Stealth 101

[+tollerdudes]

Share ideas on how to look stealthy when muggles are close by.

 

Use your GPSr as a cell phone.

 

Tie your shoes.

[+Snoogans]

Alternatly muttering incoherently to myself and cursing with a few loud gibberish sounding outbursts and quick jerky motions ala turetts works quite well. I dress like a homeless person when I cache anyway, so that completes the picture.

[+RockyRaab]

Nothing beats a white truck, a hard hat and a clipboard. (Unless you're going for a cache that's two miles up from a trailhead, in which case a hiking staff, a backpack and an open map is the ticket!)

[+briansnat]

Alternatly muttering incoherently to myself and cursing with a few loud gibberish sounding outbursts and quick jerky motions ala turetts works quite well.

 

A good start. You can also pour vegetable soup on your shirt and a little water on your crotch.

[+Arndtwe]

Alternatly muttering incoherently to myself and cursing with a few loud gibberish sounding outbursts and quick jerky motions ala turetts works quite well. I dress like a homeless person when I cache anyway, so that completes the picture.

 

i have to try that one.

[+Retcon]

I find that having a dog pretty much explains everything. Why you're off the trail? He chased something and pulled me there. Why you're looking under that tree? I dropped something while being pulled.

[+DavidMac]

Share ideas on how to look stealthy when muggles are close by.

 

Here's the approach that I've found works best: just act like you belong. Don't act suspicious, and people won't think you're suspicious. Scout out possible hiding locations as you approach the site, then when you think you know where the cache is, move in quickly and retrieve it. If you hesitate, look over your shoulder to see if anybody is watching, or stand around waiting for people to turn their backs, you'll stand out and people will wonder what you're up to.

 

While caching in urban shopping areas, I've had people mistake me for an employee, but if they ever approach me and ask what I'm doing, I just explain that it's a scavenger hunt type game and that one of the "clues" is hidden nearby. They usually just roll their eyes and walk off, uninterested.

 

edited to add: dress has alot to do with it, too. If you're urban caching, don't wear your muddy hiking boots and cammo. And I usually carry a spiral bound notebook to keep track of my finds in.

Edited February 4, 2007 by DavidMac

[+duhgee]

Sometimes I pretend to use the GPSr as a camera (if I don't have my camera in hand anyways), or look inquisitively at something in the trees - there's nothing as boring as watching a bird watcher, so people move on.

[+The Leprechauns]

Use your GPSr as a cell phone.

How about using your cell phone as a GPSr? With Geocache Navigator, it looks like I've pulled over to the edge of the parking lot to read and respond to a text message, not to look for a hidden cache.

[hodnej_pan]

This tip is obviously not for everybody but since we've got a litte baby, we have found out that a pram works rather well. You always look like tending to the baby if you make a stop somewehere, plus an open cache with trade spread around always looks like the baby's toys. True even an out-door pram can only go so far but caches requiring some sort of climbing do not tend to have a lot of muggles poking around anyway.

[+Arndtwe]

what i do is if i see a few muggles in the area when aproching i just keep going by like nothing ever happened. and then i find a good steakout spot to watch until they are gone.

[+GClouse]

For urban settings dress and act like a city worker. If you are caching paperless, make sure your gps/ppc/palmpilot is plainly visible. I use Cetus software on an old Palm m125 with a gps cradle, and after after a find, I move the listing on the Palm from my curent list to a list called "found". While I do this, if there are muggles nearby, I will try to give the impression that I am annoyed at a co-worker for having to do his work on a weekend while he is on "vacation". The idea is to look like you are taking readings from some sort of environmental monitoring equipment.

[Ann_Brush]

Note that the tips like "Use your GPSr as a phone" etc require that you have seen/noticed the muggle, while the clipboard and orange vest portray "this person not out of place" without any effort from you.

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have used the cell phone ploy and the picking up change ploy also

 

But what really has worked for me, I am a ham radio operator so my truck has several antennas on it, and at times I have have had Manetic signs on my truck doors that read " Amateur Radio" "Emergancy Radio service"

 

I also were dark green Ben Davis work pants and a kaki shirt. Also having one of my ham radios on my belt along with a portable scanner helps, it makes me look like I am being paid to look into bushes and trees, i have even had people if they were parked legaly and what the park hours are.

[+Renegade Knight]

I leave. Experience teaches me that the best way to not get caught is to not be there to be caught.

[+GRANPA ALEX]

Got one of those official orange/reflective vests & a hard hat in the trunk . . .

[+Criminal]

Back in 1999 there were very few people who knew what you were holding in your hand as you wandered around in circles staring at your GPSr. Today, however, almost everyone knows what they are and what they do.

 

This ain’t 1999. Trust me, you look very suspicious (and completely ridiculous) talking into a GPS receiver. If you don’t want to appear suspicious, stop glancing around to see who is looking at you.

[+StarBrand]

A book on local flora and fauna with samples pressed inside and a camera.

 

Kids and a ball.

 

Be bold and act like you know exactly what you are doing. Most people ignore you if you are confident.

[+spikedturtle]

We use the dog most of the time, there are not many things that having a little puppy on a leash won't explain away.

[+tenacityj]

Do the complete opposite of your environment. Dress in your work boots, ripped pants and button shirt in the city and wear your suit out in the sticks. You'll already look out of place so no matter what you do, it won't look suspicious.

[+Syndam]

I leave. Experience teaches me that the best way to not get caught is to not be there to be caught.

 

Absolutely the best plan.

 

But if I need an excuse to be in a public area... A nice digital camera works. Nobody questions why you are taking pics of trees, flowers, birds or unusual buildings. Linger as long as you like with a camera in hand.

[+Jhwk]

a clip board or note pad and pen can do wonders. But I usually just wait for the traffic to go away before trying.

[+shadohart]

We use the kids. Muggles came up the trail while we were almost at our intended location, so we went off to the side, pulled out our props (empty Capri sun containers, and small snacks) and had a "break". These props come out if we are logging in too, that way we can just set the backpack down on top of the cache and have a reason to be hanging around.

[+T F T C]

Used the "GPS as a cell phone" tonight, worked like a charm. 3 times.

[haply]

But if I need an excuse to be in a public area... A nice digital camera works.

It does not have to be a nice digital camera. Digital cameras are somewhat vulnerable to harsh conditions. Since the advent of digital cameras many of us have unused 35mm SLR cameras with detachable lenses and tripods no longer being used. An old 35mm SLR fitted with a long lens and a tripod is the perfect decoy. This also deflects the inquisitive digital camera owner who displays some curiosity about your picture taking. You can't show them the picture you have taken. " I am a freelance photographer, specializing in macro-photography". You could tell them that you are taking pictures for a international Geo graphic journal. Also, some modern tripods can do double duty as hiking sticks. Google on hiking walking stick tripod.

[railrider1920]

Alternatly muttering incoherently to myself and cursing with a few loud gibberish sounding outbursts and quick jerky motions ala turetts works quite well.

 

A good start. You can also pour vegetable soup on your shirt and a little water on your crotch.

 

OK, both of you are not right............lol

[+poohstickz]

Share ideas on how to look stealthy when muggles are close by.

 

Use your GPSr as a cell phone.

 

Tie your shoes.

 

The best answer, IMHO, is not to even try. By trying to look "stealthy" you're sending the signal that you don't belong there. That, in and of itself, is suspicious.

 

Just go about whatever you are doing, don't assume that you are somehow looking suspicious, simply act as if you belong there -- after all, you do belong there don't you?

 

From experience, I know that most people will fill in the blanks for themselves. I strongly suspect that those that don't tune you out would probably wonder what on earth someone was doing talking into a GPS receiver anyway!

 

The other thing, of course, is that the number of muggles in any given area is inversely proportional to the distance from the parking area.

 

On second thoughts, I hope some people carry on the tradition of wearing orange vests, carrying clipboards, and talking into GPS receivers. It's always amusing to see that and it's also a light-weight alternative to briansnat's New Jersey greeting:

Edited February 7, 2007 by poohstickz

[+wimseyguy]

In urban settings I ask the nearby muggles for spare change. They give you 'that look' and move away from ground zero quickly. Out in the parks and woods I just go about my business and act like I'm not doing anything sneaky.

[+Retcon]

The other thing, of course, is that the number of muggles in any given area is inversely proportional to the distance from the parking area.

 

In my experience, the number of muggles in any given area is directly proportional to how close I am to the cache. I use it as a gague sometimes.

[+gh patriot]

I agree with the camp that thinks that the more you try to be "stealthy" the more conspicious you look. If Im worried about muggling of the cache I just come back another time. I have done pleanty of caches with lots of people around, I just dont look over my shoulder all the time to see if someone is watching me. Common sense directs my cach hunts. Almost 300 finds with no problems with muggles. A cop asked me what I was doing when I was putting back a lamp post cache and I just handed him the cache page ( I am one of the 14 people who still paper cache). He said it sounded fun and wished me luck on my searches.

[+T F T C]

In urban settings I ask the nearby muggles for spare change. They give you 'that look' and move away from ground zero quickly.

 

lol that's rad

[runner_one]

Share ideas on how to look stealthy when muggles are close by.

 

Here's the approach that I've found works best: just act like you belong. Don't act suspicious, and people won't think you're suspicious.

This is the best advice EVER! You would not believe the places I have been into by using this technique. I use a tablet computer, and have walked into some supposedly secure areas while making notes on it with the stylus. I nod inattentively at anyone I pass, and have yet to be questioned. I even have an ID badge I made up with a home laminating kit. It’s not a fake or fraud, it has my real name address phone and photo on it.

If I am urban caching and there is a cop in sight I acknowledge his presence with a nod or wave and go about my business. In several years of caching I have only been approached once and that was on this cache.

Edited February 7, 2007 by runner_one

[+Retcon]

This is the best advice EVER! You would not believe the places I have been into by using this technique. I use a tablet computer, and have walked into some supposedly secure areas while making notes on it with the stylus. I nod inattentively at anyone I pass, and have yet to be questioned.

 

In my younger days, I used to do this all the time. It's amazing what you can get away with. I don't know if I'd try it these days, what with the whole "You must be a terrorist, let's imprison you for 5 years" thing. But it's so easy. You walk into a garage, the guy at the garage assumes you're going to your car. You enter the building from the garage, everybody in the building assumes you belong there because you're not in the lobby. I used to cross several blocks that way, going through buildings instead of around them. Nice on cold winter days.

 

[+Harry Dolphin]

I leave. Experience teaches me that the best way to not get caught is to not be there to be caught.

 

Absolutely the best plan.

 

But if I need an excuse to be in a public area... A nice digital camera works. Nobody questions why you are taking pics of trees, flowers, birds or unusual buildings. Linger as long as you like with a camera in hand.

 

Ha! So you says! We were walking along a narrow railroad underpass in Summit, NJ, looking for a benchmark. An erratic driver, who almost hit us, called the police to report us. (For walking along a narrow street!) When the Summit Police questioned us, I suggested that the driver shoud have been given a field sobriety test! (Never happened.) The police told us that anyone found with a camera taking pictures would be questioned by the police. Instutional paranoia being a frightening thing, we found a different town to go geocaching/benchmarking in.

On the other fin, we were hunting for the final to a mystery cache in an urban setting. (BTW, a great cache series by a great cache hider.) A lot of people seem to hang out on this street corner, especially at Christmas time. (When we finally found the cache) the cache was about four feet from the corner that these people hung out at. We are suspicious to start with, and not particularly good at being stealthy, so it took us three tries to finally find the cache! We are persistant!

[+cimawr]

I find that having a dog pretty much explains everything. Why you're off the trail? He chased something and pulled me there. Why you're looking under that tree? I dropped something while being pulled.

 

Yup. I'd cache with my dogs anyway - they pretty much go everywhere with me - but it doesn't hurt that they're the perfect cover in all sorts of circumstances, including urban ones. Park a block away, walk up with a dog or two on leash, stop while the dog sniffs about... nobody pays any attention.

Even at shopping centers, park'n'rides, and the like, this works - people assume you're traveling, and the dog had to pee.

Plus, the lurcher's quite handy at telling me when there are rats about in an urban setting... my dearly departed Jack Russell taught her that.

 

And I agree 100% with those who say act normal, confident, like you belong; being "stealthy" only draws attention to you. People who need to be anonyomous on their jobs will tell you that; they don't sneak around in black, they dress and act like everybody else.

[+Criminal]

Not looking suspicious is one thing, but if somebody asks me what I'm doing I tell them it's none of their business.

[+calkan]

How about doing a little CITOing with a garbage bag. No one ever pays attention to someone picking up trash. (muggles are just glad they didn't have to pick it up) You can get down and dirty, searching under bushes, anywhere in fact, as long as you are picking up garbage..and the plus to the whole idea is a cleaner place for the next Geocacher to enjoy! Works wonderfullly!