Very interesting ideas on Cache. I like your research. I can implement the mini-SS [stainless steel] vacuum bottles nearly immediately. We’re in wild animal country and really canNOT leave any food/garbage EVEN in our vehicles. [ask my neighbor about their new SUV that the bear entered when garbage bags were in there only 3 hrs….wasn’t pretty] I do take ONE chance with my truck……a.k.a. BOV…….a.k.a. storage for most camping supplies, etc. I put rice into clear plastic juice containers – container well washed. I figure rice is one of the least-odor foods that can take severe temperature fluctuations. {unlike beef jerky which I’d like to stash…}
But I’ve often thot about if we had to flee the house and vehicles, I’d like to pre-position something in a protected area near us. But then I think of bears and …. Bear vaults for food if you backpack in bear country are SS. And expensive. But those cheapo SS vacuum bottles….would a bear’s teeth penetrate? If they can’t smell anything….dunk in bleach and don’t handle it directly……would they ignore it? Digging when ground is locked, frozen solid half the year would be out. Ideas churning…thank you, JamesT. Haven’t had a new angle on this for years.
However, just to stick this caution in here: I have an abhorrence of the Flee To The Mountains myth that we humans seems to carry within us. Don’t get me wrong…I LIVE in the mountains, thus have already fled here. And as JamesT noted, for most it would only postpone the inevitable. And Wilderness certainly doesn’t always mean “mountains”…. I just really have a horror of inexperienced/not-informed folks thinking they’ll survive the night…let alone a week in ‘them thar hills’.
I’m in the western mts and believe me, folks….there is VERY little that grows well up here. Alpine Desert. Even less is edible/usable. Edible does not in any way guarantee “palatable”. Found that out when I was ten…eating cattail roots. There’s the right way and there’s the wrong way to harvest that bounty. 😉 I make it a point to learn about each of the micro-climate areas that I’ve lived in and this is the worst for diversity of plant/animal life. It is not “lush” like eastern woodlands. Partly due to altitude. Partly due to lack of moisture.
Our house is a cache of food/supplies/tools…since we live here year ’round. Yet… in a severe StuffHitsFan scenario, I do not believe we would survive longer than that supply. We would need to come down this mountain. One reason I’m pretty sure of that: I like to check out how the pre-industrial/technological people groups lived in my areas. 😮 …..they moved out during winter. Snowbirds. Migrated to hit the most survivable regions during different seasons. And they were the experts in surviving without industrial/technological backups. Just takes toooo many calories to keep warm.
OldMtWoman ….check out the earlier people groups in your region.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by
OldMt Woman.