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Fake Rocks


out12

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I am thinking of making some sort of fake rock to hide a cache in. I had an idea of using something like a thinset mortar and putting it over a plant pot with some kind of wire mesh or something to hold it together. I was wondering if anyone has tried anything like this before I waste the time and effort on something that won't work very well.

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Garden supply shops sell a variety of fake rocks and you can buy a micro in a fake rock from the website. I have tried various materials for my own including expanding insulation foam and thinset. Some work, some look like an industrial accident. I haven't found a good secret to consistency yet. I spray paint them with a false rock paint. Most effective method I use is to create a few random sharp angles aon the rock and sprinkle some local sand over it as it is drying.

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I made a fake rock by taking foam spray (Great Stuff is one brand) and covering an upside down cache container. Then I spraypainted it with Fleckstone paint. It looks like crap, more like something you'd find at a construction site when someone spilled the cement, but I can see someone who is a bit more talented than I am using the same method to make a very realistic looking fake rock.

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One of the first geocaches I ever found was back in the woods in the sugar cane plantation area of southern Louisiana. It was hidden inside a fake log. We thought it was pretty cool! The "log" was made of chicken wire or something similar covered with styrofoam-like stuff and then painted in loggy colors. I imagine you could make a rock in a similar way.

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There's nothing better than taking a real rock (about 18" across), and spending two days chiseling a hole out of the bottom big enough to fit a container into. Made the neighbors (and the dogs) really happy while chiseling away in the backyard. Rock turned out great and is still out in the middle of the desert along with all the other rocks. People seem to enjoy the cache and we have even been caching with people who went to our cache and watched as they touched and even moved the rock to look for a container hidden around it and didn't even notice the cache. A lot of work, but worth the effort.

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There's nothing better than taking a real rock (about 18" across), and spending two days chiseling a hole out of the bottom big enough to fit a container into. Made the neighbors (and the dogs) really happy while chiseling away in the backyard. Rock turned out great and is still out in the middle of the desert along with all the other rocks. People seem to enjoy the cache and we have even been caching with people who went to our cache and watched as they touched and even moved the rock to look for a container hidden around it and didn't even notice the cache. A lot of work, but worth the effort.

 

I spent four hours chiseling a real rock, using star drills. I tried two masonry bits, and they were useless. The cache caused plenty of DNFs. Sadly, some thief stole my cache, who would have thought that someone would steal a 30 pound rock. :anicute:

 

th_Rock-Cache.jpg

Edited by Kit Fox
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Here are a couple of fake rocks I made using the spray foam.

 

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The trick is to make sure you spray the foam evenly and then sand it down some. I spray painted it with some of that fleck (fake stone) finish, and sprinkled some dirt over it while it was still wet. They turned out pretty good, but it's definately something that needs a little practice.

 

Windrose

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I am thinking of making some sort of fake rock to hide a cache in. I had an idea of using something like a thinset mortar and putting it over a plant pot with some kind of wire mesh or something to hold it together. I was wondering if anyone has tried anything like this before I waste the time and effort on something that won't work very well.

It's a nice idea, but that mortar will never really look like rock material. As others have suggested, you'll need to put a layer of something else on it as a finishing touch. It's a good start, though. I've used that technique and made the last layer with a mix of native soil. It still doesn't look like a rock, but it does look like a mound of dirt. Despite using the surrounding dirt as cammo, it still doesn't match the surrounding dirt. Oh, well, most people don't notice the difference.

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The foam rocks I've encountered are not all that durable. They get scuffed and the scuff marks become dead giveaways. I've not seen any with some of the more durable paints so I can't say if those hold up better.

 

On a fake rock cache I have litterlaly turned one over, looked under it and never found the cache in the rock itself...Until the owner clued me in. Then I felt stupid, but that's caching.

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The foam rocks I've encountered are not all that durable. They get scuffed and the scuff marks become dead giveaways. I've not seen any with some of the more durable paints so I can't say if those hold up better.

 

Yeah, I figure they'll need maintenance every once in a while to repair the cammo. I plan to take the can of fleck spray paint out with me when I do my cache maintenance (spring and fall) and touch it up. I haven't placed them yet. I made them over the winter and have them in the yard right now to see how they hold up. I open and close the containers every couple of days to see how they'll hold up with extended use & already one of the containers has come "unstuck" from the foam. It still fits in the cavity but you can slide it right out. I'm going to get some Gorilla glue and see if it will hold the container in.

 

I also hollowed out a couple of small stumps and put caches inside of them. They seem to be holding up pretty well too. Except that one has cracked down the side (from the wood shrinking as it dries I guess) and the container was visible. I sprayed it with black paint and it's less noticable now.

 

Windrose

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I recently placed a cache I made out of concrete and a kid's bubbe jar. The cache is completely surrounded by the concrete, with a separate screw on concrete lid. I screwed a wing-nut into the cap so that concrete had something to attached to/around. Placed in the open next to a guardrail where there was other rocks and concrete debris. Took a half hour or so to make, and used materials I had lying around. Cache was meant to be a fun park and grab with a interesting twist. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture.

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I was planning on putting latex over a real rock to make a mold (latex: $12us) then casting another rock from the mold using cement.

 

But the spray foam might just work, I just have to find some granite spray paint. I'm surprised the spray paint does not dissolve the foam. I tried spray painting expanded polystyrene and it melted a little. Granite spray paint costs $10-12us here.

Edited by chuckr30
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For those interested in making a fake rock out of concrete, remember the old saying: 'There are only two types of concrete, cracked and gonna crack'. I've worked hard to work out which additives to add (and how much) to do my best to keep my rocks from cracking.

Edited by sbell111
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The short answer to how I've done this in the past is that cement won't stick (much) to plastic grocery bags. wrap a cache container in those, then cover with cement, shaped to taste. When dry, strip out the bags and you have a shell for your container. I recommend some additional spray paint. These do not usually fool geocachers, but they are great for reducing mugglings of caches in problem areas.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I've done some Googling and found info on something called HYPERTUFA, which is concrete made with portland cement, peat moss and vermiculite. It is suppose to be lightweight, somewhat shapeable after setting up and holds up well outside exposed to the weather. Have any of you tried using this?

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A lot of wonderful looking rocks caches in the pictures. The only problem I can see from using foam/latex rocks is how long they will last in the outdoors. Hollowing out real rocks would be a chore, but IMO it is well worth the effort rather than trying to duplicate something nature has done so well already.

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For those interested in making a fake rock out of concrete, remember the old saying: 'There are only two types of concrete, cracked and gonna crack'. I've worked hard to work out which additives to add (and how much) to do my best to keep my rocks from cracking.

  • reinforce the concrete by imbedding a wire mesh into it.
  • Be careful to use only just enough water in the mix. More water still works, but the concrete is weaker.
  • Keep the concrete wet and covered for a few days while it sets, even if it is rapid-set concrete.

I've always used rapid-set concrete, so I'm not too familiar with the conventional stuff, but so far everything I've made with it has been quite sturdy and crack-free. I've got a concrete item on my desk right now that I constructed fifteen years ago. I've dropped it more times than I can remember, and it's still as good as the day I made it.

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There are fiberglass fibers you can add to concrete. You might get them at Home Depot or a large chain hardware store. That should help with the strength and cracking issue.
THe only problem with the fibers is that it is difficult to mold the rock and not have any of the fibers show.
I'm kinda proud of my fake rocks.

 

512cd9fe-fdea-4bc4-a4c1-e924124b58c6.jpg

Love the rock. You made it?
Yup.
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Thanks for all the suggestions. I've done some Googling and found info on something called HYPERTUFA, which is concrete made with portland cement, peat moss and vermiculite. It is suppose to be lightweight, somewhat shapeable after setting up and holds up well outside exposed to the weather. Have any of you tried using this?

 

I placed a cache using hypertufa. The container is a clear, square, 1-quart Rubbermaid screw-top jar. The hypertufa shell is about an inch thick, and is about the size of a large loaf of bread.

 

Email me if you want the details about constructing it.

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There are powdered tints you can mix into cement to make it look more like the rocks in your area. Or you can use a very light misting of spray paint. The rocks around here are naturally concrete colored and don't usually contain pebbles.

 

You can google various techniques to encourage moss to grow on rocks. I've seen yogurt and horse urine recommended. Eww.

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Thanks for all the suggestions. I've done some Googling and found info on something called HYPERTUFA, which is concrete made with portland cement, peat moss and vermiculite. It is suppose to be lightweight, somewhat shapeable after setting up and holds up well outside exposed to the weather. Have any of you tried using this?

I would like to know how you made it

 

I placed a cache using hypertufa. The container is a clear, square, 1-quart Rubbermaid screw-top jar. The hypertufa shell is about an inch thick, and is about the size of a large loaf of bread.

 

Email me if you want the details about constructing it.

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