Choosing an ammo can

[+kroger23]

I'm planning out my first ammo can hide. The Walmart in my area has just started stocking metal ammo cans (brand Strategy, with an O-ring). They're quite large and cheap, but the label only says "moisture resistant", which makes me question whether they'd hold up to the elements. 

How variable is ammo can quality? Will these work just as well as, say, military surplus? If not, what/where do you recommend me purchase?

*I am only interested in the metal ones.

[+MNTA]

Gallon size ziplock bags for the log and swag do well for a time.

[+colleda]

I have a few ammo can caches. I put log book and pen in one baggie and swag in another. "Belts and braces".

Never had one leak yet.

[+chasclifton]

Those Walmart containers sound OK to me.  Military surplus sellers have them too, if you want to be old-school.

 

LIke this: https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/us-military-surplus-m19a1-30-caliber-ammo-can-used?a=1586609

 

 

[+cerberus1]

On 8/21/2023 at 10:30 PM, kroger23 said:

I'm planning out my first ammo can hide. The Walmart in my area has just started stocking metal ammo cans (brand Strategy, with an O-ring). They're quite large and cheap, but the label only says "moisture resistant", which makes me question whether they'd hold up to the elements. 

How variable is ammo can quality? Will these work just as well as, say, military surplus? If not, what/where do you recommend me purchase?

*I am only interested in the metal ones.

 

I believe a company called stout stuff ships those for Walmart. Size and metal thickness a bit different, so maybe a military "copy" thing.

We bought one at a mega once and the seals fell out before we even placed it. 

 - YRMV. and edited to add much of their stuff comes from china.

We bought 30 and 50cals by the pallet at military auctions and shared with other cachers to cut cost.  Most needed to be painted.

You'd probably find real ammo cans if heading to army/navy stores in your area...  

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by cerberus1

[+kunarion]

On 8/21/2023 at 10:30 PM, kroger23 said:

I'm planning out my first ammo can hide. The Walmart in my area has just started stocking metal ammo cans (brand Strategy, with an O-ring). They're quite large and cheap, but the label only says "moisture resistant", which makes me question whether they'd hold up to the elements. 

How variable is ammo can quality? Will these work just as well as, say, military surplus? If not, what/where do you recommend me purchase?

*I am only interested in the metal ones.

 

The Walmart kind is brand new, but with cheaper materials, not built to military specifications.

 

Military surplus is always sold used, and they tend to be less expensive than the "new" kind.  Sometimes they still have the cardboard dividers inside, which means the ammo was removed, but other than that, it's basically new.  But these tend to sit outside on pallets, and may get rusty.  I've found some with a lot of sand inside, but they otherwise cleaned up great.  Maybe blot out any "ammunition" info before you place the cache.

 

Whatever you decide, look at the rubber seal, and test the latch.  Be sure it feels like a latch that cachers will be able to smoothly open and close without issue.  If it's very hard to open (and especially, to close and latch properly), there will be issues.  They're all a little different, so try them out.

 

Either style may seal and at least be weatherproof.  If it's situated with the lid up, rain runs off.  Some of mine were smaller cans designed to lie on the side, but they seem to be wet inside more often that way.  Cachers close ziplock bags in the lid seal, which can then allow a lot of water inside, so if you use ziplock bags, be sure the bags are always in great shape, and that everything is bagged.

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by kunarion

[+paleolith]

I've used actual mil surplus ammo cans. They work great in SoCal. In Florida, most of them get wet inside. How much is flaws in the seal, how much is just changes in atmospheric pressure and numidity driving moisture past the seal, how much is a tiny bit of debris getting caught in the seal and wicking moisture in, how much is moisture getting in when finders open them ... I don't know. A dry cache in Florida is a wonder indeed.

 

It's made worse by the many people who think it helps to add a plastic bag, any plastic bag, even one with no seal mechanism and with holes. As most readers of this forum know, the purpose of a plastic bag is to identify the log book and to prevent it from drying out.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

Ammo cans are great......I always put the log inside a separate container ( BSB, match holder ) .

[Johannis10]

In my area I have made in recent years the experience that many cachers are now overwhelmed to close a Munibox again properly. Therefore, I would recommend an inner plastic box as water protection if the hiding place can get wet.

[+garretslarrity]

As someone who owns a series of caches called Built To Last (all of which are ammo cans), I've thought about this question a lot. I currently have 8 active ammo can hides and another 3 cans in my house that I'll soon hide. So between that and all the dozens I've found, I know what a good ammo can feels like. Here's where I'd rank the brands that I've bought before based off of the units I received:

Excellent:

-Redneck Convent

Very Good:
-Huarui

-Fortress

Good:
-Solid Tactical

Low Quality, Will Not Buy Again:
-Harbor Freight
-NBJINGYI

-Hardrock

Would love too see similar lists from people who have also bought a good number of ammo cans before. I'm looking to continue trying new brands to know I'm getting the best ones.

Edited January 11 by garretslarrity

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, GOcacherXXIII said:

I bought a plastic ammo can off of amazon and was going to place it in a future birdhouse cache but i know that most of the ammo can hides out there are metal, any advice on what I should use?

 

If it's protected inside a larger box, a plastic one may work pretty well like that.  I've often found those plastic ammo boxes full of water and broken.  Handle broken off, latch missing, hinge broken, sometimes all of that on one box.  And also a hole chewed in the plastic, probably by an animal, not a cacher.  I've been tempted by these in stores when they're on sale, but usually they're about the same price as a surplus military metal version which tends to last for years.

 

But many cachers can't figure out how to open (or close) a metal ammo box.   So that's another consideration.

 

Edited March 4, 2024 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, GOcacherXXIII said:

I bought a plastic ammo can off of amazon and was going to place it in a future birdhouse cache but i know that most of the ammo can hides out there are metal, any advice on what I should use?

 

That'd be one big birdhouse...    I think the biggest I ever saw in a birdhouse was a 4 x 4 lock n lock.  

For plastics, we like the Plano Guide boxes, but we tested the "stowaway" models too and they held up just as well.

But there isn't much better than a 30 or 50cal original military surplus ammo can.

[+Joe_L]

I’ve had good luck with the plastic ammo boxes.  But make sure it has a rubber gasket/seal.  Otherwise it isn’t much better than Gladware. 

[+Lee_Bo]

I have a couple of ammo can caches and still put everything in a gallon ziplock bag, just to be safe.

[+cerberus1]

1 hour ago, Lee_Bo said:

I have a couple of ammo can caches and still put everything in a gallon ziplock bag, just to be safe.

 

Our ammo cans caches always had freezer bags, but they were simply meant to separate swag from the log n geocoins.

Every time we went for maintenance, we'd find the bags sealed.