All My Eggs In One Basket

Hello again,
I was thinking about my preps and I still need to get my hands on few things. But I was thinking about my cache of preps that are currently stored in my house. I have everything stored in my house and that concerns me. I think about the situations I can prep for but what would happen if my house burned down or some other disaster leaving me with little or no supplies. I have read about caching but I am not ready to start burying my stuff (not that I wouldn't). I also don't have the budget for a rental storage locker. In my head I think the perfect storage would be fireproof, temperature controlled (60-70 deg) and water proof (dry)and secure. I could use some ideas. Should I split my cache in half? Some in the house and some in my cache? I have thought about storing the stuff in car(my hot rod project but doesn't meet the temp issue, space for stuff or fireproof), A storage shed in my yard near my house(securing this could be difficult and I would be leery of putting guns and ammo in it). I have a root cellar but its damp.. I was wondering if you had any ideas?

FarmerMechanic

TOR Says: Without some specifics (what you are trying to store, how much, info about your place, etc) there is only so much I can do. If you want to talk about those specifics just shoot me another email and it will stay between us (as will anything a reader wants to stay private).

In any case here are some thoughts on the matter. Splitting your stuff (maybe not in half but up in any case) up is probably a wise call. As for keeping stuff in your home the big advantage of having it there is that you can use it. Your rifle can go hunting, canned goods can be eaten/rotated, etc. There is some definite weakness in having all of your eggs in one basket. Your home burning down or something else equally unpleasant happening would be a big suck fest. Keep enough stuff in your home to defend, feed, and clothe yourself for awhile. If you have less then 90 days of food keep it immediately accessible. Keep plenty of water and such ready also.

Caching has one big weakness. Your stuff is buried in the ground. This means it is difficult to impossible to rotate or use what is in your cache. Throwing a couple guns you do not use with ammo and accessories plus some precious metals into a well planned cache could be a good plan depending on your worst case scenario.

As for the storage place you mentioned not having the budget for a rental place, no worries there. You said "In my head I think the perfect storage would be fireproof, temperature controlled (60-70 deg) and water proof (dry)and secure." I would rank those priorities in the following order: dry, secure, temp controlled, fireproof. I am assuming you don't live in a canyon in Southern California or some place that burns every other year. I am also unsure of how extreme the climate is where you live. I rank dry number one because you really can't store anything long term in a wet place. Secure is number two because you can't use stuff that someone stole. Temp is next because (this also depends a lot on what you are storing) it isn't that huge of an issue. What I would say about temp is that consistent is more important then the actual temp unless it is really low or high. What really messes up stored stuff is temperature swings. Fire is last because unless you live in a place where wildfires are constant most peoples places don't burn down very often. Unless you've got a friend who gets drunk and throws molotov cocktails there shouldn't be a huge concern with fire.

All of that being said here is what I suggest. It looks like the outbuilding would be your best bet. As you mentioned theft can be an issue but if you avoid high value compact portable items (guns, ammo, precious metals, etc) the risk of theft drops considerably. That being said; a well oiled .38 in an empty coffee can full of rags at the bottom of a shelf buried behind other stuff would probably be safe (YMMV). You don't hear much about someone stealing an old wall tent, a pair of sleeping bags, some assorted camping gear and a shelf full of canned goods. Putting half or a third of your preps (not high value compact stuff) in the shed would make a potential house fire far less devastating.

For getting some stuff completely off (of your home) site either a storage place or a like minded friend/ family members place is an option. You let him keep a couple of contico boxes worth of stuff in your garage and visa versa.

Guess those are my thoughts on that matter.