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I am in the market for some firetacks to create some night caches around here and am wondering which color to get. i can get the diamond bright which is 20% brighter for 9.99 per 25 or i can get the stealth which would hide the tacks better in the day but then i have to add on 3 dollars. does anybody have any experience with them that could give me some advice. thanks a lot.

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WOW that's nuts.

 

I made my own and they work great. Get some reflective tape (sign shop or your local streets department) and some good old thumb tacks (or whatever) and see what works the best. This allows more creativity which = more fun.

Plan your route during the day then test it at night and make sure they can be seen the way you want.

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I just spent a couple of days setting up a night cache (GC103Y7) using Firetacks. My thoughts:

 

The "Stealth Bright" color works as advertised: it's hard to see in the daytime and it glows bright orange at night when hit with a flashlight. The other colors are easy to see in the daytime and are at bigger risk of being removed. "Blaze" color is a deeper orange and not as bright. "Ice" and "Diamond Bright" both glow bright white. The former is a bit harder to see in the daytime but is still vislble.

 

Do not place reflectors in the daytime. I spent an afternoon installing reflectors, then came back and discovered that we couldn't see them from the trail. Came back another day and removed all I could find (remember, they're hard to see in the daytime), then another night trip to install them while an observer stood at a distance and gave me feedback.

 

When installing in trees, the "3D" (tetrahedron, three reflective faces) pretty much have to be mounted at right angles to the trail to be visible up or down the trail. You want one of the faces to face the observer directly. I thought I could put them in the front of the tree so that the apex pointed to the observer, but it doesn't reflect much light that way. By contrast, the "4D" (cubes, but still only three reflective faces) work great when placed in the middle of a tree. Unfortunately, the manufacturer is completely sold out of 4D "Stealth Bright" Firetacks and they don't plan to build any more until summer.

Edited by klossner
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I've used 'black reflective' engineer-grade sheeting (acquired from sign shop where I work; shines back silver at night) to cover washers. They're unidirectional and nearly unnoticeable on black spruce trees in the daylight. Helps keep folks from 'running' the cache in daylight... and cheaper than firetacks (although my next one will use the triangle stealth firetacks - many of them, interspersed with other reflectors).

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Go with the fire tacks but fix them low to the ground where most people don't look while walking. Eye level and they are easy to spot during the day.

 

Good idea.

 

Another way is to bring a 3' ladder or stool with you when placing tacks and place them up at about the 9 or 10 foot level. This way they are just out of reach even if spotted and it would take some effort to muggle them.

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Go with the fire tacks but fix them low to the ground where most people don't look while walking. Eye level and they are easy to spot during the day.

 

Good idea.

 

Another way is to bring a 3' ladder or stool with you when placing tacks and place them up at about the 9 or 10 foot level. This way they are just out of reach even if spotted and it would take some effort to muggle them.

 

thats how Im setting up the one Im working on. up above the brush and out of muggles reach.

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can i ask what is needed to set up a night cache and could someone explain a night cache in more detail, not just for me but no doubt many other newbies might be wondering too!! many thanks!!
One common style of night cache uses a series of reflectors. (FireTacks trail markers are often recommended for this purposes.) The geocacher goes to the posted coordinates at night and shines a bright flashlight until he sees a reflector. At the first reflector, he shines the light until he sees a second reflector. Repeat the process until the final cache location is reached.

 

There are other styles of night cache, but this seems to be the style most people expect. See also http://www.cacheopedia.com/wiki/Night_Cache

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I placed an order for the some firetacks and got them today. Thought they would be a little bigger, but this is good. Still thinking of a couple locations to try this, but I'm actually liking the idea of an urban night cache. Fix the firetacks to lightpoles or something, not really sure, but I'm excited!

Another cool thing to use which is much cheaper than firetacks is these reflective wireties they sell in hunting stores. It's like the wireties used on bread bags, but it's reflective instead of random colors. Might be a pain to get these onto limbs depending on the trees in your area, but something to look into as a strip of about 30-50 is only $5.

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SIDE BAR:

What about placing tacks on the BACK side of each tree that you place a firetack that takes you into the hide . . . it helps the cacher find his way BACK to the trail head/car.

 

I got lost in the woods once I had bagged the find (a 20 minute trip in) . . . scarey! :rolleyes:

 

Most GPSr devices come with a tracking feature. My opinion is that anyone who doesn't use this function, in unfamiliar territory, is foolish.

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