I'm Going To Get Wet Tomorrow

[+AuntieWeasel]

It's been raining for four days in New England. Per the forecast, it's going to keep raining...forever and ever, amen. I can't stand it. I have to get out. Unless it's coming down in buckets, I'm going out tomorrow. I've got gaiters and brand new Goretex boots, a camo rain poncho and a hat. If I make up my mind ahead of time that I'm going to get wet and grubby, and my head and feet stay reasonably dry, I'm good.

 

What about you? Do you cache in the rain? What's your preferred gear?

 

 

(And, yes, I'm aware that getting damp in a cache -- particularly a well-sealed one -- is very bad mojo. I'm trying to pick caches and techniques accordingly).

[+StarBrand]

Carry a large umbrella to hold over the cache while you look through it. Other then that - I usually just get wet.

[+oldsoldier]

I'm waiting till sunday. PErsonally, I dont care about getting wet, but, I am going to a Red Cross bone marrow drive tomorrow, so, thats booked up. Its only a DNA swab test, to check for matches; NOT giving marrow tomorrow.

I want to use my new 60cx!!! Stupid rain gods...

[+Stunod]

Good raingear is all you need. Rain-caching is fun, and you get far fewer muggles.

If you want a real good time, try hail-caching

[+briansnat]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few thousand words. Skigirl and I both wear Marmot Precip jackets. Marmot Precip is some pretty good, breathable rainwear for the price. Skigirl also wears Precip pants and I have a pair of GoreTex rain pants, but if I'm hiking they tend to get so wet inside from perspiration that its almost pointless to wear them, which I don't anymore. I just wear gaiters and shorts or quick drying nylon pants.

 

For our heads Skigirl has a OR Seattle Sombrero and I have an old LL Bean Allagash hat. I think I'm gonna get me a Seattle Sombrero soon because the Allagash hat is nearly 20 years old and leaks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 12, 2006 by briansnat

[+headybrew]

OoOhhhh...

you mean that watery stuff that comes down out of the sky once every 7 years or so...

That's like... El Nino or something, right?

[+Night Stalker]

First of all you have to realize that I live in Idaho where we don't really have rain like some places. when it does rain (looks sorta like humidity in Houston, TX). I wear my gortex Rockies and waterproof jacket and a cowboy hat to keep the humidity out of my eyes. the first time I worked in New Orleans and saw what rain really was I couldn't believe. Started looking around for wood so I could build an ark.

 

[+TeamGuisinger]

Us too! For Mother's Day weekend we're doing what I want to do and that's caching. It's going to rain all weekend and I don't care! I agree that the feet must stay dry so I will be forced to wear those god awful boots that I'm not coordinated enough to walk in. But I still don't care! I am known to pack an extra outfit incase we get completely drenched. We once got caught on top of a mountain in a down pour without dry things. What a horrible 3 hour drive home! Cache on in the rain - at least there won't be as many muggles about. =)

[+Corp Of Discovery]

No special gear for me other than some kind of jacket. Altho I did actually buy one of those cheap rain ponchos once. That's about it. I just resign myself to getting wet and deal with it. I have been known on occasion to get a little wetter than the conditions would normally do to a person.

[+Groovy Cachin' Dude!]

I thought only in Oregon did it rain like that...guess I'll have to enjoy the upcoming weather!

 

Cheers

[+BlueDeuce]

Rain is the perfect caching weather! No dam fool is out in it, so you can cache in peace. I love it.

 

By the way Auntie, the midwest has had rain for the last three days, so you have more coming.

[+The Fixer]

You have got to be kidding, do you know what that does to my hair. I like to look respectable when I walk through the neighborhoods.

[+wiseye]

Think bathing suits

By the way, A little Duct tape and that allagash is good for another 20 yrs!

[+GSVNoFixedAbode]

As Billy Connelly said, 'There's no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing'!

[+Harry Dolphin]

It was supposed to rain today. But the sun came out, so I found a great benchmrk, and put out another of my nasty mystery caches. (After the last one, I fear appearing in public!)

Bushwhacking with an umbrella can be difficult, and the rocks get slippery. But, we'll be out benchmarking and caching! Which ones we go for will depend on the weather.

[+Ambrosia]

What's rain?

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Well if it's warm out, we don't really worry about the rain, but Fox tends to go for synthetics and his oiled duster coat. I prefer good wool and just getting wet. You'll stay warm and it breathes pretty well. Definitely a hat either way though.

[+JakeBond]

Ive never let rain stop my caching trips. I dont use a car, and there was a cache i had picked out to hit, so i trudged the few miles from my place over to a cache near laguardia airport (GCRVDK). Posting said to go on windy, rainy days. i kinda took that too literally and got completely drenched finding this multi. this was with an umbrella and rain gear...

 

it was a great time tho.

 

ps, the day before i hit GCM90X which is near a pond in central park while it was also pouring out. that was actually perfect since all the muggles were away...

[+Munin]

I've gone out a few times in torrential downpours like we're supposed to see tomorrow, AuntieWeasel. It can be a lot of fun, in a technically-I'm-an-adult-and-ought-to-know-better-but-I'm-gonna-do-it-anyways sort of way.

 

Clothing-wise, if it's going to be raining heavily then I resign myself to getting soaked. I always go with hiking boots - few things are as uncomfortable as squelching along the trail in sodden sneakers. Synthetic fabrics instead of cotton - jeans weigh a ton once they're drenched. For some reason I feel obliged to wear an ostensibly waterproof jacket when it's raining, but if the water's coming down in buckets I know the rain's going to sneak in around the neckline and soak my shirt anyways. Maybe some part of me thinks that running around in the rain will look less absurd if I can at least pretend that I was trying to stay dry. For head-gear, usually just a baseball cap - it'll soak through in seconds, but the brim provides enough shelter that I won't have water constantly running into my eyes. I'll also stuff a bandanna in one of my pockets - it too will get soaked, but after wringing it out I can use it to remove most of the excess water on my hands and forearms before removing the logbook - helps avoid getting water on the pages.

 

Almost everything in my fanny pack goes into ziplocs - wallet, cellphone, swag, spare batteries, camera (yes, I bring my camera in the rain, and sometimes take shots by unzipping the bag and aiming through the opening). GPSr I leave unprotected - it's waterproof. If I stop by a Dunkin Donuts on the way to the cache, I'll grab a bunch of extra napkins to add to my cache repair kit in case a container's been inundated and the contents need drying. PDA either stays home or at worst in the glovebox. I used to bring it along inside a ziploc, but mine's a clamshell case with a thumb-pad keyboard, and I found it was rather difficult to use it inside the ziploc. Instead I bring printouts of the cache pages - paper doesn't typically short out if it gets wet.

 

In the past, for cache protection I've: leaned over the cache to protect it with my body, had my brother stand over the cache to protect it with his body, found a large piece of bark to hold over the cache, and formed a protective shelter using a trash bag. Over the winter I bought a compact umbrella that collapses down small enough to strap to my fanny pack. Obviously it's not for me...the plan is to deploy it over the cache as a kind of portable lean-to. The umbrella may undergo field-testing tomorrow.

 

Extra stuff I bring in the car if I'm rain-caching: spare socks, t-shirt, jacket - in case I feel the urge for dry clothing. Small sack with a bunch of terrycloth shop towels for drying off whatever I can dry in public without risking arrest. Empty shopping bag or two to stick discarded wet clothes into for the trip home. Possibly a thermos of coffee if the air is nippy - a cup of something hot feels great after you've been rained on for an hour or two.

 

Oh, most importantly - bring a sense of humor.

[+Tsegi Mike and Desert Viking]

I dont think I even have clothing for rain or an umbrella. I recall caching a couple of times in the rain. Saw a full triple rainbow at one cache right after a rain shower. Basically, I can wait in the car for the rain to pass. In Arizona, the showers dont usually last long.

[+frizz]

I was out caching 2 weekends ago with two teenagers, and we got thouroughly soaked and mud covered, but had a great time. We found nine caches before we decided to head for home and hot chocolate. All of the clothes were definitely ready for the Biz Bag! I'm trying to talk my wife into going out this weekend, but she will probably bail if it is raining. All in all, I'd rather cache in the rain than in the snow! Last weekend I hapened to pick up a pile of disposable rain ponchos for cache swag (70 cents ea. at Wallmart).

[+Wacka]

Cache in California, won't rain until October!

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

So, Aunti - it looksl ike the geo-gods were smiling on us!

 

I was able to make two finds and place one for the deluge. How about you?

[+AuntieWeasel]

I was able to make two finds and place one for the deluge. How about you?

I was planning on four, but after making a thorough and complete hash out of Gypsy's Breakheart Multi, I made two (yes, including the multi. Finally).

 

I hope you went West. I think Arcadia was the only spot in the Eastern United States it didn't rain today. Sadly, it was a waste of this attractive ensemble:

 

[+TEAM RETRIEVER]

It's like this...

 

If and when I take my rain gear along, it stops raining. If I leave it home, a tempest will rise out of nowhere and send buckets of rain down upon me when I'm farthest away from the truck. Never fails (smile). I have some Frogg Toggs rain gear that I wear for caching. Lightweight and breathable, but doesn't hold up to briars very well.

 

[+Boot Group]

Can I come AW? I went today, and I didn't even melt.

[+BBWolf+3Pigs]

I hope you went West.

 

Yep. Did Vin Gormley Multi and Meadowbrook Pond. And placed a new one in Burlingame WMA. Rain held off for me until about 1:30.

 

And with that outfit, I can see why Uncle Badger would not want me out caching with you...I wouldn't be able to control myself .

[+briansnat]

I hope you went West. I think Arcadia was the only spot in the Eastern United States it didn't rain today.

 

Actually it was sunny, blue skies in NJ after some morning cloudiness. So much for the weather prediction.

I wish I had a job where I could be dead wrong about 1/3 of the time and not get fired.

[+Night Stalker]

Having taken basic training in NJ back in the early 70's I have a hard time believing the sun ever shines there.

[+Woodbutcher68]

Been raining around Chicago for a few days, but very lightly. I did one cache this morning and didn't get too wet.

[+AuntieWeasel]

Can I come AW? I went today, and I didn't even melt.

Ha! You just didn't get a big enough dose.

 

I'm going to sit around the house and drink coffee today, I think. The rain isn't so bad, but my feet hurt. Six hours of banging around in the woods in new boots will do that.

[+Boot Group]

Well, enjoy your coffee, Auntie.

 

As I recall, it rained last Mother's Day weekend as well. We had a camping trip planned last year, and I called it off an hour before we were scheduled to leave because it was raining so much.

 

I don't know if I'll get out caching today. I've got a huge pile of resumes to send out so that I can hopefully continue the insanity of teaching first grade. I may spend my day licking envelopes.....

[+Munin]

Sadly, it was a waste of this attractive ensemble:

You would've been all set for some Boston-area caching, AW - the rain certainly didn't skip my neighborhood! I had to make do with just a single cache, but it was fun to get out and do a little puddle-stomping.

 

Some of the trails were suffering from delusions of streamhood - and as I soon discoverd, the waterproofing on my boots needed refreshing.

 

Wet-weather caching gear: collapsible umbrella stowed on top of fanny pack:

 

And deployed for cache protection:

[+oldsoldier]

I got 3 today, plus a letterbox (my first one, and I probably screwed it up). That being said, I actually ewnjoyed the rain today. Funny, 12 years in the army, UI HATED it. Now, I liked being out in it. Of course, then I went to my moms for mothers day, and stood on the heater on the floor, to warm up my toes...

[+Munin]

That being said, I actually ewnjoyed the rain today. Funny, 12 years in the army, UI HATED it. Now, I liked being out in it.

The silliest things can be a ton of fun when undertaken of your own free will. Just ask a child at play...or a geocacher. (The mindsets are roughly equivalent. )

[+NotThePainter]

We didn't go caching today, we went to a cache site that I had been to previously. Brought a tripod for some long exposure shots of the falls.

 

These are all from Wilton Falls in Wilton NH.

 

 

 

And the third one is not of these falls, but from under the curtain of water fall over the dam that is upstream.

 

 

Yeah, and people wonder why we go geocaching...

 

Paul

[+Night Stalker]

Those are some awesome pictures. Hope the caches isn't currently under water.

[+Kevel]

Rained so hard this weekend that it soaked through my gear. I was about two hours from home so I stopped at a Target and bought some stuff from the 70%off rack. Anyone want some powder Blue pants?

 

I learned to bring extra clothes to change into.

[NBCNCO]

If it ain't rainin, you ain't cachin. (Spoken from my warm dry office)

[+Ichabod]

...wait... I'm confused... there are places where you can cache when it's NOT raining?

[+wesleykey]

I went caching in the rain about 3 or 4 weeks ago. No problem, as I have a rain coat and hat. After 4 or 5 finds I arrive at a city park. Piece of cake, until I arrive withion 50 feet of the cache. It's on the back side of the park where the grass is three feet high, and the rain is still pouring down. The waist high grass soaked my pants, shoes and socks. I went on for 20 finds that day, though.

Edited May 16, 2006 by wesleykey

[+mizdeeds]

Caching in bad weather is the best time for it, IMHO... not many muggles around, if any!

[+Right Wing Wacko]

Don't look at is as RAIN. Look at is as Muggle Repellant