What is your strategy for searching newspaper rack hides?

[+pgillen]

I live in an urban area with a high cache density - which, needless to say, includes a lot of newspaper rack hides. As we all know, these racks are always in a high traffic area, which makes searching them surreptitiously very difficult.

 

Would any of you experts out there be willing to share the strategy that you use for searching theses type of hides without drawing attention to yourself?

 

Thanks in advance for help and suggestions.

[+StarBrand]

Walk away.

[+beejay&esskay]

Drop my pen.

 

Tie my shoe.

[+gof1]

I gave up such hides. It just wasn't fun any more.

[+9Key]

Pretend you're buying a newspaper?

[+N0BWU]

Ignore them

[+niraD]

Is it supposed to be a quick find? If the difficulty is low, or if it's a puzzle final where I expect the difficulty rating to refer to the puzzle itself, then I grab a free newspaper (they're always in the racks for the free newspapers, not the paid newspapers), tuck the cache into it (there are only so many places for the container to be), and go somewhere else to sign the log. When I'm done, I reverse the process to replace the cache and return the newspaper to the top of the stack.

 

But if it's 4-star camouflage, then I try to search when there are fewer people around so I can spend some time examining everything more carefully.

[+Kit Fox]

Walk away.

 

I gave up such hides. It just wasn't fun any more.

 

Ignore them

 

Place on ignore list also.

[+BlueMoth]

I keep a clip board and paper in the cachemobile. If I am going into a really high density alien area cache I pull out the clip board, hold out the gps and walk directly up to the cache. When I find it, I sign it, put it back and jot another note on the clip board. Official air + clipboard + gps = 100% of the aliens think you are some kind of government worker doing some sort of official work they don't understand and won't even question what you are doing. In Vegas, I cruised right by a bunch of Hollywood types who had blocked off the Welcome to Vegas sign to tourists because they were setting up a shoot. They all glared at me, but not one dared say a word, ha, ha.

[+Sioneva]

Walk away.

 

Yup.

[4wheelin_fool]

I live in an urban area with a high cache density - which, needless to say, includes a lot of newspaper rack hides. As we all know, these racks are always in a high traffic area, which makes searching them surreptitiously very difficult.

 

Would any of you experts out there be willing to share the strategy that you use for searching theses type of hides without drawing attention to yourself?

 

Thanks in advance for help and suggestions.

I walk up to the box, gyrate my hips and rub my big hairy potbelly against it while singing an Elvis tune. Next,

I start to fondle it all over in a very special way until any muggles in the area scurry off in a huff while clutching

their cell phone. As soon as they leave, I grab the cache and sign in quickly and take off before the cops come.

 

However, if I know ahead of time that it is a newspaper box, I will try to avoid it because those types of hides make cachers look bad...

[+ohgr]

Walk up like you're buying a paper, and drop a handfull of change on the ground, that way you have a REASON to be scrounging around under and around the machine..

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

[+Knight2000]

Just grab it. No one cares about what you are doing. They are all too worried about how to pay the mortgage or why they have a $600/mo car payment on a car they can't afford and just want to impress their friends with, or what do do with their daughter who now has three new piercings and spends all of their money at hot Topic. Besides, if it get muggled it would be doing the world a favor.

[+Tobias & Petronella]

Do them at night. Night caching is an easy way to get those in high muggle areas.

[+Chrysalides]

Walk up like you're buying a paper, and drop a handfull of change on the ground, that way you have a REASON to be scrounging around under and around the machine..

Oh, I like this one.

[Clan Riffster]

Walk away.

Exactly...

[+Rockin Roddy]

Walk away.

Exactly...

Yep. Better yet, ignore such hides! I find no fun in hunting these and wouldn't waste time on them. I'm sure others see it differently and am happy some can enjoy these types of hides though!

 

We went to the MWGB last weekend and was surprised to find so many lamppost skirts in the area. Instead of looking for more and more of these mindlessly boring (IMHO) caches, we decided to get out of the area and look for something we would better enjoy! What was worse than searching out a few of the LPSs was the endless parade to these which made what little fun these hides would have been even less.

[+ladyrich007]

I have one hidden under a tree in a very high traffic area. I just pertend the gps is a cell phone. That way I can hold the gps right over the cache and put the numbers in. Then I just put it up to my ear and pertend im talking. I lean up against the tree like im using it for a shadey break. If I need to pick it up I just bend down and pick it up. Hold it for a while all the time keeping the gps to my ear. To open it I reach in my pocket with the hand that is holding it and open it up like Im getting a mint or something. When im ready to put it back I go back to the cell phone idea and set it down. Know one will think anything.

[knowschad]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

 

Exactly!! Likewise LPC hides, particularily those placed right in view of the crowds. I no longer worry about being spotted. Besides, as has also been stated, you are less likely to draw attention by acting normal than by trying to act "stealthy".

[+Viajero Perdido]

I'll do anything once.

 

We had a newspaper-rack hide on perhaps the busiest street corner in my whole city.

 

I was walking by once at 4:45 AM on a Tuesday (going to catch the airport shuttle), and remembered about the cache. Perfect time, nobody around, just some tumbleweeds...

[+sbell111]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

I believe that behavior to be extremely irresponsible and rude.

[+wimseyguy]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

 

Exactly!! Likewise LPC hides, particularily those placed right in view of the crowds. I no longer worry about being spotted. Besides, as has also been stated, you are less likely to draw attention by acting normal than by trying to act "stealthy".

 

Me three. And I don't feel it's irresponsible nor rude behavior. As the owner of a few high visibility urban hides, I understand the risks and rewards fully. If my cache goes missing, I'm prepared to replace it. Funny thing is I've only had to replace 2-3 of them over the years. One time the entire paper dispenser was taken away and replaced with another when two free weeklies merged and the machine bore the name/logo of the old one. I never understood why they didn't just slap a sticker over it.

[+Taoiseach]

I also just go right for it.

 

It also helps that most parts of Downtown Ottawa are completely dead in the middle of the night

Edited July 29, 2009 by Taoiseach

[+Lakebum]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

I believe that behavior to be extremely irresponsible and rude.

 

I'm in full agreement with Thealambamarambler.

If you try to by coy and act un-suspicious folks will certainly notice you and think you are suspicious and up to no good.

 

If you just go ahead look for it in a spot like this they think you are either nuts, or have a purpose that is not suspicious because you are being open about it.

 

And, sometimes because of the amount of people in the location, if you don't just go ahead and look you will never find a good opportunity to look for it.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

I believe that behavior to be extremely irresponsible and rude.

I used to think that way too, but there are far too many cache owners who feel they have to place their cache where you just can't hide from muggles. I really don't care if those caches get muggled after I'm gone.

[+sbell111]

I search 'em!

 

I figure if the owner was worried about muggles he wouldn't hide caches in such public places.

 

If he's not worried about the finder being seen then neither am I.

 

If someone asks what I am doing I tell them.

 

I am not going to try to hide or put on an act. If you hide a cache in a high visibility spot then your finders are going to be seen. Simple, really.

I believe that behavior to be extremely irresponsible and rude.

I used to think that way too, but there are far too many cache owners who feel they have to place their cache where you just can't hide from muggles. I really don't care if those caches get muggled after I'm gone.

Actually, I was thinking that the practice is rude and inconsiderate to those cachers who would try to find the cache after TAR exposed it to the world. I'm somewhat less concerned about the cache owner needing to do additional maintenance.

[+Puppy Dawg]

 

"Leave all you filthy muggles! I'm trying to geocache!"

[+KJcachers]

just go grab it and sign the log. hopefully it will get muggled and archived to save fellow cachers from having to deal with it.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

As a variation on wearing a hard hat and carrying a clip board, one could put on a tool belt and pretend to do a little maintenance (tighten some screws, adjust the spring, spray a little wd-40 on the hinges) and do a pretty thorough examination of the newspaper rack, and look to the casual observer that you're just doing your job.

[+bittsen]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

[+Chrysalides]

just go grab it and sign the log. hopefully it will get muggled and archived to save fellow cachers from having to deal with it.

So, the moral of the story is that it is OK to destroy caches you don't like? Whatever happened to "if you don't like it, don't find it"?

[+J-Way]

Would any of you experts out there be willing to share the strategy that you use for searching theses type of hides without drawing attention to yourself?

Buy a newspaper if I feel the need for news. If I spot the cache while walking to the dispenser or it falls into my hand while buying the paper, then I'll sign the log. Otherwise I walk away.

[+Renegade Knight]

just go grab it and sign the log. hopefully it will get muggled and archived to save fellow cachers from having to deal with it.

So, the moral of the story is that it is OK to destroy caches you don't like? Whatever happened to "if you don't like it, don't find it"?

It's a find strategy. If stealth isnt' easy. Act like you own that dadgum machine and just find the cache. Often just looking like that makes people more accepting (and more likely to ignore you) of you being there.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

Geocaching also used to be about taking people to someplace special. I have yet to find a "special" lamppost or newsrack.

[GOF and Bacall]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

Geocaching also used to be about taking people to someplace special. I have yet to find a "special" lamppost or newsrack.

 

I can think of one special location with a LPC hide. The dock of a historic fire boat. The hide is obviously not about the lamp post but the fire boat that is listed on the NRHP. It stands out in my mind because it is so far from the norm for that hide type.

[+bittsen]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

Geocaching also used to be about taking people to someplace special. I have yet to find a "special" lamppost or newsrack.

Oh, does that mean you are a purist? Thats good to know.

[+Chrysalides]

Geocaching also used to be about taking people to someplace special. I have yet to find a "special" lamppost or newsrack.

Perhaps you should look around, and not just at the lamppost, newsrack and cache.

 

(I see gof has beat me to it...)

[+Team GPSaxophone]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

Geocaching also used to be about taking people to someplace special. I have yet to find a "special" lamppost or newsrack.

Oh, does that mean you are a purist? Thats good to know.

I just think that the more muggles see us caching, the worse it is for our game/sport/hobby. When muggles see us caching, they usually think "bomb" or "drug deal" - neither of which portrays our activity in a good light. Caches should be placed out of muggle view and in areas that can support the foot traffic in that 20' circle.

[+Kit Fox]

Geocaching also used to be about taking people to someplace special. I have yet to find a "special" lamppost or newsrack.

 

As previously stated by fellow cacher Clan Riffster, "When Groundspeak coined the term 'The Language of Location, they weren't talking about newspaper racks and lamppost caches hidden in full view of the general public."

 

 

 

 

 

I can think of one special location with a LPC hide. The dock of a historic fire boat. The hide is obviously not about the lamp post but the fire boat that is listed on the NRHP. It stands out in my mind because it is so far from the norm for that hide type.

 

Could you find the GC # for that LPC on the fire boat?

[+Chrysalides]

"When Groundspeak coined the term 'The Language of Location, they weren't talking about newspaper racks and lamppost caches hidden in full view of the general public."

Citation needed. (and I don't mean Clan Riffster's post)

Edited July 29, 2009 by Chrysalides

[GOF and Bacall]

 

I can think of one special location with a LPC hide. The dock of a historic fire boat. The hide is obviously not about the lamp post but the fire boat that is listed on the NRHP. It stands out in my mind because it is so far from the norm for that hide type.

 

Could you find the GC # for that LPC on the fire boat?

 

I'll look it up but it isn't mine so I'll PM you instead of posting it.

[knowschad]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

 

We are referring specifically to caches that are placed in spots where there is next to no chance to go unseen. One that I've found that comes to mind is an LPC in the lamp post nearest the entrance to a busy shopping center. Plenty of less obvious lamp posts around if you want to hide an LPC, but the hider decided to put his fellow cachers in the awkward position of either walking away (which most here will suggest, I imagine) or going for it in front of hoards of muggles. The cache owner had a choice... put it where it might last, or put it where it will probably get muggled.

 

Do not generalize our attitude toward this sort of cache. We are referring to a particular situation that really shouldn't happen anyway.

[+Gamaliel]

Strategy? Pretend I'm buying a paper, look stupid.

 

Once three people drove up to the newspaper box while I was signing the log and replacing the cache. We ignored each other, everything was good.

 

Another time I made the mistake of grabbing one on a corner where a residential street met a not so residential street. I didn't think anything of it as 35 or so previous cachers found it without incident. Not me though:

 

While I was replacing the cache a fellow who had the look of a NASCAR fan about him shouted at me from his yard - "Hey! There isn't a bomb in there, is there?" He sounded serious but I pretended I thought he was joking and said, "Nope, just newspaper", holding up the copy I was bringing back to the truck. I don't know if he saw me signing the log and replacing the cache or if he's seen previous cachers, but if the cache ends up muggled - or exploded - now you know why. And if you hear an APB for a guy driving a pickup with a blue bike in the back, give me a heads up.

[GOF and Bacall]

Strategy? Pretend I'm buying a paper, look stupid.

 

Once three people drove up to the newspaper box while I was signing the log and replacing the cache. We ignored each other, everything was good.

 

Another time I made the mistake of grabbing one on a corner where a residential street met a not so residential street. I didn't think anything of it as 35 or so previous cachers found it without incident. Not me though:

 

While I was replacing the cache a fellow who had the look of a NASCAR fan about him shouted at me from his yard - "Hey! There isn't a bomb in there, is there?" He sounded serious but I pretended I thought he was joking and said, "Nope, just newspaper", holding up the copy I was bringing back to the truck. I don't know if he saw me signing the log and replacing the cache or if he's seen previous cachers, but if the cache ends up muggled - or exploded - now you know why. And if you hear an APB for a guy driving a pickup with a blue bike in the back, give me a heads up.

 

I'd be so tempted to say "Just a little one." I wouldn't, but it would be tempting.

[+Gamaliel]

I'd be so tempted to say "Just a little one." I wouldn't, but it would be tempting.

 

If only I'd thought of that!

 

I'd be in jail right now.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

 

We are referring specifically to caches that are placed in spots where there is next to no chance to go unseen. One that I've found that comes to mind is an LPC in the lamp post nearest the entrance to a busy shopping center. Plenty of less obvious lamp posts around if you want to hide an LPC, but the hider decided to put his fellow cachers in the awkward position of either walking away (which most here will suggest, I imagine) or going for it in front of hoards of muggles. The cache owner had a choice... put it where it might last, or put it where it will probably get muggled.

 

Or, a cache that I found that was stuck in some metal work about 15' outside the windows of a Starbucks. Finding the cache was easy, However container (magnetic key holder) was placed such that it wasvery difficult to remove. It took 2-3 minutes to extract the container, only to discover that it was a letterbox. The cache was about 12" away, hidden in the same manner, in an equally accessible location. After a good 10 minutes of prodding, twisting, nudging, and poking I was finally able to retrieve the container, sign the log, and go one my way. Yes, I could have walked away but it was 50 miles from some so it wasn't as if I could easily come back another time. It was also about 9:00am on New Years Day so the Starbucks was about as empty as it ever was.

[+bittsen]

WOW, all this "hopefully it will get muggled" talk is not what I thought geocaching was about. I have been playing wrong all along. I didn't know we were supposed to encourage the loss of caches. Why not just muggle them yourselves (or have you muggled a few?)?

 

And all this time I have been putting them back with care. How silly of me.

 

We are referring specifically to caches that are placed in spots where there is next to no chance to go unseen. One that I've found that comes to mind is an LPC in the lamp post nearest the entrance to a busy shopping center. Plenty of less obvious lamp posts around if you want to hide an LPC, but the hider decided to put his fellow cachers in the awkward position of either walking away (which most here will suggest, I imagine) or going for it in front of hoards of muggles. The cache owner had a choice... put it where it might last, or put it where it will probably get muggled.

 

Do not generalize our attitude toward this sort of cache. We are referring to a particular situation that really shouldn't happen anyway.

 

Sorry but my opinion of the comments hasn't changed.

You might as well just muggle them yourselves because they are too difficult for everyone to do with stealth. I mean, as long as you have already decided what everyone can, and can't, do.

 

Me? If I couldn't do it with stealth, i would just pass it up. I never thought to deliberately compromise the cache in hopes that it would get muggled. That's just not how I think. Maybe that will change after I become a "real" geocacher. Gawd, I hope not.

[+Curioddity]

We are referring specifically to caches that are placed in spots where there is next to no chance to go unseen.

Seen or heard. I live for the LPH that goes GROOOOOK! when you lift the skirt. The thrill of having every soul in the parking lot stare at you is the cat's meow.

 

And when the description says beware of muggles .... Priceless!

 

Pete

[knowschad]

Sorry but my opinion of the comments hasn't changed.

 

Wow! That sure comes as a surprise!

 

I'd say that the cache owner "might as well muggle it" themselves. They hid it there.