Thoughts on locked caches

[+Fishheadjr]

I'm going to be hiding a cache with an old hidden treasure theme. I was thinking about using a locking ammo box and chain painted to look old and rusty, and locking it to a tree or boulder out of sight of course. I'm a little gun shy to put so much time and money into a cache and just leaving it out there. I guess it's all in how you hide it. I'd use a puzzle or hint for the lock code. Is it lame to lock up a cache? Let me know what you think.

[+ngrrfan]

I can think of two caches around here that have locks.

 

One is a letterbox and at the first waypoint you have to look for a clue.... naturally it is a key that you need for the final.

 

The other is a multi that at the 3rd stage you are given 3 numbers, and told to remember them but not told why. At the final you need to work the lock to release the cache from its hiding place.

 

So use a combo lock and make the combo available at a stage.

[+Fkn Don]

I think it sounds interesting.

[+J the Goat]

Go for it. Just make sure to rate it appropriately. There's one near here that's a 5/5 which requires that you not only find two remote caches to get the coords for an even more remote cache, but the final has two key locks you have to pick. I've yet to start that challenge.

[+kunarion]

Is it lame to lock up a cache?

Not at all. Make it clear in the cache description that there's a lock.

 

You should check on it on a schedule, to be sure the lock is operating well. You don't want it to seize up, and some models may work better outdoors than others.

[+power69]

Go for it. Just make sure to rate it appropriately. There's one near here that's a 5/5 which requires that you not only find two remote caches to get the coords for an even more remote cache, but the final has two key locks you have to pick. I've yet to start that challenge.

you have to pick the locks? sounds like one i'd enjoy. i'm good with locks.

[+briansnat]

If you are locking it to save it from vandals and thieves it may have the exact opposite effect. Human nature being what it is, someone who may have found it accidentally, opened it, saw what it was and left it, might become really curious as to what is so important that it is locked and chained up. That could lead to a return with a hacksaw, or crow bar or other tools.

 

If you are locking it to create an additional challenger for searchers, then go for it. I've seen a few of them and they are fun. But dispense with the chain and just hide it well and off the beaten path.

[+Team Noodles]

This one is on our to do list:

 

locked

 

so yes, go for it

[+Isonzo Karst]

What briansnat said. As added security, I think this is a total bust.

It can add fun to a cache design.

 

If I were to put a locked box in the woods - I'd expect that box to disappear. I think it's MORE likely to be taken then the same box unlocked.

 

The box, unlocked, might survive a casual find it - but with a lock on it? gone. If the locking included being chained to a tree, I'd still expect the finder to simply return with bolt cutters or a hack saw - which are back in the truck, not that far away ;-) .

 

The first time I saw a cache with a combo lock, the cache page had a longish rambling story of growing up in the area "the little house at 628 Harcourt Lane... cute. The cache disappeared rather quickly, of course.

[+J the Goat]

Go for it. Just make sure to rate it appropriately. There's one near here that's a 5/5 which requires that you not only find two remote caches to get the coords for an even more remote cache, but the final has two key locks you have to pick. I've yet to start that challenge.

you have to pick the locks? sounds like one i'd enjoy. i'm good with locks.

 

It's on my bookmark list under challenges I'd like to finish. Snow Mountain Challenge. Check it out.

[+John in Valley Forge]

Absolutely fine to lock the cache. I know at least 2 around here like that.

One is a puzzle type cache that requires you to solve for the combination. It is a huge workbox sitting right out in the open at a train station.

The other I can think of requires you to pick the lock.

 

For the record, I was wrong on my guess of the combination for the railroad one and although I have practiced with a padlock of my own, using instructions from the internet, I have not gotten the hang of lock picking, so I havent gotten a smiley on either one.

[+dbrierley]

As mentioned earlier, chaining the cache to something might not be a good idea.

 

There do seem to be a number of locked caches. An earlier thread is at:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=256459

[+power69]

This one is on our to do list:

 

locked

 

so yes, go for it

Ahhhhh. if it were only 5,200 miles closer to me.

[Clan Riffster]

What briansnat said. As added security, I think this is a total bust.

Yeah, if somebody wants to take your cache, they are going to. A lock won't stop them. I can't say that it's a total bust though, as it will act as a tether. I've taken to adding a tether to dang near all my hides. They (usually) keep Momma Nature from making off with the cache, and, on occasion, might keep some hapless wanderer from taking it, as the tether will establish that the cache does, in fact, belong right where it is. I'll pass on adding a lock though. For most places, a stout bit of rope suffices. For caches in active bear territory, I'll use a light chain with D-rings.

[+Sol seaker]

I've seen a few with locks.

 

One was in a place it had been stolen a number of times.

 

It was an ammo box. They put a HUGE chain on it with a big padlock.

 

You could still open the box without touching the lock.

I don't know if it is still there, but it at least lasted a lot longer than the last one.

 

Another one was fantastic!!

 

It was a multi. The hint was the combo, but also the 2nd to last waypoint had the coords on one side, and the waypoint on the other.

 

It was in a natural area in the middle of an industrial area.

The final is a large box that looks like something the fish and wildlife people put there. It is attached and has a lock on it. The combination opens it.

It has a very official sticker on the nice metal box that says, "official geo- recording station" or something like that.

 

VERY well done.

[+dakboy]

Go for it. Just make sure to rate it appropriately. There's one near here that's a 5/5 which requires that you not only find two remote caches to get the coords for an even more remote cache, but the final has two key locks you have to pick. I've yet to start that challenge.

you have to pick the locks? sounds like one i'd enjoy. i'm good with locks.

In some jurisdictions the mere possession of lock-picking tools is illegal unless you're a licensed locksmith.

 

It's not everywhere, and I agree that it's stupid, but some places are really bone-headed & uptight about stuff like that.

[+escomag]

I have seen one cache with a padlock to open

 

GC15YM4

 

and another that was chained to a tree

 

GC21E5M

[+geekslady]

This is the only cache I have found with a lock. It is on an island and they have placed the combo in several caches also located on the island. Very cute. GC1ZMFZ

[+escomag]

Go for it. Just make sure to rate it appropriately. There's one near here that's a 5/5 which requires that you not only find two remote caches to get the coords for an even more remote cache, but the final has two key locks you have to pick. I've yet to start that challenge.

 

What's the rating if you carry bolt cutters to the final, and just cut the lock off?

[Clan Riffster]

What's the rating if you carry bolt cutters to the final, and just cut the lock off?

Definitely a 5... Special tools, ya know.

[+popokiiti]

We found a cache that had a padlock and all that was required were 3 single digits to open it. The "dial" was on the side of the lock, not on the front like the school locker ones.

[Andronicus]

I just did one that had a key lock. There are 4 keys attached to travel bugs floating around town. That was fun! It was listed as an mystery/unknown cache. Don't list a locked cache as a traditional.

[+Bundyrumandcoke]

I have 2 locked caches. The keys are in the caches.

[+geodarts]

I always wonder what property managers think of items left locked on their land.

[eseurat]

I enjoyed the one locked cache that I've encountered. It was a large metal box in plain sight near a skate park and several baseball fields.

 

GC217V4

[+mospeed1]

i own a locked cache it's a master lock that you can set your own combo to so i set it the comboto the date the park it's hidden at was opened...it's a lock on a gate that only the staff has access to...

 

well cachers always leave the lock open ...the lock been broken once...

 

it's a big hassle but it keeps the muggles away

GC1XEM7