+Headhardhat Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I was just curious. In the Carolinas we do not have to worry nearly as much when it comes to the winter months for geocaching. My question is do you have to winterize your geocaches for the colder months? Do you archive them because the snow gets too deep? What steps do you take to make sure your geocache is ready for the cold winter months? Thanks in advance... -HHH Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Aside from replacing any water in the cache with antifreeze... nothing special. Generally got plenty of cache maintenance to do in the spring here in Minnesota, though. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I'll do some pre-winter maintenance; make sure the cache isn't exposed due to the weeds dying off, restock the swag and remove any travel bugs that might otherwise get stranded. That's about it. Quote Link to comment
+gmcpower98 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 It is important to remove any ink pens and replace them with pencils. When an ink pen freezes it splits the resevoir. When it thaws.......you've got ink all over the cache! Found one once and there was ink all over the swag and on the T.B.s. Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Oh yeah... I forgot: repaint the ammo cans white. Quote Link to comment
+StarBrand Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Nothing to winterize but occasionally spring reveals a broken plastic cache or 2 due to crushing by expanding ice. Lock-n-Locks hold up - some of the others pop apart as they are gently squeezed in the ice. Quote Link to comment
aniyn Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 I don't do anything. Don't need to. Well, if the water starts getting too high in the spring I may remove one temporarily, but that's only if. Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Oh yeah... I forgot: repaint the ammo cans white. What color do you paint them in the spring? Do you also have a fall color? Jim Quote Link to comment
+Harry Dolphin Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 A little Electric heater, some anti-freeze... Caches shouldn't need winterizing. Remove anything that will freeze, and the caches should be good to go. Quote Link to comment
GOF and Bacall Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Just don't waste your money on that namby pamby pet safe crap. It just costs too much. For those of you who just had a stroke it is a JOKE! Quote Link to comment
+ngrrfan Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Last week I was in the area where I have a cache, letting a friend find it, and while there we pulled out a scented candle and a scented skin creme sample someone had put in. Other than that, it will take care of itself. If someone wants to snowshoe in and find it, good for them. Quote Link to comment
+niraD Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 What steps do you take to make sure your geocache is ready for the cold winter months?I don't do anything for my own caches. My containers are waterproof, and we don't get snow or freezing weather around here. But I carry waterproof replacement log sheets with me when I go geocaching, and I tend to go through them a lot faster during the wet winter months. Quote Link to comment
knowschad Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Oh yeah... I forgot: repaint the ammo cans white. What color do you paint them in the spring? Do you also have a fall color? Jim Jim, this is Minnesota. I leave them white in the spring and paint them white for fall. I paint them in forest tones for June (maybe), July, and the first week of August. Quote Link to comment
+BlueDeuce Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) Oh yeah... I forgot: repaint the ammo cans white. What color do you paint them in the spring? Do you also have a fall color? Jim Jim, this is Minnesota. I leave them white in the spring and paint them white for fall. I paint them in forest tones for June (maybe), July, and the first week of August. I thought you just painted them bear color. Why would you need repaint them white? I mean it is Minnesota and all. Edited October 29, 2009 by BlueDeuce Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) Nothing. Quality containers do not require "winterization" When I choose a container I choose it knowing that it might be under 2 feet of snow for a month or two. Actually spring rains tend to pose more of a challenge for cache containers than snow. Choose a container that will deal with the worst possible conditions in the first place and there is no need to make seasonal alterations to your cache. Edited October 29, 2009 by briansnat Quote Link to comment
jholly Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Oh yeah... I forgot: repaint the ammo cans white. What color do you paint them in the spring? Do you also have a fall color? Jim Jim, this is Minnesota. I leave them white in the spring and paint them white for fall. I paint them in forest tones for June (maybe), July, and the first week of August. That sounds like a lot of work. Around here we just paint them moss and we're done. Jim Quote Link to comment
+Dgwphotos Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 (edited) That sounds like a lot of work. Around here we just paint them moss and we're done. Jim It just grows on it naturally! Edited October 29, 2009 by Dwoodford Quote Link to comment
+Ambrosia Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Like others have said, not much needs to be done if you create the cache with winter in mind. Make sure the container will hold up to winters. I've never seen a pen freeze, although it can get quite cold here in the winter, but I always put a mechanical pencil in my caches as well as a pen, just to make sure there's something that works. There's no need to disable a cache unless the area becomes off limits in the winter. If people want to try and find it under snow, that's fine with me. Quote Link to comment
+Juicepig Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 requires 2 steps to be Canada-Weather-Proof: 1. Waterproof container 2. 4 feet off the ground Should be good enough for most winters up here. Its not like we stop caching for 7 months when winter arrives.. Quote Link to comment
+Arrow42 Posted November 1, 2009 Share Posted November 1, 2009 I was just curious. In the Carolinas we do not have to worry nearly as much when it comes to the winter months for geocaching. My question is do you have to winterize your geocaches for the colder months? Do you archive them because the snow gets too deep? What steps do you take to make sure your geocache is ready for the cold winter months? Thanks in advance... -HHH I might check on them after the next serious rain, but there shouldn't be any major changes. Maybe check to make sure the bag for the log is in good shape and the rubber seal is clean. Quote Link to comment
+AirborneSurveyor Posted November 2, 2009 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Oh yeah... I forgot: repaint the ammo cans white. What color do you paint them in the spring? Do you also have a fall color? Jim Jim, this is Minnesota. I leave them white in the spring and paint them white for fall. I paint them in forest tones for June (maybe), July, and the first week of August. I thought you would just throw in some Lutefisk and call it a day. Quote Link to comment
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