Letter Re: Bacteria-Infected Meat in U.S. Supermarkets

JWR,  
I thought I’d pass this along for your consideration to publish this link: Quarter of Meat Supply Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Bacteria.

This article may be alarming to some of our population, but to most of your readers I suspect it is not a surprise and many have even known or anticipated such an anecdotal report as we’ve been observing an increase in drug resistant bacteria for some time.   

What I took away from this article is the benefit of the extreme care it takes to not only raise animals for consumption (apparent source of pathogens) but thoroughness in dressing and processing animals whether it be field dressing, planned farm harvests or handling meat just prior to cooking/consumption.  It is most likely that folks raising their own meat will be doing so in considerably better conditions than cramped and filth laden feed lots.  However, since pathogens are not discriminating, it is worth pointing out the value of proper practices in raising and processing meat.   

In an effort to be proactive on this matter, maybe someone with farm experience in raising animals for consumption could comment on this.  Particularly someone with pathological training and experience, for example a veterinarian who would be making AB risk assessments on a regular basis.  Factually stepping through the process of husbandry to final preparation of meat for consumption would probably be quite useful and well received by your readers.  

Thank you for your work.  I submit that each and every one of us is a ‘survivalist’ whether we acknowledge it or not.  The difference is the breadth and depth of knowledge and skill to be as independently successful as one desires or finds necessary on life’s journey. In Liberty,  – Ricardo in In Indiana

Letter Re: Buying Military Surplus Directly

Mr Rawles,    
Thanks for hard work and invaluable resources. I have a suggestion buying surplus military equipment. It appears the government liquidators mentioned have some sort of fees involved. Anyone can go to the DoD’s Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service web site.  This eliminates any middleman and lets you look at available equipment online.  

In addition and maybe more usefully, every military base that I have served on or visited had a Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office (DRMO), and they hold regular sales, some walk-in like a surplus store and others by sealed or open lot bidding.  – J.J.

Economics and Investing:

C.D.V. sent us a link to a Zero Hedge piece: Jobless Claims Huge Miss to Expectations of 380K, Print at 412K, Previous Revised Upward, Core PPI Higher Than Expected

Also from C.D.V.: Zoellick Sees Economic Risks From Food Prices, Debt, Inflation. In related news: World Bank president: ‘One shock away from crisis’. (Thanks to Mark W. for the latter link.)

Pierre M. was the first of several readers to forward this link: More Americans leaving the workforce.

John S. highlighted this one: Banks Face $3.6 Trillion ‘Wall’ of Debt: IMF

J.H. was the first of several readers to mention this news story: University Of Texas Invests Nearly $1 Billion In Gold Because Kyle Bass Told Them It Was A Good Idea.

Joe Ordinary Voortrekker sent this: BRICs demand global monetary shake-up, greater influence. Joe’s comment: “…but they still want to ‘promote a just economic order’. More like they will be promoting the fall of the Dollar and with that an International Financial Crisis that will have people screaming for a solution…..(Fanfare please) and out comes the new ‘and just’ Global Currency. Meanwhile, we read: BRICS credit: Local currencies to replace dollar.

A Run On the Central Bank of Belarus as Devaluation Fear Forces Halt to All Gold Sales

Items from The Economatrix:

Consumers Feel the Pinch of Pricier Gas and Groceries

Gasoline Averaging $4 a Gallon In Five States

Six Banks Shuttered; Makes 34 Closed in 2011

Moody’s Cuts Ireland by Two Notches, Euro Falls

Inflation Watch:

U.S. Companies Shrink Packages as Food Prices Rise.

Reader Bryan E. wrote to mention: “Over the weekend we had visitors who are in the wholesale food distribution business. They were relating that they had experienced a 14% increase in wholesale food prices during just the month of March. Here are some examples:

Item Size March 1st Price April 1st Price
Sugar 55 lb. $33 $37
Flour 50 lb. $11 $16
Butter 30 lb. $74 $91
Margarine 30 lb. $17 $24
Catfish 15 lb. $54 $89
Cheese 42 lb. $2.55/lb $2.91/lb

Restaurateurs are greatly concerned about how they are going to adjust for these major monthly price increases during a period of already slow business. Many imported food products now have limited availability because the home countries are retaining them for domestic use.”

Reader J.D.D. sent this: Week Ahead: Inflation on the Mind

Bill in New York sent this: Prices at LDS canneries show inflation for food up between 11 and 49%. Here is a quote: “The LDS’s raising food prices at their canneries by 11 to 49% in just three months should be a serious wake up call to all Americans on the true inflationary conditions that exist in our economy, and that we need to constantly look outside government reports for the true data affecting our spending and finances.”

Zach L. sent this: Indiana Farm Bureau reports grocery prices up 4% (in First quarter of 2011.)

Odds ‘n Sods:

Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog’s Editor at Large) recommend this National Geographic documentary: Witness: Disaster in Japan. Mike’s comments: “This is an excellent presentation.  The first 30 minutes is raw footage from cell phones, local cameras and news, with almost no commentary.  There are English subtitles.  Watching six minutes of magnitude 9.0 shaking and collapse, followed by 20 minutes of blasting waves demolishing buildings and sweeping everything inland in a filthy black crush, is very sobering. The sheer level of devastation is a reminder that natural disasters dwarf anything that we might do ourselves.”

   o o o

How about Gas for $2.80 a Gallon? Just one catch—it’s in Mexico

   o o o

The popular “When Your Family Thinks You’re Crazy” thread over at The Mental Militia Forums just keeps getting longer.

   o o o

Reader R.B.S. mentioned: A Workaround For Domain Name Seizures?

   o o o

I noticed that the now classic Libertarian novel “Atlas Shrugged” just jumped to #4 in Books, on Amazon.com! No doubt this renewed interest can be attributed to the new Atlas Shrugged movie.) Some mainstream movie critics like Roger Ebert (known for his statist bias) have panned the film, but all of the SurvivalBlog readers that I’ve heard from have liked it.

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Last, but by no means least, courage—moral courage, the courage of one’s convictions, the courage to see things through. The world; is in a constant conspiracy against the brave.  It’s the age-old struggle–the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice of your conscience on the other.” – General Douglas MacArthur

Note from JWR:

Today we present another entry for Round 34 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 34 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

How Long Will Your Provisions Last?, by D.G.

2

Growing up on a farm in the Midwest I was exposed to the “self-sufficiency” mindset early on, even though I probably didn’t fully appreciate it at the time.  I can remember my grandmother keeping a large kitchen drawer nearly stuffed full of aluminum foil scraps, string, and assorted sacks and bags, all to be reused and never thrown away until completely used up.  Being snowed in for a few days each winter was never a big concern.  When the electricity was out we had propane and firewood to heat the house, plenty of food had been canned in the summer, and the worst thing we had to do was chip ice out of the water tanks for the livestock.  It seemed like a fair trade for some welcomed “snow days” away from school.

Like many of my cohorts, I grew up and left that world for a career in business and the relative “security” that a salary and benefits could provide.  Some 25 years later, however, it became apparent that the need for tangible security through diligent and thoughtful preparation was far more important than the gratification of immediate but not necessarily important wants.  Now having started to give serious attention to prepping only about one year ago, it’s amazing to see how the deliberate accumulation of “beans, bullets, and bandages” begins to come together as an appreciable stockpile. JWR’s “List of Lists” spreadsheet is a great help in the preparation process, but it’s at around this time that I began to realize that it’s not enough to just buy the necessary or recommended supplies.  I really started feeling pressure to organize more effectively and find a way to manage all the items that are accumulating.

With particular attention to the food supplies being stored, I knew I needed to be able to answer the following:

  1. Exactly what foods (type, quantity, & nutritional value) are stored?
  2. What dates are the foods set to expire?
  3. What is the value of these foods?
  4. How long will these foods support my family and me?

 

The reasons to know this are important and simple.

  1. I need to know how to consider the foods already stored against the list of foods still required to balance a diet (assuming you may not be able to supplement your stores for some period of time).
  2. I need to know the expiration date of stored foods in order to rotate stock effectively and be able to donate those food stores to an appropriate shelter or organization while they still have enough life to be distributed and used by those in need.
  3. I need to record the value paid for these foods so at the very least we can deduct the cost on our tax returns under charitable contributions.
  4. Most importantly, I need to know how long these stored foods will hold out.

 

Since I have a penchant for Excel, I developed a simple spreadsheet to track my food stores and help me plan for future needs.  This spreadsheet is organized in three sections, with several columns for recording information.  For purposes of example I will use a can of cooked chicken breast to illustrate how the spreadsheet works.  This can of chicken breast is 13.0 oz. and costs $2.00 at the local Sam’s Club.  The label says each serving is 2.5 oz and has 70 calories, 2 grams of fat, no carbohydrates, and 12 grams protein.  The expiration day is December 2013.

The first section includes the general information about each food, such as Category (i.e, Meat), Quantity, Description (Chicken Breast), Brand (Member’s Mark), Package Size, Serving Size, and so on.

Category

QTY

Description

Brand

Vendor

Size

Unit

Serving Size

Servings
Meat 10 Chicken Breast Members Mark Sam’s Club     13.00 oz.     2.50 oz.        70 g      52

The second section is for the nutritional content of each food.  This includes serving size, the calories per serving as well as the grams of fat, carbohydrates, sugar, protein, and fiber in each serving, as well as columns to calculate the total nutrients.

     

Per Serving (g)

  

Category

QTY

Description

Calories

Total  Calories

Fat

Tot Fat

Carbs

Tot Carbs

Protein

Total Protein
Meat

10

 Chicken Breast

70

3,640

2

78

–

–

12

624

Nearly every commercially available food product in the U.S. has a label which contains this information.  For home canned or preserved foods, a kitchen scale can be used to record the weight of a container and either a label from a comparable commercial product (such as canned fruit) or a food guide available from www.usda.gov or a good bookstore can be used to estimate the nutrition value of those items.  Now with all of this information I can begin to make informed decisions about how many people I can feed and for how long.

In order to do this I’ve added three lines to my spreadsheet.  The first is a total for each of the columns called Total Calories, Total Carbohydrate, Total Fat, and Total Protein.  The second line is used to enter the average daily nutrient requirements for each person.  And the third line is simply the number of people to be supported and the calculated number of days our supplies will last.

In order to complete this part the spreadsheet I need to know what amount of nutrient components a person will require each day.  As a guide I used the Daily Reference Intake (DRI) available from the USDA web site.  The chart below is an adaptation of the daily needs for an individual based on the DRI information.  For people four years or older, eating 2,000 calories per day, the Daily Values are:

Total Fat 65 g
Total Carbohydrate 300 g
Fiber 25 g
Protein 50 g

*Source adapted from: USDA. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrates, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (2002/2005).

The DRI and other sources of information from the USDA and FDA are extensive and can help you plan needs using more exacting numbers than contained here.  The complete data includes guidelines including by gender, age, activity level and even information for pregnant and lactating women.

In this example and for simplicity, I will plan for four adults.  Of course, you will want to modify these requirements depending upon the actual number and make up of those people with whom you going to share your food stores.  You may also want to allow some margin for friends and neighbors that will inevitably end up on your doorstep when trouble begins as well as any supplies you want to designate for charitable giving or barter.

Now let’s assume that today my food stores include a total of 160,000 total calories, 6,000 grams of fat, 20,000 total carbohydrates, and 5,000 grams of protein.  Using the guidelines above, and with the arithmetic formulas in the spreadsheet I will determine that I have about 20 days worth of calories, 23 days of fat, 17 days of carbohydrates, and about 25 days of protein.  The chart below illustrates these numbers:

 

Total Calories

Total Fat

Total Carbs

Total Protein
 

Total Values:

160,000

6,000

20,000

5,000
 

Average Daily Requirements:

2,000

65 g

300 g

50 g
Persons Supported:

4

Days Supplied:

20

23

17

25

 

Not too far off balance, but if your goal is 30 days of supplies on hand you might be surprised to learn that you have a little ways to go.  But nonetheless, using this tool still gives me a better idea of how to plan future purchases and the number of days I can support people with a reasonably balanced and varied diet.

The third section is where I record the price paid for each of these stored foods and the expiration date stamped on the container.  Instead of Expiration Date (it really doesn’t expire, does it?) I prefer to use the term “Donate By”.  Here columns exist for Price/Package, Price/Unit of Measure (typically ounces), Price/Serving, Total Price, and Donate By Date.

QTY

Description

 Size

Unit

 $/Pkg

 $/Unit

 $/Serving

  Total Price

Donate By

10

 Chicken Breast     13.00

oz.

  $2.00  $0.15  $0.384  $20.00

Dec-13

Total price is of course the price per package x the number of packages purchased.  At the bottom of this column I total up the entire amount spent of food storage.  This helps to understand the amount of money required to maintain a well stocked pantry or to replace those stocks when consumed or donated.

The one item I haven’t mentioned here is water.  Your stored water supplies whether in bottles, buckets, or barrels can be tracked using this spreadsheet as well.  However, since there are no nutrients to consider, I just make sure to divided my stored water by 7.5 liters (about 2 gallons) as an allowance for each person per day.  You may want to allow more for increased cooking or washing requirements, but it’s still very easy to calculate.

To be successful (in nearly every endeavor) you need a well thought out plan.  Since the accumulation of emergency food provisions is not likely to be done all at one time, and that those stocks need to be rotated and certain foods will be more or less available at any given time, it’s important to inventory what you have and how far it will really go.  I am more than happy to share my workbook with other preppers and hope you find it useful for planning and tracking your stored food resources.

JWR Adds: D.G.’s Excel spreadsheet is available here.

Letter Re: Steel Cables as Road Obstacles for Rural Retreats

Hello,  
I bought and read your book (“How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It”) and have read several sections of your blog, but I’m having a lot of trouble finding an item you mentioned several times – “defensive road cables”. I have Googled this exact term and all I get is your article quoted over and over. Can you please send me a link or two or three where I can buy these or other info that will help me find them. Thanks.   – M.B.V. 

JWR Replies: To block vehicle traffic from roads, I was referring to 1/2″ to 5/8″ diameter steel cable and cable clamps to fit the same. These are available at any logging or machinery supply company.  They are set 18″ to 24″ above the ground, and locked with large padlocks. If large trees are not already growing in suitable locations for attachment, then you should set stout steel posts in concrete. Used lengths of standard gauge railroad track work well. You can use a cutting torch to punch holes through the thin (side) sections, to thread through the cable. After the cable clamps are positioned and tightened, you should braze or weld a blob on each bolt and nut end, to prevent the nuts from being loosened.

An important proviso: As previously mentioned in my blog and per widely-accepted military doctrine, any obstacle that is not within line of sight (and line of fire) of your retreat’s defenders will only serve as a brief delay—not a true obstacle to advance.

Letter Re: Coffee in a Post-Collapse Society

Dear Mr. Rawles,  
I would like to add one more consideration to the post-collapse coffee junkie.  My fellow caffeine addicts may be under the misperception that their fix has to come from Java, Columbia or China.  Not strictly true.  Although it is not “coffee” per se, there is a native plant which can provide a caffeine jolt, hold off that dreaded withdrawal headache for you or be used to treat asthma attacks.  Ilex vomitoria var pendula, a.k.a. “Weeping Holly“, is the only native caffeine producing plant, and grows very well anywhere other hollies grow.  The preparation is a little different, in that young leaves and twigs can be dried then roasted to a golden brown and ground in a mortar to a powder.  To prepare what the Native Americans referred to as “the black drink” you put some powder in a vessel, add cold water to steep then add hot water before drinking.  The steep time and dilution need to be experimented with to your taste, but can be anywhere from a mild tea to a heart-pounding, nausea-inducing level of caffeination. 

Incidentally, although they are very pretty and wildlife loves them, the berries are mildly toxic (and the source of the very unattractive species name) and should be left alone. –  Chris in Virginia

Economics and Investing:

Reader J.B.G. suggested this article: World Bank: Food prices have entered the ‘danger zone’

C.D.V. sent this: Chris Martenson: Insolvent and Going Deeper

By way of the Fierce Finance e-newsletter, I found this: Is Goldman Sachs Too Big to Fail?

T.L.B. liked this one: What The Silver Vigilantes Understand That You Probably Don’t (Arithmetic, Human Nature and other Stuff)

From my friend Bob G.: 20 Signs That A Horrific Global Food Crisis Is Coming

Items from The Economatrix:

US Burning Economic Candle at Both Ends

Feds’ Exit Doors Close:  Inflationary Spiral Ahead

Keeping Capital In A Depression

Commodities Plummet On Demand Fears

Manufacturing, Inflation News Sends Stocks Higher

Jim’s Quote of the Day:

“Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:

Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

He giveth to the beast his food, [and] to the young ravens which cry.” – Psalm 147:7-9 (KJV)

Note from JWR:

Today we present another two entries for Round 34 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize: A.) A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795, and B.) Two cases of Alpine Aire freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources. (A $400 value.) C.) A 9-Tray Excalibur Food Dehydrator from Safecastle.com (a $275 value), D.) A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo , and E.) An M17 medical kit from JRH Enterprises (a $179.95 value).

Second Prize: A.) A Glock form factor SIRT laser training pistol. It is a $439 value courtesy of Next Level Training. B.) A “grab bag” of preparedness gear and books from Jim’s Amazing Secret Bunker of Redundant Redundancy (JASBORR) with a retail value of at least $300, C.) A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials, and D.) two cases of Meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).

Third Prize: A.) A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21. (This filter system is a $275 value.) , and B.) Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy. This is a $185 retail value.

Round 34 ends on May 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that articles that relate practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.

Caving Caveats, by S.B.

I’m an amateur caver, all the caves I know of I found through a local college caving course which I’ve taken a few times. We learned from our instructor, a former Marine, with lots of experience, that most cavers are very zealous when it comes to locations of caving sites. Largely because graffiti pop-culture day-hiking tourists are so devastating to pristine cave environments, serious spelunkers will not share that information beyond their associations. I would not expect to find that kind of information resource online. Serious cavers simply won’t breach their own operational security (OPSEC) to do that. IF anyone were to find a source online, I would expect that database to cover already known tourist and day-hiker caves. I’ve been through enough such caves to see what unsteward-like conduct will do to an otherwise gorgeous environment.

Which brings us to the question, from a prepping or survival standpoint, are caves a viable option? I’ve been giving this some thought. I am presently deployed to Balkans and, unfortunately, separated from my lists, notes, and references. What follows is strictly off the cuff from my own personal experience over the course of a few semesters of adventure caving and my own hiking encounters. My intended audience are the souls who have little to no experience with caving in any capacity and who are considering utilizing natural caves as part of a bug out, retreat, or cache plan.

Caves and Mines are not a good first choice for a bug out, retreat, or cache. That is my bias, up front and as a general rule I believe that statement to be accurate. To be clear, I am a prepper that happens to enjoy recreational caving, climbing and rappelling. What follows are some pros and cons that should be taken into consideration.

Education

Caving is not as simple as grabbing a flashlight, bottle of water, sneakers, a sweater and heading to the nearest dark hole in the ground to explore. Recommended: If you are interested in prepping possibilities of caves or mines, first search out a local intro level class to caving/spelunking. The safety considerations are identical whether you are a day hiker wanting to casually poke around, or a prepper wishing to factor this into your contingency plans. An intro level class by an experienced recreational caving specialist is the best way of learning about recommended equipment, planning, and especially safety. What I cover in this article is by no means exhaustive and is directed to a specific audience: preppers who may consider including caves or mines as part of their G.O.O.D., Retreat, or Cache plan.
  
Underground terrain may be of the man-made (mine tunnels) or natural (lava tube) variety. Naturally occurring sub-terrain being perhaps a little safer than man-made: how old are those tunnel braces? Regardless of which you choose to venture into: the subterranean world is a hostile environment. Surface temperatures in excess of 90 degrees Fahrenheit will still yield subsurface temperatures in the high 50s or low 60s. Do not expect to find food or water and be warned that even your air supply is suspect. Any waste generated must be carried out: it will not decompose below ground. Cavers have to carry everything in and pack everything out. Light, food, warmth, water, insulation, etc… You can dehydrate underground and become hypothermic (all that cool rock and air will just suck heat out if you aren’t careful).

Safety
It is never recommended to enter a cave solo. Once well underground it is YOYO time. Cell phones and radios won’t work deep underground. Our instructor shared this story with us: a group of cavers entered a local lava tube. From parking lot to end of tube took 30 minutes at a totally unhurried pace, maybe 2,000 meters total: 3/4s of which was underground. One caver fell and broke a leg. Someone had to go above ground for help. After the ranger station was notified, it took 12 hours to extract the injured person, 8 hours of which were spent by the SAR team extracting the casualty: a young Boy Scout. Litter-bearing in a cave environment is way more complex, exhausting and time-consuming.

Now, in this same cave, another day group entered once-upon-a-time. On their way out, one of their party, wearing a hard hat, took a step up and received a concussion after smacking a boulder directly above her. In a different cave, a day group stopped to take a break: a man put his hands on the roof above him to rest, little did he know that when he dropped his hands to resume movement a 70-lb chunk of rock would have been dislodged just enough by his unsuspecting contact to fall.

On a recreational day trip this is how I would roll:

Four people minimum, with a “surface watch:” someone dependable who will call for SAR after “x” hrs if not informed of our safe return. Hardhat, sturdy boots (steel or composite toes would be a good idea) elbow and knee pads, leather gloves, eye-protection, headlamps, hand light, back-up light source (another head or hand light), extra batteries, first aid kit, a layer of warm clothing, extra socks and a dry shirt, day’s worth of food and water, a fully charged cell phone that is off, waste “#1” bottle (wide mouth is always better: think empty Gatorade bottle…) waste “#2” bag (Foil zip-lock recommended: plastic will not retain odor completely), as well as climbing harness, rope, webbing and rappel/climb protection equipment as necessary (which will depend on cave environment), for each person.

Why four people? In the event of serious incapacitating injury, one person stays with casualty and two people go for help. Admittedly, you could get by with a party of three but IMHO two heads are better than one (especially in an emergency) and what happens if an injury befalls the party going for help? A four-person team allows some redundancy on this score. A three-person team leaves everyone exposed to a single catastrophic point of failure in the event Murphy strikes twice in the same cave.

Obviously in SHTF situation, you might not have the luxury of setting out with a picked team, and will certainly have no access to front-country emergency care if something were to go terribly wrong.

Other Considerations:
Underground does not equal hard to find or easy to hide. I have a few Army buddies who find caves by poring over topographical maps in search of depression features, which they will then poke around the vicinity to find caves. Also, on topographical maps, mines are often marked. That secret cave or mine may be on every map for savvy eyes to find and explore.
Know your cave! One cave I’ve explored has five possible ways in and out (one is a water feature–stale, no circulation–which I would drink from only as a last resort). Another cave allows for a 90+ ft rappel entry, two access points on foot and numerous opportunities to fall. A cave with multiple entries allows for egress options, but will pose a security risk—especially for someone going solo or a small group. A single access point allows you to clear your immediate area and be reasonably secure in what direction trouble may be expected from. Such restricted access, however, may also serve to trap you.

Cave environments will vary from dry/dusty to moist/damp. If you had to lug a bullet launcher, take the appropriate measures. Underground is not the place to engage in a kinetic lead dual. Sound will be amplified in an enclosed space; infrared enhanced night vision would be a must in a total dark environment, but would only be an advantage against an adversary that is not similarly equipped. Ricochets are a concern of course, but sound and impact bouncing off of surfaces may have greater adverse affects if a roof or wall falls in. Of course…smoke, gas, and hunger would serve just as well to flush someone out of a cave, as would sealing all points of access to otherwise neutralize occupants.

Caves for Preppers:
With all that in mind, let’s look at retreat, G.O.O.D or cache possibilities.

Retreat:

Better than nothing as a last resort. Would still have the logistical burden of pre-positioning preps on site, which would only work if this site was on land you owned. Even at that, a day-hiking trespasser might happen along upon your preps anyway if left inside unsecured. A cave-in or collapse would also be most uncool, too. If you locate a cave on your property free of human traces (and animal for that matter) and which does not also appear on the latest survey map, then such a cave might be worth exploring as a temporary retreat, especially if the alternative is a tarp shelter under a tree.

Caves are fun to explore, and do generally provide excellent shelter from the elements (wind and precipitation), but would make a poor living environment long-term post-TEOTWAWKI for anyone but a small group of healthy active adults.

I can hear it now… what about those cave dwelling tribes of yore in the Southwest? Those tribes (many active, fit healthy adults) took many years to carve their homes out of cliff sides. A very defensible position considering they also stored their own food, as well as the level of war making technology available at that time.

G.O.O.D: If you have Leather Personnel Carriers (LPCs), i.e. boots) bug out route planned sound-of-music style it might be worth identifying caves along the way that might serve as a layover point. This is more likely to be practical immediately after SHTF. Besides competing with animals, other folks may have the notion to squat in any available shelter as time goes on. In an immediate SHTF moment, I don’t think there is going to be an urgent push to go check out every known cave to establish cavemansteads or hunt down displaced persons or survivors. Hope is not a good plan, however, and I would plan on cave-layovers to be brief: a night or two tops. Pick terrain that permits long visibility, exercise strict light and noise discipline and have more than one egress to choose from if possible.

Cache: A cave would make a pretty decent landmark; unless serious upheaval takes place it probably won’t be going anywhere. Do not leave a cache in the cave, unless you are willing to lose its contents. Flooding, animals, hikers, etc… better to leave a small cache discreetly somewhere nearby. So if you had to G.O.O.D in LPCs on short notice, you could take a route that allows you to equip, shelter, and rest periodically on the way to whatever-your-final-destination-of-choice is. This mitigates the possibility of discovering that “oops, someone beat me to the cave” and is now: either in possession of your cache or squatting unsuspectingly on it. In such a case, simply acquire stash and move on. Your object, hopefully, being to get to a safe haven (a la American Redoubt?) rather than pick a fight.

In Closing
Caves and Mines are not a good first choice for a bug out, retreat, or cache. Unless I know more about the structural integrity of a particular mine tunnel or cave, I wouldn’t venture further than the entrance unless compelled by urgent need. Nor would I trust the contents of an emergency cache to reside in a cave or mine under any circumstance—I prefer not to accept exposure to so many factors that could be mitigated by simply burying a stash in the general neighborhood. I also like having options: putting shelter and supplies in one basket doesn’t allow for enough flexibility if a carnivore or someone else should claim that shelter space for home territory. Caves make better choices than mine tunnels: they are less likely to be explicitly identified on a map than mines and have less risk (not to be confused for no risk) of collapse.

Caves could be useful to preppers. Just be aware of the risk already inherent to subterranean environs and redundantly cover each base to mitigate risk as well as leave enough flexibility so that you have options if/when/ever the time should come to operationally test your plan.

If you have good knowledge of an area, have put in the sweat equity to know what is available around you, and implemented ways to support your goals while mitigating risk, caves could be a useful option… or a death trap.