Invisible ink

[+swizzle]

What kind of invisible ink do you puzzler cachers use? Do you make your own? Do you have any other hidden messages in your caches and can we see some examples. No spoilers, please. I'm looking to expand on a cache and I'm hoping to make my own reusable UV type invisble ink. Many of the secret messages that I see require heat and destroys the paper as well as the mystery for the next cacher. Is there anything that can be made at home that is UV interactive? Swizzle

[+Confucius' Cat]

I have some glow in the dark paint i am experimenting with. (obviously best suited for a night cache). The paint matches the background in normal light, but at night, stands out very clearly after being "charged" with a flashlight.

[Luckless]

Glow in the dark paint- Too bad your caches aren't around here. Sounds like fun.

[+cache_test_dummies]

Sorry, I am not familiar with the use of invisible ink.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Sorry, I am not familiar with the use of invisible ink.

Me either .

Edited September 4, 2006 by Confucius' Cat

[+New England n00b]

CTD, dude, I can't believe you just said that! You're asking for a banning!

Edited September 4, 2006 by New England n00b

[+Confucius' Cat]

Glow in the dark paint- Too bad your caches aren't around here. Sounds like fun.

 

Still experimenting- haven't placed it yet

[+EraSeek]

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...22-d5c57c15f742

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...0e-99ba7686dacc

Edited September 4, 2006 by EraSeek

[+Kit Fox]

I used invisible UV paint on my latest night cache. I have the coords written on a river rock, that is "out of place." Cachers have to use a blacklight to see the coordinates. I used a second color of invisible paint, to "mask the real coordinates." This was done to foil cachers who might try and figure out the coords without a blacklight.

 

When a cacher uses his blacklight, the correct coords reveal themselves in green, whereas the masking color is orange. A rock was chosen because it made it harder to "see the coords."

Edited September 4, 2006 by Kit Fox

[gerboa]

Glow in the dark paint- Too bad your caches aren't around here. Sounds like fun.

 

I'd take a Geiger Counter

[+lindsychris]

I used invisible UV paint on my latest night cache. I have the coords written on a river rock, that is "out of place." Cachers have to use a blacklight to see the coordinates. I used a second color of invisible paint, to "mask the real coordinates." This was done to foil cachers who might try and figure out the coords without a blacklight.

 

When a cacher uses his blacklight, the correct coords reveal themselves in green, whereas the masking color is orange. A rock was chosen because it made it harder to "see the coords."

 

do most cachers in your area really carry/have access to portable blacklights???

[+IV_Warrior]

I used invisible UV paint on my latest night cache. I have the coords written on a river rock, that is "out of place." Cachers have to use a blacklight to see the coordinates. I used a second color of invisible paint, to "mask the real coordinates." This was done to foil cachers who might try and figure out the coords without a blacklight.

 

When a cacher uses his blacklight, the correct coords reveal themselves in green, whereas the masking color is orange. A rock was chosen because it made it harder to "see the coords."

 

do most cachers in your area really carry/have access to portable blacklights???

Blacklight flashlight Seems cheap enough that I don't consider it unreasonable to expect someone to have one/get one if they want to find the cache.

[+Kit Fox]

I used invisible UV paint on my latest night cache. I have the coords written on a river rock, that is "out of place." Cachers have to use a blacklight to see the coordinates. I used a second color of invisible paint, to "mask the real coordinates." This was done to foil cachers who might try and figure out the coords without a blacklight.

 

When a cacher uses his blacklight, the correct coords reveal themselves in green, whereas the masking color is orange. A rock was chosen because it made it harder to "see the coords."

 

do most cachers in your area really carry/have access to portable blacklights???

 

I purposely listed this cache as a five star difficulty, do to "special equipment needed."

 

Here is the cache in question.

[+NotThePainter]

do most cachers in your area really carry/have access to portable blacklights???

 

I think all cat owners have one, it is essentially mandatory.

 

Cat urine stains glow under a black light. Don't ask why I needed to know that.

 

Paul

[+cachew nut]

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...22-d5c57c15f742

 

Whoa, Planet sure looks good all dolled up in that outfit!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

What kind of invisible ink do you puzzler cachers use? Do you make your own? Do you have any other hidden messages in your caches and can we see some examples. No spoilers, please. I'm looking to expand on a cache and I'm hoping to make my own reusable UV type invisble ink. Many of the secret messages that I see require heat and destroys the paper as well as the mystery for the next cacher. Is there anything that can be made at home that is UV interactive? Swizzle

 

This is easy. Several vendors, including United Nuclear, market UV felt-tip markers. Same as black "magic markers", only invisible unless script is illuminated with UV. To find a bunch of vendors for such markers, go to either Google or Froogle, and enter [uV marker] in the search box and hit the "Search" button!

 

Enjoy!

[+adjensen]

I used invisible UV paint on my latest night cache. I have the coords written on a river rock, that is "out of place." Cachers have to use a blacklight to see the coordinates. I used a second color of invisible paint, to "mask the real coordinates." This was done to foil cachers who might try and figure out the coords without a blacklight.

 

When a cacher uses his blacklight, the correct coords reveal themselves in green, whereas the masking color is orange. A rock was chosen because it made it harder to "see the coords."

 

do most cachers in your area really carry/have access to portable blacklights???

 

I purposely listed this cache as a five star difficulty, do to "special equipment needed."

 

Here is the cache in question.

 

Call me stupid ("You're stupid!") but I don't see anything in the description that says I need to bring a blacklight along. I do see the "special equipment required" bit, but no indication of what said equipment is. I'm 99.9% sure that if I did the cache, with the information provided, I wouldn't have a blacklight with me. And even if I'd just been looking for cat stains on the rug and happened to have one with me, not very likely I'd think to use it.

 

(As an OT aside, there needs to be another way to indicate that special equipment is required. In this case, the boost to five is obvious, but is it a boost from one or from four? That's the baseline that I use in deciding to consult the clue, or abandon the search when I've spent enough time. If I can't find the thing, but the difficulty is a four, I know I'm probably never going to find it without help.)

[+Kit Fox]

I purposely listed this cache as a five star difficulty, do to "special equipment needed."

 

Here is the cache in question.

 

 

Call me stupid ("You're stupid!") but I don't see anything in the description that says I need to bring a blacklight along. I do see the "special equipment required" bit, but no indication of what said equipment is. I'm 99.9% sure that if I did the cache, with the information provided, I wouldn't have a blacklight with me. And even if I'd just been looking for cat stains on the rug and happened to have one with me, not very likely I'd think to use it.

 

I won't say that you're stupid, but I will say that you did not read the "whole sentence."

 

Actually it says the following: Note special equipment is needed hence the 5 star difficulty. Solve the puzzle to learn what equipment is needed.

 

Before finding the first set of coords, you would be more than aware that you needed a blacklight.

[wheetree]

Has anyone tried hiding a message in the cache page source code?

I don't know how to do this personally but I'm sure it could be done. Could be a good way to write those "invisible" messages. Thought of it from the pic of the fishing girl - but didn't see anything in its code.

[+Kit Fox]

Has anyone tried hiding a message in the cache page source code?

I don't know how to do this personally but I'm sure it could be done. Could be a good way to write those "invisible" messages. Thought of it from the pic of the fishing girl - but didn't see anything in its code.

 

That trick is done quite often on puzzle caches. This method has the advantage over a white font, on a white background. When you print a cache page, that has the white font, it will show up when printed.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Has anyone tried hiding a message in the cache page source code?

I don't know how to do this personally but I'm sure it could be done. Could be a good way to write those "invisible" messages. Thought of it from the pic of the fishing girl - but didn't see anything in its code.

This is done by using the html code for "comment" and including the text therein. There are only certain places where it can be done, though, and experimenting is in order b4 publishing the cache.

 

This is also easily decoded by using functionality found in the browser.

 

There are also various programs that allow imbedding of text and files in pictures. Again, experimentation is needed; GC modifies uploaded files- sometimes destroying the hidden messages. Many of these programs require a password to extract the data; password must then be given, guessed, or part of the puzzle.

[+swizzle]

So you could hide clues within the text on your cache page just by changing the text color?

I like secret messages.

I really like that idea. Swizzle

[+swizzle]

Hmmm... that didn't work as planned, I'll need to work on that one. Swizzle

[+swizzle]

Why isn't this working?!? How did you do the super secret message thing and make me look stupid all in one sentence?!? Swizzle

[+GreyingJay]

Why isn't this working?!? How did you do the super secret message thing and make me look stupid all in one sentence?!? Swizzle

 

Not working out for you?

Edited September 5, 2006 by GreyingJay

[+nameless301]

The most common thing I can think of is lemon juice, it works under a black light.

[+BadAndy]

Why isn't this working?!? How did you do the super secret message thing and make me look stupid all in one sentence?!? Swizzle

I think you're forgetting to include /color (don't forget the brackets) after you input your text.

[+swizzle]

QUOTE(swizzle @ Sep 5 2006, 04:48 PM)

 

Why isn't this working?!? How did you do the super secret message thing and make me look stupid all in one sentence?!? Swizzle

 

 

Not working out for you?

 

This post has been edited by GreyingJay: Yesterday, 12:57 PM

 

No its not?!? I'll keep trying though. Swizzle

[+swizzle]

[sECRET MESSAGE TEST 1] Swizzle

[+swizzle]

[if at first you don't succeed...]Swizzle

[+swizzle]

[i think I got it....maybe?!? Swizzle]

[+swizzle]

[WOOHOOO]Swizzle

[CoyoteRed]

For UV viewing, I have one of these. A little pricey, but as it's keychain-sized and has 370nm light which will work with acetone-based inks. The longer wavelength is also why it's more expensive, but it works better than the typical blacklight bulb.

 

I bought my UV pens here.

[+swizzle]

Thanx for the link. I'll check it out. I was hoping to be able to make the "ink" at home. I've done several experiments with lemon juice but it doesn't seem to work well for me. Maybe I need different paper or a stronger UV light. The one I got is out of a $0.50 machine. It might be nothing more then a purple light. I do have a blacklight that I can try. Hmmm...Now I got the gears grindin' again. Thanx again, Swizzle

[+OHMIKY]

Make it at home - all you need is a tiny catheter for your cat - you can strap the collection bag to its waist (inasmuch as cats have waists) and collect as much uv-reactive ink as you wish. You should mind the smell, however, it may be a dead giveaway for those who have not thought to bring a blacklight flashlight.

[+swizzle]

Well now I have a reason to add a blacklight and a mirror ball above the litterbox in my house. LMAO. I don't think I'll be attaching a catheter to my cat any time soon. I might try to talk my wife into it though. LOL. Swizzle

[+Confucius' Cat]

Make it at home - all you need is a tiny catheter for your cat - you can strap the collection bag to its waist (inasmuch as cats have waists) and collect as much uv-reactive ink as you wish. You should mind the smell, however, it may be a dead giveaway for those who have not thought to bring a blacklight flashlight.

 

will probably also be totally contaminated in a few days too- when all the local cats find the cache and "sign the log".

[+swizzle]

That'd be a first! Have your cat help you find the cache or get chased off a cache by a lovesick bobcat. I asked my wife about her attaching a catheter to the cat and she just said, "YEAH LIKE THAT"S GONNA HAPPEN" I got more of a kick out of it then she did. I could have her chase the cat around the house with an empty inkwell. LOL I don't think she'll do it though. I have a buddy of mine who works with cloth doing some experiments with cloth dyes. I might have to actually use cloth instead of paper but either way it should work good. I was thinking about putting the message on a stuffed bear or a jacket that goes on a stuffed bear and wire him to the cache. Or a scroll type log with cloth instead of paper. Either way I'll make it work. Swizzle

[+Bear_Left]

You can have take-away heat-revealed ink notes, as long as you can keep up with the useage.

 

Have this waypoint after a couple of other tricky waypoints to keep the riff-raff out, and make sure it's close enough to home!

 

Have a plain-ink note which looks like it should be a cypher, with the invisible ink written between the lines. Heck, have a real coded message which says something about reading between the lines!

[+Confucius' Cat]

You can have take-away heat-revealed ink notes, as long as you can keep up with the useage.

I wonder if heat revealed notes would perhaps reveal themselves in a closed container in the summer? Could get pretty hot.

[nonaeroterraqueous]

I was just experimenting with this one today, myself, while I was bored at work. White-out shows up very dark under UV light, which is convenient, because it is designed to blend in with the paper. The paper itself is very white under UV. The only downside is that whiteout can also be seen without the UV unless only a very light application is used and the paper is thick.

 

I've also experimented with messages on glass that can only be seen if you fog up the glass. Still in the research, but the basic idea requires sticking tape to a mirror or piece of glass. The glue on the tape has to be very strong and it needs to be cut in the shape of the letters, spelling out the message. After the tape is applied it gets to sit there for a while before it is removed. The remaining sticky residue is invisible, but it affects the way moisture fogs the glass. No room for mistakes, though. Still working on the idea, personally. I haven't perfected it, but I know from experience that it can be done quite well.

Edited September 9, 2006 by nonaeroterraqueous

[+swizzle]

How about long term usage though? You may get a few people who get the message and then wipe it as clean as they can and maybe wipe off the secret message. Will it hold up to repeated cleaning? I can see some potential there, like say a crystal ball? Sounds cool to me. Swizzle

[nonaeroterraqueous]

I have seen something that could not be washed off even after many years. I just haven't figured out what it was, exactly. It was a long time ago. I'm still looking.

[+Confucius' Cat]

I was just experimenting with this one today, myself, while I was bored at work. White-out shows up very dark under UV light, which is convenient, because it is designed to blend in with the paper. The paper itself is very white under UV. The only downside is that whiteout can also be seen without the UV unless only a very light application is used and the paper is thick.

 

I've also experimented with messages on glass that can only be seen if you fog up the glass. Still in the research, but the basic idea requires sticking tape to a mirror or piece of glass. The glue on the tape has to be very strong and it needs to be cut in the shape of the letters, spelling out the message. After the tape is applied it gets to sit there for a while before it is removed. The remaining sticky residue is invisible, but it affects the way moisture fogs the glass. No room for mistakes, though. Still working on the idea, personally. I haven't perfected it, but I know from experience that it can be done quite well.

What about accumulation of dust revealing the message?

[nonaeroterraqueous]

What about accumulation of dust revealing the message?

Well, it was a bathroom mirror that I saw it on, so it was frequently cleaned. Good question. I might be able to come up with an alternative. Needs more brainstorming.

[nonaeroterraqueous]

NBC Treasure Hunters

Here's a link to a similar discussion on messages hidden in mirrors.

 

As far as UV invisible ink is concerned, I just picked up a couple of pens at Target that write in UV ink. I just happened across them today. They come equipped with a UV light on the back end for reading the message, and they open up in the middle to hold a roll of paper like a micro cache. Pretty cool. Without getting too commercial sounding, if anyone's curious, they go for ten bucks for a pair.

 

I'm still looking into that mirror thing. I'll check back if I get anything promising.

[+Crew 153]

Here's one in our local area. The clue is in the title..

[+Gregreggregg]

I am currently exploring ideas of how to make invisible ink appear once you submerge something under cold water. I have a few ideas that are yet to be tested, but I was wondering if anyone has discovered any ideas that were successful. My goal is to find something that you cannot see/read the coords until you sink an object into water. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

[+Spazmelda]

I am currently exploring ideas of how to make invisible ink appear once you submerge something under cold water. I have a few ideas that are yet to be tested, but I was wondering if anyone has discovered any ideas that were successful. My goal is to find something that you cannot see/read the coords until you sink an object into water. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

How about these http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/10/21/pilot-frixion-ball-eraseable-gel-ink-pen-review/ ?

 

Cold water would smear it I guess, but maybe you could use one of those laminated document sleeves.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Spazmelda

[+JKMonkey]

Never really thought about that. Urine would be my first guess for a viable invisible ink, although it wouldn't be very sanitary, it could be read under a black light.