When hungry mobs of townies roam the streets or martial law police officers are conducting house searches, knowing the best places to hide gear and all of your supplies and food is essential when you’ve decided to bug in.

There are some genius locations around your home which are worthy spots to hide valuable items when SHTF, we’re talking toilet paper and batteries not a diamond necklace, and here we have some inspiration for you that you might not have ever thought about.

Many people won’t ever think of certain places where you might have hidden your supplies, and there might be genius ideas and additions to your home you can use, or there may already be places that you haven’t thought about that are already excellent hiding spots.

So let’s look at the best places to hide gear in your home when bugging in for SHTF.

Household Items

If you have a sneaky spare space like the back of a cutlery draw, you can keep your stash there, whether it’s that box of survival matches, your passports or anything else small enough to slip under a drawer.

You can even create your own false bottomed drawer. Choose a deep drawer and cut a piece of wood slightly smaller, about 1/16 smaller than the drawer. Add some pieces of timber for the false shelf to sit on neatly making sure that there is enough height underneath to fit the pieces you intend to store.

Pop in your valuables and place the shelf on top. Glue something to the top of the false shelf that you would normally find in that drawer, this way you have a way of lifting out the false shelf when you need access – genius!

You can also place items in clothes hanging in your wardrobe, or put it on top of the coat hanger and then place trousers over it to keep it hidden. Nobody is going to want to unfold your trousers on a hangar for the sake of it.

Consider building a fake wall in your cupboard if there is space, just find a piece of thin ply to place over it so it looks like the back of the cupboard. A whole month’s worth of packet noodles could be sellotaped to the back of a standing wardrobe then pushed against the wall.

There are also many types of regular household items which look completely normal, but are actually some of the best places to hide gear inside in plain sight. You can, for example, buy an air freshener stash can, a can of Lynx to store things inside, or even a double plug socket! There are many more types of stash items available online, it’s just about being creative and thinking about what items you actually want to hide, and how big they are. 

Food For Thought

While we are avoiding the obvious places to hide gear in your home, try cleaning a tin of beans or soup and hiding your cash in there – that is if the raiders aren’t looking for food. The same goes for small boxes of jewellery or silver and gold coins as they will fit too. Superglue the lid back on or buy a special Heinz stash can as no burglar is going to suspect your beans are a hiding place.

Not only can you use tins or false tins and jars, you can hide cash and valuables anywhere. Burglars are unlikely to sift through your food cabinets so think of using cereal boxes, pasta packs, and other things. You can empty food into cartons used for dried food – put your gear in a container, place it into the carton, and pour the food on top.

Pop your cash in an envelope and tape it to the underside of a drawer, chair or low shelf. Depending on how bulky the item is, you can hide lots of things this way, from ammo and packets of food like Cup-a-Soups to entire air rifles under a table with a dropped edge.

It should remain undiscovered in a number of places so be creative, and think of people looking only at eye level to discover places you never would have imagined.

Buried Valuables

You can safely waterproof your valuables, place them in boxes and bury them. Some items can be sealed in a waterproof bag, perhaps double bagging to reduce risk of becoming moist. If you have the time then you can bury an entire barrel and just cover the lid with a thin layer of soil or gravel.

Hide things under the soil in the indoor plant pot, as decorative items like this aren’t going to be considered to be concealing anything.

A Roll Of Cash

If the economy is still functioning then you may have a supply of cash you’ve been storing at home, and as it is thin the perfect place to hide it is inside the toilet roll you’re using. As it’s on a reel, then you can simply roll the cash up and place it inside, then set it back on the hook.

Nobody will think to look in there, plus they don’t have time. If they are in your home looking for valuables they want to be in and out as quickly as possible, and hidden in plain sight inside the toilet roll is a top option.

Hiding Spaces For Gear In Your Home

Another truly ingenious idea, and one of the best places to hide gear in your home, is in a box of sand or even a box of clean cat litter in the garage or shed. Put your valuables or money in a sealed container, bury the container in your box of choice.

As the sand or cat litter is not moist there is no chance of the item being ruined, especially as it’s doubly safe in the sealed container. Hungry raiders aren’t going to be rummaging through cat litter or dry dog food hidden in plain sight.

Do you use a box or suitcase to keep your summer or winter clothes? Place your valuables in a box, hide among your clothes or even among things that look like simple junk to others. Mark the box or suitcase as you would normally when you store your things.

The kickboards in your kitchen are designed to be removed and there is a good-sized cavity behind them. You can easily store plenty of valuables this way and even big items too that are difficult to hide anywhere else. Make sure that you always fit them back properly.

Valuables and items that are precious to you need to be hidden if you want to improve chances of their survival during a break in. A good, obvious place where you have easy access to your gold or silver, or other important survival items is under the mattress.

As most people will hit your home at night, the chances are that you will be asleep on top of the mattress – obvious, but ideal. You can even go one step further and cut the back side of the mattress and stuff items inside.

It might seem like something you see in the movies, but you can really hollow out a thick book and hide things inside it, or buy a ready made one, or just slip money notes in between the pages whihc will all blend together on a library shelf. 

Unused Cavities

Anywhere that has a cavity wall can be used to hide valuables you don’t immediately need. Walls with spaced in between them instead of brick can be broken through, items dropped inside and then the hole covered up with  a picture frame.

Think of using a household appliance like inside the vacuum cleaner, or something dropped inside a kettle, in the oven or in a microwave. Even using a children’s toy and keeping it high up so that it looks more decorative won’t look obvious that it’s hiding your gear.

Summary

As you can see, you don’t need a bolted safe hidden in a wardrobe, we have proven that there are so many places that are cunning hiding spots, many of them right in front of your eyes but not suspect at all.

Stay ahead of those wishing to take what you have prepared for, if they even manage to get into your home in the first place, and use these tips so you can maintain your supplies should the worst happen.