I always like to remind folk, this is a wholly un-sponsored channel. I will disclose to you all that I was sent this unit as an evaluation piece, but Dirtyman had no editorial control over my thoughts and feedback here (as will become apparent with the insertion of nonsense like a Doctor Horrible joke and so forth) and they aren’t paying me anything at all to do this. I even plan to offer to send them back the review unit once I’m done with this test.
With that out of the way, I think this item might potentially be useful for some folk. Yes, as I indicate toward the end of this video, you could make something similar yourself with enough time and effort. But if, like me, you are very busy and your time is valuable… having someone do the legwork of sourcing and fitting and sealing the parts and allowing you to purchase an all-in-one turnkey kit can be appealing.
Their site is pretty easy to find by googling, but in case you don’t know how search engines work… dirtymansafe.com …that’s them on the internet. 😉
summerizer
Summary
The video introduces and reviews an unconventional type of safe known as the “Dirty Man Safe,” which is a secure, steel canister designed to be buried underground for protecting valuables. Unlike traditional safes kept inside homes, this safe uses obscurity—being hidden underground—as a key element of security alongside its heavy-duty construction. The creator’s motivation partly stems from concerns about natural disasters like wildfires and floods that can destroy valuables stored in homes. The presenter explores the purpose, materials, and practicality of this buried safe, emphasizing its suitability for certain valuables such as cash, gold, jewels, alcohol, and tobacco rather than firearms, which may corrode underground.
The video discusses the setup and installation process, including the necessity of tools like an auger to dig the hole and special features like a retrieval line for quick access. The canister is designed to be weather-resistant but not completely waterproof, so it includes silica gel desiccants to reduce moisture. The presenter also tests the internal capacity and packing of the safe, finding some limitations regarding the size and types of items it can accommodate. While the idea is relatively low-tech and the product carries a modest price reflecting its materials and design, its value lies in providing a novel, hidden, and disaster-resilient storage option.
The review is tempered with cautious optimism, noting the need for a long-term test to assess performance over months, particularly regarding moisture protection. The presenter respects the innovative entrepreneurial spirit behind the product but refrains from full endorsement until results are observed. The video closes with a reminder about distributing valuables in diverse locations as a wise security practice.
Highlights
- 🛡️ The Dirty Man Safe is a steel underground canister designed for hidden secure storage.
- 🌍 Inspired by wildfire and disaster risks, it protects valuables from environmental destruction.
- 🔒 Obscurity and physical durability combine to enhance security beyond traditional safes.
- ⚠️ Not ideal for firearms due to moisture susceptibility; better for gold, cash, alcohol, and tobacco.
- 🛠️ Requires an auger for digging and features a retrieval cable for easy access.
- 💧 Includes silica gel desiccants to combat moisture ingress but is not fully waterproof.
- 💡 Affordable and simple design with potential, but long-term effectiveness remains to be proven.
Key Insights
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🔍 Obscurity as a Security Strategy: Traditional safes often rely on strong locks and robust construction, but the Dirty Man Safe elevates “security through obscurity” by hiding valuables underground. This capitalizes on the principle that difficult discovery reduces theft risk, augmenting physical security measures. For individuals who desire covert storage, this method introduces a compelling alternative or complement to home safes and offsite lockers.
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🌪️ Disaster-Resilience Motivation: The product’s concept is rooted in recent challenges posed by extreme weather events and wildfires, which have rendered many traditional home safes ineffective by physically destroying them or making valuables irrecoverable. By burying valuables underground, the safe claims to keep them away from fires and floods, offering an extra layer of protection amid increasing climate unpredictability.
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🔧 Material and Construction Choices: The safe uses ABS pipe with welded joints and screw-on caps sealed with Teflon tape. While ABS is durable and offers good welding compatibility, it is less weather resistant than PVC, raising questions about long-term impact from ground moisture and temperature fluctuations. The inclusion of white silica gel (as opposed to color-indicating variants) in the kit suggests some attention to moisture control, but the presenter wisely plans to supplement with his own desiccants to better monitor conditions over time.
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🚫 Limitations Regarding Firearms and Size: Although the safe can fit small items like cash, gold coins, cigars, or tiny liquor bottles, it is not intended as a gun safe. The materials inside may corrode firearms if left for extended periods underground due to moisture content that the safe cannot fully block. This emphasizes that user expectations must align with the safe’s design purpose: protection of certain valuables, not all types.
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🏗️ User Experience—Installation and Retrieval: A key innovation is the retrieval line system attached to a large cap on top, enabling someone familiar with the location to extract the safe quickly without digging extensively each time. This feature addresses a common inconvenience with buried containers but also depends heavily on knowing the exact burial spot. The presenter emphasizes the necessity of adequate digging tools like an auger for installation, as manual digging through hard soils would be impractical.
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💰 Economic Accessibility and Market Positioning: The product is priced in the low triple digits, roughly $170, which is reasonable for what it offers considering the cost of materials and manufacturing complexity. The ready-to-use package simplifies acquisition and installation compared to DIY solutions, adding value for customers unwilling or unable to source parts individually. It occupies a niche market suitable for enthusiasts, disaster preparedness communities, or those interested in alternative safe storage.
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🤔 The Importance of Diversification for Valuables: The presenter stresses the wisdom of distributing valuables among multiple safes or locations, including friends’ houses and different types of safes. The Dirty Man Safe fits into such a diversified strategy, adding hidden underground storage to reduce the risk of single-point loss scenarios in disasters or theft. This multifaceted approach exemplifies best practices in personal asset security.
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📆 Need for Long-Term Testing for Practical Use: As ingenious as it sounds, the ultimate test will be time passing—how well the safe keeps moisture out, how the materials respond to seasonal changes, and whether the retrieval mechanisms remain functional after months underground. The presenter’s commitment to revisit the safe in six months offers a realistic and responsible approach to product evaluation, highlighting prudent consumer caution when adopting new security technologies.
Overall Impression
The Dirty Man Safe is an inventive, low-tech approach that creatively harnesses concealment and underground durability for valuables storage, targeting a niche but valid problem, especially given growing climate-related risks. While it is not a universal or perfect solution—particularly for firearms or larger items—its design thoughtfully addresses retrieval convenience and moisture mitigation in ways that warrant further observation. For users willing to try less conventional security methods and incorporate buried safes into a diversified asset protection plan, this product offers a viable option at a reasonable price. The video effectively balances enthusiasm for innovation with a realistic appraisal of limitations and encourages patience to confirm its efficacy over time.
Obviously you could make this whole thing with home improvement parts.
A follow-up discussion of buried cache opsec https://youtu.be/1pcueaWtvfQ
summerizer
Summary
This video is a detailed follow-up discussion on the topic of underground long-term storage, specifically focusing on using a “Dirty Man safe” or inground cache canister for storing valuables. The creator addresses viewer concerns about safety precautions, particularly the necessity of calling utility services before digging to avoid damaging gas, fiber, or power lines. Beyond the practicalities of digging, the video delves into advanced operational security (opsec) considerations shared by a highly experienced contact with a background in hostile environments and covert operations. Key points include avoiding burying caches on personal property in high-risk scenarios, methods to camouflage disturbed earth, the ideal depth for burial to avoid detection by metal detectors or ground-penetrating radar, and ways to retrieve and access buried canisters without leaving evidence. The video also covers the importance of using proper sealing techniques—clarifying the role of Teflon tape as a lubricant rather than a sealant—and the challenges of opening buried canisters once retrieved. Furthermore, it touches on the intricacies of protecting stored items from moisture and corrosion through optimal packing, desiccants, and specialized treatments, drawing parallels to military and survivalist practices. Finally, it emphasizes the need for thorough planning, awareness of land ownership changes, and continuous learning for anyone considering underground caches, whether for disaster preparedness, privacy, or covert operations.
Highlights
- 🛑 Always call utility services before digging to avoid damaging underground lines.
- 🌲 Avoid burying caches on your own property if operational security is critical; public land is preferred.
- ⛏️ Minimum burial depth should be at least 18 inches to evade metal detectors and ground-penetrating radar.
- 🧤 Use gloves and methods like ground cloths to avoid leaving scent or visible traces when digging.
- 🔧 Teflon tape serves as a lubricant for threads, not as a sealing agent; proper tightening is essential.
- 🎒 Consider packing an emergency grab-and-go bag inside your cache for quick evacuation scenarios.
- 📚 Long-term storage requires careful moisture and corrosion control, including desiccants and specialized oils.
Key Insights
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🛡️ Operational Security Over Convenience: The video highlights the difference between civilian and covert opsec approaches to underground storage. While civilians might bury valuables on their own property for convenience, high-risk scenarios require placing caches in public or remote lands to avoid association. This distinction is crucial because linkability of caches to individuals can lead to serious consequences in hostile environments, underscoring that good opsec often means sacrificing convenience for security.
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🔍 Depth and Detection Avoidance: The recommended burial depth of at least 18 inches is based on avoiding detection by common surveillance technologies such as metal detectors and ground-penetrating radar. This insight underlines the importance of understanding the technical capabilities of detection tools and adapting cache placement accordingly. Shallow caches risk easy discovery, while deeper caches increase security but complicate retrieval.
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🧤 Minimizing Physical and Scent Evidence: The detailed discussion of using gloves, ground cloths, and careful replacement of soil layers to mask freshly dug earth shows the depth of thought required to avoid leaving forensic indicators. Dogs trained to detect human scent or disturbed soil can easily reveal a cache if precautions aren’t taken. This highlights how high-level cache operations integrate environmental and forensic countermeasures.
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🔩 Proper Use of Teflon Tape in Sealing: The clarification that Teflon tape functions primarily as a lubricant to aid in threading rather than as a sealant challenges common DIY misconceptions. Proper sealing demands mechanical tightening to create friction and thread engagement, which is critical to preventing moisture ingress in buried canisters. This technical insight improves the reliability and longevity of underground storage units.
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🔨 Contingency Planning for Cache Access: The concept of scoring or weakening the canister to enable forced opening in emergencies reflects practical planning for worst-case scenarios. In covert operations or survival situations, tools might not be available to unscrew a sealed canister, so having a fallback method is essential. This foresight exemplifies advanced preparedness thinking.
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🎒 Emergency Grab-and-Go Kits Within Caches: Including a small, easily portable backpack inside the cache for rapid evacuation is a simple yet profound survival tactic. It ensures that in crises, the individual can quickly retrieve essential items and escape without delay, demonstrating the importance of thinking beyond mere storage to how the cache integrates into broader escape or survival plans.
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🌿 Environmental and Legal Considerations of Cache Placement: The reminder to monitor the legal status and ownership of public lands where caches are buried is a vital insight often overlooked by casual preppers. Changes in land status could lead to caches being discovered, confiscated, or destroyed. This legal awareness is a critical dimension of long-term cache viability and operational security.
Conclusion
This video provides a comprehensive primer on underground cache storage, blending practical DIY advice with advanced operational security concepts. It stresses the importance of safety (calling before digging), technical precision (proper sealing and depth), stealth (masking disturbed earth and scent), and contingency planning (emergency access and evacuation kits). The content also broadens the perspective to include legal and environmental factors, encouraging viewers to think critically about the implications and risks of their caching practices. Whether for simple disaster readiness or complex covert operations, the video underscores that underground caching is a sophisticated practice requiring continuous learning, discipline, and foresight.
heh DO is on the fediverse!
@deviantollam@defcon.social Hello from lemmy.
might be interesting to bury a air-tag with the cache, if it ever pings or goes live, then you know its been compromised.