# If you found a cache, what would you do?



## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Our son was on a Search & Rescue call, combing an area of National Forest with his team, looking for a missing boy. 

He spotted something that looked out of place and went to investigate, and it was someone's cache of emergency food, ax, rain poncho, etc. Our son covered it back up and left it. Growing up in a prepper family he knew that the life of whoever put the cache there might depend on those supplies being there when he/she needs them.

We've spent a lot of time speculating about the person who made the cache. Are they a good guy or a bad guy? Another prepper? Someone on the run? Someone who hikes or horsebacks in the area? How long has it been there? How many more are out there? This was near Glacier park, just a few weeks ago. It's a very remote area and there are people who hike or horseback through the area, sometimes 25 to 50 miles from a town or other people. So it's feasible it's one of those 'regulars'. The weather can turn nasty up there without warning.

I'm glad he left the cache alone. If nothing else, he knows it's possible it'll still be there if HE needs it out in the wilderness some time.

It's been food for thought here in our house, both about how we'd feel and act if we found a cache, and about what others would do if they found something we'd cached.

PS: Boy was found, boy was fine.


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

This is both an ethical and moral problem. Schools no longer teach ethics and are barred from teaching morals. My ethics dictate that if it is not yours leave it alone. Considering your other premise of to whom it belongs "a good guy or a bad guy" creates several questions for me. I have never pondered such a situation. This is a great thread. It has given me food for thought and will be the subject of our evening meal tonight.

I believe that we all have a basic goodness but this can be over-ridden easily by greed or by a feeling of entitlement. My first inclination would be to leave the stash alone and deal with the ramifacations later. I prefer not to judge others only on circumstance. But, on the other hand, am I opening myself up to serious problems in the future? 

This is why I prefer this site over similar ones. Great posts and food for thought. It will be interesting to see the responses of the rest of the folks.

Great subject.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I would do exactly as your son did. I would cover it back up and leave it alone. I have read on some blogs that people are putting caches in various places. In one area, many people have 5 acre plots. They buy the shipping containers, fill them up and leave them on their land. The problem is that there are people who "work" these areas, and these containers are ravaged and robbed, and then left to the elements.

When I read this, I thought that I had considered doing this very thing: having some land and putting something like a shipping container there to prepare. To read that these are pillaged helped me to realize the need to either leave a cache that is well hidden, or not leave a cache at all, but to plan to have all of my stuff with me so that I can protect my preps.


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## Barfife (Apr 23, 2011)

tugboats said:


> This is both an ethical and moral problem. Schools no longer teach ethics and are barred from teaching morals. My ethics dictate that if it is not yours leave it alone. Considering your other premise of to whom it belongs "a good guy or a bad guy" creates several questions for me. I have never pondered such a situation. This is a great thread. It has given me food for thought and will be the subject of our evening meal tonight.
> 
> I believe that we all have a basic goodness but this can be over-ridden easily by greed or by a feeling of entitlement. My first inclination would be to leave the stash alone and deal with the ramifacations later. I prefer not to judge others only on circumstance. But, on the other hand, am I opening myself up to serious problems in the future?
> 
> ...


My father used to have a saying, "If it is not yours son...leave it alone". It served me well.

In my 60 plus years, I added another phrase that I came to use with both my children and with employees when I was in banking. "*Honesty is like pregnancy.....either you are or you're not*."


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## kyhoti (Nov 16, 2008)

I have to wonder: how well or poorly was this stuff hidden? If it was an important back-up location for me, it wouldn't where anyone, SAR or otherwise, would spot anything "out of place".

Now onto the ethical/moral bit. I would take note of the cache, "just in case". That's me not kidding myself. But would I take stuff? Under the most dire of circumstances, yes. I would hope that things haven't gotten that far down the pike, because at that point I would have to be out of my primary location, out of my secondary location and on foot. Hell-in-a-hand-basket wouldn't even begin to describe it. I wish I would be staunch enough to not touch stuff that's not mine, but in the situation I envision, all bets are off.

As a flip-side of the coin thought, if I was feeling really altruistic at the point when I found the cache (pre-fan, that is), I would leave a dated note with an e-mail address, something like 'Hey, I found your stuff. You can move it if it freaks you out, or if you're a prepper, find me at this e-mail and let's chat."


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

Your son certainly did the right thing.

Fortunately for the cacher, you son had the right moral character. Others may have taken the goodies.

Regaurdless of who left the cache, it belongs to them and should be left alone.


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## mdmountainman (Jul 23, 2011)

gypsysue said:


> Our son was on a Search & Rescue call, combing an area of National Forest with his team, looking for a missing boy.
> 
> He spotted something that looked out of place and went to investigate, and it was someone's cache of emergency food, ax, rain poncho, etc. Our son covered it back up and left it. Growing up in a prepper family he knew that the life of whoever put the cache there might depend on those supplies being there when he/she needs them.
> 
> ...


It could also be a backcountry hunter. I know a guy who leaves caches in backcountry locations where he has to hike long distances to get to his spot.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Found money.

as long as its not on private property or has his name on it.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

My first thought was "it wasn't hidden very well"!!


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I wouldn't take it because it doesn't belong to me. I'd cover it back up.


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## IrritatedWithUS (Jan 9, 2011)

I walked into a field of marijuana one time. I immediately walked out!!
I let it be. I see on the news that it's "drug cartels" planting
marijuana here of late but honestly, how do they know 
without doing surveillance? It's easy to say it's a drug cartel
I just think it was a local's stash. It was a field but nowhere 
near the size that you see drug cartels use.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

I would leave it alone, perhaps leave a note letting them know they need to hide it better.


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

A lot of good points so far, Without a dire need I i would leave it alone, but also think that a note pointing out the poor camo job would be in order. If you want your cache there when you need it it needs to be hard for you to find, when you know where it is.I HATE locks :gaah: and those who make them nessicary are not my favorite sort of people either.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

My son left it alone because his first thought was that someone who depended on it being there might die if he needed it and it was gone. 

You have to understand my son. He grew up in a prepping family, and he's spent a great deal of his life in remote places where your life can depend on the supplies you carry or on what you can find. This cache had firemaking supplies in it, along with the othe rthings. He would have felt responsible if his act of taking it led to someone else's death. An average person would not have stumbled across this cache. A person who's spent a lot of time in the woods and has caching experience might have. With geo-caching as a hobby (in the west anyway) more and more people are doing it.

The main thing that came out of his finding the cache is the speculation and discussion in our family since then. I've spent time searching my own thoughts, both regarding that cache, and some I've made. I wouldn't have used the things from that cache my son found unless my own life was on the line. I would expect that if someone found mine and needed the things to survive, that they would use them. Same with our home, which is a cabin in a remote place. If we're gone and some lost person stumbles out of the woods, I hope they come in, make a fire, and start some tea or coffee. If they leave before we get back, they better not take anything with them they don't need to survive, and it would be nice if they rinsed the coffee cup! 

My son spends half his summer out with SAR looking for lost or missing people, usually hikers, or kids who wandered away from camp. They just got called out again about 15 minutes ago, but I don't have details yet, just the location of where the search is starting from.


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## headhunter (Nov 21, 2008)

It looks like there are two basic assumptions than could be made: 1) The person who built the cache is evil and may do harm, or 2) the person is likely like me, a good person just trying to get by. From the tone of what has been the responses, although we gather here perhaps a little worried about our futures, most replies are tending to view this unknown cache builder as a person lile themselves trying to get by. It is good to see we are still positive people!


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Every now and then there are people running from the law (or an ex-wife or something) and they take to the woods. 

But I'm thinking it was made by someone who hikes, hunts, or rides horses through the area and wanted to be prepared in case of bad weather or injury. Rain or snow can move in over a mountain top literally out of the blue, and you can be trapped in one place for a while. At least that's what we've more or less decided the situation is.

It's been nice to get input and thoughts from all of you.


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

Wow.......I have got the impression that some of you do NOT have several hidden caches.......Very interesting. 

Just for information, I leave easy to find (semi-cache) mostly things like gold pans, tools, coats packed in moth-balls, about 200 yards from the real cache. This is a decoy, and if disturbed, is a clear warning to me.

I just do not understand why everyone does not have several caches...:scratch


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## mmszbi (Nov 14, 2009)

> I just do not understand why everyone does not have several caches...


Unfortunately, some of us are just getting started and the home front is the priority at this time.
Eventually a cashe or hundred is on the list, but getting the woodstove put in, the food canned, bagged, bucketed, firewood split and stacked, BOB's purchased, packed, repacked, repacked again, lots of extra clothes for family found, purchased, packed away, first aid supplies purchased and organized, water storage set up, ammo reloaded and stocked, garden planted, tended and harvested, chicken coop built and the million other things for buggin in situated with very little disposible income......well, it's down the list a ways.


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## TimB (Nov 11, 2008)

I think he did the right thing by leaving it alone. I would tend to believe it belongs to someone who uses the area regularly (as you said, hunter, hiker, etc.). Usually, someone on the run hasn't planned that far ahead as to make caches. *IF* it was on my property, I would note the location and discreetly keep an eye on it. I wouldn't take it, especially if it was in my BOL, so as not to alert the owner that someone was in the area. But to be brutally honest, if push came to shove on down the road, I most likely would take it. :ignore:

Tim


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

We had our family discussion on this last evening. These were our first impressions of the cache. Because it was not extremely well hidden it was cached to be there only for a short time. It was an emergency cache. The person(s) that cached it did so only for insurance. As a family, when they were young, we would cache items about halfway from our base camp(usually a campground) and our intended point of interest. Our caches were never needed. However, if they were we would have been up "manure creek without any means of locomotion" if some one helped themselves to our equipment.

We never went to extreme lengths to hide our supplies. We always assumed (yeah....I know) that others did the same thing and would honor our stash, as we respected thier equipment. We also discussed the various situations that would force us to take advantage of others equipment. It would be a dire and life threatening situation. I know that I would not begrudge anyone that was in a true life or death situation. Use my equipment, do not take it for yours. 

Another issue that came up was: "Does lack of planning on your part constitute an emergeny on my end?". No it does not! We can not plan and have everything in all situations. However, there are so many that do not need think that they do not have to plan for tommorow. Compassion and kindness can only go so far.

Today I stopped for gas on my way home from church. I saw a guy buy 1 pack of cigarettes, 1 coffee and $4.00 in gas. I, jokingly, said to the clerk: " how far can you go on four bucks of gas?" His reply was that this guy does the same thing every day. This is the kind of "failure to plan ahead" that has me concerned the most. Can you get anymore short term in your planning?

I thought I had this all reasoned out......WRONG. Observing this idiot has now made me think. How long would a numb n*ts like this last before banging on someones door, or even worse, smash it in for his basic needs. This has messed up my normal charitable nature. A person like this needs to be " drop kicked through the goal posts of life".

On all of our camping trips we had people help us out, as well as our helping them out. Ever go camping and leave the salt at home? Cooking oil? Matches? Marshmellows? Something? We all have helped out those that omitted something as many times as we have been helped out. I will always help those that are willing to help themselves. Just don't help yourself to my goods without asking .

I want my Country back!


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

mmszbi said:


> Unfortunately, some of us are just getting started and the home front is the priority at this time.
> Eventually a cashe or hundred is on the list, but getting the woodstove put in, the food canned, bagged, bucketed, firewood split and stacked, BOB's purchased, packed, repacked, repacked again, lots of extra clothes for family found, purchased, packed away, first aid supplies purchased and organized, water storage set up, ammo reloaded and stocked, garden planted, tended and harvested, chicken coop built and the million other things for buggin in situated with very little disposible income......well, it's down the list a ways.


Just a suggestion: Think of it as a Day Hike scouting adventure. Take stuff you don't care about (Old Boots, used up coats & gloves) the stuff you would often throw away. Compress it (With a vacume sealer, if you have one) as best you can. Put one or two mothballs along with some of the stuff in a heavy trash compactor bag. Again squeeze out the air. and put into another trash bag. Go for a hike. and fide a place to cache.

You need to learn what works in your area, so start with old stuff. The Mothballs will keep bears and redback voles out of stuff here. Think of it as exercise in more ways than one.


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## aluminum (Mar 29, 2009)

> Today I stopped for gas on my way home from church. I saw a guy buy 1 pack of cigarettes, 1 coffee and $4.00 in gas. I, jokingly, said to the clerk: " how far can you go on four bucks of gas?" His reply was that this guy does the same thing every day. This is the kind of "failure to plan ahead" that has me concerned the most. Can you get anymore short term in your planning?
> 
> I thought I had this all reasoned out......WRONG. Observing this idiot has now made me think. How long would a numb n*ts like this last before banging on someones door, or even worse, smash it in for his basic needs. This has messed up my normal charitable nature. A person like this needs to be " drop kicked through the goal posts of life".


I get what you are saying... and you very well may be right about this particular person... However, what if he is actually not anything like you imagine him to be....

What if he uses almost exactly 4 bucks worth of gas a day to and from work, and he is keeping his tank topped off just in case he needs it if TSHTF?

Maybe he is actually even *gasp* smarter than you about prepping?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As far as the topic of this thread goes, My morals and such would have me leave the cache alone if I found it.... UNLESS it is a life or death situation, then it could very well be saving my life..... If it was my cache that was found, I would hope the one that found it would have the same moral compass, although it seems that in today's world, that is not very likely....


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Sourdough, if people don't cache things like those boots correctly they won't be any good when they might need them. But just wrapping them in a plastic bag might not be good enough. It's a good idea for starting though. 

Some of the things we were taught in a caching class last year is that people tend not to look up. You can make small caches in trees. 

One I particularly like is what you said...make 'dummy' caches. Then people think they've 'found it' and they take it and leave, and your real stuff is still hidden. 

I know someone who has a bug-out cabin stocked with more-or-less useless stuff, and their real supplies are cached out on various parts of the property.

Another thing I heard about burying plastic airtight buckets is to stack them. Use a post hole digger and go deep. Put a bucket way down in there, then a foot of dirt, then another bucket. Put the most valuable stuff in the bottom one. You can go three buckets deep or just two. People find the first one and usually will take it and leave. Even if they find the second one it's so deep they probably won't bother to dig it out. They'll take the lid off and pull the stuff out, leaving the bucket in the hole. Unless they're familiar with this trick they probably won't dig deeper.

If you're building raised garden beds or using tires to plant in, consider digging underneath before you fill it with dirt, and burying a bucket or two, or a sealed PVC cache. Then fill with it over, fill your planter with dirt.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

mmszbi said:


> Unfortunately, some of us are just getting started and the home front is the priority at this time.
> Eventually a cashe or hundred is on the list, but getting the woodstove put in, the food canned, bagged, bucketed, firewood split and stacked, BOB's purchased, packed, repacked, repacked again, lots of extra clothes for family found, purchased, packed away, first aid supplies purchased and organized, water storage set up, ammo reloaded and stocked, garden planted, tended and harvested, chicken coop built and the million other things for buggin in situated with very little disposible income......well, it's down the list a ways.


Yes indeed! Right there with you... 

Gypsy, love the idea of caching in the raised beds - thanks for the idea!


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

mmszbi said:


> Unfortunately, some of us are just getting started and the home front is the priority at this time.
> Eventually a cashe or hundred is on the list, but getting the woodstove put in, the food canned, bagged, bucketed, firewood split and stacked, BOB's purchased, packed, repacked, repacked again, lots of extra clothes for family found, purchased, packed away, first aid supplies purchased and organized, water storage set up, ammo reloaded and stocked, garden planted, tended and harvested, chicken coop built and the million other things for buggin in situated with very little disposible income......well, it's down the list a ways.


Especially if it's not close by (even with 4 wheeler..EMP knocked it out???)how ya gonna get there??:dunno:

dh has zillions of opportunities to hide buckets, backpacks, duffel bags, etc in the woods...he's a logger!!!
But.....:scratch

Darn..thanks for that class gypsysue...dh just left a great place he took me to well, you know...but the area is 20+ miles from home...we may not have transportation if it gets really bad...we have stored gas,,but EMP??


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Aluminum...Swifty's gas station does not like me:gaah:---guess why??:2thumb:


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

Aluminum,

Judging by the guys mannerisms, condition of his vehicle, and F***it-dude attitude (must have said it 4 or 5 times while I was waiting in line), I am going to go out on a limb; He's no prepper. I hope I am wrong but I seriously doubt that I could err on this one.

I smoke. I will by a weeks worth or a months worth at one time. The cost savings are about 25%. I can count on one hand the number of single packs I have purchased in the last year. I attempt to reduce my expenditures, thereby, allowing me to prep some more.

This yo-yo was a real piece of work. I am glad the grandkids were not with me when I was in the store. Thank you for your positive take on this guy. I wish I could be a little more charitable.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

mmszbi said:


> Unfortunately, some of us are just getting started and the home front is the priority at this time.
> Eventually a cashe or hundred is on the list, but getting the woodstove put in, the food canned, bagged, bucketed, firewood split and stacked, BOB's purchased, packed, repacked, repacked again, lots of extra clothes for family found, purchased, packed away, first aid supplies purchased and organized, water storage set up, ammo reloaded and stocked, garden planted, tended and harvested, chicken coop built and the million other things for buggin in situated with very little disposible income......well, it's down the list a ways.


Isn't that the truth? And for me, where would I bury it? I live in the city and want to get the heck out. Everything I read says that I live in the worst city in the world for NWO. Not only do I not want a cache here, I don't want to be here. But, where am I going? Dunno! But I am working on it!


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## tugboats (Feb 15, 2009)

mmszbi said:


> Unfortunately, some of us are just getting started and the home front is the priority at this time.
> Eventually a cashe or hundred is on the list, but getting the woodstove put in, the food canned, bagged, bucketed, firewood split and stacked, BOB's purchased, packed, repacked, repacked again, lots of extra clothes for family found, purchased, packed away, first aid supplies purchased and organized, water storage set up, ammo reloaded and stocked, garden planted, tended and harvested, chicken coop built and the million other things for buggin in situated with very little disposible income......well, it's down the list a ways.


I was there once. Sometimes it feels like I am still there. Please do not worry that others are ahead of you. Remember, how many you are out in front of. I am "stuck" in a city that is going to Hell in a handbasket. However, I would not want to be anywhere else. My parents ( in thier 90's) one special needs grand child are with me. My second family is firmly insconced in this area. I have family...family and more family. I can not leave this area because of thier medical needs. So, I will make the best of the situation.

Relax and enjoy the journey to self sufficiency. The road to prepping has given me solice when I was at my lowest point. There was a chance that the company I work for would go out of buisness. I was down in the dumps, worried about my family, fretting every thing and I went to the cellar to get some tobacco(bad habit) and just seeing my "preps" relieved most of the anxiety I had.

Do not focus on what you don't have but rather celebrate those items that you do have. It has been a fantastic voyage for us......I wish you the same.

At least you are giving heed to a lot of the warning signs. You have already won the game.


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

weedygarden said:


> Isn't that the truth? And for me, where would I bury it? I live in the city and want to get the heck out. Everything I read says that I live in the worst city in the world for NWO. Not only do I not want a cache here, I don't want to be here. But, where am I going? Dunno! But I am working on it!


Lots of room in Alaska. I live in a small town with a population of (14) Fourteen total Humans. I have been in this town for 12 years and I have only ever meet half of the humans. We'all mind our own business, and not our neighbors business.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

Sue, that's really an interesting question. I think I agree with the sentiments of leave it alone and maybe write a note saying that a good person found it and left it alone but the next person might not share the same mentality. There are good and bad people everywhere, even out in the wilderness and some people might use those supplies or worse, just scatter them out for fun.

I never saw the fun in taking something away from another person just for kicks but lots of people do that.

I'd say your son did the right thing and showed his real stuff out there by leaving the cache alone. I commend him.

In a real emergency I would use as little of a found cache as possible and I'd expect the same. I don't have caches set up at this point but if I did and one was found by a person in need, well, have at it, friend.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Good for your son, Gypsy, I would have done the same. I would however remember it is there, should I need it in an emergency. If I did have to use it I would, if possible, replace what I used as soon as possible.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

kyhoti said:


> I have to wonder: how well or poorly was this stuff hidden? If it was an important back-up location for me, it wouldn't where anyone, SAR or otherwise, would spot anything "out of place".
> 
> Now onto the ethical/moral bit. I would take note of the cache, "just in case". That's me not kidding myself. But would I take stuff? Under the most dire of circumstances, yes. I would hope that things haven't gotten that far down the pike, because at that point I would have to be out of my primary location, out of my secondary location and on foot. Hell-in-a-hand-basket wouldn't even begin to describe it. I wish I would be staunch enough to not touch stuff that's not mine, but in the situation I envision, all bets are off.
> 
> As a flip-side of the coin thought, if I was feeling really altruistic at the point when I found the cache (pre-fan, that is), I would leave a dated note with an e-mail address, something like 'Hey, I found your stuff. You can move it if it freaks you out, or if you're a prepper, find me at this e-mail and let's chat."


this echoes my thoughts, but I would make sure it was a disposable, not-easily-traced e-mail or cell-phone number also


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

When I first started reading your post, it never occured to me that the person leaving the cache might be someone of questionable repute - I just assumed it was a prepper/survivalist. And so I would leave it. If my life (or my family) depended on something in the cache, yes, I would take it. But I would never forget that it wasn't mine, and as soon as I could I would try to replace what I'd taken, plus leave something more as a thank-you. It's what I'd want someone else to do if the tables were turned.

Thanks for the suggestion of decoy caches - we'll use that.


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## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

Leave a note with it saying it has been found and they may want to move it. 

Had to be a poor job of hiding it. I have 3 in the ground, one for 7 years. I check them about every 6 months to make sure they are "undiscovered".

Jimmy


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

In a non-emergency situation I would have checked it out and then left it, trying to hide it a little better in the same place. In an emergency situation I would use what I needed to get to safety and left a note thanking them and promising to refurbish the stash as soon as I could. No name, phone or email, just a thank you. I would not deplete the stash if at all possible as the person might be right along and be depending on it. Again, depending on the contents I might only need a day of food and a few matches to get myself to safety.


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

tsrwivey said:


> I would leave it alone, perhaps leave a note letting them know they need to hide it better.


Haha, my first thought was also to leave a note. I would have left it alone otherwise. Its odd that such a question is even necessary... you leave it alone if its not yours. Good to see so many honest folks on here :congrat:


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

weedygarden said:


> Everything I read says that I live in the worst city in the world for NWO.


Okay, I'll bite... what is NWO? I've heard of NWA, but I doubt that is the same thing.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

As for the main issue at hand...

I would have re-covered it as well, along with a note saying that the next guy who finds it may not be as honest as I.

Now, were this to occur in an emergency setting, I feel as though I would not hesitate to make use of the things which I needed. I say this largely because if things are so bad that I am running through the woods with absolutely nothing in the way of supplies or tools, it must really be a bad day of epic proportions.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

Turtle said:


> Okay, I'll bite... what is NWO? I've heard of NWA, but I doubt that is the same thing.


NWO=New World Order

If you haven't heard of it, google it. After you change your underwear, please post.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

tugboats said:


> Today I stopped for gas on my way home from church. I saw a guy buy 1 pack of cigarettes, 1 coffee and $4.00 in gas. I, jokingly, said to the clerk: " how far can you go on four bucks of gas?" His reply was that this guy does the same thing every day. This is the kind of "failure to plan ahead" that has me concerned the most. Can you get anymore short term in your planning?
> 
> I thought I had this all reasoned out......WRONG. Observing this idiot has now made me think. How long would a numb n*ts like this last before banging on someones door, or even worse, smash it in for his basic needs. This has messed up my normal charitable nature. A person like this needs to be " drop kicked through the goal posts of life".


... or the guy buying the gas follows the rule of keeping the fuel-tank filled to the brim and uses about a gallon of gas per day (on average) for the normal commute ...

People may have different reasons for doing what they do, it is not our place to judge them, but to try to understand their reasoning. If their reasons are good and honorable we should mimic those ... if not, then a drop-kick through the goal-posts of life might be in order ...

Back to the original topic:

If I found the cache, I would make mental-note of where it is and recover it in the original location. If I needed to make use of it, I would do so, leave a note and return as soon as possible to restock that cache with whatever it was that I used. The note would be so that the person returning to the cache understands that very needed supplies were taken with no malice intended and that the supplies would be restocked.


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## XR750 (Jul 31, 2011)

If I found a cache. Now I would leave it after TSHTF I would take it.
XR750


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

It would depend on where it was in relationship to my house, how far ect. if it was within a quarter mile, I want to know whoes it is,who owns the land. If it looked like someone had been there recently, I'd stakeout the area with a couple consealed game cameras to see how often they were cked, then I'd try to figure out which way they were using to get in the area.If they didn't own the land, I may even take it and leave them a note telling them to beat it. I find a lot of unwelcome and unwanted tree stands in my woods and emediately tear them down.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

lotsoflead said:


> It would depend on where it was in relationship to my house, how far ect. if it was within a quarter mile, I want to know whoes it is,who owns the land. If it looked like someone had been there recently, I'd stakeout the area with a couple consealed game cameras to see how often they were cked, then I'd try to figure out which way they were using to get in the area.If they didn't own the land, I may even take it and leave them a note telling them to beat it. I find a lot of unwelcome and unwanted tree stands in my woods and emediately tear them down.


That is an EXCELLENT point! I am actually rather surprised that this hasn't been brought up before, since everyone seems so protective of their homes.

I have to agree; if I had found a cache in the woods _near my house_, I probably would have taken it and left a note asking the person to contact me. I certainly wouldn't want a stranger operating in my backyard. If it was a simple misunderstanding, I would give it back and work with the guy to find an alternate location. If he was trying to set up on my property... we'd have to dance.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Turtle said:


> That is an EXCELLENT point! I am actually rather surprised that this hasn't been brought up before, since everyone seems so protective of their homes.
> 
> I have to agree; if I had found a cache in the woods _near my house_, I probably would have taken it and left a note asking the person to contact me. I certainly wouldn't want a stranger operating in my backyard. If it was a simple misunderstanding, I would give it back and work with the guy to find an alternate location. If he was trying to set up on my property... we'd have to dance.


You're right, I was totally assuming that the cache was in a remote area (and my property, unfortunately, isn't 'remote'). Having a cache near my home changes everything.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

This cache that I wrote about in the thread-starting post was at least 3 miles from the nearest house/cabin. It's on National Forest land, about 1/4 mile off a foot path/trail that is used by hikers and horseback riders, though it's a lightly used trail. It's west of Glacier National Park about, oh, 30 miles or so. He was part of a Search & Rescue team looking for a lost person. They were fanned out through the forest.

Contrary to what some of the people posting think, it was well-concealed. My son is familiar with caches and when they were searching for the lost person he just happened to be in the right place to recognize certain things the average person would have missed, short of literally stepping in such an unusual place by accident. Not that he's so extremely brilliant or anything, it's just something he knew enough about to recognize.

My husband walks a five-mile trapline through rugged, forested mountains on snowshoes every day in the winter. He carries emergency supplies, as well as a hand-held ham radio, but we would be smart to make a cache or two along his trail, just in case. The winter days are short and storms brew up out of 'nowhere' in these mountains. It's possible this other cache is for a similar reason.

I know of neighbors who have caches out and about in the forest around here. I don't know where they are. I can't remember if we've made any? :scratch:


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

Sue, I understand the original post; I just thought that the issue of finding a cache on/near your own property was an interesting hypothetical situation.


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## Turtle (Dec 10, 2009)

weedygarden said:


> NWO=New World Order
> 
> If you haven't heard of it, google it. After you change your underwear, please post.


Ah, yes... that nonsense. Yes, the Masons are plotting our downfall with the Illuminati, the Atlanteans, Skull and Bones, and the Leprechauns, with the eventual goal of taking over the world.

I suppose I just didn't connect those dots in this context.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Not mine*

If it isn't mine, I generally leave it alone. That is just one of my rules !


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

here's an oldie but a goodie.

Cold War cache found in New York 
Survival blankets and crackers dating back five decades to the Cold War have been found in a long-forgotten storage room under New York's Brooklyn Bridge. 
Officials believe the stash, discovered during a structural inspection, may be one of many created in the US in the 1950s amid fears of a nuclear war.

The provisions include 350,000 "Civil Defense All Purpose Survival Crackers", medical kits and now-empty water drums.

"This is modern American history," said city transport official Iris Weinshall.

"People were worried, they thought we were going to go to nuclear war."

'Rare find'

Concealed in the depths of the bridge's Manhattan side, the sealed tins of crackers are dated 1962 - when the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear conflict.

Other items are stamped 1957, the year the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite.

Boxes of paper survival blankets are marked "For Use Only After Enemy Attack".

BBC NEWS | Americas | Cold War cache found in New York


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## Ponce (May 3, 2009)

Sue? I am proud of your boy, I would had done the same.......and maybe even cover it a little bit better.


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

Frugal_Farmers said:


> Your son certainly did the right thing.
> 
> Fortunately for the cacher, you son had the right moral character. Others may have taken the goodies.
> 
> Regaurdless of who left the cache, it belongs to them and should be left alone.


:2thumb::2thumb:I agree


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

lotsolead, that's a great story! Makes me wonder what they're putting away now...


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

Kudos to your son for his honesty. I'd do the same. The cache ain't mine so I won't touch it. I wouldn't want someone taking one of mine.


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## testhop (Dec 20, 2009)

if i didnt need it VERY BAD it would go untouched. 
your son did the right thing.
you should be proud of him.


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

goshengirl said:


> lotsolead, that's a great story! Makes me wonder what they're putting away now...


they're putting away plenty, but not for you or I, just for members of Congress,Senate,S C Justices ect. and other important people.


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## XR750 (Jul 31, 2011)

lotsoflead said:


> It would depend on where it was in relationship to my house, how far ect. if it was within a quarter mile, I want to know whoes it is,who owns the land. If it looked like someone had been there recently, I'd stakeout the area with a couple consealed game cameras to see how often they were cked, then I'd try to figure out which way they were using to get in the area.If they didn't own the land, I may even take it and leave them a note telling them to beat it. I find a lot of unwelcome and unwanted tree stands in my woods and emediately tear them down.


Do you destroy tree stands on public land? 
Joe-R


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

XR750 said:


> Do you destroy tree stands on public land?
> Joe-R


 I don't go on public land and I don't think anyone can put tree stands on Public land here.I just take them down if they're on my land


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

tugboats said:


> Another issue that came up was: "Does lack of planning on your part constitute an emergeny on my end?". No it does not! We can not plan and have everything in all situations. However, there are so many that do not need think that they do not have to plan for tommorow. Compassion and kindness can only go so far.
> ....a numb n*ts like this last ....has messed up my normal charitable nature. A person like this needs to be " drop kicked through the goal posts of life"


I agree.... a recent situation with a couple in church that were in need basically turned out to be a pack of deceit and lies. I can't afford to be charitable to those who just want to play on other's sympathies.


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## XR750 (Jul 31, 2011)

lotsoflead said:


> I don't go on public land and I don't think anyone can put tree stands on Public land here.I just take them down if they're on my land


Ok just making sure I understood you. 
Joe-R


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

If I found a wallet with a picture of a woman whos face was on 5 IDs I'd keep it.This happend to a person I know who found one at Walmart with $3500 in it along with 5 stolen IDs and her picture on them all.
Since this person is above our laws,no sense in turning her in,just be glad she lost the money and an American found it.
Giddy up,One Trick


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## TheAnt (Jun 7, 2011)

Meerkat said:


> If I found a wallet with a picture of a woman whos face was on 5 IDs I'd keep it.This happend to a person I know who found one at Walmart with $3500 in it along with 5 stolen IDs and her picture on them all.
> Since this person is above our laws,no sense in turning her in,just be glad she lost the money and an American found it.
> Giddy up,One Trick


LOL:lolsmash:

I can't say I necessarily disagree with this sentiment but I think I would have turned in the ID's to the police at least so that they could get her for ID theft.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

TheAnt said:


> LOL:lolsmash:
> 
> I can't say I necessarily disagree with this sentiment but I think I would have turned in the ID's to the police at least so that they could get her for ID theft.


 Some fool had my name and address on a business credit card account,I called about 15 different places to report the thugett and kept getting the run around.FBI said they would look into it,well if they did they must not have liked what they saw,cause I never heard from them again.I did'nt know it was an FBI thing.
Not only would I keep it but I'd do so with big fat grin on my face.
Now if someone else lost it or even gave back too much change,I'd not rest till I gave it back.


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