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Does anyone have a decent way of stashing gear in the bush.
I have tried using buckets which have worked to some extent but they always seem to get some condensation.
Surely someone has an alternative way that keeps their gear in good nick and dry.
Obviously also has to be mouse, rat and possum proof :thumbsup:
cheers
Carry it in, then out again, easy
I've never found anything better than the white 20 L plastic bucket with tight-fitting lid. Most farm shops sell them.
Any sealed container will develop condensation if it's exposed to the warming/cooling cycles of daily temperatures. Only way to prevent this is to bury the bucket, upright, with a couple of inches of soil depth over the lid.
A sheet of plastic over the lid helps keep things clean and I never had one leak, even after the site flooded. Really only worth the hassle for important gear like jetboil, gas canisters, freeze-dri sachets, batteries, tent fly etc.
On public land don't expect it to stay undiscovered
Carry in a newspaper,,, needs to be dry as, like crispy crinkle feel it's so dry- so carry in protected (plastic bag) from the damp bush atmosphere.
When you store goods in bucket take newspaper out of plastic bag leave in bucket with other goods...
when you come back you will notice newspaper has lost its crinkle/crisp feel because it has absorbed moisture from in bucket.
Newspaper has other uses to.
There's a white plastic bucket of mine buried about 100 yards from Makino hut in the Kawekas. Been there 25 odd years. Anyone is welcome to the contents if they can find it. Tinned food, instant noodles and stuff. And another stash on the Mangoira ridge in the Ruahines off the end of Bowling Rd, including a tent fly. It's by the last broadleaf tree before you hit the leatherwood, on the track we cut. Thats been there longer. :)
Stuff seems to keep ok in those big white paint buckets with clip on lids.
There's a whole camp of mine in the Kaikoura's that's buried under tons of rock and dirt after their quake
I have a few gear stashes left out there.
Good to leave gas and food as you go by on the way out.
BUT keep a record of what's there if you don't go back often.
Just last week I was hunting at an old stomping ground and I dumped my overnight gear where I thought my stash was.
Went back to pitch my tarp before the evening hunt and found I was at the wrong clump of trees and 50m out.
Got to the right spot and found all there was I'm that stash was a 5 year old 2L bottle of water !
Don't
Buckets. Polyurethane over the top. Beech logs holding it all down. Have had a chainsaw up there for years. Still goes hard ��
The 50 or so litre screw top poly drums are also good. Carry in on a frame or in our case drop in from a vehicle before the gates close for winter.
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The lighter–weight plastic 60-80 litre rubbish bins aren't great as the clip-on lids are not intended to form a good seal, and water seems in time to inevitably defy gravity and work its way up underneath. There is just such a bin filled with gear just off the side of the Raingauge Track from Kumeti Road where this has happened and the contents are now mouldy. I've been meaning to pull it out and see if I can find any contact details of the owner inside. What is the etiquette here? From my perspective it is now effectively rubbish that has been left in the bush. I'm inclined to take it out to the carpark.
I don't see the need to stash gear in the bush - just carry in what I need.
If it's public land don't expect it to remain untouched, do you want that risk? if you are relying on the gear to be there?
having been a field Ranger for years and flown out countless loads of rubbish especially Waioeka and Te Urewera I really wish hunters did not stash gear - to often it gets left - but if you must the blue plastic drums with a screw lid are as good as anything - then if someone has to clean up after you its easy - roll it into a net and its out - but dont - if you think you need to you are packing to much
If you are going to do this, make sure it is well concealed, and that you do carry everything out when your sick of your spot. If you are using a drum, make sure it is water tight, and store nothing wet. Nothing. Condensation cannot occur unless there is dampness in existing gear. And please, if you do decide to dig a hole the size of a 100 litre plastic drum, for heaven's sake, fill it in once you are finished with it. I nearly fell down a square hole like this walking through the bush. Not a pleasant experience.
think of this hunters what are you leaving if its food- what are you coming back to -stuff thats way past used by date - really have you really done yourself a favour - tinned maybe okay water okay but I have gone thru stuff we have flown out and dumped and a jar of marmite was about it -
I leave
Rope
Part gas canisters
3 rounds of my primary big game rifles ammo
A pair of laces
Any left over dried well packages food
Some matches or a lighter
Candle
Water bottle
Boot laces
Foil
Spare plastic bags
A pillow case for meat
Cup
Spork
I don't leave gear necessarily where I camp buy somewhere strategic well along a route where it gives me multiple options on the way in or out to pick up or drop off supplies.
Now that I have an InReach I can decide to stay longer and inform my wife.
Hunt through to a stash and pick up extra supplies.
And apart from the buried one in the Kaikoura's they all come out eventually or I give the info to a protégé who will use the area once I've shown them around and how to hunt it
the difference mate is you are thinking about what you stash and others know where so often just left and dumped
Yeah I get thatQuote:
Originally Posted by Barry the hunter
Big difference being strategic about having stuff there for a change of plans
And being a lazy #### and leaving your gear behind
So is it fair game to pull out what appears to be an abandoned gear, probably leave at the road end for a time, before dumping?
Also, does anyone here perhaps think they know who might have left this stash off Kumeti road up along the Raingauge ridge line track, back a little way from the perennially popular lookout?
It's pretty obvious when it's just gear left behind and not a well conceived stash.
I found an abandoned camp last year with a 2 man tent and gear left behind just in a heap.
When I went to pack it all up I found the receipt for the tent and gear from Torpedo 7.
My guess was walk in and camp or hunt and walk out with none of the gear they had brought or their rubbish.
All the dried meal bags left behind empty were T7 price labeled.
Gear is so cheap now some people will just leave stuff everywhere and never return.
I took a photo and told the local DoC office and they had been told about it and were intending getting it out when staff were in there.
Sad thing is it was only 1 hour from the road end and less the 5kg of gear and rubbish !
… and a pair of huts.Quote:
Originally Posted by akaroa1
I dont think I’ve ever left a stash.
Trouble is you cant count on it being there when you go back so can only leave stuff you could really survive without at a pinch. I dont carry much stuf like that.
If I need a tent or a sleeping bag or a gas cannister then I REALLY need it and carry it in and around with me.
A good option is to leave good stuff at a hut and hope others will do the same for when you need it. I do this a lot with has cannistrs and carry out the empty one, leave a half empty one there.
Making stashes seems to be a very instinctive thing for humans, like cutting tracks or building huts and the effort put in is way out of proportion to the use you ever get out of it.
We have a couple of 'primo' spots we hunt that are difficult to get to, and the older we get the less we can carry...knowing the pack should be full on the way home, so have stashed sleeping bags, bivvie bags, gas cookers, medical supplies etc in a big screw top plastic container. To keep everything dry inside you need the bottom 200mm of another container to use as a roof space over the top of the screw top to prevent the gathering of water etc. Digging them into the side of a hill is preferable to digging them into a flat spot for drainage reasons. Then the whole lot is covered with 200mm of soil, leaf litter, deadfall etc. Even when you tell someone its 'over there' they can't find it. It means you can head out the back knowing that other 2 and 4 legged visitors of the shelter haven't made off with the basic necessities of a week in the bush.
Whiskey should keep pretty well over time ,stashed away in the bush .
......you must have looked in the bottom of the barrel:omg:Quote:
Originally Posted by Friwi
Temu sell the the silica gel moisture absorbers, x100 for less then $5. They work well.
They often close access tracks during winter here. Knew a bloke who had a stash but not all that common here.
But ive seen a couple walking along closed tracks pulling a trolly/cart full of gear. Lol.
Haven't seen it but a few use push bikes or electric bikes.
Save the silicon gel packs from all the various internet orders. Handy for your gear storage and gun safe. Flextail do a range of vacuum seal bags, which work really well for compressing dry clothing to go inside an airtight sealed blue drum.
My mate and I had two 10 litre plastic containers under a hut in Canterbury about 6 yrs ago with Kovea gas cooker, packet of AA batteries, some canned food and other minor gear. The contents were stolen and one container eventually found about 30 metres away in the surrounding bush lying on the ground. One of the containers was labelled with my name/contact number under the screw on lid. Oh and I do stoat/rat/possum pest control for DOC. Such wankers out there. The same wankers that left their rubbish at huts for others to carry out. That's another story.
I guess you roll the dice if you leave your gear out in the wilderness. Since I grew up in Dorkland I just assume someone is going to either steal or vandalize ya stuff.
If you put a bit of effort into hiding it, the chances of anyone finding it are about zeroQuote:
Originally Posted by rugerman