Caches in drains?

[+Hoosier_Daddy]

I looked through the official guidelines about cache placements, but this question didn't seem to have an answer there (though I may have had temporary blindness while searching as my numerous 1-star DNFs can attest to... )

 

What is the general consensus regarding placing caches in storm pipes? There is one that I have seen that is about 3' in diameter, and flows with a minimal amount of parking lot runoff except after large amounts of rain. There is a spot about 40' back where a mico could be hidden and never get wet from flowing water unless another Noah-esque flood were to occur. If the appropriate warnings were given on the description page, is this within the guidelines, whether they be official or just generally accepted?

[+StarBrand]

I don't think a GPS would work in such a place. It could be rather dangerous. The city would probably frown on it. Surely there are more interesting places to lead somebody. It could be considered defacing public property.

 

I know others have probably done such caches but I wouldn't.

[+Hoosier_Daddy]

I don't think a GPS would work in such a place. It could be rather dangerous. The city would probably frown on it. Surely there are more interesting places to lead somebody. It could be considered defacing public property.

 

I would be taking the GPS readings from the surface above the location. IMHO, there are a few different types of caches out there. Some take you somwhere pretty, or interesting, others are there to make you scratch your head, and think. The purpose of this hide would be for the hunt, not the location.

[Keystone]

I had a hard time believing that the storm drain cache submissions had been given permission, so I started challenging the normal presumption that the hider had obtained "adequate permission." Since then, I haven't seen a lot of new submissions of this type.

[+TrailGators]

I looked through the official guidelines about cache placements, but this question didn't seem to have an answer there (though I may have had temporary blindness while searching as my numerous 1-star DNFs can attest to... )

 

What is the general consensus regarding placing caches in storm pipes? There is one that I have seen that is about 3' in diameter, and flows with a minimal amount of parking lot runoff except after large amounts of rain. There is a spot about 40' back where a mico could be hidden and never get wet from flowing water unless another Noah-esque flood were to occur. If the appropriate warnings were given on the description page, is this within the guidelines, whether they be official or just generally accepted?

There are several of those around here but it doesn't rain much here either so they are fairly safe. We did have two daring cachers that get pretty bruised up when they were rapidly flushed out of a large storm drain and thrown into some boulders in a creek when it suddenly downpoured one day. I enjoy the drains that I can stand up in. The small ones are not fun because I get claustrophobic. Since GPSs don't work in tunnels, the hiders typically write clues on the walls and make you walk through to the other side. Some of the tunnels are a mile long!

[+Hoosier_Daddy]

I had a hard time believing that the storm drain cache submissions had been given permission, so I started challenging the normal presumption that the hider had obtained "adequate permission." Since then, I haven't seen a lot of new submissions of this type.

 

Hmm, that would seem to indicate that this type of hide would be frowned upon at best, illegal at worst. Crud. Oh well. Anyone else out there have a differing perspective?

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Absolutely no reason you can't do it.

 

Keep in mind that a cache like this (exactly!) which one Reviewer might not like and will go out of the way to prevent may well be perfectly acceptable, even owned by, another Reviewer!

 

Just luck of the draw... all you can do is submit it and see how your Reviewer feels about it.

[+DcCow]

I looked through the official guidelines about cache placements, but this question didn't seem to have an answer there (though I may have had temporary blindness while searching as my numerous 1-star DNFs can attest to... )

 

What is the general consensus regarding placing caches in storm pipes? There is one that I have seen that is about 3' in diameter, and flows with a minimal amount of parking lot runoff except after large amounts of rain. There is a spot about 40' back where a mico could be hidden and never get wet from flowing water unless another Noah-esque flood were to occur. If the appropriate warnings were given on the description page, is this within the guidelines, whether they be official or just generally accepted?

 

We did one around here that took us almost a year to find (with some help). It was a multi that lead you to the spot directly above it. The entrance was a pipe that drained into a creek, but you could not see it from where the coordinates took you.

 

DC

[+Woodlit]

There is a 3' storm drain running from one side of the road to the other, at a small park near my house. It doesn't cross the road perpendicular, sorta on an angle so the pipe is about 75' long. I crawled through it last winter, looking for a good spot to attach a cache.

 

The only reason why I didn't put one there, was because I would have to stand in the middle of the road to get the coords, and that means i'd be sending cachers to the middle of the road. I didn't want to do that, because I find myself complaining about road side caches all the time.

 

But if a cache popped up near me in a storm drain, next to the road or not, i'd race for that FTF. Middle of the night or not, how exciting. I like caches like that. Nothing wrong with the ammo can in between the rocks, its just that you need something more every now and again to change things up.

 

Hope it works out for you!

[Clan Riffster]

One of ours, Lay Mass Micro, is in a storm drain. It's a bison tube hung on fishing line. This drain is verticle, with a lid weighing several hundred pounds, so climbing in is not an option. To find it, you gotta poke your fingers through the drain holes till you feel the fishing line. It's wrapped in black tape, and laying against black algae, which makes it all but invisible. Viv knew the manager of the store where it resides, so we were able to get explicit permission.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

Absolutely no reason you can't do it.

 

Keep in mind that a cache like this (exactly!) which one Reviewer might not like and will go out of the way to prevent may well be perfectly acceptable, even owned by, another Reviewer!

 

Just luck of the draw... all you can do is submit it and see how your Reviewer feels about it.

Owned by another reviewer or not, the police in Franklin, TN didn't really want us in the storm drain no matter what kind of "game" we were playing at 2am.

 

Fortunately the cachers I was with looked a lot more suspicious than I did so I was able to sneak away unnoticed.

[+Gator Man]

I had a Mystery Cache once, in a pedestrian tunnel under a beach road. The tunnel was about 100 ft long, 7 ft high and 6 ft wide. It opened onto the beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Any storm water through that tunnel would have ankle deep at most, but it could have been a real problem at the wrong time in a storm drain! I'd suggest DON'T DO IT!

 

Now, on the other hand, a cache hanging by say, fishing line on a GRATE above a storm sewer, is well, GREAT! Ummm, until it is washed away...

 

GM

[+DocDiTTo]

I don't see anything wrong with caches in drains. Unless they're posted or barred to prevent access, I think it would be difficult to say they're off limits. Public property is public, after all.

 

That said, I don't think I'd ever hide one in a drain. Not much to look at in there, the scenery is much better elsewhere. Although, under the right circumstances a storm drain cache can be an adrenaline filled once-in-a-lifetime adventure. It was for me and 3 friends, anyway.

[Clan Riffster]

Now, on the other hand, a cache hanging by say, fishing line on a GRATE above a storm sewer, is well, GREAT! Ummm, until it is washed away...

Hey, why do you think I named it "Lay Mass Micro"?

[FlagFinder]

ive done one of these the laws for minnesota is that 10ft from the enge of the street is considered city property so im assuming its ok as long as you dont have to go in the sewer but i think it is sick

[+Renegade Knight]

Storm drains. Anything new has normally been engineered. That means no wasted pipe for whatever storm is was designed for. It's a good way to get your cache soaked or give someone downstream a nice suprise.

 

If by chance your cache is wired in and catches debris and causes water to back up the flooding may or may not be something the engineer allowed for. Sometimes even if they wanted to allow for it constraints prevent overflow from going someplace 'nice' and something important gets flooded.

 

There are all kinds of storm drains serving all kinds of areas that normally have one thing in common. Water. Water. Water.

 

The worst injury is likely to be getting cut on something sharp. I've heard rumors of th HDPS (black plastic) and PVD (white or blue plastic) pipes burning underground from fires that catch an exposed end. I've never seen this.

[+hairball45]

I've hunted one in a culvert that takes a small creek under a long abandoned railroad line. It's a good 6 ft tall, likely more. The cache itself is a black mag key holder on the surface of the equally black pipe right at one of the ribs that hold the culvert together. Darn hard to see. The first time I tried for it I had no idea what I was going for, just something under the old rail line. Since there are several caches on the old bridges on the line I thought this would be just another of these. Don't forget your flashlight. It's mighty darn dark down in there as I learned. Many warnings in the cache page to avoid in possible wet conditions. I enjoyed the hunt. The stream in the culvert is bright and clear although I wouldn't drink it. I also looked for one that was in a small pipe near an underpass but it was washed away by the time I looked for it.

[Team Macha]

I know of two caches that are in or very near drains and I have done one of them. They are Here And Here

These are really neat caches and are rather informative. Hey if Iowa Tom can put a cache in a drain why can't you?

[+pghlooking]

I thought I remembered reading a helpful little statement on the GC page about how to hide a cache. It said something about location and to place a cache where you would normally want to go even if a cache wasn't placed there. I think somewhere along the way we have completely lost touch with that. Either that or there are a bunch of people that enjoy spending their time in sewer and storm drains for no apparent reason. I guess geocaching gives them an excuse now.

[+Vanillahip]

My opinion is they are allowed for whatever that's worth.

 

I have my eye on a couple fun looking drains, but I'm still working out how to incorporate GPS to the hunt.

 

I am one of those wierdo's who actually would go into a sewer just to check it out. Cache or not. I know it's weird, but now I can share sewers with other cachers.

 

Any caches in the sewers in France? That would be cool.

[bogleman]

Confined Space a good read, especially the part about poor air quality.

[+Trucker Lee]

To me, bad idea.

 

Keep in mind that it doesn't have to be storming for water to appear, run-off can be from distant storm, broken water mains, etc. Wouldn't want to be the reason someone gets caught in a drain at a bad time.

[Dinoprophet]

I thought I remembered reading a helpful little statement on the GC page about how to hide a cache. It said something about location and to place a cache where you would normally want to go even if a cache wasn't placed there. I think somewhere along the way we have completely lost touch with that. Either that or there are a bunch of people that enjoy spending their time in sewer and storm drains for no apparent reason. I guess geocaching gives them an excuse now.

There are plenty of people who would like to go there. Google "urban exploration"; people go to some pretty horrible places for the fun of it. One of my favorite caches involved a large, walkable culvert, leading to a beautiful, otherwise inaccessible area. I see lots of nicely decorated culverts and think, "Wow, it'd be fun to walk through there". Now, I personally wouldn't want to do a 3' storm drain (unless it was part of Tube Torcher), but it honestly sounds more fun to me than a Wal-Mart parking lot.

 

All that said, I do hope anyone hiding one of these understands the safety concerns.

[+kb9zm]

I have worked in the water and wastewater for 35 years and would never enter a storm drain for a cache. When we go in for other reasons we have a 3 man safety crew for each entrant at the entrance for rescue should it be necessary. We test for hydrogen sulfide oxygen levels flammable and toxic gases before and during the entry. What you can't see or smell can kill you. Even if only rain runoff gets in their the decomposition of organics can lower oxygen levels or produce toxic and flammable gases. We had three teenagers shot out of a large storm sewer near here when they lit a match about 35 feet in they landed 185 feet from the entrance. One was DOA the other two lived but had sever burns over 80% of their bodies.

[+sbell111]

Owned by another reviewer or not, the police in Franklin, TN didn't really want us in the storm drain no matter what kind of "game" we were playing at 2am.

 

Fortunately the cachers I was with looked a lot more suspicious than I did so I was able to sneak away unnoticed.

The police in Franklin are one of the top three reasons we moved here.

[+Fairly Oddparents]

I live in Florida and would never go searching for a cache in a storm drain. Alligators and poisonous snakes, oh my! Besides some paranoid type would probably call the bomb squad.