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Tank caches...


SoonerL8R

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I've been thinking about creating a "tank cache" in a neighboring town, assuming of course I can get permission to place one. My question is do you like them, hate them, avoid them or love the challenge? My first experience with one of these caches was on a caboose and while it frustrated me to no end the 75 minutes it took before I found it, the feeling of satisfaction like I had actually accomplished something was amazing once I did find it!

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I've been thinking about creating a "tank cache" in a neighboring town, assuming of course I can get permission to place one. My question is do you like them, hate them, avoid them or love the challenge? My first experience with one of these caches was on a caboose and while it frustrated me to no end the 75 minutes it took before I found it, the feeling of satisfaction like I had actually accomplished something was amazing once I did find it!

I don't like them...especially if it is a Nano on a tank...

 

I will be honest and say the ones I did like doing had good hints about where the cache was...hidden enough to not be muggled, but not hidden so bad that it was impossible to find...especially something on a tank...

 

A difficult challenge is certainly different then a mean placement...just my opinion.

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They fall in the same category as caboose caches. I usually give them a quick look and if I can't find the sucker after a few minutes, I move on. If it's one that's close to home, I'll probably end up going back a few times.

 

I've done a few tank caches with mixed success. On a couple of them I had the cache in hand in under a minute or two. For a couple of others it took a few visits before I found it, and for a couple I never did find it (both are 30+ miles from home). I've never found a cache on a caboose (not going to go there...) but I spent over 3 hours searching over four visits to find one on a train engine about 1.5 miles from home. I've been watching that one ever since I found it and very few find it the first time but those that do apparently like this type of hide enough that they'll go back for multiple visits to find it. I'm sure a bit of salty language could be heard of one installed a audio recorder near the cache but it would also capture the "Yes!" when someone finally found it.

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After you bang your head a few times you might feel like banging the CO's head a few times, and then give it a favorite point.

Make sure it's far enough away from any active tracks, if it's an engine.

There is a tank cache at a privately owned military museum (the guy is a tank/military equipment collector) near me, but I've never done it, because I've been driving by these tanks for years, and I've already seen them, and they are fenced in. I don't feel the need to get closer.

If I went to a new area, and happened upon a tank cache, I might stop and look. I've done a few cannon/big gun caches too.

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I've done some research and the museum this tank, jet, and a helicopter sit on has "no trespassing" signs on all of them so those are out. I do have access to a caboose though I believe and maybe this is a route I may try to pursue. I agree that while they are evil and make alot of people want to bang their heads, there still is some sort of a sense of accomplishment. On something that large there has to be some kind of clue though or it really is being mean. While it would be so easy to be mean, I look at the one I found a few weeks ago and at least the CO was nice enough to leave me a clue or I'd still be there. So I definitely am gonna try to help people find it but at the same time I don't want to make it a 2 minute search and you're done either. When I drive 30 minutes, an hour, or longer to something that's rated maybe a 4 difficulty, I myself would feel letdown if it were over that quickly.

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I really like tanks, and I really like caches that bring me to visit tanks.

However I am horrible at finding caches(esp nanos) on tanks.

So my feelings on tank caches are mixed. Its kinda a love/hate vibe I have with them.

They beat hiking a mile to find an ammo can under a pile a sticks though :ph34r:

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I really like tanks, and I really like caches that bring me to visit tanks.

However I am horrible at finding caches(esp nanos) on tanks.

So my feelings on tank caches are mixed. Its kinda a love/hate vibe I have with them.

They beat hiking a mile to find an ammo can under a pile a sticks though :ph34r:

 

OK then, we'll have you hike a mile to an ammo can on a rocky hillside, with 10,000 rocks, and with heavy tree cover to mess with your GPS. Better?

 

As you can tell, I don't buy the "ammo can under pile of sticks" retort. :laughing:

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After you bang your head a few times you might feel like banging the CO's head a few times, and then give it a favorite point.

Make sure it's far enough away from any active tracks, if it's an engine.

There is a tank cache at a privately owned military museum (the guy is a tank/military equipment collector) near me, but I've never done it, because I've been driving by these tanks for years, and I've already seen them, and they are fenced in. I don't feel the need to get closer.

If I went to a new area, and happened upon a tank cache, I might stop and look. I've done a few cannon/big gun caches too.

 

Planet, although I'd agree that the tank cache you're talking of might not be up your alley, it does have the redeeming factor of being a regular sized cache that still makes you look. Anybody who gets tired of nano and micro magnetic hides on military equipment would have fun with that one. And anyone who likes tanks would want to hug the hider.

 

Although I'd enjoy a cache that brought me to a tank on general principles, if it is a nano or micro magnetic, it pretty much falls into the category of 'needle in a haystack', which is in my opinion one of worst types of cache placements.

 

If you're going to do it, be creative, avoid nano and micro sizes, stay away from magnetic, and if you can pull that off it should be a nice hide.

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OK - I'll ask the question - what the heck is a Tank Cache? :huh:

 

Surely you don't mean one hidden on a tank - how mmany tanks are around except on military bases?

 

Quite a few :)

I like the M60's. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=b212705d-9f99-4902-bc3d-34f45637feb9

I find most on the Waymarking site. :laughing:

Here is a public bookmark: http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=87942aa6-0414-4613-8afd-4f534171c9d6

Edited by Manville Possum Hunters
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OK - I'll ask the question - what the heck is a Tank Cache? :huh:

 

Surely you don't mean one hidden on a tank - how mmany tanks are around except on military bases? Is the tank the container type? (I've just posted about bison tubes so I wonder if that's a "tank"?)

 

I was thinking the same thing. Have never seen or noticed one in 6000+ finds. Perhaps if I cached more often near army bases, but I guess none are around here.

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Haven't done a tank cache. Did 2 caches on trains on display. One was a nano and one was an ammo can. Will never ever do anything smaller htan a regular on a train or any large metal piece of equipment again.

 

Took an embarrassingly long time to find the ammo can on the train but was very impressed that it lasted so long where it was.

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I hate 'em. Tanks (canons, cabooses, whatever) are always on display somewhere. (Unless they are being used for what they were built for and that's a whole different set of problems.) Sticking a nano on a 60 ton chunk of iron that has about 10,000 places to hide one is just another needle in a haystack hide. It's just complicated by the fact that you're being watched by everyone. "Well just act like you belong there GOF!" Yeah, right." cause old, bald, fat guys belong crawling all over, under, and around an artillery display piece. <_< Yeah, the cops didn't believe me either.

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I do appreciate caches hidden on old military or railroad equipment, since I enjoy looking at them.

I also appreciate a good hint (if I need it) to help me narrow-down the area to search.

If you just want to make a difficult hide, I'll enjoy the site, spend about five minutes looking for the cache, take the DNF, and move on...never to return.

Of course if it's an FTF at stake and there's a $50 in there as a prize I might look a bit longer. :lol:

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I have mixed feelings about that hide style. In general, I enjoy being around big honking chunks of mechanical genius, and as a driver of an M113 tracked armored personnel carrier for my agency's SWAT team, tanks top my list of big honking mechanical monsters I enjoy poking around in and on. So if a cacher brings me to a tank, I will initially enjoy the visit. However, I really detest needle in a haystack hides, as I find too many hiders mistake monotony for creativity. Once my excitement at being around a tank wore off, my fun meter would plummet to zero, and I'd likely walk away, never to return.

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I think trains, tanks, jets, etc on display are great locations for a cache because they are things I'd like to see. But they can be a PITA to find a cache on them. A good hint is REALLY appreciated. Alternatively hide a cache nearby instead of on the tank/etc or create an offset cache.

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I once found an ammo can hidden under a caboose. Very cool! But it did eventually get muggled.

I wonder if you found the one I found.

 

I can picture the area, even the town (small Minnesota town) but I can't remember which town it was, or even if it was north or south of the Twin Cities. Its been a while. But they had a nice little bracket made for the ammo can, underneath the stairs. Very Scandinavian town, as I recall.

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FWIW, the tank caches I've found haven't been on or near military bases. They've been on tanks that were displayed in city parks as a memorial/tribute.

 

There are five of them within 30 miles of me. Most of them are located on the property of a Veterans organization like the American Legion.

 

One of the things that they do have going for them is that poking around one to try and find a cache attracts little notice. It just looks like someone that is interested or curios about tanks and it almost appears natural to be peering underneath it and examining all the little nooks and crannies.

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I once found an ammo can hidden under a caboose. Very cool! But it did eventually get muggled.

I wonder if you found the one I found.

 

I can picture the area, even the town (small Minnesota town) but I can't remember which town it was, or even if it was north or south of the Twin Cities. Its been a while. But they had a nice little bracket made for the ammo can, underneath the stairs. Very Scandinavian town, as I recall.

 

Mine was in a tiny town in Montana. The can was painted to match the wheel and then just set on top of the wheel.

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After the United States finally switched all of it's Reserve and National Guard units to M1 tanks, they offered for free to any VFW club, the old M60 tanks in their inventory. They had to be parked on a concrete platform, the oil drained and the engines ran until they seized. The breech block was also removed so it could never be fired. The tanks no one wanted were taken by barge out and sunk and made into a massive artifical reef. There are quite a few tanks at VFW halls around the country. By quite a few, I am talking more then 1000. If you can't find a tank cache in the States, you aren't looking.

 

There is usually a sign next to them saying to keep off. But that is only there for litigation purposes. They know kids are gonna' climb on them.

 

There is nothing on a tank you can hurt so behave as you see fit.

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Did one in Cheektowaga, New York and was doing a pretty good job in the non-chalant department until I got under the tank rolled onto one side triggering the car alarm on the key fob. Sooooo much for subtleness and stealth.

 

Tanks, cannons, bridges, old equipment, rock piles, fields of ivy ... Not exactly my favorite, however, sometimes you need to be beaten into a humbled mass of protoplasm.

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I found several on tanks and in general I like them. I spent many days at the Aberrdeen Proving Grounds as a kid admiring the incredible collection of armor and other military equipment that was there in those days. There are plenty of places you can hide a "small" on one of them. I wouldn't look for a micro or nano on one without an explicit hint; like many others I'm not in the game for the needle in a haystack hide. Besides, the VFW folks do get a little touchy about adults crawling around the tracks of their armored vehicle in my experience.

I've also nabbed a few hidden on field pieces at American legion posts and veteran's cemeteries.

 

i've also found caches on cabooses, engines and passenger cars. With these, it is a matter of visiting when muggle traffic is light.

 

But perhaps my favorite piece of military hardware cache is GC4F78 It's a B-52!

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One of my favorite cache memories was a DNF when I was starting out. I was doing a run of caches and after five finds was feeling pretty cocky. Made the approach to this one and found myself facing something more menacing than a lawn gnome in front of the local VFW. I was really getting into the whole searching thing doing non-muggle things to this large(ish) item when I looked up and saw myself staring into an SUV with two ladies watching me feeling up the rear end of this particular piece of hardware.

 

I beat a hasty retreat only to figure out later that they were probably cachers as well.

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I just found my second cache of this type last week and it was a keyholder on a tank painted to match it. I'm still pondering hiding one of these cache's but after finding basically a "needle in a haystack" with a nano on a caboose and a manageable keyholder I'm pondering the latter of the two to make it more enjoyable!

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OK - I'll ask the question - what the heck is a Tank Cache? :huh:

 

Surely you don't mean one hidden on a tank - how mmany tanks are around except on military bases? Is the tank the container type? (I've just posted about bison tubes so I wonder if that's a "tank"?)

 

The second biggest military in the world are all lf those VFW's and American Legions. Now if only they didn't weld everything closed :(

 

I do not like tank or train hides unless a hint is provided. Or unless the container is classed as small or larger. And can we discuss how many times I've bonked my head while looking for tank/train caches? :mad:

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I've never found a tank cache. I don't think I've ever even seen a tank on display before, although I've seen plenty of jets. I've only found one train cache (caboose) that I can remember, and that was a fairly large sized container, one of those floaty containers for keeping your keys and stuff in while boating.

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