Jump to content

Geocaching Containers


Recommended Posts

I've been geocaching about a month now, and I've seen some crazy containers out there, and the more creative they get, the more fun geocaching becomes to me. I only have 11 finds under my belt, so I hardly know what makes for a good one, but I know what I like when I see it.

 

So I was at Home Depot today looking for strong magnets to affix the Altoids container to the back of a sign (I love that!) when I found myself walking up and down each aisle getting really giddy, thinking OMG that's a GREAT hiding container!!

 

Today I bought some weird grey PVC box in the lighting aisle with a PVC pipe. You need a dime to unscrew it, but you would NEVER in a million years think this was a geocache if you affixed it to a fencepost. Crazy! I saw one of these as a geocache and the only reason I didn't claim the find is because I didn't have the dime on hand to open it. I didn't read the instructions completely before leaving (I was doing a bunch that day). So on mine, I'm going to magnetically affix the dime to the bottom of the housing so the tool is always on hand.

 

I also found a 4" length of steel 1" pipe with threaded ends in the plumbing section. Sold separately were two steel 'caps' that thread onto either end. The thing looks like a little barbell. Only enough room for a booklet and pencil, but wow with the industrial angle! I'm thinking that one needs to be placed in an urban area where it won't look at all out of place.

 

Any other ideas? What's the coolest container you've come across or hid?

Link to comment

I also found a 4" length of steel 1" pipe with threaded ends in the plumbing section. Sold separately were two steel 'caps' that thread onto either end. The thing looks like a little barbell. Only enough room for a booklet and pencil, but wow with the industrial angle! I'm thinking that one needs to be placed in an urban area where it won't look at all out of place.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

Good one. Oh, that was good. It's good to laugh hard like that from time to time.

 

Oh, or were you serious about that?

Link to comment

Not trying to be rude. Just thought you were trying to ask if you should hide a cache that looks like a pipe bomb, and then suggesting you put it in an urban setting.

 

Sorry for the sarcasm. It was over the top and I apologize for it.

 

I'd say good job on the grey box, and suggest you might want to re-think the pipe cache.

Link to comment
Is everyone in this community this rude?

No, only a select few. :laughing:

Back on topic:

One of the inherent (sp?) problems with this game we all love, is the fact that it can be misinterpreted by others as threatening. Two issues come to mind when you mentioned hiding a piece of capped pipe in an urban environment;

1) First & foremost, some muggle coming across a cache like this, in an urban environment, might think it was a pipe bomb. That's usually bad news for us, since it casts us in a bad light.

2) Unless you apply the caps with considerable force, they will not be waterproof.

 

I hope you'll reconsider the pipe hide, but I think the PVC box idea is kinda kewl.

 

Welcome to the obsession!

Edited by Clan Riffster
Link to comment

Not trying to be rude. Just thought you were trying to ask if you should hide a cache that looks like a pipe bomb, and then suggesting you put it in an urban setting.

 

Sorry for the sarcasm. It was over the top and I apologize for it.

 

I'd say good job on the grey box, and suggest you might want to re-think the pipe cache.

 

AGGHH! Okay, first off, I'm Canadian, and I don't think in terms of bombs. I swear to god, that never even crossed my mind. HOLY MOLEY! I've never even seen a pipe bomb. Didn't put two and two together.

 

Okay. That being said, I also live in a really industrial city and I am hoping to get some caches going in the city's industrial core which has a pretty cool reconditioned factory set up as an *art studio* ( http://www.imperialcottoncentre.com/ ) but it's in a really stank part of town that no one goes to. Honestly, I could see putting the pipe between bricks in that area and no one would notice. But I do appreciate you pointing that out to me, because I never thought about it. Goes to show... you learn a lot here! I'll have to feel it out.

 

The coolest cache I ever found was in Ottawa under some unused traintracks on a bridge. It was the most effed-up thing I ever saw in my life. We had to crawl and climb to get there and the guy created the outside of the box to completely fit in with the rivets on the outside and I was so flabbergasted that we found it, I felt like it was my mission to create some similar industrial-urban caches. Those areas are just CRYING for some CITO love, and I could see it being a great way to get that done.

 

Anyhow...

 

I've got my altoids tin and my grey box thingy... so I'll work on those for the time being.

 

:laughing:

Link to comment

How amusing! :laughing:

 

By the way, Canadians need to be concerned with terrorism too!!! :laughing::laughing:

 

Heh heh. I think I'm suffering from foot-in-mouthitis today. That came out wrong. I didn't mean to imply Canadians don't need to concern themselves with terrorism... I just mean that sort of thing is not on my radar. When I got home, I showed my pipe to my roommate and she thought it was cool too, and it's not on her radar either. (BTW, she taught English in Asia for six years and has travelled to a lot of war torn countries, so I guess I don't feel so stupid if she didn't make the connection either.)

 

I have tried to explain this concept to my American friends, and it's a real cultural chasm. Bombs, guns, etc. are just not in my daily life or anyone else I know. They don't sell fireworks here. You can't buy explosives or guns at WalMart. You can't buy them at all (without certification, somwhere, I suppose), actually. I wouldn't even know where you would get a hunting rifle. Everytime I go cross border shopping I'm MESMERIZED by the fact you can buy that stuff at WalMart.

 

Okay. Enough of my babbling.

 

Back to the topic at hand...

 

Cool containers anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Link to comment

You've got the right attitude, Montyollie. Keep looking for the creative containers. I can't walk thru a Home Depot without doing it either. This chat room is like any other in that it will decay, digress, etc. Remember, it's about geocaching and having some good, clean fun...

Link to comment

The coolest containers I see are ammo boxes filled with quality trinkets and placed in family-friendly historical locations, now THAT's cool.

 

Now, some of the hardest is a different story!

 

Pine cones, hollow out the base and insert a nitroglycerin ampule with 1/4" micro logsheet. Hang it in a tree. Ugh. :laughing:

 

Cut a large bolt in half, drill out the top half of the shaft, insert micro logsheet. Find an empty hole on a train in a railroad museum. Stick top half through hole and use a nut to attach the bottom half of the shaft. Almost impossible to find! :laughing:

 

Find a broken-off limb or root of a tree in the woods. Drill a hole underneath and insert film can. Throw it on the ground in the woods. :laughing:

 

Take a piece of clear fishing line and hang the cache off a bridge railing.

 

The fake electrical box you already figured out.

 

WalMart sells a magnetic strip and letters/numbers to go on mailboxes - a strip of that with yellow letters stuck on something like a loading dock or phone pole where folks are used to seeing numbers can be fun, finders peel it off and sign the back, some folks use a micro-log in a little plastic baggie.

 

I have found all of those, hid some of them, and enjoyed every one, but still reserve 'cool!' for a family traditional!

 

Ed

Link to comment

Sorry - somebody had to say this - Altoid tins make terrible cache containers - they are not waterproof and tend to break at the hinges easily or rust out.

 

Your pipe cache - well -'nuff said on that already.

 

They grey box - sounds interesting - like to see the finished cache but again - these are seldom very waterproof and still retain the ability to be opened - but does sound interesting.

 

Keep going and keep having fun with this. You sound like you are off to a great start with some creative thoughts.

Link to comment
They grey box - sounds interesting - like to see the finished cache but again - these are seldom very waterproof and still retain the ability to be opened - but does sound interesting.
I've seen non-waterproof boxes like that used as camouflage for waterproof containers. That's another alternative.
Link to comment
I have tried to explain this concept to my American friends, and it's a real cultural chasm. Bombs, guns, etc. are just not in my daily life or anyone else I know. They don't sell fireworks here. You can't buy explosives or guns at WalMart.

 

Hmmm, bombs guns etc... aren't a part of my daily life. They don't sell fireworks here and you can't buy explosives at the Wal-mart either (I think they do sell hunting rifles) - but I've heard of a pipe bomb.

Link to comment
I have tried to explain this concept to my American friends, and it's a real cultural chasm. Bombs, guns, etc. are just not in my daily life or anyone else I know. They don't sell fireworks here. You can't buy explosives or guns at WalMart.

 

Hmmm, bombs guns etc... aren't a part of my daily life. They don't sell fireworks here and you can't buy explosives at the Wal-mart either (I think they do sell hunting rifles) - but I've heard of a pipe bomb.

 

We have fireworks. They sell the "Safe and Sane" ones for one whole week out of the entire year.

Link to comment

Don't let the over-excited folks color your view of all Americans! Most of us don't walk around thinking "oh - that looks like a bomb!"

 

Plenty of caches using steel and PVC pipe down here.

 

Here in Alabama most everyone that wants one has at least one gun, anyone without a criminal past can get a concealed carry license for a handgun, fireworks, including some pretty awesome 'big boy' stuff is sold year-round, WalMart sells fireworks AND guns, and pipes are lying around everywhere, from farms to construction sites.

 

Down here you'd just about have to place the pipe under the court-house steps with a clock strapped to it before anyone would pay any attention.

 

Ed

Link to comment

One geocacher here in NJ like making his own containers. They are actually quite ingenious. Some might be confused with pipe bombs by the uninitiated, but he always makes sure to hide them well off the beaten path.

 

That's the key, making sure your container is appropriate for othe area. A pipe cache next to a RR station = dumb idea, a pipe cache deep in the woods is just dandy.

 

Here is a pic of some of his containers from his profile:

 

bb51afab-32ff-43a8-b6f7-1717c9993d31.jpg

Link to comment

The coolest containers I see are ammo boxes filled with quality trinkets and placed in family-friendly historical locations, now THAT's cool.

 

Amen!

 

Cut a large bolt in half, drill out the top half of the shaft, insert micro logsheet. Find an empty hole on a train in a railroad museum. Stick top half through hole and use a nut to attach the bottom half of the shaft. Almost impossible to find! :(

 

Heh... yeah, that one drove me crazy too!

 

Find a broken-off limb or root of a tree in the woods. Drill a hole underneath and insert film can. Throw it on the ground in the woods. :)

 

I seem to remember looking for one JUST LIKE THAT three times... wonder who that evil hider could be??

 

Take a piece of clear fishing line and hang the cache off a bridge railing.

 

Um... no comment! ;):P:)

 

I'd say one of my favorite hides looked like a sawed-off leg. Another is just a plain film can... in the middle of a tree-filled field, flush with the ground! :)

 

That's what I love about this game... endless creativity!

Link to comment

Ah yes, how could I leave off Go Nuts!

 

Take a 3" length of 1.5"diameter PVC pipe, find a grassy but maintained field, place the pipe on the ground and step on it, driving it down so that the top lip is just above ground level. Drop in a film can with a green camo lid. The lid will keep the film can from sliding into the pipe. Simple, can be done anywhere, but a bi...uh booger to find!

 

I have been to Joefrog's Go Nuts cache fourteen times now this last year and a half it's been out, taking others to find it, have replaced the container once and the log twice, and still DNFed it 8 out of 14 trips! :)

Link to comment

AGGHH! Okay, first off, I'm Canadian, and I don't think in terms of bombs.

 

Must... fight urge... to... be rude.......

 

 

Gotta laugh. Mushtang is using an avatar from my favourite CANADIAN!!!!! band Rush. Gotta be careful, we Canadians are everywhere, we're just unobtrusive about it. :) Excellent avatar, man. :(

Edited by fm2f90x
Link to comment

Here's the container I've been working on. Trying to find an appropriate place for it where it won't get mistaken for something else. How about Canada?? What would they think this was??

 

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/black85vette...dnm=7a11re2.jpg

 

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/black85vette...dnm=42c1re2.jpg

 

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/black85vette...dnm=5890re2.jpg

 

:)

 

(just kidding)

 

I also like to look at the hardware store. You might try junk yards and trash piles and find old looking stuff. The problem with new boxes and materials is that they look so obvious. Find some rusty old stuff that you can seal or place where they won't get rained on. I love doing urban camo.

Link to comment

Cache containers can come from all places.... My favorite one that I've made was found at a garage sale for 10 cents. It was a waterproof sunglasses case with a key clip. I took Gorilla Glue and added ball moss http://tinyurl.com/zdev9 that I took off of a tree on the local university campus and glued the moss all over it... By the time it was done, I could only see the latch on the side. Hung it up in a tree in a nature trail area as a first stage in a puzzle/multi. As there isn't any other ball moss in that particular part of the park, if you know your plants, it stands out - but otherwise, it blends in, is waterproof and most of all, fit in with the theme of the cache. Did I mention that it was virtually free? I like this container so much, I'm planning another one for a cache near my mother-in-laws house where there is a ton of ball moss. This is the nice part of caching... gets the creative juices flowing!

Link to comment

How amusing! :(

 

By the way, Canadians need to be concerned with terrorism too!!! :D<_<

 

Heh heh. I think I'm suffering from foot-in-mouthitis today. That came out wrong. I didn't mean to imply Canadians don't need to concern themselves with terrorism... I just mean that sort of thing is not on my radar. When I got home, I showed my pipe to my roommate and she thought it was cool too, and it's not on her radar either. (BTW, she taught English in Asia for six years and has travelled to a lot of war torn countries, so I guess I don't feel so stupid if she didn't make the connection either.)

I'm not surprised she did make the connection. Pipe bombs are no use to a warfighter but they are great tool for a terrorist. Warfighing and terrorism are two different things. Be glad you know neither.

 

I have tried to explain this concept to my American friends, and it's a real cultural chasm. Bombs, guns, etc. are just not in my daily life or anyone else I know. They don't sell fireworks here. You can't buy explosives or guns at WalMart. You can't buy them at all (without certification, somwhere, I suppose), actually. I wouldn't even know where you would get a hunting rifle. Everytime I go cross border shopping I'm MESMERIZED by the fact you can buy that stuff at WalMart.

 

Okay. Enough of my babbling.

 

Back to the topic at hand...

 

Cool containers anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Have you seen the Cool Cache Containers thread?

Link to comment

Thrift Stores are awesome, Ammo cans for a buck and all sorts of quality containers that you can do anything with.

 

I have found several neat micro caches and some great large caches. I have been thinking about using a large cooler to hide in a dense forrest area.

Link to comment

I've been geocaching about a month now, and I've seen some crazy containers out there, and the more creative they get, the more fun geocaching becomes to me. I only have 11 finds under my belt, so I hardly know what makes for a good one, but I know what I like when I see it.

 

So I was at Home Depot today looking for strong magnets to affix the Altoids container to the back of a sign (I love that!) when I found myself walking up and down each aisle getting really giddy, thinking OMG that's a GREAT hiding container!!

 

Today I bought some weird grey PVC box in the lighting aisle with a PVC pipe. You need a dime to unscrew it, but you would NEVER in a million years think this was a geocache if you affixed it to a fencepost. Crazy! I saw one of these as a geocache and the only reason I didn't claim the find is because I didn't have the dime on hand to open it. I didn't read the instructions completely before leaving (I was doing a bunch that day). So on mine, I'm going to magnetically affix the dime to the bottom of the housing so the tool is always on hand.

 

I also found a 4" length of steel 1" pipe with threaded ends in the plumbing section. Sold separately were two steel 'caps' that thread onto either end. The thing looks like a little barbell. Only enough room for a booklet and pencil, but wow with the industrial angle! I'm thinking that one needs to be placed in an urban area where it won't look at all out of place.

 

Any other ideas? What's the coolest container you've come across or hid?

 

 

the elec box is the same as this one real coolit is magneted to the bottom of transformer box at shopping mall parking lot. BTW the dime is attached with velcro.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...dd-2fe2692bcdba

Link to comment

Cache Container Materials:

 

[Moderator: Please move this if it fits better in some other area. - MM]

 

Went shopping today, at the local K-Mart and other places. After I'd picked up some new tee shirts that were on sale, I walked around the store. Kept my eyes open for any possible cache containers and other stuff, for future use when I get to that stage of Geocaching development.

 

Cache containers:

 

Found a whole series of "Martha Stewart Everyday" kitchen containers, all of which had been reduced 40%, some pieces 70%. I paid $2.50-$3.00 for each item that I tested. One item was a "2 quart 1.8 Liter" round bowl. The exterior of the round bowl was 7 inches in diameter across the lid, and it was 4 inches tall, with the lid on. The other four items were "8.5 cups 2 Liter" rectangular, with rounded corners. Theses bases were about 7 inches wide by 10.2 inches long over the lid, and the base with the lid on was about 2.25 inches high. The opening tab adds about 0.25 inches to the width of the round bowl's lid at one point, and about the same around one corner of the rectangular pieces' lids.

 

The bases were crystal clear, sturdy, plastic with a "(triangle) 7 PC" recycling mark, whatever that may mean. Around here it means that none of the recycling centers will accept it. Each item had a lid, of a slightly translucent, but still somewhat transparent plastic, with no recycling mark. Each lid had a soft white plastic rim, a tab to help remove the lid, and a vent hole with a flap of the white plastic rim covering the vent. The flap has a round peg underneath, which fits in the vent hole to shut it off. The lettering on the bases say that the containers are "microwave and freezer safe," and "dishwasher top rack." The paper labels say you can microwave cook in the covered containers, so as to prevent spattering, with the flaps open to allow the heat to vent.

 

I removed all the paper labels, put a large, clean, dry, paper towel in each container, shut the lids tightly, made sure the flaps were tightly plugging the vent holes, and put all five in the dishwasher, along with the dirty dishes I had accumulated since my wife left on her trip. Then I ran the dishwasher on normal cycle, and let it dry with the door shut for a couple of hours.

 

The round bowl had been placed upright in the top rack. It was full of still hot, soapy water and one drowned paper towel. CPR was not attempted. The lid had lifted about 1/8" at one point, but the vent was still tightly plugged. One of the rectangular containers had been right side up in the bottom rack. Its lid was also slightly lifted on one long side, the paper towel was partly wet, and there was a small amount of water, perhaps a teaspoon or two, spread around the inside surfaces. Its vent was also still tightly plugged.

 

My _guess_ is that the lids lifted to vent the increased internal air pressure shortly after the hot water wash started. The other three rectangular pieces were bone dry, regardless of location or position. I have no idea why they did not vent internal pressure the same way.

 

Conclusion:

 

1. Martha Stewart Everyday containers probably won't be good cache containers. They look nice, and will probably work great for microwave cooking and storing food. Hope my wife likes them when she gets back.

 

2. The dishwasher makes a decent first test for prospective cache containers. My wife will probably disagree.

 

Camoflage Paints:

 

"Krylon" makes several lines of spray paint cans. The "Fusion" line looks good for quick drying painting of plastic cache containers. They have several "flat" colors, which they call "Satin" to separate them from the standard high gloss. Satin black and Satin Hunter Green both look good for camo use. But what looked really interesting was a line of textured spray paint called "Make it Stone." It is about twice as expensive as their Fusion line, one had a very nice "Granite" color and texture.

Link to comment

Camoflage Paints:

 

"Krylon" makes several lines of spray paint cans. The "Fusion" line looks good for quick drying painting of plastic cache containers. They have several "flat" colors, which they call "Satin" to separate them from the standard high gloss. Satin black and Satin Hunter Green both look good for camo use. But what looked really interesting was a line of textured spray paint called "Make it Stone." It is about twice as expensive as their Fusion line, one had a very nice "Granite" color and texture.

 

Make sure you waterproof the 'Stone paint' cause when it rains it will get gooey

Link to comment

I also found a 4" length of steel 1" pipe with threaded ends in the plumbing section. Sold separately were two steel 'caps' that thread onto either end. The thing looks like a little barbell. Only enough room for a booklet and pencil, but wow with the industrial angle! I'm thinking that one needs to be placed in an urban area where it won't look at all out of place.

 

Just be careful with certain ideas like this one... As Im reading it Im thinking "this will certainly be mistaken for a PIPE BOMB some place!!!" This would be horrible for YOU and for the GEOCACHING COMMUNITY so please consider all angles before buying and creating cache containers!!

Edited by Geo Ferret
Link to comment

I also found a 4" length of steel 1" pipe with threaded ends in the plumbing section. Sold separately were two steel 'caps' that thread onto either end. The thing looks like a little barbell. Only enough room for a booklet and pencil, but wow with the industrial angle! I'm thinking that one needs to be placed in an urban area where it won't look at all out of place.

 

Just be careful with certain ideas like this one... As Im reading it Im thinking "this will certainly be mistaken for a PIPE BOMB some place!!!" This would be horrible for YOU and for the GEOCACHING COMMUNITY so please consider all angles before buying and creating cache containers!!

I think he was convinced of that 5 years ago, when he first posted. :rolleyes:

Link to comment

I also found a 4" length of steel 1" pipe with threaded ends in the plumbing section. Sold separately were two steel 'caps' that thread onto either end. The thing looks like a little barbell. Only enough room for a booklet and pencil, but wow with the industrial angle! I'm thinking that one needs to be placed in an urban area where it won't look at all out of place.

 

Just be careful with certain ideas like this one... As Im reading it Im thinking "this will certainly be mistaken for a PIPE BOMB some place!!!" This would be horrible for YOU and for the GEOCACHING COMMUNITY so please consider all angles before buying and creating cache containers!!

I think he was convinced of that 5 years ago, when he first posted. :rolleyes:

LMAO. :laughing:

Link to comment

We recently found a mailbox at a thrift store, I can see miles of searching through the woods for the perfect placement spot for a camo'd mailbox.

I have a few favorite hides, one was an outdoor electrical outlet cover attatched to a post out at the beach...about as far from any electrical line as you could imagine. It was pretty great, even though the log itself had been muggled and was missing.

 

Ive seen plastic animals with holes drilled in unpleasant places and nano containers placed inside.

 

Another favorite cache design, one that I recently found out has been archived due to muggles, a plastic skull with a hole cut in the bottom and a container hidden inside, then find a good log in the middle of nowhere to tuck the skull underneath...just peeking out. Guaranteed to give someone a jump!

 

Good luck.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...