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On Being Stealthy...


ohmelli

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides??? The things are 99 percent metal... usually painted all white or all black... with a nano (black or white, of course!) hidden somewhere in or on it. I mean you can be casual enough to sit on the bench and finger every single slat on it ... top and bottom and inbetween... but when you don't find it there (of course) and your done "dusting" all the little shelfy portions (casually, of course)... and you decide that you need to check the underside of the structure... or stand on the benches to manhandle the upper, out of reach, sections of the structure... How does one pull this off in a stealthy manor? Seriously. I'm ASKING... how do YOU do it? I have yet to actually FIND one of these little buggers and I'm determined! The WOODS are sooooooo much easier! There's never anybody around!!! :lol: I definitely need a class... Geocaching 101... "The Stealthy Huntress".

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides???

 

Being stealthy is, in general, a Very Bad Idea. If you are too shy to go up to whoever is there and tell them what you are doing, then don't do it.

 

Generally, amateur attempts to behave in a stealthy manner have the opposite result: they attract attention. If you want to have an interaction with the authorities, the best way to do so is to try to be stealthy.

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides???

 

Being stealthy is, in general, a Very Bad Idea. If you are too shy to go up to whoever is there and tell them what you are doing, then don't do it.

 

Generally, amateur attempts to behave in a stealthy manner have the opposite result: they attract attention. If you want to have an interaction with the authorities, the best way to do so is to try to be stealthy.

 

Personally, I have NO problem with walking up and telling people what I'm doing. But when the hider specifically requests "stealth" in their cache description, I feel like I ought to at least make an ATTEMPT at it! NO? I mean I DO hate the idea of attracting muggles to the caches... but do muggles really CARE about nano hides with just a signature list inside???

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The most effective thing I've found is to figure out when few / no people are likely to be present, and then attempt the cache at that time. In an office park area, obviously after hours. In a city park, middle of the morning on a weekday usually, that type of thing. Other than being there when people aren't - there isn't much you can do to be invisible.

 

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Truthfully, I would rather advertise! "I AM GEOCACHING!" Oh. What's THAT? "It's a TREASURE hunt!" Oh! What kind of treasure? "Well, right now I'm looking for a teeeeeeeny teeeeeeeny tiiiiiiny little 'something' with a rolled up piece of paper inside for me to sign... that says I FOUND IT! I've been here!" :lol: And then they can look at me like I have six heads - and NO life - and perhaps dial 911. :lol:

 

I got stopped by a cop while I was tromping through stickers in a median the other day! He said "Ma'am... are you OKAY?" I said "Yes sir Officer! I'm GEOCACHING!" He nodded, said okay and went on his way! No problem!

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Forget Stealth:

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

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Forget Stealth:

I advise you to not try and be stealthy. That just attracts more undue attention. Instead be bold. Be proud of what you are doing - act as though you are doing nothing wrong (mostly because you aren't!!). Act as though it is your job to find that cache, a job you are very good at and proud to do. Find it. Sign it. Put it back and move on. Carry a clipboard and look professional - you'll blend into the background.

Oh StarBrand! I LOVE your style! That is SO me!!! I will do it! Stealth be DAMNED! Cache on!!!

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I often use CITO as cover. I take out a plastic bag and collect trash. When I find the cache, I drop it in the bag and take a break. After I've signed the log, I collect some more trash, replacing the cache in the process. Then I throw the bag in a trash can as I leave.

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just depends on the situation. If I feel like the person is relatively absent minded or approachable, I just go for it. If I feel I should pretend to wait for the next upcoming bus and wait them out, I can do it, especially if I have emails to read anyway. If someone is smoking all over the bus stop, I will leave and come back later. A geocache is not worth going through that to me.

 

If there is a crowd of people, I won't try. One or two relatively distracted or approachable folks, sure, just go for it.

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how do YOU do it?

Simply hunch over and turn your head from side to side while rubbing your hands over each other, cackling softly. That'll do it.

 

No, actually if I'm uncomfortable, I'll skip it, and plan to be there when the crowds thin out. People mostly don't even notice nor care, but if it's a nano, I'll probably be searching some park bench for hours, which will eventually attract attention, or I'd at least become a nusiance. If I'm confident of where the thing's hidden, sometimes I'll "get a phone call" and wouldn't you know, the reception is best under that park bench.

Edited by kunarion
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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides???

 

Being stealthy is, in general, a Very Bad Idea. If you are too shy to go up to whoever is there and tell them what you are doing, then don't do it.

 

Generally, amateur attempts to behave in a stealthy manner have the opposite result: they attract attention. If you want to have an interaction with the authorities, the best way to do so is to try to be stealthy.

 

Too true.

 

Pick a time when you don't need to be stealthy or carry along a newspaper or book so you can wait out potential muggles.

 

Cover, such as a hard hat, orange vest and clip board couldn't hurt.

 

Failing that, act deranged, mumble to yourself, sing 'Is Glorious Day In Peoples Republic!' or other suitable tune to give people the idea you are loathsome so they look away (note: may not always work, some people can't help but stare at street people to assure themselves they are mustering the proper level of revulsion.)

 

Sometimes you just have to wait for another day (note: this is particularly unfortunate if you are from out of town and leaving soon and wanted to find this cache so bad you can taste it.)

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how do YOU do it?

Simply hunch over and turn your head from side to side while rubbing your hands over each other, cackling softly. That'll do it.

 

No, actually if I'm uncomfortable, I'll skip it, and plan to be there when the crowds thin out. People mostly don't even notice nor care, but if it's a nano, I'll probably be searching some park bench for hours, which will eventually attract attention, or I'd at least become a nusiance. If I'm confident of where the thing's hidden, sometimes I'll "get a phone call" and wouldn't you know, the reception is best under that park bench.

 

Hold GPSr like mobile phone and say in serious tone of voice, "Yeah, I think this is where the black widows are hiding out alright..."

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On a cache like the bus stop cache I would just keep driving and go caching in the woods. :D I usually just walk right up and start searching for the cache and if someone asks what I'm doing I tell them. I don't look around to see if anybody is looking at me when I'm searching for a cache, that usually makes people want to stare at you more. Just act like you know what you're doing and you should be fine.

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On a cache like the bus stop cache I would just keep driving and go caching in the woods. :D I usually just walk right up and start searching for the cache and if someone asks what I'm doing I tell them. I don't look around to see if anybody is looking at me when I'm searching for a cache, that usually makes people want to stare at you more. Just act like you know what you're doing and you should be fine.

 

Yep, that old personal judgment is a good thing to exercise - to some people I will just blurt out what I'm doing. Many people will be interested, some will even like to hear you tell them how to get into the game and how much fun you are having.

 

Pretty rare that you will encounter the Self-appointed Guardian of the World who is aghast at what you are doing and will stop at nothing to rid the world of the scourge of geocaching.

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Or you could completely skip over the lame sauce bus stop nano hides and stick to quality caches :ph34r:

 

Unless it's that one you need for a quad or county while you are whizzing through the State of Washington and don't feel you have time for the next nearest one (which is no guarantee better situated.)

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I often use CITO as cover. I take out a plastic bag and collect trash. When I find the cache, I drop it in the bag and take a break. After I've signed the log, I collect some more trash, replacing the cache in the process. Then I throw the bag in a trash can as I leave.

I like your style. I might try that next time. On lamp stands when people ask I tell them I get paid to make sure the lights are not broken and I have to sign the log to prove I actually checked it. Most times no one is around or someone says "are you doing that hide n seek game"

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Did I mention the time I was laying under a park picnic table looking for a nano, and the park police drove by on their little cart, and asked if I were a drunk, or homeless dolphin? Somehow, my caching companions thought this quite humorous.

Just saw a note that someone was questioned by the police for checking out the hand rail for the ramp to a pedestrian bridge over a river. Boy. they must have been bored! Wonder where they found parking?:!? Finder admits the need to perfect his stealth skills. Curious. Oh, well. It's an easy find, with a clear hint. It's the puzzle that's tricky. Oh, well.

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides???

 

Being stealthy is, in general, a Very Bad Idea. If you are too shy to go up to whoever is there and tell them what you are doing, then don't do it.

 

Generally, amateur attempts to behave in a stealthy manner have the opposite result: they attract attention. If you want to have an interaction with the authorities, the best way to do so is to try to be stealthy.

My rule is if I can't see them they can't see me so just go directly to the cache not looking around at all. If however the owner says Be Stealthy and doesn't give a good hint then it is impossible so just try and find it any which way you can.

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides???

 

Forget stealth!!

Either go early Sunday morning, or

dress like you are homeless. Wander around muttering off the wall comments. You will have the bus stop to yourself.

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides??? The things are 99 percent metal... usually painted all white or all black... with a nano (black or white, of course!) hidden somewhere in or on it. I mean you can be casual enough to sit on the bench and finger every single slat on it ... top and bottom and inbetween... but when you don't find it there (of course) and your done "dusting" all the little shelfy portions (casually, of course)... and you decide that you need to check the underside of the structure... or stand on the benches to manhandle the upper, out of reach, sections of the structure... How does one pull this off in a stealthy manor? Seriously. I'm ASKING... how do YOU do it? I have yet to actually FIND one of these little buggers and I'm determined! The WOODS are sooooooo much easier! There's never anybody around!!! :lol: I definitely need a class... Geocaching 101... "The Stealthy Huntress".

If you don't like the cache, ignore it. However, if you really want to search for it, take a cheap compass, and move it around the area you are searching until it starts pointing an odd direction. There's your nano!

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Or you could completely skip over the lame sauce bus stop nano hides and stick to quality caches :ph34r:

 

J - I have seriously given that consideration! I keep telling myself that nanos are worthless... but something about them just attracts me like crazy! It absolutely drives me nuts to know that SOMETHING is hidden here and I can't find it! ... and then there's the fact that it's the 2nd part of a double... and having gotten the first part AND figured out the coordinates for the 2nd... I just GOTTA HAVE IT!!! :D

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides???

 

Being stealthy is, in general, a Very Bad Idea. If you are too shy to go up to whoever is there and tell them what you are doing, then don't do it.

 

Generally, amateur attempts to behave in a stealthy manner have the opposite result: they attract attention. If you want to have an interaction with the authorities, the best way to do so is to try to be stealthy.

My rule is if I can't see them they can't see me so just go directly to the cache not looking around at all. If however the owner says Be Stealthy and doesn't give a good hint then it is impossible so just try and find it any which way you can.

 

Yesssssssssss... this particular owner has very cleverly hidden dozens of nanos around our area... but she does NOT like to give hints... and the ones she does give are very ... evasive! :P

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Aiy aiy aiy aiy aiy! I do not think that I am meant to BE a "city-cacher"! How in the WORLD do you be STEALTHY in one of those "bus stop" hides??? The things are 99 percent metal... usually painted all white or all black... with a nano (black or white, of course!) hidden somewhere in or on it. I mean you can be casual enough to sit on the bench and finger every single slat on it ... top and bottom and inbetween... but when you don't find it there (of course) and your done "dusting" all the little shelfy portions (casually, of course)... and you decide that you need to check the underside of the structure... or stand on the benches to manhandle the upper, out of reach, sections of the structure... How does one pull this off in a stealthy manor? Seriously. I'm ASKING... how do YOU do it? I have yet to actually FIND one of these little buggers and I'm determined! The WOODS are sooooooo much easier! There's never anybody around!!! :lol: I definitely need a class... Geocaching 101... "The Stealthy Huntress".

If you don't like the cache, ignore it. However, if you really want to search for it, take a cheap compass, and move it around the area you are searching until it starts pointing an odd direction. There's your nano!

 

Oh? Because of the MAGNET? ... that is very clever! SEE??? That would definitely be in Geocaching 101!

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I usually don't bother much with 'stealth'. If the CO wants to place a cache where my finding it may cause it to go missing, that's THEIR problem. :anibad: Normally I do try not to be observed if it doesn't take too much effort.

When urban caching I am usually dressed in a company work-shirt, so I look like someone who should be there checking stuff. I would suggest going to your local Goodwill (or other thrift store of your choice) where you will more than likely be able to find a suitable disguise.

 

I believe it was briansnat who suggested spilling a can of vegetable soup down your front to make the heathens go away. Rather extreme, but I'll bet it works like a charm! :lol:

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If the CO wants to place a cache where my finding it may cause it to go missing, that's THEIR problem. :anibad:

 

RIIIIGHT??? I'm like, if you WANT me to be STEALTHY hide the stupid thing where I CAN be stealthy! Don't make me climb on top of the building and hang upside down and expect NOBODY to NOTICE! (well, it might not have BEEN there... but I had to check!) :lol:

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Now that you have been properly indoctrinated in all of the standard stealth answers, I will reveal the truth, but only for your eyes. There actually IS one way to achieve the sort of stealth that you seek:

 

 

 

 

Ninja-crouch.jpg

THAAAAAAAANK you Knowschad! THAAAAAAANK you! I was just thinking that that is exactly what I need! :ph34r:

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Now that you have been properly indoctrinated in all of the standard stealth answers, I will reveal the truth, but only for your eyes. There actually IS one way to achieve the sort of stealth that you seek:

 

 

 

 

Ninja-crouch.jpg

Fail!!

He/she is casting a shadow.

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I often use CITO as cover. I take out a plastic bag and collect trash. When I find the cache, I drop it in the bag and take a break. After I've signed the log, I collect some more trash, replacing the cache in the process. Then I throw the bag in a trash can as I leave.

 

Now that's a good one, I've never heard that before. This thread has become rather cute, but Ohmelli, have you ever considered ignoring such caches, and just going for the ones "in the woods" like you say in the OP? That's what I do. Of course the last time I typed something like that, some guy looked at my profile and saw my last find was a dead-end micro on some guys property with permission. :ph34r: I assure you that was a rarity for me. You won't see me fondling benches at a bus stop on a busy street. Just not part of the game for me.

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Now that you have been properly indoctrinated in all of the standard stealth answers, I will reveal the truth, but only for your eyes. There actually IS one way to achieve the sort of stealth that you seek:

 

Fail!!

He/she is casting a shadow.

 

AAAAAACK! :lol:

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I often use CITO as cover. I take out a plastic bag and collect trash. When I find the cache, I drop it in the bag and take a break. After I've signed the log, I collect some more trash, replacing the cache in the process. Then I throw the bag in a trash can as I leave.

 

Now that's a good one, I've never heard that before. This thread has become rather cute, but Ohmelli, have you ever considered ignoring such caches, and just going for the ones "in the woods" like you say in the OP? That's what I do. Of course the last time I typed something like that, some guy looked at my profile and saw my last find was a dead-end micro on some guys property with permission. :ph34r: I assure you that was a rarity for me. You won't see me fondling benches at a bus stop on a busy street. Just not part of the game for me.

Mr. Yuck... I do PREFER to spend my caching time in the woods... but I take care of my 80 year old, late stage Alzheimer ridden mother-in-law -- and I can NOT take her on tromps through the jungle! When she's in my care, I have to amuse myself in other ways! I'm extremely THANKFUL that geocaching offers such a wide variety of ways in which to do that!!! :D

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it is always funny when total strangers approch you and ask into your strange behaviour,

most of the time I tell the truth, it is the most easy way out,

but I must say I sometime also had a blast telling a few lies,

i am sorry it just dumb, but funny, I'm sure they will not go there again and search for anything odd :-)

but they could do that when you tell the truth..

The most common lies :

checking for light bulbs, are they all ok.

checking for grafitty, to order it removed.

checking if liter/trash is correctly picked up as payed for.

checking for any damage of contruction as repported.

checking if this place need a new paint job, kindly asking for help to find spots in need.

someone left a bicycle, I need its number for my reward, but cant find the darn thing.

 

oh I forgot, you can also start to cough real lound and intense,

muglers will look away and also walk away from you.

Edited by OZ2CPU
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Going the opposite of "stealth mode" works, too:

 

7ec31672-dc3d-497b-8492-bf9c1946089a.jpg

 

A gang of us did a cache run grabbing all of the LPCs and Bus Stop hides, having fun along the way. If we didn't have the boa (we took turns wearing it), we all would have killed ourselves after the second or third find.

 

What was really fun was that we did this run leading up to an event in the evening. At the event, when people saw the boa, they exclaimed "That's where all the feathers were coming from!" Seems we left a trail of pink and white feathers all over the three towns we cached in.

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I often use CITO as cover. I take out a plastic bag and collect trash. When I find the cache, I drop it in the bag and take a break. After I've signed the log, I collect some more trash, replacing the cache in the process. Then I throw the bag in a trash can as I leave.

THAT is how we first went out searching for a cache & have continued since then. We figure there's almost always at least some trash no matter how small that needs to be removed.

 

If I'm confident of where the thing's hidden, sometimes I'll "get a phone call" and wouldn't you know, the reception is best under that park bench.

:laughing:

 

Hold GPSr like mobile phone and say in serious tone of voice, "Yeah, I think this is where the black widows are hiding out alright..."

:laughing:

 

I like your style. I might try that next time. On lamp stands when people ask I tell them I get paid to make sure the lights are not broken and I have to sign the log to prove I actually checked it. Most times no one is around or someone says "are you doing that hide n seek game"

Clipboards are especially good for those LPC

 

Forget stealth!!

Either go early Sunday morning, or

dress like you are homeless. Wander around muttering off the wall comments. You will have the bus stop to yourself.

LOL I read a thread here somewhere that someone else claimed to do that

 

 

Going the opposite of "stealth mode" works, too:

 

7ec31672-dc3d-497b-8492-bf9c1946089a.jpg

 

A gang of us did a cache run grabbing all of the LPCs and Bus Stop hides, having fun along the way. If we didn't have the boa (we took turns wearing it), we all would have killed ourselves after the second or third find.

 

What was really fun was that we did this run leading up to an event in the evening. At the event, when people saw the boa, they exclaimed "That's where all the feathers were coming from!" Seems we left a trail of pink and white feathers all over the three towns we cached in.

:laughing: Too funny

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Skimmed through all the posts and was [somewhat] surprised that nobody said that stealth is relative.

 

Everybody envisions stealth as something different: (order of effectiveness, 1) being the least effective)

1) Many see it as being sneaky, or 'making sure' nobody is watching and the like. Pretty easy for others to notice, really.

2) Diversion -- that act of looking like crazed, sick or even area clean-up works sometimes.

3) Some see it as being bold and business-like -- it works more so I think than the others above.

4) Few others have it made as they are the 'pick-pockets' of geocaching. They can recognize the hide and snatch it from in front of fifty or more people and none have a clue that they have gotten the cache (or whatever it is that they were doing...). It is a 'gift' and that is true stealth. You are/were there, but nobody has any idea of what you did.

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Two incidents today while biking/caching in Thomson, GA.

 

Pulled into a veterinarians lot and there was a car with someone next to it. I stopped to contemplate and he called out "Are you a cacher? it's right over here" turned out to be the vet and we had a talk afterwards about the dog the cache was named after.

 

Later pulled into the back of a business and hadn't been off the bike more than a couple of minutes when some guy comes out of the visitor center and says "Are you a cacher? Let me get my wife, she knows where it is." Before I could say anything he did and she came out to help. Lovely conversation before leaving.

 

I love small towns.

 

Non stealth is way more fun.

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Two incidents today while biking/caching in Thomson, GA.

 

Pulled into a veterinarians lot and there was a car with someone next to it. I stopped to contemplate and he called out "Are you a cacher? it's right over here" turned out to be the vet and we had a talk afterwards about the dog the cache was named after.

 

Later pulled into the back of a business and hadn't been off the bike more than a couple of minutes when some guy comes out of the visitor center and says "Are you a cacher? Let me get my wife, she knows where it is." Before I could say anything he did and she came out to help. Lovely conversation before leaving.

 

I love small towns.

 

Non stealth is way more fun.

 

I really totally agree with this! I have run into some wonderful people - other cachers as well as muggles and had great conversations! My very first cache, I was literally lead to by another cacher - he had just found it and then found ME waaaaaaaay off course from it! He taught me about better programs and compasses! Without him I probably would have given up after my first attempt!

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