Best Ways To Collect and Store a Survival Cache
When building up a survival cache always keep in mind the original purpose of the cache in the first place. Some people stock up on food and other household items, but money is the most common item.
Money is compact and easy to hide but paper money is not the best choice because of its durability and a few bank bags full of quarters is impractical and hard to handle. The solution to this problem could be to purchase gold and silver coins. But having said that, to hide money for short term emergencies is always a good idea. How much depends on your comfort level.
When you are buying gold coins, be sure they are of a style and design that is highly recognizable to the average person. If there is a situation where the local currency is no longer being accepted, you do not want to have the added problem of explaining to the butcher your gold coin from Bolivia or France is good.
I personally buy the 1/10 and 1 ounce currently minted U.S gold coins. They are not a collectors item, and they are probably the most recognized gold coin just after the Rand.
Be sure to have a good mix of both sizes so you don’t need to travel around with more than you need.
When buying silver coins, I buy bulk U.S. coins from dealers, they do not have a premium and are very recognizable. Most of the bigger coin dealers will have a couple hundred pounds of bulk coins on hand. The U.S. silver coins minted in 1964 or before are 90% silver and a standard in the industry. I personally only buy dimes and quarters because there can be some confusion with the purity of half dollars. After 1964 they contained 40% silver for a time.
Now that we have the best way to collect up the contents of your cache, we need to figure out where to hide money at home.
To do this properly it's a good idea to have two underground safes that are specifically designed to hide things in the ground. One of them will be for permanent storage and the other will be the one you access from time to time until it gets full. Of course, when it gets full it will automatically convert over to a permanent storage and you will need another underground safe.
Your survival cache must be in an ingroundsafe and in a location under your control. A safe deposit box is not safe at all and they are not easily accessed especially after hours or during a bank closure.
There are many threats to your savings; taxes and thieves are just the start.
A safe in your home can just be a temptation and if you are on vacation long enough, someone will eventually get it open. I would not want to try to hide money or gold in those soup cans and other small hiding places designed to look like a common items that sit right out in the open.
An underground safe is out of sight and out of mind. An inground safe is not just safe from criminal elements but also from most disasters such as a house fire and any type of weather conditions.
Do you remember the images from the last tornado or hurricane that hit? Even the banks were destroyed, not anything left except for the vault itself. The contents of the vault will probably still be safe and intact, but you will not be getting access to your belongings any time soon.
Remember, only buy highly recognizable gold and silver coins and keep them buried in secret safes in a location that you control.
Copyright 2011 SierraBASE LLC All rights reserved. May reproduce with link back to www.smallhiddensafe.com