Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe works well as a caching container. The pipe is strong but light, easy to work, readily available in hardware and plumbing stores, and also commonly used in household plumbing, so those selling it to you shouldn't suspect that you're making a cache. (For absolute security, purchase the pipe and fittings with cash to avoid leaving a paper trail.) To create an airtight cache with PVC, simply purchase a length of pipe and two end caps for each cache, along with a can of PVC sealant or Volclay. Cut the pipe to length with a hacksaw or wood saw, then carefully sand the edges until they are smooth. Place the sealant on one end and mount the end cap, setting it aside to harden, following the instructions on the sealant can. Now your plastic bags of dies and other reloading equipment can be placed into the cache tube along with the silicon gel packets. Styrofoam packing "popcorn" or similar material should be used to help protect things from rubbing against each other or creating damage. Some cachers use freon, nitrogen, or carbon dioxide gas to displace the air in the container; this helps prevent rust but isn't necessary. Of the three, dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) is the easiest to work with. You simply place a large chunk in the containers and then let it melt with the open top pointed upward in an area with very little air movement. Since carbon dioxide gas is heavier than oxygen, it pushes the oxygen out of the tube as it settles down into it. Once the dry ice melts, seal the tube immediately. Sealing the tube is accomplished by either painting a strip of solvent around the top and then setting a cap on it, or placing the cap on the tube and sealing it with Volclay. A Volclay seal is easier to open in the field and even allows recycling of the tube; the solvent gives a more watertight fit but requires that the tube be broken or sawed apart to get inside it. You'll have to decide whether ease of opening or quality of seal is more important. The size of the cache container is dictated by what you're putting into it. If you want to store a shotgun or rifle along with your reloading press, then the container will be larger than one that contains only a small reloading kit. It's better to have several smaller containers rather than one large one whenever possible. This makes caching them easier and also simplifies retrieving items after they've been buried. If you put everything into one large container that needs several people to lower it into the ground, then the chances that it can be retrieved by just one of your members (if he's the only one to escape) is smaller. Modest cache containers will improve your chances of avoiding detection when you're retrieving gear from the cache. And, of course, the old saw about putting all your eggs into one basket applies here. If you're storing hygroscopic powder or primers, it's also wise to place them in a separate container or well away from your reloading equipment or firearms inside the cache. That way, if the chemicals manage to attract moisture despite your best efforts to keep it away, the dies or guns won't get rusty. The cache should be located in an area slightly higher than its surroundings. This will prevent moisture from pooling over the spot where the cache container is buried. The container should be buried with a thick layer of rocks or gravel under it, permitting water to pool below the container and gradually seep into the soil. Roofing paper or plastic should then be layered over the container to divert water from the cache. Once the dirt has been filled and tapped over the cache, the plants that were growing over the location should be replaced carefully to camouflage the position. You might even consider transplanting a bush over the cache to make it look like the earth has been undisturbed for some time. If the plant continues to grow, it will also discourage casual digging by anyone who wanders through the area. If the authorities suspect that a cache is in the area, they'll probably use metal detectors to search for it. Some of the best metal detectors are capable of spotting a gun or other large metal object down to six feet or more and can be set to ignore small pieces of metal trash. But most of the equipment used by government agents won't be this sophisticated because it is too expensive. These less expensive metal detectors can be foiled with very cheap countermeasures. Sprinkling bits of aluminum foil, BBs, tacks, or scrap metal around the area will do the trick. Unless the searchers want to dig up a huge area, they will most likely give up before locating you firearm. If you go to a little extra work and scatter metal over areas where nothing is buried (perhaps roughly in a ring around the actual cache — though nothing too obvious, such as putting the cache in the center of the circle, or the authorities might guess your site), those who might search and dig in a few spots to see if someone is trying to hide something will have nothing to show for their efforts and will likely give up. In some areas, the soil has a lot of iron in it already, which can usually be recognized by the reddish hue of the earth. This soil is especially good for caching metal objects because it throws off less sophisticated metal detectors. Other such areas as junkyards, the backstops of