Caches Available Only At Night!

[+Corez]

Me and a few friends have been brainstorming a few ideas on how to hide a cache that is available only when it is dark. We originally wanted to use glow in the dark material, but then realized that it will only stay illuminated for about 10 minutes after it gets dark.

 

We had the idea of getting some sort of reflective material that you would see on safety vests and cover the cache in that. Then at night you would need to bring a flashlight and shine it around the area.

 

Does anyone have any other ideas on how to hide a cache so it's only available at night? Do you have any examples of caches that have been hidden with this idea in mind?

 

Thanks.

[+SUp3rFM & Cruella]

We ran into a couple of ideias about night caches. Some read and some tested. Like...

 

> A led or something on the container that would only light up and blink at night.

> Use reflective paint that is only visible at night, when flashed.

> Get a light sensible cells that when illuminated by a flash light they would turn on.

 

There are more ideias.

 

If you're adding anything that will work with batteries be ready to maintain them up and running. Good luck!

[+Belfrypotters]

There is a great multi here in Edmonton (GCRENC) that has several waypoints that can only be located by shining a light on a small reflective marker placed near each stage of the cache. And I do mean small - about 1/4" diameter, with reflective tape or paint on the end. Each reflector is near a hidden film canister that contains the coordinates to the next reflector and film canister, which eventually lead to the final goodies. The film canisters and final cache are not reflective, so first you have to find the reflector, then find a micro hidden in the forest in the dark, then read the next coordinates, then enter them in your GPSr (correctly!), and stumble down the trail to the next location. We did it in December, and darn near froze our fingers, but it is still one of our favorite caches.

[+George1]

Go to the sporting goods at Walmart. Ask for bright eyes or trail marking twist ties. The twist ties are really hard to see in the daytime but show up well with a flash light. Using these things makes a trail in the dark pretty direction specific. At the cache you might want a reflective pin that is visible from all 4 directions. Other wise you might search for a long time before your flashlight hits a reflective pin. There was one near me that was recieved very well a couple of years ago.

 

Sounds like fun.

[+edscott]

Don't see how the tape idea will keep it from being spotted in the daylight. If you want to force folks to do it as a night cache you can use those little reflective tabs used by hunters to find their stands at night. Mine is well received by most that try it.

 

Stinson Run Owl Walk

[bogleman]

I have found 1 night cache during the day. The cache used reflector tacks, I was able to clearly see them during the day. It was a challenge but I found it.

Use the "fire tacks" and set it up during the day then come back with a friend and night and test it to make sure everything works the way you want. They make different colors, you can use them for turns or other reasons.

I have one in the works but I have yet to find the "sweet spot" that would make a night cache really fun.

[Mr.Yuck]

I have found 1 night cache during the day. The cache used reflector tacks, I was able to clearly see them during the day. It was a challenge but I found it.

Use the "fire tacks" and set it up during the day then come back with a friend and night and test it to make sure everything works the way you want. They make different colors, you can use them for turns or other reasons.

I have one in the works but I have yet to find the "sweet spot" that would make a night cache really fun.

 

I have yet to see a standard fire tack trail cache (OK, there's only 5 in my area), that people were not able to find during the day. Sure, some are harder to find in the day then others, but all in my area have been found at least once during the day. Of couse most people find them at night as intended.

 

One way that I've seen to avoid this from happening (not that it's that big of a deal), is to make it a multi; standard fire tack trail to a small cache with coords to the start of another fire tack trail a sizeable distance away.

[+Cornerstone4]

I did this cache in our area, and, though I suppose it's possible to find in the day, it would take way to long, and wouldn't be as fun.

 

Central Park After Dark

 

No, not in New York!

 

You get to the starting numbers, hold a flashlight at eye-level, and turn in a circle looking for a reflection. They used these pyramid shaped reflectors. Once you see the reflection, you move to that spot, and start shining again. It was a lot of fun.

 

I know in San Diego there is a cache by the Dak Girls that is called The Forbidden Forest, and is similar in principle...but I haven't gone down to do it yet.

[+Thrak]

Fire tacks are the way to go. Night only caches are way fun.

[+BigFurryMonster]

Check out a list of all the Dutch Nightcaches:

 

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.a...f7-64e93d998c1e

 

They usually use some sort of reflector system to make them visible only at night.

[+ar_kayaker]

We have one in our area that uses the fire-eyes called the Burns Park Night Cache.

 

I made the mistake of trying to look for it in daylight one day because I was in the park and it was the next nearest cache. I didn't realize until later that it was a night cache.

 

I don't know how far from the coordinates the cache is but I had searched for about 75' in all directions with no success while I was there. I'm waiting for fall or winter (and an earlier sunset) before I go after it again.

 

AR_kayaker

[+Mudfrog]

There are lots of night time only caches out there. We have placed two ourselves using white reflective tacks that you can buy from Walmart. These things are downright tough to see during the day, especially when you put them in the lighter areas of tree bark.

 

Here are a couple or three now:

 

Jeepers Creepers!

 

Swamp Lights

 

and

 

Reingtailed Peepers

[+Henki]

Dark Trail of Bureaucracy is a local nighttime cache. It's a members only cache, so I don't know if you can read the cache page or not. Basically here's what is posted about the material used:

 

new EXTREMELY STEALTHY 3-M markers designed to NOT be found during daylight hrs (the darker the better). It is VERY important to shine your light (preferably a led head lamp) at YOUR eye level.

 

I haven't searched for it yet, so I can't give you any other pointers on it, but you could probably contact GatorGrl & BF (cache owner) through their GC account.

[+Reddgroom]

My local area has several geocachers who started placing "night only" caches about a year ago. Most involve following a trail of something at night to lead to the cache. I researched reflective paint like they use for roadway stripes, but unless you think you can use an entire gallon it's kind of a waste of money. I have also seen bicycle reflectors and those 3M reflective dots used.

 

What I thought worked the best was small pieces of reflective tape I found at home depot. (probably available at any hardware store) You will have to decide what is a good spacing between the markers based on the brightness of your reflectors & the terrain in the area.

 

For ideas, look at these caches:

GCT6N8

GCRVAE

GCVGHB

[+kayakclimber]

Haven't done it yet, but "Moonlighting for a Cache" is one just like that. GCWZ25.

[+Kit Fox]

You can always use the search function, using the words "night cache."

 

Or you can check out www.nightcaching.org . be sure to click on the UK flag to read the English Version.

 

The tacks commonly found at Walmart are called Trail Tacks. You can go a step further and use Quality Glow in the dark paint. This will definately weed out the daytime cheaters.

[+Mudfrog]

You can always use the search function, using the words "night cache."

 

Or you can check out www.nightcaching.org . be sure to click on the UK flag to read the English Version.

 

The tacks commonly found at Walmart are called Trail Tacks. You can go a step further and use Quality Glow in the dark paint. This will definately weed out the daytime cheaters.

 

That looks like it would be cool to use. There is also reflective spray paint that sprays on clear but is very reflective when a light hits it at night. About $6 a can if im remembering right!

[+QuesterMark]

That glow in the dark stuff will "glow" under ultraviolet light.

 

battery Ultraviolet handheld lights can be had.

 

Just a thought.

[+Corez]

Thanks guys! All these ideas are great.

 

I'm gonna start planning a route very soon. I think I'll stop by Canadian Tire and see if I can pick up some reflective tacks.

[+GreyingJay]

That glow in the dark stuff will "glow" under ultraviolet light.

 

battery Ultraviolet handheld lights can be had.

 

Just a thought.

 

Hmm... and would I have to buy such a light in order to hunt his cache, then?

[Warbones]

Where are these hides at usually? I think around here most parks close at dusk. I don't know about the trails here. I'd love to do some I just don't want to be caught in a park after hours.

[+olbluesguy]

I have one that the reflectors are sometimes as much as 500-600 feet apart

Night Time @ Deep Hollow.

In the remains of a lake after they blew the dam up.

[+edscott]

I have one that the reflectors are sometimes as much as 500-600 feet apart

Night Time @ Deep Hollow.

In the remains of a lake after they blew the dam up.

 

Yes mine are spaced out as well. They are within the first 300 feet AFTER each trail junction so it is a bit of maze. I couldnt see making a "bread crumb trail" right to the cache. Don't see a marker in the first 100 meters? Turn back and try another branch. After entering the off trail section, the markers are just within sight of each other. On the cache page I do give the approximate length of the walk so people can judge their time to complete the cache.

[+Kit Fox]

Hmm... and would I have to buy such a light in order to hunt his cache, then?

 

In most cases you would have to purchase a UV Light to find this type of cache. The cache should be labled a 5 star difficulty due to the need for speciallty equipment.

 

Where are these hides at usually? I think around here most parks close at dusk. I don't know about the trails here. I'd love to do some I just don't want to be caught in a park after hours.

 

For my two night caches, I found a tree filled riverbed to set them up. There are no "park hours" to worry about.

[+Jango & Boba Fett]

Picked up some graet ideas here and have found a source for Kit Fox's paint and vinyl sheets/tags in the UK. I'm in the process of building an IR Remote testerkit with my 11 year old which fits neatly into a waterproof plastic container with a see through plastic front (all bought from a hobby shop for about £5). We've got a location for our night cache and plan to put the IR Remote tester (9V) above the cache but were having real trouble finding suitable reflectors to mark the stop/turn places along the trail. Looks like buying a set of fire tacks, even with postage, is much the cheapest way to go.

[+edscott]

Got my reflectors mail order from Cabelas. Not expensive, and the pack had enough for my cache and either replacements if I ever need them, or anoher cache. They are triangular and really catch the light well, plus they are not quite as common as the thumb tack style and thus it's less likely for hunters to cross the cache path with a confusing set of alternate route choices.

[+coreynjoey]

We have a cache here that uses blinking LED's that are triggered by a remote control. Then at the end a laser points to the final cache. It's pretty cool. It's called Control The Night

Edited August 5, 2006 by coreynjoey