20 Places to Hide Your Valuables

by Teresa

Hiding your valuables is an essential prepping skill, no doubt about it. In case of SHTF, the likelihood of your house being broken into sill skyrocket… This is why it’s important to keep your stuff as inaccessible as possible… things like birth certificates, gold, silver, and other vital items. You’ll get lots of ideas on how to store the items inside your home, in underground caches, and many more places.

Underground Caches

Due to advancements in technology, we stopped using underground caches. They’re a way to preserve your valuables and offer a longer shelf life for your products like grains, fruits, and other items.

An underground cache is a storage spot that has been dug below ground. Due to the lower temperature, it will preserve more products. Here’s how you can go about setting one up.

Items You Will Need:

• A waterproof storage container. For example, a plastic barrel, metal barrel, or a PVC pipe that can be sealed to ensure no moisture gets in. The container should have a cam lock or should include an O-ring.
• Accessible land to dig on; preferably your retreat. Most times this will be next to or in the structure that is your retreat. You may also use the floor of a tool shed.
• Small box or container that is waterproof to contain items that are not included on the perishable list of products that will be stored in your underground cache. It should be big enough to house items like your cash, birth certificates, gold, and more.

Directions:

1. First, you will pick the perfect spot. The hole should be of an appropriate size. Ensure that the main container is snug inside of the hole to ensure that there is no space for it to fall over or to allow for any type of movement. The top of the container should be two to three feet from the surface to ensure no one else is able to accidentally resurface.
2. Put the items inside the container, including the smaller box that includes your documents and your gold. If the container is smaller than the other items going inside or you are afraid that it may not hold the weight of the other items, place the smaller container on top of the other items to ensure its safety inside of the larger container.
3. Lock both containers tight, then spray the outside of the main container with waterproof rubber spray. Ensure it’s all covered, including the lid area to any moisture out. This is a cheap way to ensure that the container will stay waterproof once for years on end. Allow it to dry completely before you do anything else.
4. Place your container inside the hole and fill in around the sides and pack the dirt around it tightly.
5. Make sure you pack it well to ensure that wind or weather cannot uncover your secret spot should it be outside of a structure. If it is outside, plant grass seed or cover it with a strip of pre-grown grass to conceal its location.

Learn more about making caches in these videos:

Hiding Valuables inside Your Home

When SHTF, there may be circumstances in which you will need access to items before you get to your bug out location. In this case, it is a good idea to have a place in your home where you keep birth certificates, gold, and other items that you can utilize to get to your retreat. In this section, we will go over some spots in your home that the typical thief would never think to look.

Dresser or Desk Drawers

Keeping valuables inside a dressing or desk drawer seems obvious, but that’s just the problem… A potential thief will surely open them

There is a better way: you will need a plastic and flat envelope, which can be found at any office supply or dollar store, and some strong tape like packing tape or duct tape.

Place your cash and documents inside of the envelope. Then, remove the drawer that you would like to use and place it face down (open side towards the floor). Tape the plastic envelope to the bottom of the drawer to that it is flush with the drawer bottom. This will ensure it will not catch as you slide the drawer in and out of the dresser or the desk.

Behind a Clock or Picture Frames

Yes, we are in the times where people do not typically use clocks; however, many homes still have them, and pictures of their precious memories hanging up on the walls. Much like the plastic envelope and the drawer, you can do the same with the clock and the picture frames, using just an envelope and tape.

For frames, you can also remove the cardboard backing and slide the cash or documents in between the cardboard and the picture itself. When using frames for storage, you are able to grab the frame that has a precious picture, as well as the important items hidden inside should the SHTF.

Inside Your Flashlights

Many people do not go beyond the obvious storage spaces when hiding items in plain sight to have fast access. You will, most likely, have flashlights in your bug out bags. In order to save on space and keep your documents, cash, or small gold pieces hidden, you can utilize the space that is in your flashlights.

Open your flashlights and you will see space in which you can slide items inside. These items should not cause any malfunction, but it’s easy to test and see.

Air Vents and Intakes

Depending on the position of your vents and your intake, you can use a box to hide items in one of these. Use a screwdriver to remove the grate and place the items inside.

Ensure that it can lock fully so that if found by another member of the household, they couldn’t open it. Put the box or locked container inside of the venting. Screw the grate back into place. Be careful not to strip the screws or mark the wall in any way, as marks around the grate can give away the location of your valuables.

Hide Cash and Documents in a Flower Vase

This is an easy hiding spot. You will need a wide based flower vase and some fake flowers that act as decor in your home. Take the documents and cash, and place them in a plastic bag. Next, tape the items to the end of the stems at the bottom. Place the fake flowers into the vase and fill the rest of the space with dark colored glass beads, which will conceal the contents of the bag.

Inside DVD Cases

If you have a decent sized DVD collection, you can choose an old DVD movie that other household members are not likely to pick up. Good ideas are black and white movies, documentaries, or a case marked “family vacation”. This is a great spot to hide any documents, cash, or gold and silver coins.

Make sure that the selected DVD is not in the middle of the collection, but more out of reach of a person that is looking at it. For extra security, you can also glue the case shut in case you do not trust that someone will not try to open it. This will also make it very easy to grab your important items when it is time to BO.

Inside the Toilet Water Tank

For this, you will need a small waterproof bottle. A clean and dry 20-ounce soda bottle will work well. To weigh it down, you could use small rocks. If you are placing precious metals inside, you obviously won’t need to do this.

Place your cash, gold, documents, and other important items inside a waterproof zipper bag, then place that bag inside the bottle, and close it very tightly. Flush your toilet to remove the water in the tank. Put the bottle inside of the tank. You will not need to do anything else until the bottle is needed.

Hiding Items in Your Tool Shed or Garage

Inside Paint Cans

If you are a painter or you have lots cans of paint you don’t use, they’ll make perfect hiding places. Should looters break in, then they are not going to need paint. Ensure that the can is cleaned out and the residue is dry. It’s best to wrap the gold and other items in of a towel before placing them inside of the can. This ensures that if it is grabbed or knocked over, the contents will not make any sounds to tip off the burglar.

Inside PVC Pipes

No one will give a couple of pieces of PVC piping a second look, which makes it a great place to tape coins, documents, and other items like cash. Place the items in a plastic bag and tape them on the inside of the pipe as far down as you are able to.

Under False Floors

This hiding works inside a home or your tool shed. If you have hardwood floors, then it will be very easy to remove a board. Install a hinge on the inside of the hole in the floor. Make sure that your items can be easy fit inside. Close the board and ensure that nothing can be seen through a crack. In order to cut down on any light reflecting from the spot, cover the items with a black cloth to create a camouflage effect.

Even more ideas:

• Gun Safe Box Spring: You can use a gun safe that is the same size as your box spring and hide it underneath your mattress.
• Fake Furnace.
• Fake Ducts: You can hang up ductwork in the basement in order to use as a hidden storage area. To add to this hiding spot, you can have a trap door in the floorboards above it so that you have access from the top and from below.
• Pringle’s Cans: Hide ammo inside of a Pringles can inside your pantry away from children, but in arms length of you.
• Coffee Cans: Do the exact same to the coffee can as you would the Pringles can. You can even hide small guns inside of the coffee cans depending on the size of the can.
• Fake Bookshelf: You can build a fake bookshelf that is actually a door to a secret room. You can use this room as a temporary retreat or even a storage spot for your bug out bag.
• Stairway Drawers: Build drawers inside your stairway. Each step can be a drawer. It is perfect to hide guns and ammo, because you’ll have access to them in case of a break-in or a home invasion.
• Fake Wall Electrical Sockets: Create an empty wall electrical socket to hide smaller items such as rolls of cash, Jewelry or anything tiny enough to fit. Seal the items in plastic to protect them.

Here are a few videos so you can see how some of these ideas work:

There are many ideas that can be utilized to increase the safety and security of your valuable items that you will need should you need to escape to your retreat. Make sure that the spot is accessible when you are in a hurry.

Also, having a plan to grab the items should always be made and practiced in your prepping drills.

Remember the old saying: never keep all your eggs in one basket? Well, the more caches you have, the less likely it is to lose all your valuables should they be discovered.

via Modern Survival Online http://ift.tt/2y50bCp