how to hide a cache in a tree?

[+upearly13]

I have a cache with a neat container, about the size of a cantalope, that I want to put in a pine tree. The site is already picked out, permission obtained, etc., but how would you put it up far enough in a pine to be basically out of reach? Climbing would be a sticky mess, but I was thinking of some kind of string and pulley or expandable elastic with a drop sting. Any ideas?

[+briansnat]

Why not climb? I've found several caches in pine trees that were a sticky mess to climb. So I was a sticky mess when I was done, I don't geocache and expect to stay clean.

 

If you are totally against that then place a carabiner on a branch and run 40 lb test monofilament through it and use it as a pulley.

[mtbikernate]

a number of different ways to do this. be creative.

[+A & J Tooling]

Tie your container to a rope, throw end of rope over high branch, pull up container and tie off rope.

[+Z_Statman]

I like a pulley if you can find a place to put the pully

[+A & J Tooling]

I like a pulley if you can find a place to put the pully

But then you have to climb the tree and get all icky. I thought the op was against getting dirty?

[+niraD]

One of my favorite "elevated" caches was supported by a thin black cord. Part of the challenge is following that cord visually to figure out where it comes down to ground level. Once you figure that out, the rest is easy: unhook a ring (tied to the cord) from a carabiner (also tied to the cord, which is tied to a branch), lower the cache by letting out the cord, log the cache, raise the cache by the cord, clip the ring to the carabiner again, and coil up the extra cord from between the carabiner and the ring.

[+sword fern]

Don't forget ticks. Lots of those little buggers live in the cover of trees, inside them. Just watche out.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I'ce found some very interesting one. Some required climbing. Others used pulleys, or a rope over a branch. Bes one wa ten feet in the air, and you had to follow the filament to find out how to lower it.

Next question (from the purist in me): It is really a pine? Generally, I find that geocachers think any evergreen is a pine. "Pining for". Nope. That's a hemlock. Or a fir. Or a spruce. Definitely not a pine. Or the "Firry" cahche is hidden in a yew bush. If it's a cedar, don't call it a pine! [/rant]

[+ElmsFam]

On 6/19/2011 at 11:33 AM, upearly13 said:

Climbing would be a sticky mess

I have a cache that is about 30+ feet up a very sticky pinetree! Like someone else said, I don't geocache to stay clean. The decision is yours, but I think a tree climb makes things even better!

[+Lynx Humble]

3 minutes ago, ElmsFam said:

The decision is yours, but I think a tree climb makes things even better!

I hope he already took a decision on what to do in the last 10 years

[+papu66]

I have only seen one cache supported elastic bands, that you had to pull down with a sling. It was nice idea, but probably wouldn't work around here because it may not be so elastic in the winter.

Pulley caches tend to get lot of favorite points.

[+barefootjeff]

I prefer this style of tree hide :

 

 

 

[+Goldenwattle]

On 6/20/2011 at 8:16 AM, Harry Dolphin said:

Next question (from the purist in me): It is really a pine?

We have that in Australia too. So often the Australian native tree, the Casuarina, gets called a pine tree by the un-knowing geocacher.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Casuarina&client=firefox-b&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI6OfgjKXwAhUJzzgGHWWeB4QQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1586&bih=852

 

Added: Oops I just noticed the date of the original question   . I'm sure it was worked out before now.

Edited April 30, 2021 by Goldenwattle

[Darwin473]

3 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

I'm sure it was worked out before now.

 

upearly13 is actually still trying to place the cache in that tree. 

[+SamLowrey]

8 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

We have that in Australia too. So often the Australian native tree, the Casuarina, gets called a pine tree by the un-knowing geocacher.

 

People in my area call junipers “cedars.” 

[+niraD]

6 hours ago, SamLowrey said:

People in my area call junipers “cedars.” 

I think it's safe to say that most people have no idea what kind of tree is what. And that doesn't change when they start geocaching.

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, niraD said:

I think it's safe to say that most people have no idea what kind of tree is what. And that doesn't change when they start geocaching.

 

Yep.  We've found multiple caches hidden in a "pine", that turned out to be arborvitae.    

 - And we've seen lots of hides said to be in "grape vines", that turned out to be PI.  

[+Goldenwattle]

4 hours ago, niraD said:

I think it's safe to say that most people have no idea what kind of tree is what. And that doesn't change when they start geocaching.

And many of those people NEVER change the name in the description, even when told the correct name .

[+niraD]

38 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

 - And we've seen lots of hides said to be in "grape vines", that turned out to be PI.  

I resemble that remark...

 

I'm very familiar with the many forms of western poison oak, which grows in California. But now I need to learn what poison ivy and other plants in East Tennessee look like...

[+Goldenwattle]

1 hour ago, cerberus1 said:

turned out to be PI

I didn't know what PI was until I read niraD's entry. When I have visited the USA, I have worried about poison ivy, as I wouldn't necessarily have recognised it.

We had stinging tree where I used to live, but fortunately I recognised that. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02668-9

[+colleda]

31 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

I didn't know what PI was until I read niraD's entry. When I have visited the USA, I have worried about poison ivy, as I wouldn't necessarily have recognised it.

We had stinging tree where I used to live, but fortunately I recognised that. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02668-9

I have never heard of that one. Did a quick search and found I have been in one area where it is found - Dorrigo NP.

An interesting fact;

"The tree delivers neurotoxin proteins which researchers named gympietides, similar to toxins found in spiders and cone snails, and not previously seen in plants." - Wikipedia

And an interesting remedy;

"First aid for the sting is to apply wax hair-removal strips and then yank them off to remove the trees' hairs." - Wikipedia

 

[+niraD]

9 minutes ago, colleda said:

"First aid for the sting is to apply wax hair-removal strips and then yank them off to remove the trees' hairs." - Wikipedia

In a pinch, I might use strips of duct tape.

 

FWIW, strips of duct tape can also work when trying to connect a patient with an extreme amount of chest hair to an AED (Automated External Defibrillator). At least, according to several of the instructors for my CPR and AED training classes.

[+Goldenwattle]

10 minutes ago, colleda said:

Dorrigo

That's where I used to live. I think the worst variety of the stinging trees are found north in Gympie. Some are worse than others. They vary in appearance too. I could easily recognise the variety in Dorrigo (a main reason I never went bare footed into the forest, as even dead leaves on the ground retain their toxin), but I didn't instantly recognise the variety in the Cairns region. Worrying that.

[+Lostboy1966]

I used this on one, and it has been doing pretty well:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZDFXP3C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

100 lb. test, super thin paracord. String it through some branches and it is very difficult to spot. I attached a small metal plate to the container (Lock&Lock) to give it enough heft to lower easy once you found the spool at ground level.

[+Viajero Perdido]

18 hours ago, Lostboy1966 said:

paracord

 

Animals might chew through that.  They do in my region.

[+Lostboy1966]

5 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

 

Animals might chew through that.  They do in my region.

Always a risk, to be sure. This stuff might act more like floss, though.

[+ElmsFam]

On 4/19/2021 at 2:14 PM, Lynx Humble said:

I hope he already took a decision on what to do in the last 10 years

Just trying to put my opinion into the thread for others to reference and use!

[+kunarion]

I had a "tape measure" retractable Micro cache about 10 feet up a tree for about 6 years.

If you think you'd like retractable caches, they have some design issues to work out.  But you may try anything from a retractable I.D. badge lanyard (or key ring), to a hunter's retractable gear lifter.  And even a dollar store has tape measures.

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by kunarion

[+Ragnemalm]

My kind of topic.

There are several kinds of caches high up in trees:

1) "Fishing" caches, use a rod to get it down. Pretty easy but tends to be replaced badly. D/T for these are debatable since you are still on the ground, but it has some physical challenge anyway. I use this rarely, tend to use T3 when I do. Usually a petling with a hook built from metal wire.

2) "Flag poles", you haul down the cache with a string. Needs to be fastened in a good way so the string does not saw off a branch over time. A loop of string which the main string goes through works if you don't want to use something more sturdy like a pulley.

3) Caches ment to be reached using a ladder. Fasten in the tree in a suitable way (see below). Usually rated something like T4 in my area. (I have only one of these.)

4) Climbing gear caches. Usually very high in a tree with few branches.

5) Free climbing! (My favorites!) Needs a good tree with many living branches of medium size, must go low if the tree is supposed to be reasonably easy.

 

Next part: How to fasten a cache in a tree!

1) Nails or screws. NO! Don't! Never in a living tree. Geocaching avoid to cause that kind of damage.

2) Strings. Good, but must have slack to avoid tree strangling. Trees grow, branches too. I prefer rather thick strings to reduce the risk of the string "sawing" into the branch, especially of the cache is heavy.

3) Flexible things like a bicycle hose. i am not sure about this, it will cause a strain the tree but hardly kill or make it grow over it. I never this this.

 

And finally: Trees to avoid.

1) Trees with many dead branches that encourage you to rely on them. This can be dangerous.

2) Trees with brittle bark that may get significant damage from climbing. I avoid pine trees, they are often too easily damaged.

3) Dead trees or trees with signs of rot.

 

Sorry for the length. I have been through these issues a lot, as I own many tree climbing caches and really want to do it right.

 

Next episode: Rock climbing caches.

[+Ragnemalm]

One more thing: Yes, pine trees as well as fir can be sticky. Not always, but sometimes I can get some resin on my hands. No big problem, it is easy to remove with some soft hand cream, or even butter (followed by soap and water).

 

So I see very little problem with that. But oaks and birches are nicer in that respect. (I free-climbed an oak today, just for the fun! )