The Big Cache Thread

[chico20854]

There's a mini-adventure built around this concept that was published in Challenge Magazine issue #50, titled "If you go into the woods today". It's a short piece about an abandoned and booby trapped Soviet supply truck.

[Desert Mariner]

Community Disaster Cache

A Community Disaster Cache is a stock of supplies designed to support a local population in its response to a disaster. This scalable cache is designed to enable a local community to survive without outside aid for a 72-hour period following a disaster. Local community, in this instance, is defined as the students and staff living within walking distance of a given school (could include community colleges, technical schools, etc.) containing a cache.

Siting of the caches varies, school attics, basements, or other unused rooms or buildings or shipping containers in school parking lots. The listed quantities are per each one hundred (100) persons.

Containers used for the various items within the cache will vary (Sterilite, Pelican, Rubbermaid, plastic bags in open “milk crates”, etc.) depending on location and possibly the finances of the group that outfitted the cache.

Food and Water
Cup. Disposable -- 200
Drum, 55-gallon water filled -- 6
Jug, 5-gallon -- 5
Case, MRE (12) – 9, 16 or 25 (1, 2 or 3 per day per person)
Pump, Water Barrel -- 2
Straw, Water Filter (20-gallon capacity) -- 100
Survival Food Bar, 2400 calories -- 200
Survival Food Bar, 3600 calories -- 100
Water, Survival 4.225oz -- 200
Water, Survival 8.45oz -- 100

Medical
Gauze, 4 x 4" (2) -- 300
Gloves, Exam S/M/L/XL – 100 each
First Aid Kit, 20-person -- 5
Mask, Procedure -- 100
Tape, Medical 1" x10 yd -- 5
Tape, Medical 2" x 10 yd -- 5
Trauma Kit, 100-person -- 1
Wipes, hand (1000) -- 5

Shelter
Blanket, Mylar -- 100
Blanket, Wool -- 50
Cap, Watch -- 100
Forearm Lifting Straps -- 2
Hand Warmers -- 100
Poncho, Rain -- 100
Rope, 3/8" poly 500' spool -- 5
Sandbags, 14" x 26" -- 200
Stake, 12" spike nail -- 25
Stool, Step – 1 (3-step ladder to help reach when erecting tents)
Tarp, 10' x 20' – 5 (for tent floors)
Tarp, 12' x 20' -- 5
Tent, 10' x 20' (steel frame canopy) -- 5

Sanitation
Bag, Composting (100) – 2 (toilet liners)
Bucket, 3-gallon – 4 (for sand)
Bucket, 5-gallon with toilet seat -- 8
Tent, Pop-up – 2 (for toilets)
Trowel -- 4

PPE
Glasses, Safety -- 10
Glove, Work S/M/L/XL – 4/6/6/5
Hat, Hard -- 10
Mask, Dust (1000) -- 1
Mask, N95 – 20

Miscellaneous
Bag, Construction, 2' x 4' -- 40
Bolt Cutter w/2 spare blades -- 1
Box Cutter -- 5
Crowbar -- 2
Flashlight, Hand Crank -- 5
Gun, Staple -- 2
Hammer, Claw -- 2
Mallet -- 2
Plywood 8' x 4' -- 20
Box, 8D Nails – 1
Box, 16D Nails -- 1
Radio, AM/FM/Weather Hand Crank -- 5
Shovel, round nose -- 2
Shovel, square nose -- 2
Sledgehammer -- 2
Staples (500) -- 5
Tape, Duct -- 5
Visqueen, 20' x 100', 6mil clear -- 2

[Desert Mariner]

FEMA Urban Search & Rescue caches
I’ve been working, in fits and starts on the cache concept described below. If there is interest, I can post what I have currently (list is complete, need to add item weights) and/or when I manage to get the majority of the individual weights for the 1100+ line items added in. The real-world concept necessarily limits use to an US based scenario.

The National Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) Response System, established under the authority of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1989, is a framework for organizing federal, state and local partner emergency response teams as integrated federal disaster response task forces. The 28 US&R task forces can be deployed by FEMA to a disaster area to provide assistance in structural collapse rescue, or they may be pre-positioned when a major disaster threatens a community. SOP calls for activation of the three (3) task forces nearest the disaster area.

The US Army’s 911th Technical Rescue Engineer Company, based at Ft. Belvoir, VA is modelled on a FEMA US&R Task Force and provides additional support in the National Capital Region. Additionally, some states and other jurisdictions have created and equipped secondary task forces, such as TX-TF2 sponsored by the Dallas Fire Department.

Each of the 28 task forces maintain an equipment cache designed to sustain the task force for four (4) days in the field. The 16,000+ pieces of equipment are cached and palletized for quick access and transportation. The complete load of equipment weighs approximately 60,000 pounds and is designed to be transported by tractor-trailer or in the cargo holds of two (2) C-130 transport aircraft.

The cache contents are broken into five (5) basic categories: Communications, Logistics, Medical, Search & Rescue, and Technical Support.