Caching in high traffic areas? Towns or Cities.

[+awegwen]

Hello all, maybe because I am very new to actually doing caching this why I am asking this but this type of caching sounds fun to me just as much as caching in the middle of the woods. They are just fun in different ways.

 

Of course, you don't want to place a cache in a place where people are going to think something bad is going on but placing and finding caches in the middle of a town or city just seem like a fun thing to me.

 

There are a few places in the town I live in, where I think I could get away with having a great spot where a cache will not be muggled. Has anyone ever found or hidden a cache that was almost in plane sight?

 

Basically, I am just wondering what things someone should think of when caching in a town or city where there is always a good chance someone will be walking by or at least be able to see you. Anyone have suggestions?

[+flask]

there are a lot of topics about this, but please. don't try to be stealthy.

 

trying to be stealthy is how you attract the attention of people who think you're a bomber. trying to be stealthy will make you look suspicious.

[+awegwen]

Exactly. Being discrete is the best way to go about things like this. A few well placed micro caches in town will be fun to hide. I will do some searching for the topics.

[vagabond]

Personally for urban caches I'll start about daylight on a Sunday morning and cache until the area starts getting traffic

[+ecanderson]

there are a lot of topics about this, but please. don't try to be stealthy.

 

trying to be stealthy is how you attract the attention of people who think you're a bomber. trying to be stealthy will make you look suspicious.

Only if you do it poorly. Unfortunately, many people do it poorly. You do understand that we're all just in training to manage dead drops for some 3 letter agency, right?

[+brslk]

there are a lot of topics about this, but please. don't try to be stealthy.

 

trying to be stealthy is how you attract the attention of people who think you're a bomber. trying to be stealthy will make you look suspicious.

Only if you do it poorly. Unfortunately, many people do it poorly. You do understand that we're all just in training to manage dead drops for some 3 letter agency, right?

 

What do you mean in training? Cause I Already am.

[+briansnat]

there are a lot of topics about this, but please. don't try to be stealthy.

 

trying to be stealthy is how you attract the attention of people who think you're a bomber. trying to be stealthy will make you look suspicious.

 

I agree. Skulking around an area, constantly peeking over your shoulders to see who is watching is a sure fire way to attract attention.

 

I generally avoid these kinds of caches because I'm not in this sport for a cloak and dagger game. On the rare occasions I do go after a cache in a high traffic area I just walk up to it, grab it, sign the log and put it back. I'm sure that attracts far less attention that someone who goes out of his way to be "stealthy".

[+DanOCan]

Increasingly my technique for finding caches in high traffic areas is to simply add them to my Ignore list.

[+ecanderson]

 

I agree. Skulking around an area, constantly peeking over your shoulders to see who is watching is a sure fire way to attract attention.

Not to mention it's lousy tradecraft. Perhaps we should do some classes at our next meet-and-greet on surveying the site as you approach it instead of waiting until you're on top of the cache?

 

I generally avoid these kinds of caches because I'm not in this sport for a cloak and dagger game. On the rare occasions I do go after a cache in a high traffic area I just walk up to it, grab it, sign the log and put it back. I'm sure that attracts far less attention that someone who goes out of his way to be "stealthy".

Often stealth is best achieved by the appearance of doing nothing unusual, and doing it in plain sight. Problem with lampskirts while wearing civvies is that lifting them is unusual no matter what.

[Bolivar Bill]

I cover a big area and sometimes have some free time between jobs. Company pickup, flashing lights, hard hat, clipboard- nothing to see here, just doing my job.

[+wimseyguy]

I just dial the Ipod to the Pink Panther and Peter Gunn theme songs, turn up the volume on the external speakers, and go at it without a care in the world.

[EWSmith]

I'm trying to avoid these for now. I'm not the most experienced cacher, so it always takes me a while to find things which makes it really hard to look inconspicuous. If I do go after an urban cach in a high traffic area, I do it early in the morning when the traffic isn't high, or late at night.

[+StarBrand]

Generally I try to avoid such caches - just not my style - however...

 

Be bold. Very bold. Just walk up to the cache area - get the cache, sign the log and put it back. Act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't). Act as though it is your job to find that cache and a job you are proud to do. Behave as if you do this all the time (because you do). Carry a clipboard and be proffesional. Just do it. Such people tend to blend into the background.

[+flask]

Being discrete is the best way to go about things like this.

 

if you are not discrete, you have much larger problems than a geocache.

 

much larger problems. if you are not discrete, perhaps you might tend to those problems first and geocache later.

[+KeeperOfTheMist]

I'll answer this like any other of like question.. carry a trash bag and CITO. I mean whos gonna bother someone cleaning up trash. in the public eye your either

A an Environmentalist

B a Person doing Community Service

C poor and Looking for Cans (more and more common)

D Looking for good Karma

 

either way no one will think twice about what your doing.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Basically, I am just wondering what things someone should think of when caching in a town or city where there is always a good chance someone will be walking by or at least be able to see you. Anyone have suggestions?

 

Depends very much on the neighborhood. As noted on the other recent thread on this subject, I've done some caching in NYC. Hundreds of people walk by while you're feeling up the bridge, and they don't even see you. In other cities, it mught be quite different. Small town America can be quite a different story. Checking the base of a parking meter in Elizabeth, New Jersey, or the base of a sign in Front Royal, Virginia will be noticed. Look like you belong there tying your shoes. Don't be suspicious, be nonchalant. Loo like you have a perfectly good reason for being there.

[+ecanderson]

Act as though it is your job to find that cache and a job you are proud to do.

While it doesn't work for all hide types (it's not so easy to pull this off inside a large evergreen tree in a busy park ) your approach works well more often than not. Only once have I stooped to "inspecting for pine beetle infestation".

 

When caching as part of a 2-man team in a really high traffic area, my caching buddy and I have been known to point at our Garmins, gesticulate, point in the general direction of the cache site, whine about how much more difficult the job is than it was supposed to be (just loudly enough to be heard), point at the ground, and just generally act totally non-stealthy up to the point of actually grabbing the cache container. Properly used, the Garmins (especially the older ones like the 60CSx with the antenna stubs) make really good props. As earlier noted, clipboards are right up there on the list, too - especially for those of us who still keep paper for caches or GSAK lists or whatever - form follows function and all that. We don't bother with the orange safety vests

 

Stealth has its place, but it requires practice to exercise in a competent manner. Poorly done, as it often is, it's better to avoid it in favor of more overt approaches that actually garner less attention.

[+Shop99er]

I find that if you look like you know what you're doing, people tend to think you do.

 

I was trying to grab a cache that is on a metal box in a strip-mall parking lot. There was a guy in a car right next to where I needed to be. So, I took my gps out of it's pouch, and held it like I was taking some sort of readings with it.

 

He bought it, and took a nap.

[+The VanDucks]

We own many urban caches, and quite a few are "hidden" in plain sight. Experienced cachers will usually find them quickly; new cachers have a bit more trouble. The more finds you have, the easier it is to find new caches; just a matter of experience and coming across many types of containers.

 

To hide a cache in plain sight, you must find a location where people have a reason to be standing around (and where they won't be in danger of being picked up by the police for loitering)! Metal newspaper boxes, signs, public benches, landscaping structures or railings outside public buildings, etc - all are plausible places where the geocacher can hang around making a cell phone call, tying his shoes, reading a paper, etc. Most of these hides are going to be very small containers, of course, such as nanos, bison tubes, and magnetic keycases, and must be painted or camoflaged to match the surrounding area. It's a thoughtful hide if the cache owner has been able to place the cache where it may be off to the side away from windows or somewhat screened from view of the general public.

 

The experienced geocacher will probably spot the cache first, and then do some sort of action such as reaching down to tie his shoes, dropping something and scrabbling around to pick it up; anything to make the casual passer-by think nothing much is going on. Most muggles are very non-observant of anything not directly concerning themselves (with the exception of police or security guards, of course!).

 

We do love to find caches way out in parks and woodlands, but where we live we would not be able to find many caches if we ignored the urban ones!

[+wimseyguy]

I find that if you look like you know what you're doing, people tend to think you do.

 

I was trying to grab a cache that is on a metal box in a strip-mall parking lot. There was a guy in a car right next to where I needed to be. So, I took my gps out of it's pouch, and held it like I was taking some sort of readings with it.

 

He bought it, and took a nap.

You sure you didn't just administer the Vulcan neck pinch while taking your tricorder readings?

[+awegwen]

KeeperOfTheMist, Harry Dolphin, ecanderson, Shop99er, The VanDucks thanks for the tips. These are all things I had in my mind. I just wanted to see if other cachers were doing things like this.

 

wimseyguy, I am not even half Vulcan. If I was I would definitely administer that neck pinch.

 

Also, I have recently placed a cache which is located in some phone booths. No one was around when I placed it so it was pretty easy. I look forward to doing some caching in my last city of residence, St. Paul. It will be a different game, I think.

 

Thanks again for the input!

[+Scubasonic]

I do my best to not draw attention to what I'm doing, and if it is to high traffic I will just avoid going after it completely. The way I figure it is if a Cache Owner is going to put a cache in a high traffic area, then he or she is probably going to be replacing it from time to time because it got muggled.

 

Scubasonic

[RedShoesGirl]

Increasingly my technique for finding caches in high traffic areas is to simply add them to my Ignore list.

 

oh yeh. especially micros and nanos.

[+bittsen]

I was given a great idea today.

If doing a bush cache, take along a plastic baggie. While you are searching the bush, take a leaf or two and put them in the plastic bag. It will look like you are taking "samples" from the bushes while you are actually searching them.

[+ChaceGuild]

Having done an "urban run" on caches today, I've found the workman-look to be a very good idea It really is surprising how people wearing hi-vis vests and looking slightly untidy just blend into the background, even if they're looking around trees in a park!

 

I even went into our local Tourist Information, to see if they had any free maps of the local area, and on explaining why I needed it the 2 members of staff both said, "Oh Geocaching! We used to do that!" The chap even complimented my urban camouflage, and said it was a great idea!