Ways To Hide A Cache

[janx]

Let's talk about all the myriad ways to hide a cache. I'm curious as to what methods have been seen.

 

For my purposes, the type of container is less important than the method of hiding (unless the container was part of the disguise).

 

This discussion might reveal some methods to new folks, or stir up debate on methods used.

 

Methods I've seen:

 

container placed at base of fallen tree, where branches and leaves are piled over it

 

container countersunk into the ground (hole dug, container sits level with the ground and is coveed with leaves/sticks).

 

micro with wire and hook end, dropped down a hollow metal fence post (the hook stops it from falling to the bottom)

 

fallen tree has hollow cut out, and container placed inside, bark laid over the hollow

 

micro with string attached to stick. Drop micro into tree hollow, place stick into hollow hole, as if it were a branch

[+Team Dubbin]

Not only shows cool containers but also shows some neat hides.

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=62421

Edited August 5, 2006 by Team Dubbin

[MouseFart]

I have a couple that I made that are my favorites. At a boating store, I bought some key rings that have an attached tube about 6" tall and a diameter about the size of a 35mm film canister. They have a screw on waterproof top. The tube is hollow to place boat registeration, jewelry or whatever into and if fallen overboard, they float.

 

I covered them in camo duck tape, then went to search for a hide place. Once I located a good spot, I looked at the vegetation and leaves, then went to a hobby lobby in town and bought some artificial plants with leaves to match the surrounding they were to be planted in. I cut some leaves and foliage and duck taped them to the canister.

 

With the key ring on the tube, it will fit over a small branch and when placed into a tree or bush that stays green year-round, they are virtually invisible. Mine contain only a logbook and pencil.

[+Kasakato]

Someone made their own rock with a hollow core and hid the cache under that.

[+Kacky]

 

container countersunk into the ground (hole dug, container sits level with the ground and is coveed with leaves/sticks).

 

Are you sure? Digging is a no-no.

 

fallen tree has hollow cut out, and container placed inside, bark laid over the hollow

 

micro with string attached to stick. Drop micro into tree hollow, place stick into hollow hole, as if it were a branch

 

Choose one that's already hollow or bring in one from home please! (I did the latter)

[+SG-MIN]

 

container countersunk into the ground (hole dug, container sits level with the ground and is coveed with leaves/sticks).

 

Are you sure? Digging is a no-no.

 

fallen tree has hollow cut out, and container placed inside, bark laid over the hollow

 

micro with string attached to stick. Drop micro into tree hollow, place stick into hollow hole, as if it were a branch

 

Choose one that's already hollow or bring in one from home please! (I did the latter)

 

I was wondering if someone was going to raise a fuss...

[+back2eight]

 

container countersunk into the ground (hole dug, container sits level with the ground and is coveed with leaves/sticks).

 

Are you sure? Digging is a no-no.

 

fallen tree has hollow cut out, and container placed inside, bark laid over the hollow

 

micro with string attached to stick. Drop micro into tree hollow, place stick into hollow hole, as if it were a branch

 

Choose one that's already hollow or bring in one from home please! (I did the latter)

 

Some of mine are the typical container at the base of the tree covered with leaves. But another is a fake rock, and another is a fake flower with a micro container hot glued to it on the bottom. I have one regular cache container suspended by a rope from a tree. The rest are just on the ground.

[+Miragee]

I got a bison tube keychain at a Sports Authority store. I drilled a hole in the end of a large pine cone and glued the bison tube inside the hole.

 

Predicatably, I hung it in an oak tree.

[+readmore]

I've got less than 20 finds so I haven't seen many, but I've seen some notable variations. The magnetic micro hanging onto the under side of a park bench. An ammo can covered with sticks in the part of a tree where the trunks go off in different directions.

[janx]

 

container countersunk into the ground (hole dug, container sits level with the ground and is coveed with leaves/sticks).

 

Are you sure? Digging is a no-no.

 

fallen tree has hollow cut out, and container placed inside, bark laid over the hollow

 

micro with string attached to stick. Drop micro into tree hollow, place stick into hollow hole, as if it were a branch

 

Choose one that's already hollow or bring in one from home please! (I did the latter)

 

Bear in mind Kacky, I have not hidden any caches myself...

 

In defense of these hides, however:

My read of the rules says you shouldn't need a shovel to FIND a cache, using a shovel (in a limited fashion) to place the cache at ground level seems fine to me, IF you have permission from the land manager. The key point of the shovel rule is to avoid having folks digging up the ground all over trying to find the cache.

 

The other, hollowing out the side of a fallen tree. The tre is dead. You're not hurting anything. In the instance I found, it was a rotted tree (making the carving out pretty trivial).

 

I no case would I (or the geocaching hiding rules) advocate cutting, drilling, or nailing to a live tree.

 

No back to other hiding methods:

 

the fake rock (for hiding keys at the house).

 

Magnetic box, hidden under guardrail (hidden anywhere, actually)

 

I've heard of one where a water sprinkler head was used, and placed in the lawn. The argument against this cache was that it encouraged folks to dissassemble property that MIGHT be the cache, or might have been a working head (if you were off a few feet). Otherwise, it's a clever hide.

 

I've seen a thermometer face plate mounted in a public gazebo. It had one real screw (so it could pivot), and a fakee screw glued in, so it look solid (it was screwed in tight enough, so it tricked us for a few minutes). The mini cache log was behind the plate. Other than screwing the plate into the gazebo post, no alteration was made to the gazebo.

[+Kacky]

In defense of these hides, however:

My read of the rules says you shouldn't need a shovel to FIND a cache, using a shovel (in a limited fashion) to place the cache at ground level seems fine to me, IF you have permission from the land manager. The key point of the shovel rule is to avoid having folks digging up the ground all over trying to find the cache.

OK, I thought we couldn't poke holes, either. Leave no trace and all that.

 

The other, hollowing out the side of a fallen tree. The tree is dead. You're not hurting anything. In the instance I found, it was a rotted tree (making the carving out pretty trivial).

 

That's where I get a little bit Buddhist, and this will get the xtreme trekkers howling - but if you hollow out a tree you hasten its decomposition. It'll rot to nothing faster than it would have, so the bugs and micro-orgs miss a meal. Howl away.

Edited August 7, 2006 by Kacky

[+Davispak]

I have seen some hides that I thought were neat.

 

One was a Bison tube on the guide wire to a light pole the hide was covered by the plastic covering they put on guide wires.

 

A magnetic that was flat and stuck under a sign. It had just a log and unless you saw it you couldnt tell the cache was there.

 

A night cache that had a solar powered head that glowed at night to help you find it.

[+Iowa Tom]

I've made numerous bird houses that a bird cannot get into. The house is usually a puzzle to get into and most of them are different than any of the other house caches I'me made. I figured that most dear hunters in the woods where I hide them will ignore them. Ammo boxes are not ignored.

Edited August 7, 2006 by Iowa Tom

[+briansnat]

In defense of these hides, however:

My read of the rules says you shouldn't need a shovel to FIND a cache, using a shovel (in a limited fashion) to place the cache at ground level seems fine to me, IF you have permission from the land manager. The key point of the shovel rule is to avoid having folks digging up the ground all over trying to find the cache.

 

Your read of the rules is not quite correct. The point of the rule is to deter digging in order to find or hide a cache. If a reviewer finds that a hole was dug to hide a cache it will not be published and if it was published and discovered after the fact, it will be archived. Even if the hole has the permission of the landowner/manager, the practice is strongly discouraged because it sets a bad example.

 

Back to hiding techniques, I find the best ones use naturally available hiding places. Hollow trees and stumps, crevices in rocks the depression at the base of a fallen tree, etc... The unnatural pile of sticks or rocks screams "look here" to geocachers and non geocachers alike and greatly increases the chance that the cache will be discovered by non geocachers.

[Ferreter5]

I've seen a thermometer face plate mounted in a public gazebo. It had one real screw (so it could pivot), and a fakee screw glued in, so it look solid (it was screwed in tight enough, so it tricked us for a few minutes). The mini cache log was behind the plate. Other than screwing the plate into the gazebo post, no alteration was made to the gazebo.

I found one in a park like this only it was a reflector. Unfortunately, the hider had drilled a hole in the structure to make a space for the film cannister behind the reflector.

 

I sure hope they got permission to do that. Most parks don't like it when you modify their structures.

[+sbell111]

I found one that was an ammo box placed right next to a tree and covered with a pile of sticks.

[Clan Riffster]

My read of the rules says you shouldn't need a shovel to FIND a cache

Copy/pasted from the current guidelines:

Off-limit (Physical) Caches

Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following (which is not inclusive):

Caches that are buried. If a shovel, trowel or other “pointy” object is used to dig, whether in order to hide or to find the cache, then it is not appropriate.

One way I've seen to work around this guideline is to utilize an existing depression or void to place the cache in. If you choose this method, be sure and spell out exactly what you are planning to your area reviewer and make sure they are OK with it. Otherwise your cache could get archived.

 

A few of my nonconventional hides:

Stetson's Cache, which is an ammo can hung from a hook inside a huge hollow stump.

Little Big Econ Canoe Launch, which is an ammo can tucked into a large, naturally hollowed out branch of a leaning oak tree, about 12' off the ground.

But It's a Dry Heat, which is a decon kit tucked into a palm tree about 12' off the ground, with a big leaning oak that you can climb to get to the palm tree.

"To Hint or Not to Hint", which is an ammo can with dead palmetto leaf camo, hung 30' up a palm tree.

[+niraD]

I found one in a park like this only it was a reflector. Unfortunately, the hider had drilled a hole in the structure to make a space for the film cannister behind the reflector.

 

I sure hope they got permission to do that. Most parks don't like it when you modify their structures.

Are you sure the cacher drilled the hole? Some government-erected signs are mounted to vertical posts that have horizontal holes drilled through them. Sometimes a given post will have multiple holes. I have no idea what the intended purpose of these holes is, but I've found caches hidden in them.

[Ferreter5]

Are you sure the cacher drilled the hole? Some government-erected signs are mounted to vertical posts that have horizontal holes drilled through them. Sometimes a given post will have multiple holes. I have no idea what the intended purpose of these holes is, but I've found caches hidden in them.

Can't be 100% sure the hider was the one who made the hole, of course. There were no other such holes anywhere nearby on the structure. It looked like a hole made by a drill with a spade bit. Of course, that may not be the case.

 

However, most parks around here also do not like it if you attach something to their structures either.

[+wing-nut]

A few that I have enjoyed putting out ,some of these are original some merely a variation on other caches another note I usually do not use 35mm containers but a urine dipstick container (approx 1.5 X 5 inches):

 

a pile of expanding insulating foam painted brown looks a lot like a cow pie, the container is fitted to the underside. gcwzcp

 

A bowling pin drilled out to receive a 35mm container gcwzd4

 

a electric junction box fitted with a couple of magnets and stuck on the base of a RV hookup far away from any actual electrical connection gcxffq

 

a sun-faded soda can with top cut off and filled with foam and fitted with 35mm film can (be careful to turn the edges down so no one gets cut) pending cache

 

hollow foam dove hunting decoy (dove season is only 28 days away) pending cache

 

I don't want to include any photos on the cache pages but I may add some here soon

[+triturtle]

I won't give the cache name as it would be a spoiler. I found one that was hidden up in a metal art object in a grouping of several identical art objects. They had attached a metal loop to the bottom and strung clear fish line up over the top of the art object. Attached to the fish line was a tiny metal pill case (about .25" diameter and .75" long). You had to find the fish line, then pull it like lowering a flag and the pill case appeared and came down as you pulled the fish line. Very clever.