Tree cache

[+6coondawgs]

We've hidden three caches so far and I've had this idea for a while and was just wondering if anyone has hidden or found one like this and if any one has any pointers to make it great. I've thought of hiding a cache up a tree, attached to a piece of rope long enough that it could be lowered to the ground and then pulled back up and then have the rope secured again. So I'm thinking basically a rope over a branch with the excess rope hidden in the tree, perhaps a hollow tree. Any ideas to avoid problems with something like this?

[+Kit Fox]

We've hidden three caches so far and I've had this idea for a while and was just wondering if anyone has hidden or found one like this and if any one has any pointers to make it great. I've thought of hiding a cache up a tree, attached to a piece of rope long enough that it could be lowered to the ground and then pulled back up and then have the rope secured again. So I'm thinking basically a rope over a branch with the excess rope hidden in the tree, perhaps a hollow tree. Any ideas to avoid problems with something like this?

 

That method has been done many times before. Rope would stick out like a sore thumb. 30lb fishing line would be far more stealthy. You could make the cache even more fun and make them climb the tree instead.

 

[+briansnat]

Use a carabiner instead of a pulley. With a pulley there is the possibility of the rope/string/twine/fishing line, etc... jumping off track and jamming.

 

I think it was Coyote Red who had a diagram for a method of hanging a pulley without climbing the tree. Maybe he'll chime in here and post it again.

 

One thing to remember is that sticking nails, screws, bolts etc... in trees is prohibited by the guidelines.

[+Kit Fox]

We've hidden three caches so far and I've had this idea for a while and was just wondering if anyone has hidden or found one like this and if any one has any pointers to make it great. I've thought of hiding a cache up a tree, attached to a piece of rope long enough that it could be lowered to the ground and then pulled back up and then have the rope secured again. So I'm thinking basically a rope over a branch with the excess rope hidden in the tree, perhaps a hollow tree. Any ideas to avoid problems with something like this?

 

That method has been done many times before. Rope would stick out like a sore thumb. 30lb fishing line would be far more stealthy. You could make the cache even more fun and make them climb the tree instead.

 

[+StarBrand]

Yea the carabineer method works well. I've also seen some camo nylone rope that blended very well into the tree it was up againinst.

 

As briansnat says - make sure you don't drill into the tree to do this.

[montyxc]

I was thinking along the same lines, and surprised I haven't seen or heard of any done like this already. Hurray for the unconventional!

 

As far as problems, do you mean for getting approved?

 

As far as losing it, it can't get washed away or fall down the 100 ft slope into the ocean...(cough)

 

My suggestion would be to tie the loose end to something so that when it is lowered, the end doesn't fly over too.

 

The way we hang lines in the ham radio world is using a bow-and-arrow and fishing line, and then using the fishing line to pull the rope over. Sling shot, rock, stick also work. It would be really cool to approach a cache and realize that it is 70 feet in a tree...and that you don't have to climb it.

 

brainflash: the bow ideas is bad in a park.

[+KoosKoos]

I've seen it done several times with just a rope thrown over a branch...our nice smooth cedar trees lend themselves nicely to that type of application. I have one that I adopted that uses a vinyl coated wire (think the clothesline material) that slides very easily up and down...since it's black, it doesn't stick out in the shadows.

[Cavalier53]

What about this variation of up a tree?

 

Find a tree with a V up high off the ground. Locate a fallen tree or branch large enough for a cacher to safely handle. Lean your tree/branch against your tree V, mark where the two meet. Attach your cache at that point so that it rests in or on the other side of the V. Looks natural and it's hard to see.

[+Kit Fox]

Use a carabiner instead of a pulley. With a pulley there is the possibility of the rope/string/twine/fishing line, etc... jumping off track and jamming.

 

I think it was Coyote Red who had a diagram for a method of hanging a pulley without climbing the tree. Maybe he'll chime in here and post it again.

 

One thing to remember is that sticking nails, screws, bolts etc... in trees is prohibited by the guidelines.

 

Post #24 Diagrams follows in futher posts

[+elmuyloco5]

Also keep in mind that looping anything around a tree branch where it will be consistently one size (i.e. tying something around a branch, etc) can be more detrimental to a tree's growth than a nail or other object being hammered into it. Make sure that your "string" device doesn't "strangle" the tree in any way, and when you maintenance the cache, check to make sure that any "loops" are still large enough to allow the tree to grow.

 

As far as containers, I would suggest you check out Walmart. I found some in the sporting area that are water tight (similar to an otter box) and have a strap connected to it that you could attach it to your rope/line to secure it. They're nice boxes and around $5-10.

[+retrorambler]

I saw one where they hollowed out a pine cone and placed a film canister in the middle. Talk about really difficult to see! But great idea!

[+joranda]

I have a couple of tree caches where the cachers have to make there way up the tree. The ones who have do it seem to have enjoyed the idea. GC155P6 GC16CRP

[+logonwheeler]

I saw one where they hollowed out a pine cone and placed a film canister in the middle. Talk about really difficult to see! But great idea!

 

deleted

Edited January 4, 2008 by logonwheeler

[+6coondawgs]

Thanks for the tips. I knew there were plenty of people, a lot smarter than me who had to think of this before. Great ideas.

[+mm_dancer]

there was one in my area, now archieved, but originally it had been great untill the tree gave out, there was a branch of a dead tree that had broken down, but still stayed attached to the tree but was also touching the ground. where it was attached to the tree a hole into the completely hollow tree was exposed, so the cacher was required to climb up the branch (about 15 feet high id guess) and hanging over the hole was a rope you had to pull the rope that was attached to an ammo can at the base of the tree, once you got it up you signed and did trades then lowered it back into the tree, but since the tree was dead and with ppl climbing on it after about 3 years the branch broke and the cache was no longer accesable, and is now archieved!

 

good luck finding a suitable tree!

[+tarbal]

I hid an Easter egg one time about 30 feet up in a tree with the end of the line about 40 feet away from the trunk of the original tree. The way that I got the line up in the tree was to cast a weight up into the tree with a fishing rod. I then attached the egg onto the line and hauled it up. I have also seen decon containers done this way. If you use fishing line remember that it breaks down eventually in the light so you will have to keep an eye on when it needs to be replaced. I have seen camouflaged cord used to suspend also. This is nice because it blends in and will not break down.

 

tarbaL

[+edscott]

Its a great way to put out caches in areas prone to seasonal flooding. Just go 5 or so feet above last year's high water line.

[+Jedi Cacher]

I found my first tree cache last week and the hider did a good job of sending you on a wild goose chase to deter you away from the actual hiding spot. The hider made several fake hiding spots such as piled rocks and tree branches as decoys. The cache owner used a metal cable on a pulley system that was then attached to a camouflaged 5 gallon bucket. The bucket was suspended at least 40 feet off the ground blending in with the foliage of the spruces pine needles, never seen anything like it.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Bear in mind that not all cachers will return the cache to its proper location. Found one of these hanging six feet off the ground. Originally, the fishing line looped over a branch, to a branch on another tree, and tied to the base of that tree. Must have been a very nasty cache in its heyday.

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

Bear in mind that not all cachers will return the cache to its proper location. Found one of these hanging six feet off the ground. Originally, the fishing line looped over a branch, to a branch on another tree, and tied to the base of that tree. Must have been a very nasty cache in its heyday.

 

That's for sure. I have checked my caches after every finder and very few rehide as found. Sometimes it's much worse, but sometimes they camo it much better so I guess it all averages out.

[+NotThePainter]

I had one where I used TWO trees.

 

The cache was hidden, of course, at GZ, about 20 to 30 feet up. I took the line (camo parachute cord) and walk about 40 to 50 feet away and sent the line up and over ANOTHER branch.

 

When you search GZ you didn't find the rope.

 

To get the line up and over the branch I tied it to a small weight. You should have heard my yell when I first got it up and it went around and around. Thought I wasn't going to place it that day.

 

Sadly, the area became a teenage drinking hideout and they muggle it twice then stole it.

[mossyokk]

We've hidden three caches so far and I've had this idea for a while and was just wondering if anyone has hidden or found one like this and if any one has any pointers to make it great. I've thought of hiding a cache up a tree, attached to a piece of rope long enough that it could be lowered to the ground and then pulled back up and then have the rope secured again. So I'm thinking basically a rope over a branch with the excess rope hidden in the tree, perhaps a hollow tree. Any ideas to avoid problems with something like this?

Tie a fairly size rock to one end of your string away from your hollow tree and have your waypoint at the rock so that the person has to pick the rock up and walk towards the hollow tree in order to lower the cachein the tree to be seen. Make sure you tie a weight to the cache for weight. Use dark line and also describe in a hint ... good luck

[knowschad]

Also keep in mind that looping anything around a tree branch where it will be consistently one size (i.e. tying something around a branch, etc) can be more detrimental to a tree's growth than a nail or other object being hammered into it. Make sure that your "string" device doesn't "strangle" the tree in any way, and when you maintenance the cache, check to make sure that any "loops" are still large enough to allow the tree to grow.

 

OH COME ON!! You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Ever seen a barbed wire fence embedded in the middle of a healthy tree trunk? Trees will simply grow around any "strangling" object without even flinching. And nails (forget guidelines for a second) don't faze a tree, either. They may faze a land manager, but won't faze a tree. There are just too many tree houses/deer stands/ tapped maple trees/ tapped rubber trees, etc. out there to argue with.)

 

Aside from that, I just found three like that this past weekend. These were hung using white cord, which while it will be great in the winter, will stick out like a sore thumb in the summer. And while the first one seemed clever, the 2nd and 3rd seemed lame.

Edited January 5, 2008 by knowschad

[+Kit Fox]

I vividly remember the post from the logger who shared his experience as to how resiliant trees actually are. He mentioned nails, wire, even parts of a car. One thing I disagree with in your post is girdling of trees. If you intentially tye some sort of coord or wire around a branch, eventually (could be many years) it will cut through enough layers to kill the branch. It can also expose the tree to all sorts of "nasties." Google tree girdling if you don't believe me.

 

With so many groups looking for excuses to ban geocaching, do we really need to give them another reason?

[+froldt]

OH COME ON!! You obviously have no idea what you're talking about. Ever seen a barbed wire fence embedded in the middle of a healthy tree trunk? Trees will simply grow around any "strangling" object without even flinching. And nails (forget guidelines for a second) don't faze a tree, either. They may faze a land manager, but won't faze a tree. There are just too many tree houses/deer stands/ tapped maple trees/ tapped rubber trees, etc. out there to argue with.)

 

Aside from that, I just found three like that this past weekend. These were hung using white cord, which while it will be great in the winter, will stick out like a sore thumb in the summer. And while the first one seemed clever, the 2nd and 3rd seemed lame.

 

As Kit Fox says, girdling is bad. I too have seen trees with wires, nails, car parts, etc grown into them. However, wrapping something all the way around a part of a tree is almost sure to kill the tree.

You can imagine it (roughly) similar to your own body. If you take a string and tie it around your finger and leave it, irreparable damage can occur. If you take a needle and stick it through your finger, it will hurt like the dickens and might damage your finger, but you probably won't lose it.

[+edscott]

As Kit Fox says, girdling is bad. I too have seen trees with wires, nails, car parts, etc grown into them. However, wrapping something all the way around a part of a tree is almost sure to kill the tree.

You can imagine it (roughly) similar to your own body. If you take a string and tie it around your finger and leave it, irreparable damage can occur. If you take a needle and stick it through your finger, it will hurt like the dickens and might damage your finger, but you probably won't lose it.

 

Agree it is bad PR. But...

"Girdling involves cutting a groove or notch into the trunk of a tree to interrupt the flow of sap between the roots and crown of the tree". In other words cutting through the active vascular layers. A wire around a tree doesn't really do this. The tree grows over the wire, the wire rusts away, and the nutrient flow continues in those new layers. The inner layers of xylem and phloem tubing get clogged and become useless anyway. The problem with the wire and nails, beyond the obvious PR problems, are creating invasion sites for infection, insect, or fungal attacks and the danger of injury due to flying debris to anyone cutting that tree in the future. Comparing it to a string or rubber band around a finger doesn't really work since plants and animals grow in different ways.

[mrbeachroach]

I have one that "TAKES THE CAKE", I recently did on in Missouri and it was the best that I have ever seen. I wont give you the name of it to not spoil the surprise for someone else but this guy took a 12 foot tree that was hollowed out by termites and broke a fishing pole in half and bolted it to the dead tree. The line went straight up 5 feet then atached to a caribeaner and then dogleged left 20 ft to another tree. When you traced the line to the other tree the camoflodged container was suspended 10 ft up the 2nd tree just 1 foot above the 2nd caribeaner on the 2nd tree. You had to drop the line on the pole to release the cache, sigh the log book, trade swag then reel up the line again. Amazing, this owner was the most creative iv ever seen. -mrbeachroach