Mounting help (bottom of bench)

[+shw104]

Hello,

 

I've been having issues keeping a cache I hid mounted in the location I like. It's currently in a key hider box (2"x3"). I had been mounting it to the bottom of a wooden bench with velco tape but the tape keeps coming loose. I really like this location and it is an active cache but I need another idea to mount the cache to the bench. The bench is a combination of 2x4's (wood) and trex.... neither seems to hold velco tape (w/adhesive) very well. The cache stays dry so I don't think moisture is a big issue.

 

Thanks..

Scott

[+bittsen]

Hello,

 

I've been having issues keeping a cache I hid mounted in the location I like. It's currently in a key hider box (2"x3"). I had been mounting it to the bottom of a wooden bench with velco tape but the tape keeps coming loose. I really like this location and it is an active cache but I need another idea to mount the cache to the bench. The bench is a combination of 2x4's (wood) and trex.... neither seems to hold velco tape (w/adhesive) very well. The cache stays dry so I don't think moisture is a big issue.

 

Thanks..

Scott

 

In theory, altering the bench in any way would be against the guidelines. That would include adding an adhesive velcro strap to it.

Are there metal screws holding it together? If so, attach magnets to your key hider with some epoxy and you are in business.

[+Sol seaker]

Wow, this is a tough one because of the guidelines against altering the bench.

 

I've seen a metal plate (lid to a altoids or other container) nailed to a wooden bench and the cache was magnetic, but I guess this is an illegal cache (unless the metal happened to be nailed there to start with. Sure. Right.).

 

I've seen velcro fastened to wood with a couple of very small nails, but this is not kosher either it seems.

 

Is there any place you can jam the container into? Such as between two boards? Somewhere tight enough it can stick but not so tight it won't come out? Perhaps a new container can accomodate the size of space there.

or there's probably not a ledge of any kind under there of any size?

 

You might check out the underside of the bench out well with the idea in mind that you may have to change your container. If you examine the bench with the thought of ANY container, rather than THAT container in mind, can you come up with something?

Is there anything under there you can hook a bison with a ring attached onto? An existing nail or hook?

Check out the thread on containers for something unique that might work. also the Groundspeak website for containers.

Good luck

[+Zolgar]

Here's what you do, take the wooden slat off the bench, and replace it with an identical looking slat that IS the cache. that's right, the entire bench slat is the cache!

 

(I kid!)

 

A lot of park benches have various nooks and crannies on them that ou might be able to slip the cache.

A lot of wooden benches are also held together with metal in various ways, so you might be able to go with a magnetic.

 

.. Or, you could just chain an ammo box to the leg of the bench.

[+GRANPA ALEX]

I have seen a bench having coords written under it for a very nearby location of the container making it a simple multi . . . does not damage the bench. It can be done with fine point magic marker or simply a nail punch with series of dots to represent the numbers - you can darken the small impressions with a marker point, or not.

[+Allanon]

I have seen a bench having coords written under it for a very nearby location of the container making it a simple multi . . . does not damage the bench. It can be done with fine point magic marker or simply a nail punch with series of dots to represent the numbers - you can darken the small impressions with a marker point, or not.

That is no longer allowed. It used to be, but not any more from what I've heard.

[+Y2KOTA]

I have one cache that I took large washer and forced it between the seat plank and the up-right. That holds my magnetic nano just fine.

[Zoptrop]

Perhaps a hose clamp or zip tie can hold the container to one of the legs near the top of the leg where it meets the bench (especially if the container was on the "backside" of the leg)?

[knowschad]

Boy, did I ever take this post out of context!!!

 

[Mr.Yuck]

I have seen a bench having coords written under it for a very nearby location of the container making it a simple multi . . . does not damage the bench. It can be done with fine point magic marker or simply a nail punch with series of dots to represent the numbers - you can darken the small impressions with a marker point, or not.

That is no longer allowed. It used to be, but not any more from what I've heard.

 

I'm quite certain that is a big time no-no. I actually did it myself in like 2004, and considered it Grandfathered. Cache is achived and the "grafiiti" removed anyways.

 

Velcro pretty much doesn't work up North. I never really thought about it being a guideline violation or not, seeing as I never see such hides here in the frigid Northeast.

[JM Chicago]

Altho it sounds like it would defy the guidelines a construction fastener usede to build trusses would be a neat way to do it. These straps are flat with multiple 'tangs' folded out of the flat that could be mounted to the bottom of the bench and being steel would then afford a magnet friendly surface to attach the cache...to bad it's ag'in the rules, but I wouldn't tell and it would be a value added to the bench as it would be a strengthener.

Jeff

The Chicagoan

[knowschad]

Yeah, Velcro pretty much sucks. Well, actually Velcro is great stuff... the problem is that it is stickier than the adhesive they use. I think they intend for the adhesive to be used only as long as it takes to stitch the stuff down, but that's pretty tough to do on a wooden bench.

 

Now, in the old days (these are not the old days, mind you) we probably would have driven a few drywall screws into the bottom of the bench (maybe with washers attached) and stuck the cache magnetically to that. But we don't do that sort of thing anymore because it is bad.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[+Curioddity]

Like everything else, there's good hook & loop and bad hook & loop and unfortunately, the most common "Velcro" brand stuff you can buy in the hardware stores rates among the worst. I got my first lesson of that the hard way when a $200+ LiPo battery pack parted ways with a $500+ model airplane during a negative-G snap roll and I ended up with an Ultracote bag full of balsa splinters laying in a smoking dent in the ground. The velcro didn't separate, but it came unstuck from the balsa battery tray.

 

The adhesive is only part of the problem, but it's an important one. Some adhesive doesn't stick very well to anything but none of it will stick well to everything. But there are specialty hook & loop products with adhesives designed for tough applications, however they can be hard to find.

 

The other problem with "hook & loop" material is an issue known as "cycle life" which is the number of times you can stick and tear it before the holding performance reaches half of its initial value. That popular store-bought stuff has a relatively miserable cycle life of about 50, but some of the good stuff has a cycle life of as much as 10,000.

 

Here's where I buy most of my hook & loop now: http://www.mcmaster.com/#hook-and-loop/=2h9eua

 

And I haven't had a battery pack come loose since.

 

Pete

 

Almost forgot: The stuff I think would work the best for geocaching applications like the one being discussed is the "Marine-Grade Adhesive-Back Polyester Hook and Loop" which can be found on THIS PAGE of the McMaster catalog.

 

rePete

Edited June 26, 2009 by Curioddity

[+Bmxer11]

duck tape the velcro to the bench and to the keyholder. sounds ghetto(because it is) but it does work. duck tape fixes all.

[+Pat in Louisiana]

Staple gun works great for attaching velcro to wood.

[+bittsen]

Staple gun works great for attaching velcro to wood.

 

Technically, against the rules unless you have permission.