I know I am not the first person to think of storage units as either a cache site, or as a BOL (Bug Out Location), but I’ve given this some thought recently and want to share those thoughts with you. There are admittedly some shortcomings, but there could be enough upside for this to be a great option for some of you. For this idea to make any sense at all, you might need to change how you think about storage units. Don’t think of it as a place to keep the crap you don’t have space for at home. Instead, think of this as a viable secondary location to store supplies to meet your family’s five basic human needs.
Cost
The first hurdle might be monthly expense. I checked Uhaul.com for some local storage facilities and for a 5x5x8 climate controlled unit, they wanted $59 a month. To keep perspective, I’ll wager the overwhelming majority of people with a BOL pay more than $59 a month in a mortgage or other loan payment. Look at this like your other prepping, as another form of insurance. I don’t know that the expense is justified for me right now, but if I lived in an area with common natural disasters it might be.
I said “$59 for a climate controlled unit” earlier because if you’re going to store food in this location, you’re going to need it to be climate controlled. This means it is going to be more expensive than a normal unit. Temperatures between 40 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit are ideal for food storage. For every 18 degrees above 72, the food loses up to half its nutritional value over time.
As a BOL
I would be shocked if any storage facility does not have verbiage in the contract about not residing in the unit. If you’ve followed the blog for a while you probably know that I believe in 95% of situations people should not bug out and are better served by staying home. Personally, if I take action on this at some point, I don’t plan on residing at the unit itself and will use the unit as a cache. However, if there is an event that pushes me from my home, and we make it to the storage unit, we could resupply and hit a hotel or, if needed, stay at the unit or nearby.
How far away?
There are a couple things to consider when it comes to distance. If you live in an area hit by natural disasters, having the unit outside of the “danger zone” might make sense.
If you have a long commute, having the unit at a half-way point might make sense. I personally think the risk of an EMP is low. If it is a concern for you, having a storage unit in between would provide a safe spot in between and a place to resupply or lay low if needed. You probably don’t want it further than you could walk in one or two days.
What Should You Store?
To my thinking this would be an endeavor for someone who has either been prepping for a while, or someone that sees a big need for a cache/BOL.
To the seasoned prepper who has probably accumulated plenty of equipment, I would say store some of the “extra” gear you have that isn’t crucial to keep at home.
To the person who sees a need for a cache/BOL I would say store what you think you will need most. I realize that is very open ended, but hear me out. I read on a forum once about man who had a conversation with a wealthy executive that worked from their home. This executive expressed some concern over evacuations taking place in California due to wildfires in the last few years. The person on the forum told the executive they could do as little as a BOB, or as much as stock a storage unit with everything they would need in the event their house burned down. Months went by and the forum member received a call from the executive, thanking them for the advice and stating that they had stocked a storage unit with every necessity for him to work. When they were forced out by a wildfire, the only downtime they had was for the drive time to the unit.
So, if you think having a cache is important, stock it with what you think will be important.
Rotate, rotate…rotate!
Please do not forget to rotate any perishables you store in a storage unit.
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