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Will an ammo can stay water tight while submerged?


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My Row vs. Wade (GC.com) and Banjo Music aka Why is Daddy Crying? (TC.com) caches can spend up to several months at a time under water on their flood tethers. Sometimes under 20 feet of water or more. They have always been dry when I checked on them.

 

They are only 110 feet apart, but listed on separate websites.

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If I put an ammo can in the creek will it stay waterproof?

 

Yes! There is a local cache (won't say which because it will ruin the surprise for any locals that might come this way) that sits under water all the time. That is except when someone is signing the log. :wub:

I thought I was sooooo clever not getting wet retrieving wp1 then I worked out where the final was. :) No it couldn't be, no, oh man! Yes it was exactly where I had hoped it wasn't, just glad the water wasn't any colder.

 

Now I can read the logs and laugh at anyone else who finds it. One person got their jeans wet and went to the local big store and brought a new pair. That cache was the first ammo can I had found. :)

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They are only 110 feet apart, but listed on separate websites

Seperate websites, novel idea eh Keystone?

 

I hid a TC. com micro less than 5 feet from one of my large TB hotels. GCrs were looking for something LARGER than an ammo can and NONE of them stumbled upon it. :wub:

 

I call it "DOH! factor." For folks that don't consider other listing/hunting options. When they finally do try the other options they go DOH! :)

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There was a floating/partially submerged ammo can hide in my area. It held up for several years. Eventually the seal degraded, possibly with some "assistance" in the form of a cacher closing the box with some organic debris in the seal. A note inside the can to PLEASE clean the edge and seal before closing the can might help.

 

I have an old diver's camera battery case in use underwater. Obviously designed for the purpose and it is working well. Keeping crud out of the seal is the only requirement, and so far everyone has done that. Eventually that seal will need replacement.

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Eventually the seal degraded, possibly with some "assistance" in the form of a cacher closing the box with some organic debris in the seal.

...or a piece of a trade item. Folks in a hurry to leave will not quite stuff everything back in and something gets caught. I've seen a ball chain on a TB get caught once, but most of the time it's corners of ziplock bags.

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Like Brian said, it depends on the gasket. Keep in mind that the deeper you hide it the higher the pressure and the greater the chance for the seal to fail. A cache hidden 2 feet underwater has 15.5 psi of pressure on it, where as a cache 12 feet under water has almost 20 psi.

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If it has a good seal - should stay dry - for a while. The gasket will eventual fail or be comprimsed. The can will rust through. Something will bang into it and comprime the integrty.

 

Having said that - it may take a few weeks or a few years for anything to go wrong.

 

I have one of those blue Walmart fake otteboxes. It has spent time on a tether underwater and always remains dry inside. But I know it is quite a bit more fragile than an ammo can.

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I have one of those blue Walmart fake otteboxes. It has spent time on a tether underwater and always remains dry inside. But I know it is quite a bit more fragile than an ammo can.

 

Do you have it near fast moving water, or a lake type situation? We mostly have rivers in our area and was wondering how it would hold up.

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Will an ammo can stay water tight while submerged?

If I put an ammo can in the creek will it stay waterproof?

 

Sorry, but I can't resist...

 

The answer would seem to be "yes". Both questions posit that the container starts off waterproof and asks whether they will remain so under water.

 

I'd say if they don't stay waterproof, they never were to start with. What good is a water tight container that is only in such a state when not submerged?

 

At least that is what I thought of upon firt seeing the subject and initial post. Ask my friends, they'll tell you that I just can't help myself sometimes.

 

DG

Edited by DudleyGrunt
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They are only 110 feet apart, but listed on separate websites

Seperate websites, novel idea eh Keystone?

 

I hid a TC. com micro less than 5 feet from one of my large TB hotels. GCrs were looking for something LARGER than an ammo can and NONE of them stumbled upon it. :laughing:

 

I call it "DOH! factor." For folks that don't consider other listing/hunting options. When they finally do try the other options they go DOH! :lol:

 

Translation: "No, it won't remain water-tight in a creek."

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They are only 110 feet apart, but listed on separate websites

Seperate websites, novel idea eh Keystone?

 

I hid a TC. com micro less than 5 feet from one of my large TB hotels. GCrs were looking for something LARGER than an ammo can and NONE of them stumbled upon it. :lol:

 

I call it "DOH! factor." For folks that don't consider other listing/hunting options. When they finally do try the other options they go DOH! :laughing:

 

Translation: "No, it won't remain water-tight in a creek."

sounds more like a maybe too me.

 

BTW whats up with the Avatar? it is kinda creepy, no offense, maybe its my subconscious homophobe

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A cache hidden 2 feet underwater has 15.5 psi of pressure on it, where as a cache 12 feet under water has almost 20 psi.

Right, but the box has about 15psi inside, so the pressure difference at 12 feet is about 5psi, which is still significant, although it sounds small.

 

A long time ago, Buck8Point posted some photos after rescuing one of his ammo boxes from several months being underwater. The cache had barnacles (or something) growing off it. The inside was perfect.

 

I'm guessing that thread is still around.

 

Jamie

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