SpencerDub

Close. The official rule is that, after seven minutes and thirty-four seconds, the cacher must remove their Official Geocaching Glockenspiel from their cache pack, play a short tune in a minor key, and then plant construction-orange flags around the radius of the area they searched. Once the flags are placed, the cacher then begins chanting, "I will try another time, for this cache I cannot find," and continues chanting it until they reach their vehicle (or home base for the day). However, very few people follow the rules to the letter.

Man, the self-righteous fury of some people-- geo-trashers, in this case-- can be so frustrating. Why is it so hard to let other people do what they enjoy? Especially when those people often practice habits that improve the area around a cache-- CITO, for example. Every so often, I get a little exasperated with humanity. This is one of those times.

Don't kill 'em. The global population of bees-- bees, which are responsible for pollinating crops and are a fantastically important part of the cycle of plant growth-- is rapidly and mysteriously declining, according to what I've heard. Sure, killing a couple of nests is only a drop in a bucket, but there's really no reason to. Slap a warning up on the cache page, and leave it be (leave the bees). Also, "Minimize My and Others' Impact on the Environment" is a part of the Geocacher's Creed. Killin' some bees kinda goes perpendicular to that concept.

I fell 20 feet off a cliff last weekend while caching in Grand Junction, Colorado. Luckily, I'm fine, just scratched and sore. You can read the tale here: Part 1 Part 2 That sure was an adventure.

The fact of the matter is, to make a large and sweeping statement, our sport is a suspicious one. Hiding things is, by nature, a secretive act, and looking for hidden things is as well. Geocaching is always going to rouse someone's suspicions. I don't think we can avoid this. It's our duty, then, as geocachers, to always be aware of how we are representing the sport, and to minimize what suspicions we do raise. This makes the game more enjoyable for everyone-- for hiders who don't have to worry about losing their caches, for seekers who have to worry less about being viewed as shady characters, and for non-players who don't feel threatened by the game and its players. Of course, since everyone reacts to things differently, there is no surefire way to minimize suspicion. However, off the top of my head, here are some things that should, for the most part, work. (Of course, this has all been said before, but I figure it's a good time and place to bring it up again.) My list, of course, is about the size of a small novel. When hiding: Choose your container well. As has been said over and over again (because it's a prime example), ammo cans are terrible for urban caches. They look military, and there's no way to see what's inside without opening them. Those two factors alone make them very suspicious to an outsider's eyes. Clear containers and small containers are inherently less suspicious. Of course, ammo cans have their places-- out where fewer people will see them, where drawing outsider concern is less of an issue. Think about your location. There's a reason Groundspeak has a ban on caches placed near important pieces of infrastructure-- strange people poking around bridges, electricity stations, tunnels, and the like are always going to be suspicious. Likewise, though there's no outright ban on it, I'd caution against placing caches near areas frequented by children. We all know that we mean no harm, but strangers and strange objects near playgrounds and schools set off instant red flags for many people. Try to place caches in areas of significance-- to share a gorgeous view, or to give a little bit of a history (or geology or biology) lesson. If you hide caches for a reason, you will probably end up in a less-suspicious area anyway. When seeking: Be prepared to say "no". Sometimes, the better part of valor is deciding that it's not worth going after the cache. Like others before have said, this isn't Pokemon. No one's telling you that you've "gotta cache 'em all". If the area around the cache is swarming with muggles, or if you have a bad feeling about it, it's okay to call it off and log a Did Not Find. That's probably more valuable to the game at large than exposing a cache for theft or risking the apprehension of non-players. Put your best face forward-- always. Again, you're representing the entire sport of geocaching, of which most people know very little. When you're en route to a cache, be polite, friendly, and helpful! This starts the moment you get in your car (or on your bike, or when you put on your shoes). Okay, sure, the people on the road don't know you're a geocacher. But that doesn't make it any less important to be an all-around good person while you're representing the game. If you feel awkward, you look awkward. The topic of good "excuses" to give to non-geocachers has been discussed on this board before, as has the similar topic of costumes or props to help throw off muggles while caching. My advice regarding this is simple: If you feel awkward in a "costume", or if the reason you make up for poking around in the brush seems fake, don't use them. If you feel awkward, you will look awkward to others, and an awkward lie draws a lot of suspicion. An example. In the "costume" topic, someone suggested wearing an orange safety vest and carrying a clipboard in order to look "official". Being 17 years old, with a tall and skinny frame, I would never be able to pull that off. I would draw more suspicion wearing a "costume" than I would dressed in street clothes. However, someone else suggested carrying a camera. I'm an avid amateur photographer, so I know how to carry a camera and how to use it-- carrying my camera as a "prop" works for me, because it feels natural. If you're going to use something to throw people off the scent, make sure you're comfortable with it, or else it may catch even more attention. Sometimes, the truth is okay. In the time I've spent geocaching, I've found many more people that I could explain the sport to than people I've felt necessary to lie to. In fact, I haven't found anyone I had to lie to at all yet. That's not at all to say that those people don't exist-- I'm quite sure they do. But you're not required by default to lie about what you're doing. The two or three people I've explained the sport to were genuinely interested, thought it sounded fun, and one of them sounded as though he may even check out the website and try it himself. After I explained what I was doing, we shared some pleasant conversation, said cheery farewells, and went our separate ways, and I had no concern at all for the security of the cache. Go with your gut. If you get the feeling it harm could come to the cache if you told the truth, then go ahead and use an excuse. But if you get no bad vibes, telling an unnecessary lie could end up raising suspicions (this goes with the whole "if you feel awkward, you look awkward" point above). I have one exception to this, and it's for encounters with law enforcement officers. I haven't had a run-in with the law yet, granted, but I believe the only thing to do in a situation like that is to tell the truth. From everything I've seen and heard, that will often be better for you, the cache, and the game, than lying. Be confident. If you come prepared and do everything you can to minimize concerns, there's not much of a reason why you should feel like you have to dash around in the shadows like a ninja while searching for the cache. Don't, of course, carry a giant neon sign declaring you a "Hunter of Buried Treasure (Follow me for goodies!)", but you shouldn't have to be too incredibly sneaky. Often, trying to be stealthy will draw more attention than looking like you know what you're doing. As with everything, there are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, having confidence and a purpose should ward off some apprehensions. The list, of course, could go on, but I've eaten up way too much screen real-estate as it is. The point is this-- though our sport is inherently suspicious, by staying aware of how we represent the game, as both hiders and seekers, we can do much to minimize our shadiness and make the game enjoyable for everyone.

Most of my caching so far has been pretty mild, so I don't need the tougher hiking gear. That said, of course, I look forward to going after the caches that do require a bit more hiking. Anyway, my gear's pretty light. Generally, it's as follows, all packed up hastily in an old German messenger pack I got from the local military surplus store: map cache information sheets GPSr various and sundry trade items water bottle 2 backup batteries rag for cleaning wet caches plastic bags for CITO-ing I also carry my camera around my neck and a pen and mini-Leatherman in my pocket. Like I said, I'm missing a lot of the really important stuff for rugged caching because my caching hasn't expanded into "rugged" territory yet.

That's actually exactly what I was thinking of doing, save for the ziploc bag. I'd rather not hide a cache I know is going to fall to pieces-- that just seems like bad form, you know?

"Oh no, not thorns." There's something about the way my mind works that subconsciously directs me to every thorn bush around Ground Zero before checking anywhere else. Hmm-- there's an area about ten feet that way that looks like it could hold a cache, but there are thorns in the way. I'd better make sure. I then proceed to execute the most brilliant series of contortions and slitherings in order to avoid the thorns and reach that suspected area, only to find that there's no cache there anyway. That, of course, necessitates another set of writhings and twistings as I try to get back out. Then the cache is about five feet away, in a stump, under stacked pieces of bark and twigs-- you know, the obvious location. "Oh no, not another person." Having had a couple of hostile near-confrontations this year while not geocaching, I've come to have an unfortunately high level of paranoia about other people when I'm out in public. When I'm caching, I worry about other passersby partially because of the Muggle factor, but also because I have this incredibly irrational paranoia that they could be people with ill intent toward me. Being 17, I can't legally carry a knife yet, and with my slight frame, I don't strike an imposing figure at all. It's irrational, and I recognize that, but it's still an unfortunate paranoia of mine. "Oh no, not sirens!" Whenever I hear police sirens, my heart speeds up a few beats per minute. Of course, I'm not doing anything wrong, and it would be easy to explain, but I'd hate to have that unfortunate run-in anyway. Luckily, they've never been for me. So far. I'm sure I have more, but that's what I can come up with so far.

Got the lettering off with rubbing alcohol. Thanks, everyone. Out of curiosity, how well does Rustoleum paint survive the elements? Also, another question for a different kind of cache. Someone on eBay sells what they call the "flat cache"-- a sheet of magnet with four or five of those vinyl letter stickers stuck to the front, designed to be placed on utility boxes or in other urban areas. I want to make one of my own, but I can't figure out how best to deal with the log. The eBay seller's cache has just one Rite in the Rain log sheet on the back, but I'd like to have more space than that-- anyone have any ideas?

Well, a plastic soft drink bottle preform is. Considering that the 5-inch preforms are used to make 8-inch soda bottles with much larger diameters, I would imagine the structural integrity of a bottle is much less than that of a preform. Of course, I strongly agree with your call for recycling. I'm just not sure if the bottles themselves are actually as indestructible as their smaller preforms.

I didn't see an existing topic for this, so I thought I'd make one. What I'm aiming to do with this thread is to just provide a general repository for all construction-related questions, answers, and tips. That way, someone who's new to creating customized caches (like me) can read through one thread rather than try to search and find a dozen different ones. So, to start off, how do people go about removing the ammo information from ammo cans? Additionally, what's a good type of paint to use on the cans? Hopefully, we can make this a useful resource! Thanks!

I generally give them a very small nudge with the toe of my shoe. That seems to be enough to determine whether they're firmly attached to some hosing and are thus legitimate, or if they're loosely-placed fakes.

Well, this thread has sure provided a bunch of great ideas. I'm looking forward to hiding some creative caches now. I am thinking of hiding a couple "urban camouflage" containers, such as utility boxes. However, I'm going to be very careful with my construction and my placement, so that the container looks unremarkable to muggles but cachers know without any doubt that it's the one. A couple of the discreet yellow 3/4" x 3/4" geocaching stickers should also help with this. I'm also going to write up a little cautionary note and post it inside any cache of mine that's hidden in something resembling a utility box, and then make sure I implore on the cache page that all finders read the note. Just a quick reminder to people to keep their heads, use common sense, and not to mess with potentially dangerous things unless they are dead certain-- without any doubt at all-- that it's the cache. I really like the "urban camouflage" idea, and I think it would be a shame to see them go away. But there's also a little bit of an escalation risk, and so I think a note inside one such cache would do at least a little bit to retard that escalation. Out of curiosity, where do people get the utility boxes (like the one that was ziptied to a light post earlier in the thread)? I'm heading out to Home Depot today, but I have no idea if I can expect to find them there. I don't have any cool caches to share yet, but hopefully that will change soon. Thanks for the great ideas, everyone!