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Night Caching


scuba_2

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

many thanks

scuba_2 :)

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

many thanks

scuba_2 :)

Get yourself a good torch - I use a 21 LED rechargable which is not only quite bright, but also the LED light seems better at picking out fire tacks at greater distances/ The more LEDs the torch has the less of a pattern it throws and you don't get that dark shadow in the middle of the light.

 

Other than that, be prepared to trip, stumble and fall over tree stumps, get scared out of your wits at every sound, and have fun.

 

Oh, and while you might not need a GPS to follow a fire tack trail, you might need one to find your way back to the car at the end, so always mark a waypoint where you park. You'd be surprised at how completely disorientated you get in the dark.

 

Have fun, and watch out for that outlaw Robin and his merry men :)

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

many thanks

scuba_2 :)

Get yourself a good torch - I use a 21 LED rechargable which is not only quite bright, but also the LED light seems better at picking out fire tacks at greater distances/ The more LEDs the torch has the less of a pattern it throws and you don't get that dark shadow in the middle of the light.

 

Other than that, be prepared to trip, stumble and fall over tree stumps, get scared out of your wits at every sound, and have fun.

 

Oh, and while you might not need a GPS to follow a fire tack trail, you might need one to find your way back to the car at the end, so always mark a waypoint where you park. You'd be surprised at how completely disorientated you get in the dark.

 

Have fun, and watch out for that outlaw Robin and his merry men :)

 

I'd recommend the opposite. Get an LED torch with *one* led. That way, you get a decent beam. But the LED should be at least 3 watts.

 

I use a head torch (great for hands-free walking along) and another torch with a *long* parabolic reflector, which means it throws the beam a long way. Both have 3 watt LEDs.

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

many thanks

scuba_2 :)

Get yourself a good torch - I use a 21 LED rechargable which is not only quite bright, but also the LED light seems better at picking out fire tacks at greater distances/ The more LEDs the torch has the less of a pattern it throws and you don't get that dark shadow in the middle of the light.

 

Other than that, be prepared to trip, stumble and fall over tree stumps, get scared out of your wits at every sound, and have fun.

 

Oh, and while you might not need a GPS to follow a fire tack trail, you might need one to find your way back to the car at the end, so always mark a waypoint where you park. You'd be surprised at how completely disorientated you get in the dark.

 

Have fun, and watch out for that outlaw Robin and his merry men :)

 

Youve sold it to me sounds like fun thanks for the help cheers scuba_2

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

many thanks

scuba_2 :)

Get yourself a good torch - I use a 21 LED rechargable which is not only quite bright, but also the LED light seems better at picking out fire tacks at greater distances/ The more LEDs the torch has the less of a pattern it throws and you don't get that dark shadow in the middle of the light.

 

Other than that, be prepared to trip, stumble and fall over tree stumps, get scared out of your wits at every sound, and have fun.

 

Oh, and while you might not need a GPS to follow a fire tack trail, you might need one to find your way back to the car at the end, so always mark a waypoint where you park. You'd be surprised at how completely disorientated you get in the dark.

 

Have fun, and watch out for that outlaw Robin and his merry men :)

 

I'd recommend the opposite. Get an LED torch with *one* led. That way, you get a decent beam. But the LED should be at least 3 watts.

 

I use a head torch (great for hands-free walking along) and another torch with a *long* parabolic reflector, which means it throws the beam a long way. Both have 3 watt LEDs.

 

A second vote for single LED.

And a head torch is almost essential if the trail is marked with fire tacks or 3M tape. These were both designed to reflect light back towards it's source, so the closer the light is to your eyes, the better - and earlier - you will see them. :)

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

 

By night caching, do you mean:

  • caching at night (ie looking for normal caches in the dark) or
  • finding night caches - caches specifically set to be done at night usually involving a trail of reflectors

Although you need a good torch for both, it's not the same thing :)

 

Mark

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A good hint is not to go night 'caching after a few beverages whilst at a camping event.

 

Not only do you make lots of mistakes and fall over a lot, but it got me in trouble with my better half.

Good answer. :)

 

We did our 1st night cache after spending the evening in the pub (well, we had to wait for it to get dark didn't we).

It was a bit of a giggle. Although I was perfectly sober as I was driving. When other people are a little tiddly it's sort of infectious.

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A head light has been reccomended and thats what I'd suggest. The one I use, not only for night caches, but my Below Aboves, is a LED head light and carry a small LED torch. One advantage of most head lights is that you can switch from one to three to lots of LEDs.

One tip, if you're with somebody try to avoid looking them in the face when wearing a headlight. You'll either destroy your night vision or theirs or both. Look to one side and move your eyes.

 

Clawz

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A second vote for single LED.

And a head torch is almost essential if the trail is marked with fire tacks or 3M tape. These were both designed to reflect light back towards it's source, so the closer the light is to your eyes, the better - and earlier - you will see them. ;)

 

So did you forget your head torch the night you did our night cache :rolleyes::laughing:

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A second vote for single LED.

And a head torch is almost essential if the trail is marked with fire tacks or 3M tape. These were both designed to reflect light back towards it's source, so the closer the light is to your eyes, the better - and earlier - you will see them. :D

 

So did you forget your head torch the night you did our night cache :):laughing:

 

We all had head torches on. I suspect gremlins. Little leaf coloured gremlins, sitting in front of your markers. Yes - that must be it :wub:

 

Ali was sober - there can't be any other explanation...

 

:rolleyes:;)

Edited by keehotee
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Oh well, I've clearly been doing it all wrong, with the incorrect number of LEDs in my torch and the wrong type of torch altogether.

Go with what the other guys said, you need a head torch with a single LED.

 

Looks like you have been doing it all wrong then, am amazed you managed to find any of those markers with the wrong type of torch !! :laughing:

Perhaps next time we should gaffer tape the torch to your head and block out some of the light with the aforementioned gaffer tape, then you should be ok to play the game properly !!

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AD180 and I went caching on Lakeland fells at night in winter a few years ago. AD180 needed to practice his night navigation using map and compass. He found the cache GZ. Head torches then found the cache. We had spare head torches and spare batteries and we told someone what we were doing with clear instructions not to call local MRT. Too embarrassing. I had an FX10 cavers halogen bulbed head torch, over 30 meters of beam for many hours. AD180 has a Petzl MYO 5 which is what local MRTs use.

We went to unfamiliar areas to make it more realistic (harder).

 

If playing at night it is sometimes worth letting the Police and Coastguard know what you are doing. Head torches on the fell can provoke a call out. Head torches on the tidal bore called out the Police. But that is another life.

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

 

By night caching, do you mean:

  • caching at night (ie looking for normal caches in the dark) or
  • finding night caches - caches specifically set to be done at night usually involving a trail of reflectors

Although you need a good torch for both, it's not the same thing :laughing:

 

Actualy had not thought about the latter but both sound great.

I presume reflective caches are rare in the uk? Im from nottingham

 

Mark

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AD180 and I went caching on Lakeland fells at night in winter a few years ago. AD180 needed to practice his night navigation using map and compass. He found the cache GZ. Head torches then found the cache. We had spare head torches and spare batteries and we told someone what we were doing with clear instructions not to call local MRT. Too embarrassing. I had an FX10 cavers halogen bulbed head torch, over 30 meters of beam for many hours. AD180 has a Petzl MYO 5 which is what local MRTs use.

We went to unfamiliar areas to make it more realistic (harder).

 

If playing at night it is sometimes worth letting the Police and Coastguard know what you are doing. Head torches on the fell can provoke a call out. Head torches on the tidal bore called out the Police. But that is another life.

Thats very useful thanks for that will have to go shopping cheers

p.s do you just ring the local police to the area you are going to?

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p.s do you just ring the local police to the area you are going to?

 

I know it's common sense, but please only ring the police if it's appropriate to do so. We don't want to be bothered with phone calls if it's just someone going for a walk in the woods etc.....

If your doing something that might cause a 3rd party concern for your welfare, then it might make more sense to have a by stander on hand to explain what's going on or simply not bother!

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Not sure how up to date it is or if there are many in your area, I will leave you to peruse as the mileages will make more sense when you view the list from your account.

 

There're at least 3 in the Bristol area that aint on that list :laughing:

I suspect the list is only as good as the info provided to the list owner.

 

I guess the right thing to do is to let the list owner know of any we know about that are not on the list. But I don't know if it is even still being maintained.

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Not sure how up to date it is or if there are many in your area, I will leave you to peruse as the mileages will make more sense when you view the list from your account.

 

There're at least 3 in the Bristol area that aint on that list :rolleyes:

I suspect the list is only as good as the info provided to the list owner.

 

I guess the right thing to do is to let the list owner know of any we know about that are not on the list. But I don't know if it is even still being maintained.

:laughing: No - they're not there by choice ;)

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Hello

I am after help and advice on night caching, It sounds like fun but Im sure there are a lot of hard learned lessons out there!

lots of things you would not normally think of.

 

what is the best way to start night caching and build up some experiance.

any help will be gratefully received

 

many thanks

scuba_2 :laughing:

 

If you're planning a trip down to Hampshire for a bit of night caching you may wish to contact the Prince of Darkness to check whether he's available to accompany you. Don't think he posts on here though, guess he's normally asleep during the day! :lol::)

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Oh, and while you might not need a GPS to follow a fire tack trail, you might need one to find your way back to the car at the end, so always mark a waypoint where you park. You'd be surprised at how completely disorientated you get in the dark.

 

 

Not only where you park your car! I'd suggest marking a waypoint at several (if not all) of the firetacks. That way, if you do lose the trail (following a pair of moving firetacks that occasionally blink) then you can always find it again.

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May I tell you of my (well ,actually my Other Half's ) amazing head torch? It is a bikelight, which comes with a headstrap.It is called "Ay up" and is Austrailian (as is OH).

The light it emits has been likened to that of the Police Helicopter.

The thing not to do ,is to get back into car after sucessful "darkness caching "and look in rearview mirror with head torch still on!

:blink::huh::o

Edited by 104daysummervacation
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Its kept up to date via me being told about any new caches to add.

 

I review the listing and if it contains details stating night trails, reflectors etc i add it to the bookmark list.

 

Im aware of a few night caches that the point of there existence is that the night part remains secret hence the mini review. If its not mentioned in the listing or the hint it does not get added.

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Keep an eye out for a new series of caches in the Sussex area.

There's 1 or 2 mentalists that go out at night to gain an FTF.

Personally I think it's at worst dangerous and at best foolhardy.

 

Ignoring the FTF aspect, in what way is caching at night "dangerous" or "foolhardy". Any more than walking home after work at this time of year is gangerous or foolhardy?

 

I would agree if you are talking about a cache in the middle of the moors, but public footpaths in semi urban areas, or across fields? Or round a pine forest?

 

We've done quite a few caches in the dark (some night caches, some 'normal' caches and have never felt in danger or considered ourselves hardy fools. :angry:

At this time of year if you rule out caching at all in the dark then the fun stops at 4pm.

 

Or maybe I have misinterpreted what you are saying.

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Keep an eye out for a new series of caches in the Sussex area.

There's 1 or 2 mentalists that go out at night to gain an FTF.

Personally I think it's at worst dangerous and at best foolhardy.

 

............. Any more than walking home after work at this time of year is gangerous or foolhardy?............

 

 

I just googled gangerous! :angry:

 

Well Lovejoy, I must say I'm impressed. So far you've not struck me as someone who might be down with the 'hood!

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I know it's common sense, but please only ring the police if it's appropriate to do so. We don't want to be bothered with phone calls if it's just someone going for a walk in the woods etc.....

If your doing something that might cause a 3rd party concern for your welfare, then it might make more sense to have a by stander on hand to explain what's going on or simply not bother!

 

agreed! and if you don't know the local non-emergency number where you are, PLEASE-- don't dial 999 unless someone's life is at risk or a crime is ongoing.

 

i did my first lot of night caching last week, both a reflector cache with a torch, and a normal cache in the dark. both were great fun.

 

and i would thoroughly recommend ebay for 99p LED torches shipped from china. and cheapy AAA batteries from wilko's :D

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I just googled gangerous! :laughing:

 

Well Lovejoy, I must say I'm impressed. So far you've not struck me as someone who might be down with the 'hood!

 

Yo! Bruv (or Sis), nuf respect dude. Nah what I mean, Innit.

 

:D

 

(If you've ever seen Armstrong & Miller's RAF sketch, that's kind of how it sounds when I try it)

 

:anitongue::laughing:

 

I think we've all learnt a new word there tahnks to Lovejoy!!

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