How to Hide a Combination

[+Iowa Tom]

I just read a post that included information about how to get the combination to a combination lock associated with a cache. The idea was to have the combination match the cache name. I assume a phone key pad is used for converting letters to numbers. That sounds like a good idea to me.

 

Last year I made a cache vault that is locked. I didn’t want to list the 4-digit combination online. I also made it so a GPSr needs to be used on site to get the combination. To obtain the numbers the geocacher needs to make a GOTO to two distant coords. I found that different units produce different numbers of miles when far off so to prevent any possibility of subtle differences between GPSrs I made it so that only the first part of each of the distances is part of the combination. Both GOTOs use the same longitude of the cache.

 

I posted a laminated instruction sheet on top of the cache that reads something like this:

 

The combination equals the first 2 digits of the miles from here straight north to a latitude of 72˚ 11.111'N followed by the first 2 digits of the miles from here straight north to a latitude of 67˚ 44.444'N.

 

How do you "hide" the combination to your locks?

Edited August 18, 2006 by Iowa Tom

[+briansnat]

I had a cache with a combination lock. There were two ways of getting the combo. The first was finding a travelbug that was circulating in the area with the combination on it. The other was finding a series of 4 micros in the park.

 

Caches like this can be fun, but if you're thinking of locking a cache to thwart cache theft, think again. I believe a locked cache will increase the chance of a cache being stolen.

 

Think about it. If someone is walking along and finds a box hidden in the woods, it might pique his interest and he will open it to see what's inside. If he sees the logbook and reads the geoletter he may put it back, his curiosity satisfied. But if someone finds a locked box hidden in the woods, he is more likely to bring it home and take a sledghammer or hacksaw to it to see what is inside.

[+GreyingJay]

I have a cache in a locked box. The combination is not explicitly listed, but there are hints on the cache page that tell you how to derive "a number" based on the address of a nearby establishment.

 

Part of the entertainment is reading logs where people have shown up to the cache site, having not done the prerequisite math, and then groaning when they realized what the calculation was for

Edited August 18, 2006 by GreyingJay

[+Prime Suspect]

On local cache simply says on the cache page that the combination is the same as the number of the nearby interstate highway. Makes it simple to remember.

[CacheNCarryMA]

The first cache I hid has a four digit combination lock. The combination is the year my hometown was named. The road signs on the way into town actually show two different dates - the year the town was incorporated and the year it was named.

[+GreyingJay]

Then there was the cache we found where the outside container was essentially a home-built wooden chest with a hasp and a combination lock. On the four corners of the top surface were 4 different combinations in large letters. None of them, in fact, was the real combo. The real one was written in much smaller lettering on the bottom of the chest, so you had to turn it over to find...

Edited August 18, 2006 by GreyingJay

[+WildGooseChase]

We've got one hidden where you don't know you need a combo until you find the container.

We tell them it's easy to find but the hint is: "Didn't say easy to open, it might take a couple minutes".

 

The coords are N 33° 34.865 W 101° 52.790 and the combo is 3452. Everyone figures it out eventually.

[+Lil Devil]

The idea was to have the combination match the cache name. I assume a phone key pad is used for converting letters to numbers.

Why go to that much trouble?

[heckle]

I have a cache that uses a combination lock. The cache is a 9 part multi in a cemetery. You have to go to different parts and at one stage, you then get information to help determine the combination to the lock.

 

Vernon Grove Hill Cemetery Tour (GCWN7C)

[+Iowa Tom]

Caches like this can be fun, but if you're thinking of locking a cache to thwart cache theft, think again. I believe a locked cache will increase the chance of a cache being stolen.

 

Think about it. If someone is walking along and finds a box hidden in the woods, it might pique his interest and he will open it to see what's inside. If he sees the logbook and reads the geoletter he may put it back, his curiosity satisfied. But if someone finds a locked box hidden in the woods, he is more likely to bring it home and take a sledghammer or hacksaw to it to see what is inside.

I always think about what a muggle might do to take something that is not theirs. This one was quite a challenge to make more foolproof. By using a lock with a hidden key and some rusted parts that look like they are supposed to be there, the muggles have not yet taken it after a year.

 

I once read that thieves are notorious for being lazy, hence the reason I tend to make multi, mystery and puzzler caches. I hardly have any in the city but my “VAULT” is. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before a neighborhood muggle would find it so, rather than just leaving it open for the taking of my student’s TBs I gave the muggles a challenge. The box is reinforced in multiple ways and is not just locked, it’s also strung to a tree with a thick cable and a large lock. The hiding place is an arborvitae tree that is perfectly suited for the cache.

 

They would have earned it I suspect if they got it off the tree and get it open.

 

There is another way to get the combination. It's the year that the next total solar eclipse is crossing through the Midwest.

 

Here's a picture of the VAULT in situ and here's its webpage.

 

[+DocDiTTo]

One of my caches is in a metal box and locked with a combo lock. The combo is on the back of a flat "sticker/magnet" style hide hidden right on the box itself. Many people have seen this type of hide and find it quickly, but others end up scratching their heads for a bit. The hint pretty much gives it away though, as I don't want any DNFs on this particular cache. The combo just happens to be the day and month that the cache was hidden, but few folks probably realize that.

[+El Diablo]

I found one a couple of weeks ago. The combination was in the cache name. It wasn't apparent at first, but then jumped out at you.

 

I've hidden one with a combination lock that involved finding 3 micros. The micros contained one number each. Also those numbers were in 3 different languages...Frenh, German, and Italian.

 

El Diablo

Edited August 19, 2006 by El Diablo

[+Night Stalker]

I found one that looked like a locked power box attached to a billboard. Since the billboard did not have any electricals it was obvious that it was the cache. Reading the cache page you found out that the combination was somewhere on the billboard. There was an address on the billboard which opened the cache. It was very nicely done especially since it was the cachers first hide.

[+ChaseOnTheGo]

I had a topic about locking ammo cans.....If you really want to spend money and be fancy and are good with your hands, buy one of these for around $100 at a Lowe's or Homedepot and mount it in your ammo can.

[+cullumclan]

We have a locking cache... We copied wildgoosechase and the combo is on your gpsr you just have to think about it and be patient. We have only had 2 people email for a hint.

[+Taranis]

I have one where the combination is hidden at the cache site, hidden in a rather evil way but an experienced cacher would be able to find it with a bit of thinking. Its great because the container is very obvious, but the way to open it is the difficult part.

[+Mix]

use a key

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...ef-b4836cd353c2