Caches That Look Like Something Else.

[+Over Hill Over Dale]

I'm new to geocaching and absolutely love it so far. I live near San Francisco and plan on placing a few caches there.

 

My question is this....

What kind of cache have you placed in open view that nobody will touch because it looks like part of something else?

 

For instance, I emptied a chapstick case and put a magnet on the end of it. I then spray painted it black. I plan on placing it in the wide open in a spot that will make it appear as though it is part of something.

[+I'm lost!]

This is'nt one that I placed but one that I found. A bolt, it was one of the first few my Brother-in-law took me to, he laughed his tukkus off has I looked all around, any none cacher would never know it was there. People pass it by everyday. It was great. check E-bay they have Acorn nuts, pine cones, rocks, even a butterfly.

[+ghs]

I didn't place this one either, but there was one that took me two trips to find. I looked right at it the first time I was there but it never occurred to me that it was the cache because it looked like some sort of "city plumbing" pipe sticking up out of the ground. On my second adventure to it, I finally decided that it just didn't make any sense for that to be there and so I got up the nerve to "manhandle it."

[+briansnat]

Check out this thread for dozens of these kinds of containers.

[+Night Stalker]

Would a film canister attached to the bottom of a smashed mountain dew can qualify.

 

[+edscott]

Would a film canister attached to the bottom of a smashed mountain dew can qualify.

 

 

until it gets recycled ....

[+Over Hill Over Dale]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

[+Over Hill Over Dale]

That's pretty good, I would think that CITO would take care of that cache, stat!

Not a bad idea.

[+billyandtheboingers]

I dreamt that I was looking for a cache in a park that had a picnic table and near it was, for some reason, a wall with refrigerator magnets. I get near the co-ordinates and can't find the cache so I looked up the clue. It was "think about it". I look at the magnets and see one of the statue "thinking man". Sure enough the magnet had a mini cache in it. While it was only a dream I thought that was a pretty cool cache.

[+TeamGuisinger]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

 

Drill press is how I made mine. Before you drill, cut the last 1/2" of the threaded part off of the bolt and weld/glue it 1/2 way in a nut to make a cap. Throw a rubber washer or cut a circle out of an innertube, or a large rubber band and stick in your new lid to waterproof it. Also, your best bet is to NOT use a galvanized(shiny silver colored) bolt because unless you're using it on a new structure, it will stand out. Plus, paint wont stick to it. Get plain steel bolts, softer steel, and will hold paint. You can also coat the threads for the lid with vaseline, put it together, soak it in salt water for a day or two. Viola, a nice brand new rusty bolt.

Hope this helped.

[Mvillian]

I have one where you have to pick up what looks like a small tree stump and look in a compartment i made into the bottom for the next co-ords

[+Dave_W6DPS]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

 

Boring a hole into a bolt can be tricky and time consuming. Instead of hollowing out the bolt, I use barrel nuts--looks like a regular nut except the 3/8-16 ones I use are almost 3" long. Available at your better hardware stores.

 

I use a 2-1/2" bolt through one hole on the post, a normal nut with lockwasher to hold the bolt in place, and then the barrel nut on finger tight. Put a 1/2" long bolt in the other end, also finger tight, so you can spin it out and push the log out with a pen. It leaves about a 2" section in the nut for the logsheet.

 

You might be able to go smaller than 3/8" diameter, but then getting the logsheet in and out is difficult. Also the holes in most of the sign posts I have seen are drilled for 3/8" bolt.

 

I have also painted and textured a small altoids container to look like the wood on some stacked water barrels. When placed in the gap between the barrels it was very inconspicuous--even though in plain sight.

 

Dave_W6DPS

[+CarlfromOH]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

 

I KNOW I've seen hollow bolts or cement curb rebar somewhere - ebay?, a link at Geocaching Univ?

[+Chamma]

I found this one in London Hyde Park #10. It was a nano cache placed in the gate. But open for all to see if you knew what to look for.

Edited February 25, 2006 by Cabear

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have one that is in a fake dog turd that I got at a local magic shop. I had to replace it once, it came up missing. Now who swipes a dog turd?

[+elmoandco316]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

There is a cache in our area,(GCPDDF) that is a bolt with a stainless pill container attached to it. It is then inserted into a hole that was already bored into a telephone pole, that was used to mark the edge of the road in a park. When you walk by it just looks like a bolt that should be there. Unless you are looking for it, you wouldn't even pay attention to it. You just pull the bolt out, unscrew the top of the pill container and sign log. It is great.

[vagabond]

I found one awhile back that was about 1/2 inch thick maybe 3/4 inch wide and about 7 inches long it was white and magnetized it was stuck to the white border on a stop sign. It blended in almost perfectly

[+sept1c_tank]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

I found one on a street sign in a park. It wasn't a bolt, though. It was a round reflector about 4" in diameter attached magnetically to the pole below the sign. I'm not sure exactly how it was made, but you unscrewed the reflector face from the back and there was room for a logbook inside. I even put my hand on it several times before I realized that it would detach (it was fastened with a strong magnet).

[+andGuest]

Do not know if it is common or not but I found one that was a fake sprinkler head. I would probably still be looking but the person before me left it kind of tilted when they put it back.

[+budd-rdc]

A bolt!

Ingenious!

 

I have been thinking of a way to place a cache on a street sign without it being spotted. Maybe a bolt is the way to go.

How would I make it hollow?

 

I've seen it done. Can't tell you which cache, or it'd be a spoiler, but it's not too far from where you are (I cache in the SF Bay Area also). Examining closely, it looked like a high-precision machining job, possibly using a CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled milling) machine. I suppose a precision drill press might do the job, although I've never tried it personally.

 

You might consider attending the Little Shop of Horrors: Audry's Return! event coming up in late April, in San Jose area. The event's primary focus is to work on creative hide ideas.

Edited February 26, 2006 by budd-rdc