i am hidding a cache in my front yard how long do you think it will last
The Maryland A.P.E. cache amazed me when I found it. That huge ammo can sitting under a pile of brush near a popular trail. The brush pile practically screamed "come check me out and see what I'm hiding". It was there for years though. Alas it was eventually stolen. I think it's sheer size contributed to its longevity. Who wants to haul that monstrosity out of the woods?
I've seen quite a few that survived a long time despite my feeling that they wouldn't last. I remember finding an ammo box on its side in a shallow hole right next to a walkway in a popular park. It had a few sticks on it but you could still see it was an ammo box. Next time I went by the ammo box was laying there completely exposed with people riding bikes, walking and pushing strollers in plain sight of it. The owner was MIA so the cache was archived and and a local cacher grabbed the ammo box before it really did go away, or worse yet, result in the bomb squad getting called out (it still had the military markings). I was amazed it survived several years covered by a few twigs within 10 feet of the trail and in full view of probably thousands over the years.
Then there is one I own. Placed back in 2002 it's an ammo box suspended from a tree branch by bungee cords. It's about chest high, so we're not talking concealed high in the tree, its just hanging there and clearly visible from 200 feet away. Granted it's in mosquito infested swamp where no normal person would venture without a good reason, but ATVers and hunters are back there regularly and had to have seen it.In fact one finder mentioned ATV tracks in the mud going right past it. Another mentioned footprints in the snow walking up to it, but no signature in the logbook. The area also floods for weeks at a time and I'm sure paddlers come through.
But it has lasted all these years to my surprise. I'm thinking of archiving it before its luck wears out but the idea of going back into that swamp isn't very appealing.
