Neither One

The glass will quickly and nearly always heat unevenly, then crack, losing air tight integrity then will quickly shatter, loosing all containment integrity.

The plastic may heat up more evenly, but will quickly soften and deform, loosing containment integrity. Also the plastic will usually out gas with nasty volatiles.

Which pretty much leaves plain old heavy ceramic HB of CJ (old coot)

 

Glass. It's glass. Get a Kerr or Ball mason jar.

 

Thanks! Uh, this is embarrassing, but what is HB of CJ?

I do have a Ball mason jar. Would that shatter too?

What about if the mason jar is enclosed inside modeling clay?

 

Thanks! Uh, this is embarrassing, but what is HB of CJ?

That's his signature. It's the difference between a period and confusion.

 

why not get a small fire safe.you can find them for less then 20$.

 

Neither plastic or glass will come through a fire intact, and even if they did any paper contents will still burn.
Stuff your money into a metal canister like pepper or baking powder comes in. The can will survive (but of course you'll never find it in the debris of your smoldering house).

And why would your fireproof safe be "a sitting duck if SHTF"? Do you expect a mob to burst into your house before you can get the safe open?

 

If it gets hot enough, the paper inside will burn anyway, so glass, ceramic or metal are no good by themselves. A safe is the best chance of surviving and keeping your money safe.

now, you could really build a means to keep your valuables safe in case of fire; bury it outside the house, bury it in the crawl space, pour a concrete safe in the basement, etc., but a safe is the least expensive means you can use.

 

not so much the outside container as the environment you intend to stash the container ....

neither glass or plastic is going to serve you well stashed where a fire can simply flash over it and consume .... you need to think about insulating it ....

you mentioned PVC tubes .... what's wrong there? ..... threaded tite with desiccant packs inside is a perfect survival container .... bury it into concrete (threaded cap posing as a fake sewer clean out plug) or into a crawlspace cache hole .....

 

I don't know if they make jars but Pyrex do glass baking dishes and jugs, it might be worth looking at as they obviously have a higher heat resistance then normal glass.

 

Thanks everyone!

Does any mom & pop hardware store carry the type of PVC pipe you mean?

Is there an online illustration depicting the ideal length & diameter the PVC should be for stashing cash, and also an easy way to seal it? I've also read advice to use clay pipes, as if I know where to get that.

So say I phone the local store (which gives me the jitters due to my ignorance).
What do I say - do you have XXX type of PVC pipe, and what's the cost per foot per XX diameter?

I don't have a car to easily get to Home Depot, and just browsing there saps my strength. The bus system here is the pits.

As for burying a jar underground, I read about that too, and would have considered it if my backyard were more private. Unfortunately my situation is problematic every which way I turn. In my case, and with my puny strength, the inside of my house is preferable.

Finally, to answer the SHTF question, I wasn't referring to the term "sitting duck" regarding fire, but rather regarding theft. In other words - wanting a stash of cash that's fire-safe, but also (to a degree) theft-safe. After all, if the thief has 6th sense talent, he might find it anyway.

P.S. now i'm really embarrassed by my HBCJ question. Maybe now ya'll believe i'm a 3/4 dead specimen (FM including cognitive impairment, electrosensitivty yada yada. And why i've been so anxious for removal of stem cell suppression & freenergy suppression.

 

Buy PVC only if you are burying it outside. Inside it is going to melt in a fire.

Inside you really don't have a lot of options. Even if you manage to protect it from flame you also have to shield it from heat or that may just burn the money anyway inside your flame resistant container if the fire lasts long enough. The key here is both flame resistance and heat insulation. Since metal conducts heat you are basically left with very expensive synthetic products or stone. Safes that are fire resistant use gypsum (same stuff as in drywall) to line the metal safe to block the heat and the metal exterior blocks the flame. There are not may options here for you beyond a fireproof safe.......except one.

A fire rated filing cabinet is what I use. Built just like a fire resistant safe, it is a metal filing cabinet that is internally lined with gypsum. Businesses use them all the time for critical files. They are premium quality but they are not true security safes. Drill the lock and you are in, but they are not really obvious as a place to hide items of value. Move it to the garage and get it dirty and scratched up. Throw some typical garage junk on top of it too. New ones are expensive, but used business furniture stores are more common than you might think, plus you can also watch the paper for offices that are having liquidation auctions. If you are lucky you can find one for under $100. Did I mention these things were heavy like safes are?

Of course, a properly made PVC pipe cache buried in the yard is better.

Or you could have the safe in your house bolted to the concrete slab and just leave the money in the safe where it belongs.

 

Here's a source for all kinds of "hides," including furniture. It may give folks some ideas they've not considered:

http://www.freecommonlaw.us/images/HIDING.pdf

The title of this piece is "How to Hide Anything" and it has ideas for things from money to people, and everything in between.

If you're worried about fire, then you need to store cash as low as possible, even in a basement if you can. There are all kinds of places to do that, including behind electrical outlet wallplates. If you're talking about just a few hundred dollars, convert them to $100 bills and that fits inside and behind the outlet. You can even just have a dummy outlet with no electrical wiring inside it.

Check out the .PDF. It's an amazing set of ideas.

 

2nd's on burying UNDER your house, in the crawlspace. Best fireproof storage I ever saw was years ago. A buddy had it buried under a couple of feet of dirt in his crawlspace & the entire house burned down, but he dug through the rubble & found his waterproof stash in fine shape. Apparently, the dirt acted as insulation, as well as concealment.

 

If you are just looking for a cheap somewhat fire resistant storage you can use ammo cans.
Cover the bottom of the inside of a 20mm ammo can with a layer of dry sand.
Fill .30 cal can with what you want to store and latch close.
Place the .30 cal cans in the 20mm can leaving space all around them.
Fill the 20mm can full of dry sand and latch lid.
Place can on its’ side on the floor surrounded with as much unburnable mass as possible.

 

While I would likely add drywall lining to that idea, it is still a very good approach to the problem I had not considered. :thumb:

 

neither one are fire retardant or are going to stand up to a fire. get an inexpensive fire safe like this from walmart or somewhere else
http://www.walmart.com/ip/SentrySafe-Fire-Chest-1200/21783247

 

metal box covered in rockwool under the floorboards... rockwoll won't burn/melt in a normal fire and will protect the inside for quite a while

 

A smallish metal box can be used with a magnet. Or even some fasteners. After that attache it your car.

 

Your PVC jar will melt long before a glass jar and neither one will stand up to a good fire.

Best bet is a metal container lined with fiberglass insulation (steal it from your attic). That is what most fireproof safes are anyhow. Hopefully, this way the inside will not get hot enough to ignite the contents. I'm partial to steel ammo cans myself. Maybe one of those big cookie tins?

 

I don't have a crawl space under house (rather a basement). Can't dig under floorboards. No car nor ammo cans.

The suggesion for lining a pot with fiberglass insulation sounds interesting, except there's no stairs to attic, and I'd crash thru besides.

so.. When I next change the furnace filter or AC filter, can I use the old ones as insulation?

Then why not simply roll up the cash inside the filter material, then wrap the latter inside several layers of heavy duty foil?

 

Not fiberglass insulation. Rockwool is different from fiberglass. Nor should you be removing any installed in your house. Go buy some from the home centers.

A cook pot isn't a good idea either. You need something that seals up. Ammo cans were mentioned earlier and they are a good idea to line with drywall or rockwool.

Fact is if all you are trying to do is hide a bit of extra money is just convert them to large bills and either buy one of those $5 hide-a-key magnet boxes or just use a safety pin on your underwear. My mom used the safety pin trick for years in her bra. This doesn't need to be a big production unless you are trying to hide thousands of dollars. If you have that kind of cash to hide then use a safety deposit box.

 

PVC is considerably worse but neither jar is likely to survive a fire and even if they did would not protect the paper contents. Ask yourself why Ray Bradberry named his most well known novel "Fahrenheit 451". There is more to a decent fire safe than a metal can with insulation. Fire safes are designed using a water retaining material as a phase change medium which reduces the temperature inside and raises the flash point by boiling off water when exposed to fire. It takes 75,000 calories to raise 1kg of water from 25C to 100C and 540,000 calories to raise the temperature to 101C. In theory it would take 351,000 more to raise the temperature to 451F if the water stuck around once converted to steam which isn't likely unless in a sealed vessel which can withstand extreme pressures of around 415 PSI (28atmospheres). In practice, you are raising the temperature of whatever is left. Also, you would like to avoid pyrolysis (you don't want to convert your folding money to char cloth) so the acceptable temperature is a bit lower.
http://www.brownsafe.com/categories/faq/SBG_Fire_Safes.html
That site has some less than flattering things to say about burglary and fire resistance of cheap fire safes (of course they sell expensive fire safes). Oh, the walmart link to the cheap fire safe box above has a video which also talks about the embedded water.

A novel approach would be wood. Very thick wood with no unprotected metal fasteners. Only the outer portion of a heavy wooden beam initially burns and the char protects the inner wood until the fire can be extinguished. That is one reason you split logs before putting them on the fire. 1-1/4" behind the char depth, the wood is still cool; the char depth will slowly increase. Wood also contains some water. Wood bridges built with thick timbers may survive fires better than steel bridges (fire undoes the heat treatment of steel members). In one <a href="http://www.aitc-glulam.org/shopcart/Pdf/superior%20fire%20resistance.pdf">test</a>, 30 minutes into a fire a 7"x21" glulam wooden beam lost 25% of its strength while a comparable steel beam lost 90%; char depth was approximately 3/4" which means about 2" in from the edge the wood was cool. On the other hand, stick built homes use studs which are about 1-1/2" thick after planing (and some cheating by timber suppliers); 3/4" char from both sides in 30 minuts means it will be burned clean through in half an hour. After the first 30 minutes, wood chars at a rate of about one additional inch every 50minutes. Thus 3.5inches deep (1-1/4" + 3/4" + 2*1") should be safe for about 2 hours (30minutes+50minutes*2 = 130minutes).
http://fast10.vsb.cz/temtis/documents/handbook1_final.pdf
http://www.schroederfire.com/ras_diss/Ch02.htm

And yes, there is the burying option, where appropriate. Dirt is a water bearing insulator. Not as much in dry regions, where fires can also be more of a risk.

No, you can't roll your money up inside used furnace filters (which likely contain flammable dust) and heavy duty foil (which melts at house fire temperatures).

 

Okay, thanks all. I now see there's no easy solution. BTW I just realized that ammo cans, pots, fire safes, and even aluminum foil, might be detectable to burglars via metal detectors.

 

No offense, sweetie, but do you think burglars will come into your house with metal detectors????

Just friggin spend $40 and get a cheap Sentry Fire Safe or spend $75 and get a fire proof pouchfireproof pouch . Get a big fat Reader's Digest Condensed Book at the thrift store, hollow it out and store the pouch in it in your bed side table.
Safe from burglars and fire- maybe not actual zombies- I don't know if zombies like Reader's Digest or not.

 

I'm wanting to insert cash-on-hand to hide somewhere around the house. The smaller the container, the better, for stashing purposes.

Everyone has answered you in ways to protect your cash, however if you are worried about a SHTF event, CASH will be WORTHLESS

Rancher

 

Thanks, I think :
countdown... red light green light 3.. 2.. 1........... 911
3 :taped: 9
2 :xeye: 1
1 :zombie 1

I actually mean that literally (satirically seriously). NOT facetiously, but fatalistically, fascistically aware

 

Well a tin would be better than PVC or glass,,
But glass would be better in a fire, PVC would just melt on your cash,

But what ever you choose if you want to increase the chances of this surviving a fire put it an appliance that's made of mostly metal, (a washing machine, dishwasher, fridge,) open up the casing, there tends to be enough room in them to hide stuff, the metal casing will give it better protection in heat, and less likely to be found,

 

Some people will tell you to hide your cash in the freezer, perhaps put it in a mylar bag with an O2 absorber, seal it and store it like the rest of your frozen foods.

I personally put mine in a sock and hide it under the toilet bowl brush, in the holder :

Rancher

 

I would look there though,

But I would not be willing to spend the time taking apart your appliances,

 

As I mentioned above, I already own a safe purchased many years ago (Sentry 1100), but thanks to all of you, because you gave me some good ideas!

 

OK, your hiding place for some cash is all right, but where are your preps? Paper money won't buy nearly as much after a SHTF event as it will now.

Unless you have a years supply of food, water, personal and health care items stashed already, I'd invest your "hiding money" in actual stuff that will be useful to you down the road.

 

Anything that looks like a container in going to draw attention,

You would be better off buying an Otter box and burying it,