

That would create a sealed container to bury or otherwise store ammo in a place where it wouldn't otherwise be found. Imagine storing it in the pit of an outhouse--who'd ever find it there? ).

The question I had for him was, supposed you wanted to get the ammo (or whatever is in it) out? How do you get the ammo out?

It's not a trivial thing to cut open a PVC pipe. A saw will do it, but you can't just break in. The ends of the caps that seal over the ends of the pipe will extend down the length of the pipe a couple inches--if you cut there you risk cutting what's inside, unless you've made sure you didn't fill it all the way.

Anyone know about this method or others similar to it? It strikes me as an interesting way to create small caches of ammo or food or whatever.

 

[pleasantguywhopacksAXD]

Well instead of two solid glue caps, make one end a clean out cap instead. Glue as normal then apply teflon pipe thread dope liberaly to the theads and screw in. Water tight and still removable.

 

[plant.one]

a *SMALL* ammount of silicon on the threads will provide a much heartier seal on a threaded 'clean out' and still be easy to break open when necessary. Typical 100% silicon caulk has a 25 yr life span and will weather proof your compartment MUCH better than teflon tape would. Teflon works great for metal pipe, but its not nearly as efficent on PVC.

Just my $0.02 usd

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

a *SMALL* ammount of silicon on the threads will provide a much heartier seal on a threaded 'clean out' and still be easy to break open when necessary. Typical 100% silicon caulk has a 25 yr life span and will weather proof your compartment MUCH better than teflon tape would. Teflon works great for metal pipe, but its not nearly as efficent on PVC.

Just my $0.02 usd

I think he is talking about pipe dope, not the teflon tape.

 

[jeepinbanditrider]

Military ammo cans with a little packet of dessicant.

 

[vafish]

6" pipe is pretty expensive.

Buy 2" pipe, take your ammo out of the boxes and put it in ziplock bags, stuff the bags in the pipe and seal it up, either with the screw caps or just glue caps in place. 2" PVC isn't that tough to break open.

Oh and as for tossing it in the outhouse, are you going to want to retrieve it at some point? Also a metal detector will find it real quick.

A better idea is to bury them vertically underneath metal fence posts. Get a good powered gas post hole digger, 4" auger bit, dig hole 3' down, drop in ammo tube, fill hole, place metal fence post back on top of it, then string bar wire along the fence posts. Any metal detector will go nuts when you get near the metal fence post. Do it every 4th or 5th fence post around your property and you will have a good stash of ammo no one will find.

Or so I hear.

 

[Hooz]

Military ammo cans with a little packet of dessicant.

An ammo can wrapped in a couple trash bags will last for a LONG time underground.

 

[Hank Ellis]

I don't see a reason why you'd want to bury ammo unless you've got a paranoid streak that the black helicopters are hovering nearby. If you need it then by definition you need a tool to dig it out. Will you have the tools? Maybe, maybe not.

I also have concerns about what weather will do to the ammo. Heating, cooling, freezing, thawing of the ammo in a sealed container may not be the best for long term storage.

My solution is 50cal ammo cans above ground. Proven technology. Easy access when needed. For food you can't beat MREs. During Gustave I finished off the last of 12 year old MREs that were stored in a conex container and exposed to temps above 120 degrees. Local civil air patrol was cleaning out the container and gave them to me. Chocolate was melted and the hard candy tasted like ass but the food was very edible. For water, Google 'Civil Defense Museum' for storage tips. There's still out there water that was stored when the Reds were pointing nukes at us during the Cold War.

The Cold War. I still remember when Civil Defense came out once a year to the school hand out books to take home on how to build your fallout shelter and how to store rations for the two weeks it would take for the radiation to go down. Ah the good old days.

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

yeah what is the total reason behind burying ammo? just to have it for paranoid people?

 

[Icey101]

Buring it deep enough....the temps really do not flux all that much, so you should not have to deal with freezing thawing and such.

 

[mongoose33]

yeah what is the total reason behind burying ammo? just to have it for paranoid people?

I've been thinking about this for a long time, thinking of SHTF scenarios that are plausible.

Right now, everything I have is in my house. That's too many eggs in one basket--hell, it's all my eggs in one basket.

I'd like to have supplies located elsewhere, supplies that rampaging hordes cannot even know exist. IN other words, I want some dispersed supplies. Suppose all I can do is bug out w/ my XD-9 and m4--how much ammo can I take with me? What about other survival supplies?

I've imagined a scenario where hungry rampaging hordes--I like that term better than zombies for some reason--go through neighborhoods stripping houses for food and anything else. If I couldn't get to my home, could I get to a cache someplace else?

I've even thought about storing a handgun and ammo someplace I could get to if I can't get back to my own house. I don't have a place in the country (yet) where I could store anything--so picking a spot in the country near a clear landmark and burying ammo/gun there would be a reasonable idea, perhaps.

I can think of dozens of places off my property where I could stash supplies. I liked the idea of PVC because it's darned near impervious, and if you bury it deep enough, the temperature fluctuations will be minimal. A posthole digger would get a pipe deep enough so that it was below the frost zone.

I'm mostly just thinking out loud here. I was prompted in part by Hank Ellis' comments in the "How much ammo" thread where he talks about his experiences in southern Louisiana after Katrina and Gustave, including the value of having dispersed resources.

I'd like to disperse some of mine. PVC Pipe sounds like a relatively inexpensive yet strong method of doing that, given the relative difficulty of burying an ammo can, for instance. And the idea of using ammo for trade is appealing. The best way to have it available but not on your person or in your house to be taken away by someone is to have it someplace people can't find.

Anyway, enough rambling. That's why.

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

ohok Thanks.

 

[pleasantguywhopacksAXD]

I think he is talking about pipe dope, not the teflon tape.

Yes liquid pipe dope which in most instances except petroleum safe dope, has teflon in it.
There is a alot of doped fittings in the ground right now that have been there and holding for more than 25 years. I dig em up all the time and they look like new.

 

[JhankG]

That sounds extremely paranoid to me, but more power to ya!

 

[pleasantguywhopacksAXD]

I would also think about using argon gas to displace the natural air that contains moisture that could cause trouble with ammo or metal. It's relatively cheap at any bottled gas supply.

Argon is heavier than air so mearly standing the tube up and putting the hose just under the screw cap, give it about 10 seconds screw on the doped cap and viola, inert atmosphere around your goodies.

Also I would bury it long ways, it would be a bear to dig up in the vertical position. You might be able to put a choker around and pulling it up with a piece of equipment it but take the chance on pulling the bottom glue cap off. It is possible to pull apart glued sch 40 pvc. I have done it pulling back 6 inch via a directional drill.

 

[oldfart]

That sounds extremely paranoid to me, but more power to ya!

Sounds like a man that is thinking about being ready now vs wishing he had later. I too have given thought to a cache either off site or under a cow turd or two.

I really like the idea of under a fence post. Me thinks under a T post would be good. Easy to remove and in TX it doesn't have to be 3 ft under ground for frost.

Maybe a little paranoid but like the man said, if the SHTF ammo will be good to barter for other things. It will be better than money plus someday the govt may come looking for your guns and ammo. "I know nothing"

Signed Shultz

Good thinking in IMHO.

 

[pleasantguywhopacksAXD]

Buring it deep enough....the temps really do not flux all that much, so you should not have to deal with freezing thawing and such.

The frost line in Wisconsin is probably 5 feet figure another four feet of tube for say 1000 rounds in ammo boxes. Thats nine feet in the vertical to deep to retrieve without alot of trouble. Bury it three feet deep horizontal with the inert gas inside and it will be fine. The cold will have no effect on the ammo or dare I say "assault weapon". There will be no moisture inside to condense.

 

[griz]

As an electrician, I have buried a LOT of PVC pipe over the years. I have also dug up a LOT of PVC conduit/pipe over the years. Almost NONE of it was dry. Seems that no matter how careful you are to PVC cement all the joints, water will get in whether due to condensation or leaking. Personally, I would not trust any form of PVC tube to keep my valuables safe and dry over long periods underground.

 

[mongoose33]

The frost line in Wisconsin is probably 5 feet figure another four feet of tube for say 1000 rounds in ammo boxes. Thats nine feet in the vertical to deep to retrieve without alot of trouble. Bury it three feet deep horizontal with the inert gas inside and it will be fine. The cold will have no effect on the ammo or dare I say "assault weapon". There will be no moisture inside to condense.

Generally, footings around here have to be 4 feet deep. That's pretty much the limit of frost around here (I'm in extreme southern Wisconsin).

I was thinking along the lines of tubes perhaps a foot or 18 inches long. The reason why 6" pipe appealed to me as a possibility is that it's large-enough diameter to hold a handgun or whatever else I might reasonably want to bury there. I could bury several of them, and it would be easier to pull out smaller ones than one long one. Or I can go smaller-diameter pipe and simply use it to store ammo or whatever.

BTW, the bury-under-fencepost idea is quite clever.

 

[mongoose33]

As an electrician, I have buried a LOT of PVC pipe over the years. I have also dug up a LOT of PVC conduit/pipe over the years. Almost NONE of it was dry. Seems that no matter how careful you are to PVC cement all the joints, water will get in whether due to condensation or leaking. Personally, I would not trust any form of PVC tube to keep my valuables safe and dry over long periods underground.

Hmmmm...

Probably be worth, if I were to do use PCV, using some sort of plastic in addition to the PVC, to have a backup to the tube joints.