New Cacher, Stealth or Not?

[Dacool561]

Hello everyone! I just recently started Geocaching since i got my new iPhone 3gs. I've attempted 3 so far and found one (mostly because i only vaguely near the location and tried to find some with GC.com being down yesterday). I've read a few cache descriptions saying to be stealth, and then i've read a few threads that most people just forgo that completely and act normal. If i were to grade my friends and mine stealth level it from 1-10, it would probably be a negative number =p. We all stick out like a sore thumb, heh.

 

I think we probably look more suspicious trying to look stealthy as opposed to looking around with confidence/authority. What do you all find to be the best approach to searching for a cache? Do you use different approaches in different areas? Does the amount of people around affect the way you search? Any info would help!

[+Sparky&Squeak]

I totally hear you! We have the same question. As a teacher, I feel like it is my duty to educate people about what we are doing, and, truly, people have been really cool about it. Quite a few wrote down the website, and one person has since emailed me. Also, I have a disabled son, so it is kinda obvious when we are searching, and it isn't very easy to hide.

 

My sense is that the community is open to either approach. It is just like Civil War reenacting, I think. Some people are living historians and want to share the 1860s with the world, and others want to be immersed in the history but are there to enjoy their own hobby and not to teach others. Both are equally valid, and it just depends on what you want to get out of the hobby.

 

The rule of thumb, I think, is to respect others that might be searching near you. If you see another cacher, just assume they are stealth and be all sorts of stealthy. If they are chatty like me, you will know in an instant that stealthitude is not necessary :-)

 

Hello everyone! I just recently started Geocaching since i got my new iPhone 3gs. I've attempted 3 so far and found one (mostly because i only vaguely near the location and tried to find some with GC.com being down yesterday). I've read a few cache descriptions saying to be stealth, and then i've read a few threads that most people just forgo that completely and act normal. If i were to grade my friends and mine stealth level it from 1-10, it would probably be a negative number =p. We all stick out like a sore thumb, heh.

 

I think we probably look more suspicious trying to look stealthy as opposed to looking around with confidence/authority. What do you all find to be the best approach to searching for a cache? Do you use different approaches in different areas? Does the amount of people around affect the way you search? Any info would help!

[+Steve&GeoCarolyn]

I don't think there is one answer to this. We modify our behavior based on the circumstances we find ourselves in. In some places we're as stealthy as it is possible for us to be (not very). In other places we give short explanations of what we're doing. In other areas we explain that we're taking pictures (I always carry a camera) but don't explain the geocaching. In some places that have a lot of people that we don't want to explain things to or think they might take the cache, we decide not to go for that cache at that time. We act the same with caches hidden in playgrounds when there are a lot of children around. We just put it on our list to go back to when there are few children.

 

Here's our most recent encounter with someone in which I gave her a short explanation. With her, the secret turned out to be not what I said, but how I listened to her.

 

Each person and situation is different. I needed to cultivate some awareness of people and situations before I felt semi-comfortable. I still feel most comfortable in the woods where there is no one but us.

 

Carolyn

Edited July 4, 2009 by Steve&GeoCarolyn

[chillin209]

I think being stealth in some area's is fun and its part of the thrill of the hunt. Sometimes I don't even stealth in some area's because no matter what ya do it will look suspicious. For example searching through an alley near people's backyards.

 

If you are doing an urban cache and you are in parking lots, there are going to be people around. It is easier to be stealth if you are with a someone. You can get out of the car and pretend you are talking to the driver and having a good time until the coast is clear and grab the cache. Its just little things you can do to be stealth.

[+ras_oscar]

Stealth isn't about skulking around looking furtively over your shoulder. It's about acting appropriately in your surroundings, and that varies based on the environment.

 

On a playground I"ll ask my geopartner who's 10 to go play on the playground while I sit on the bench and talk to my geophone. Perfectly normal

 

In the bushes I'll call "here kitty kitty"

 

in an urban area I'll talk on my geophone while wandering aimlessly with my hands in my pockets.

 

In each situation I have an idea of "why I am there" if anybody asks. The reason allows me to feel comfortable and the comfort is the real cover: I've seldom been asked what I'm doing, except by children who are curious and don't necessarailly follow the social conventions. Fortunately persistant children can usually be shut down with a parental " do you re3ally think you should be talking to someone your parents don't know?"

 

Of course, if you are talking to a LEO, ALWAYS tell the truth. a rent a cop, is a different story. If they are wearing a uniform of the property owner, I treat them as a LEO. If a rental companyu, I use my judgement and give them the cover story unless they persist or make noises like they're filing a report.

 

In the end, keep in mind the following:

 

The guidelines require the hider receive written permission for the hide from the property owner.at means you have permission to be there.

 

Despite what anyone on the ground says, you aren't doing anything illegal.

 

Property owners tend to be protective when peeople approach their property for unknown purposes. How would you feel if someone was wandering around in your backyard?

 

In the USA, mthere's a fairly high threashold you have to cross before people meddle in "your business. Most people simply don't care what you're doing.

[gojkgo]

I was thinking about stealthiness yesterday as we were trying to find a 5 star difficulty, 1.5 star terrain "GPS checker" cache. It was in a small park that basically consists of a ball field and a small playground bordered on 2 sides by houses. GZ is (we think) somewhere in the outfield. I'm just not clever enough to think of a way to be stealthy while walking around in circles, staring at the ground, in an otherwise empty park, for over an hour.

[+ras_oscar]

tell them you're looking for a lost peice of jewelry. They might even help you look.

[+runawaybunny]

Yesterday, while stumbling around in the woods (DNF'ing) I was thinking of a good story in case some hikers passed by and wondered what we were doing. My first instinct would be to say, "I dropped my cell phone around here somewhere." But then I was thinking they might suspect me of lying when they asked, "What's it look like?" And I replied with, "I have NO CLUE."

Edited July 5, 2009 by runawaybunny

[+Zolgar]

 

Of course, if you are talking to a LEO, ALWAYS tell the truth. a rent a cop, is a different story. If they are wearing a uniform of the property owner, I treat them as a LEO. If a rental companyu, I use my judgement and give them the cover story unless they persist or make noises like they're filing a report.

You do realize that the rental company is no different from a private company specifically for the property owner.

 

For example there is very little difference between the Target security guards, and the ones in Fry's locally, even though Fry's hires VSS.

 

Rental companies are just more commonly used for temporary positions, or on posts that just a few exist. Or, by companies that don't want to have to go through the hassle of hiring and screening their own security guards.

 

The "rent-a-cop" (which is a VERY inaccurate description by the way, "biological security camera" is better) is hired by the property owners in order to maintain the safety of their property while they are away. This basically means that the security guards, even rental companies, are the extension of the property owner's will.

 

As such you should be up front with them about what you are doing, and if it comes to pass that they tell you that it's not allowed on the property, apologize and leave. From there, you need to contact the CO to find out if they got permission, because the security guard COULD just be abusing his (very limited) power. But it's possible also that two weeks ago a different guard stopped a cacher, reported it back and a memo came down saying "That isn't allowed on my property."

 

What you don't want to do is piss off the security guards, or give them reason to suspect you. If you give them a vague answer or an outright lie and then keep looking, it looks suspicious and they may call the cops (all they can really do, at least in AZ), then you have to explain to the cops what you're doing, and then also explain to them why you lied to the security guard.

 

--------------

 

On the subject at hand, I act like I belong there, and if someone asks me what I'm doing.. I just tell them the truth... buut, I'm a mid 20's, 6' tall guy with long hair and a long beard, so people tend to avoid me.

It also helps when I'm alone that I'm on the bike, so it can looks like I'm just taking a break or waiting for a bus. (When when you're waiting for a bus, first people avoid you because you're one of "those" people, you know the poor souls who can't afford real transportation. and second, there's nothing to do but sit, or wander around. )

Edited July 5, 2009 by Zolgar

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Carolyn really provides the right answer here in that there is not right answer for every situation. I've had instances where there was only one other person nearby but he happened to be jumping rope in the middle of a trail right next to the cache. The trail was straight for about 1000' so there was no way one could be stealthy when searching for the cache so I walked up to him and told him just what I was about to do.

 

As a contrast, while driving home from Brattleboro, Vermont to Ithaca, NY today there was a scenic overlook that we stopped at (along with about 30 other cars and as many motorcycles. For some reason, the caches along a route I did didn't show a cache nearby but I found it hard to believe that there wouldn't be a cache there so I used the geocaching app on my iPhone and discovered we had parked 75' from a cache called "MA From VT". The scenic overlook has a 180 degree or so vista where one can see 100 miles (into Massachusetts) and the view was spectacular. There must have been 100 people milling about, taking photos, talking on their phones, etc. With so many people about, nobody was paying attention to each other so I was able to walk right up to the cache (a large plastic container), carry it back to my car, sign the lock, then walk back and replace the cache, all as if that was exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

[+michigansnorkelers]

Stealth isn't about skulking around looking furtively over your shoulder. It's about acting appropriately in your surroundings, and that varies based on the environment.

 

On a playground I"ll ask my geopartner who's 10 to go play on the playground while I sit on the bench and talk to my geophone. Perfectly normal

 

In the bushes I'll call "here kitty kitty"

 

in an urban area I'll talk on my geophone while wandering aimlessly with my hands in my pockets.

 

In each situation I have an idea of "why I am there" if anybody asks. The reason allows me to feel comfortable and the comfort is the real cover: I've seldom been asked what I'm doing, except by children who are curious and don't necessarailly follow the social conventions. Fortunately persistant children can usually be shut down with a parental " do you re3ally think you should be talking to someone your parents don't know?"

 

Of course, if you are talking to a LEO, ALWAYS tell the truth. a rent a cop, is a different story. If they are wearing a uniform of the property owner, I treat them as a LEO. If a rental companyu, I use my judgement and give them the cover story unless they persist or make noises like they're filing a report.

 

In the end, keep in mind the following:

 

The guidelines require the hider receive written permission for the hide from the property owner.at means you have permission to be there.

 

Despite what anyone on the ground says, you aren't doing anything illegal.

 

Property owners tend to be protective when peeople approach their property for unknown purposes. How would you feel if someone was wandering around in your backyard?

 

In the USA, mthere's a fairly high threashold you have to cross before people meddle in "your business. Most people simply don't care what you're doing.

 

I often wonder how many times STEALTH is mentioned, soley for the fact that permission was NOT granted!

 

More than once, I've been confronted on private property. Soon after, the caches have been archived.

 

Older and wiser, I now try to read between the lines with cache descriptions calling for stealth. If it looks like permission might not have been given, I avoid the cache. This is especially true of caches on business properties, school grounds, hospitals, banks, etc. I remember being very nervous attempting a FTF on a cache located on bank property. Nothing happened to me, but a subsequent cacher had a run in with authorities!

 

Use common sense, because the cache hider might not have.