Found The Cache...how To Be Stealth?

[flowerswife]

Ok, you find the cache..... it is not a micro or small container you can sneak off to your car and log. You find a ammo can! You are possibly on a hill or in a park. Carrying a big green or camo'd container to your car does not seem wise, secretive or very stealth.

 

You want to look through it, How do you take time to look through the bigger caches in a good, unobvious way?

 

This comes up because today we hiked up a medium hill, covered in rocks. The container was a ammo can. It had a good amount of stuff in it. Some of it looked worth looking at. But straight across the road at the same height of the hill are all the windows to apartments. Cars are driving by below.

 

I get so frazzled we might give the hide away, we sign the log. grab the first thing we see and run

 

So please those with more experience how do you look through them without being so obvious? Or do you look through them if it is a high "people" area?

 

thanks for any imput!

 

flowerswife

Edited December 28, 2005 by flowerswife

[+WxGuesser]

don't worry about it so much.. if you are paranoid, people will pick up on it. just look thru the cache and when you put it back.. use some kind of stealth..

[+weakfish]

In my experience, 99,999 of 100,000 people don't even notice, let alone care, what "that dude over there" is doing... This is from other games, and on the job activities. (I've just discovered caching, and am waiting for the release of some new Garmin units before I dive in.) Typically, only folks in-the-know, are going to notice you... That is, unless the cache is 'hidden' in a 'suspect' location.

 

That being said, there are some things you can do to 'distract' from your true activity if you're really concerned... Keep a 10x jeweler's loop in your pocket. Think you're being watched? Grab a leaf/stone/crystal from the ground and pretend to examine it w/ the loop... Palm your keys and 'find' them... you get the idea. If you're really worried about visible, large caches, carry them off out of sight, search & log and return 20 minutes later. This shouldn't be a problem as the average attention span (for potential onlookers) is less than 10 minutes.

 

These are just my thoughts, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong... I'm here to learn too.

[flowerswife]

Thanks for the imput. I see if I had went past the 2nd page(and I thought I was trying hard ) I would see a similar topic about protocol of taking caches back to your car on page 3.

 

Does anyone here actually ever take a ammo can to their car? (I read in the other thread about a big rock cache in a car but in general has anyone taken a large cache to their car?

 

 

flowerswife

Edited December 28, 2005 by flowerswife

[+maggieszoo]

Don't worry about it. From any kind of distance, an ammo crate looks a lot like a lunch box. Sit down and 'have lunch'. If you act like you have every right to do what you are doing, more than likely no one will notice.

[+RykoalaTeam]

Dear Flowerswife,

 

I had the same question, your thread was very helpful.

[+BlueDeuce]

Does anyone here actually ever take a ammo can to their car? (I read in the other thread about a big rock cache in a car but in general has anyone taken a large cache to their car?

I have on occasion, if the location just has too many prying eyes. I usually encounter this situation when the cache is in view of a parking lot and people are sitting in their cars. If you have every sat in your car for a while, someone walking past is usually the most interesting thing to look at, and if they are pulling a box out of the bushes...well. Twice I’ve had to drive off with a cache when someone parked near the location and I had to wait until they left.

 

But really it’s a rare occurrence, just act like you are doing what you are supposed to be doing and hardly anyone will notice.

[+Bill & Tammy]

You could always CITO (cache in, trash out) the area. Then if you need to you can tuck the ammo can inside the trash bag to remove it to a more secure location. I often use the "just picking up trash" cover when I am out maintaining my more stealthy caches.

Edited December 29, 2005 by Bill & Tammy

[flowerswife]

that is such a good idea Bill & Tammy. The kids would love to help clean up and while it provides such a great cover up who could pass up the opportunity to "clean up" our area!

 

thanks for the idea!

 

Flowerswife

Edited December 28, 2005 by flowerswife

[+M.S. thebrain and Pinky]

We found ours and it was fun trying to be stealth looking out for those muggles.

Edited December 29, 2005 by msthebrain

[+Toidy]

I needed to see this too...I'm a newbie and the question has been rolling around in my head for a while.

 

Hubby is NOT good at being stealthy. LOL. I had to corale him back to the car one night for walking around the Best Buy parking lot with the GPSr in front of him like it was a tri-corder from the Star Trek movies. LOL Muggles were Christmas shopping everywhere and he did everything but point the thing at THEM. LOL

 

I'm still practicing my super ninja stealth mode!

[+BlueDeuce]

I've also carried a camera with tripod. Now I have an excuse for being off trail. (Photographing wildlife) the gps in my hand is a light meter and the open box at my feet is my equipment.

[+briansnat]

I've gotten to the point that I really don't care if I'm seen. If someone decides to hide a cache in a high visibility area, that's their problem, not mine.

 

I'll take some basic precautions like moving away with the cache to log in, then returning it, but I'm not going to go overboard with the "secrent agent act" or lose any sleep over it if someone sees me.

[bogleman]

I will add that if you are trying to act like you are hiding something, someone will take notice and watch you, just plop right down like you own the place and if you are questioned just be honest and share the fun. If you are uncomfortable with the surroundings back off and wait and see if things clear out. I bumped into another cacher in a local parking lot and he was completely clueless that I was watching him let alone standing 5 feet away - he was too busy trying to get a fix that he never even noticed me. We both searched for the cache which both were able to log a DNF for.

Don’t be embarrassed about your hobby. Curiosity is human nature along with embarrassment, have pride in your self and what you do. I am sure they were talking about your shoes and not your GPS.

[+Zzyzx Road]

Several of the more visible ones we have found have had people whizzing by (too fast to see) are in rural areas where we have "just stopped to pet the horsie", or are by areas where poeple walk by randomly, and I just walked by randomly also (snagged the cache and walked randomly to the car to sign and sort - then I randomly walked back to drop the cache back in).

 

The one that was the most problem was along a really busy road, which was also a "T" intersection. The only person to drive by and stop to ask about our intentions was the property owner, who was VERY concerned that we were there to damage his property somehow. I quickly help my GPS up as though I was surrendering my firearm, and stated quickly and to the point, "We are just treasure-seeking here!"

 

He and the others in his trick merely smiled to themselves and said, "Okay" and then left.

 

Like what they tell you about self-defense in parking lots, just look like you are there doing what you need to do, nobody will bother you.

[+ohgr]

For urban caches a clipboard I would imagine do wonders. The more "official you look the better. We always take a camera too, and have used that as a reason to be there.

 

The more you ""look" like you belong there the better. If you're in the middle of the city with your khaki shorts, hiking boots, GPS, and your safari hat, you're going to stick out in a crowd.

 

Good luck,

 

Ohgr