Scuba Caches

[+James Lobb]

I am thinking about Placing a Scuba cache,i was wondering if anyone had any tips or share their experiances if they have made or found a Scuba cache. this is how the cache will work:

 

1. the container would be waterproof

2. it would need a key to remove if from its site (it will chained to s fixed object to prevet it from drifting away)

3. the key would be on a travle bug which would stay withen 25 kilometer's of the cache

4. the Coordinats would lead you to the entry point for the dive, Compass bearings will be on the cache page.

 

thats about the amount of infomation i want to share, i have a few more tricks up my sleave.

 

Also the appx depth of the cache is 11 meters,

the cache is located veary close to a dive shop. but this cache is not ment to be a commercial cache. its for conveinace and also the dive shop trains people in the bay where it will be located. so they can tell me if it breaks.

 

What suggestions do you have for container. i was thinking an otterbox, but they dont come in a big enough size. do you know any alternatives.

 

Thank you

[+briansnat]

How about rather than worrying about finding a waterproof container and keeping it dry, instead have a plaque or engraved metal hidden underwater with coordinates that point to a cache on dry land. Its the way this cache works.

Edited October 19, 2006 by briansnat

[Lost Brews]

I am thinking about Placing a Scuba cache,i was wondering if anyone had any tips or share their experiances if they have made or found a Scuba cache. this is how the cache will work:

 

1. the container would be waterproof

2. it would need a key to remove if from its site (it will chained to s fixed object to prevet it from drifting away)

3. the key would be on a travle bug which would stay withen 25 kilometer's of the cache

4. the Coordinats would lead you to the entry point for the dive, Compass bearings will be on the cache page.

 

thats about the amount of infomation i want to share, i have a few more tricks up my sleave.

 

Also the appx depth of the cache is 11 meters,

the cache is located veary close to a dive shop. but this cache is not ment to be a commercial cache. its for conveinace and also the dive shop trains people in the bay where it will be located. so they can tell me if it breaks.

 

What suggestions do you have for container. i was thinking an otterbox, but they dont come in a big enough size. do you know any alternatives.

 

Thank you

[Lost Brews]

If you take 5 Gallon Buckett and use that as your container when you submerg it you could flood the container and put a note on the cache that anything going in the cache will have to suvive under water. For the log book you could use a diving slate and greese pencil you could still ancor it. but this might work. Good luck I hope your cache works the way you want it to.

[+skisidedown]

I'm hoping to be able to place one in a 1 gallon insulated water jug (saw them a Wal-Mart for less than $10). A little bit of silicone around the drinking spout to make sure it stays sealed, but otherwise the container should, by definition, be waterproof. I think I can make a "harness" for it out of stainless wire and anchor it to a couple of foundation blocks. I think I have a spot in a lake where there will be little wave action in a depth of 6 to 7 feet.

 

Skisidedown

[k_statealan]

I'd be a little leery about having the coords on a TB. The chances of it disappearing are too great. Could also be trapped in someone's hands for weeks or months at a time, making it impossible to find for that period. Combine that with the relatively few people that have SCUBA gear this one would be a rare find.

[divemedic]

I also was thinking about doing this. being new to this sport/hobby and being a experienced SCUBA diver I wanted to do this.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I think the best way to do scuba caches is not to worry about a watertight container. Use a mesh bag, or some other container that will fill with water, a dive slate for your log, and plastic cache goodies (although there was once a long thread about the best cache goodies for a scuba cache and consensus was gold coins ).

 

Any air filled container will need to be tethered, and/or ballasted, and will be a problem for the diver when it's untethered. 11 meters isn't very deep, if you're a diver and untether an airfilled container, you might find yourself surfacing rapidly with little time to adjust bouyancy. If divers are attempting your cache from shore, they have to beach, open and close the container and re-enter - ditto from boat diving, all of which can be a problem in terms of dive profile, and introduces lots of ways for them to NOT properly close and reseal your container.

 

That said, the battery canisters for large dive lights make excellent (expensive) waterproof containers. I have 2 of them in service as caches, not scuba caches, but periodically submerged caches. They've worked well.

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

I'd think that if the cache had to be removed from an anchor, brought to the surface and then replaced, it wouldn't be. First, there is the problem of bouyancy. To keep it from rocketing to the surface, it would need to be weighted even when not tethered to an anchor. Using a BCD to provide bouyancy might not be adequate or even safe. A lift bag might be required. That takes added skill. Second, there may be navigation/visibility issues. Most divers are not good enough navigators to find something unless the viisibility is quite good. Add to that the fact most divers are not trained in underwater search patterns. Even parking a boat at GZ only puts it within 20 feet (6 Meters) of GZ, which is a problem in poor visibility. But, assume the diver finds the cache and brings it to the surface. (At 11 meters, you really don't have any problems with the profile that would prevent the diver from returning to replace the cache... that is assuming the dive was only to recover the cache.) But, to replace the cache would require finding the anchor a second time! And, what does a diver who can't find the anchor a second time do?

 

Much better is a mesh bag that uses an offset from a known point on shore. If you want, that point could be the second in a puzzle.

 

Whatever the case, I'd like to dive it.

[+escondido100]

i am in the process of developing a scuba cache here in hawaii. my planis:

1. dont try to make it water proof.

2. use a plastic lock n lock container with hole thru bottom and thru top.

3. use poly rope to pass thru holes. the bottom side of rope would have weights on it to anchor to bottom or ledge

4. the top end would be knotted to keep lid from drifting away.

5. the interior would have a riddle or a question pertaining to the area or locale.

the answer would need to be emailed to me to get credit for the find.

6. the coordinates would be the put in and then i would use compass directions for the underwater part,

7. it wouldnt be any deeper than 60 feet but deeper than 30 so you would have to scuba and to avoid snorkling muggles.

8 there would be no physical log.

9 TBs or coins would be welcome and i would have caribiner type claspe on the rope to hold them

10 i would probably start a few tbs that are plastic fish type toys

 

anyway those are my ideas and the plan i am working on

[+briansnat]

i am in the process of developing a scuba cache here in hawaii. my planis:

1. dont try to make it water proof.

2. use a plastic lock n lock container with hole thru bottom and thru top.

3. use poly rope to pass thru holes. the bottom side of rope would have weights on it to anchor to bottom or ledge

4. the top end would be knotted to keep lid from drifting away.

5. the interior would have a riddle or a question pertaining to the area or locale.

the answer would need to be emailed to me to get credit for the find.

6. the coordinates would be the put in and then i would use compass directions for the underwater part,

7. it wouldnt be any deeper than 60 feet but deeper than 30 so you would have to scuba and to avoid snorkling muggles.

8 there would be no physical log.

9 TBs or coins would be welcome and i would have caribiner type claspe on the rope to hold them

10 i would probably start a few tbs that are plastic fish type toys

 

anyway those are my ideas and the plan i am working on

 

Before you go any further you will need to read the guidelines for listing a cache. If you do, you will find that

your cache as planned would not be published. The guidelines require that a cache contain a logbook. "Codeword caches" or caches that use a riddle or question as you propose in #5 are not permitted (or should I say no longer prohibited. They were allowed until around 3 years ago).

[+william#]

yeh great ideas

i will be in asia scuba diving for the next 4 to 6 mths and really want to place a few under water .

sady though where i will be diving the sites are dived a lot so the issue of muggles finding the cashe is a big one .

or having to make the water navigation part a bit too complicated still will keep yu informed of how i get on .

i kind of though of using the gps coordinates to the buoy line of a regular

ly used dive site then with instructions for search.

as where i will be is full of funn divers spending a few weeks or so at a time the oppotunity of repeat dives to find it is high - also using the divemaster or instructor to help with the navigation part of the find would be posible

[+escondido100]

briansnat...thanks for the heads up regarding a log book... i will work that out before i continue with that idea. an underwater log book....i 'll have to think about that one .again, thanks

[Trinity's Crew]

Well I have a lot of suggestions for scuba caches. First you should... Ack! Help! I'm drowni...glub...glub...gurgle...hhhhhrrrf..................................................

[Trinity's Crew]

Which reminds me....

 

Did you hear that they took the Crocodile Hunter Brand Sunblock off the market? It turns out they left out one of the ingredients and it failed to protect against harmful rays.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes it was lame. And in poor taste. But I couldn't resist. Sorry.