puzzle implementation help

[+medwardl]

I want to do a homage to lethal weapon so to speak, particularly I want to include the puzzle in a geocache like in the movie where they had a source of water a bomb with a scale and a 2 gallon and 5 gallon jugs. In the movie using the 2 jugs and the water they had to make one of the jugs hold exactly 1 gallon to disarm it there are actually a couple of ways to solve it but I'm not sure how to go about implementing it into a puzzle cache. Anyone have any suggestions?

[+coggins]

Wasn't that Die Hard with a Vengeance? If so, it was a 5gal & 3gal looking for 4 gallons.

[+Glenn]

I want to do a homage to lethal weapon so to speak, particularly I want to include the puzzle in a geocache like in the movie where they had a source of water a bomb with a scale and a 2 gallon and 5 gallon jugs. In the movie using the 2 jugs and the water they had to make one of the jugs hold exactly 1 gallon to disarm it there are actually a couple of ways to solve it but I'm not sure how to go about implementing it into a puzzle cache. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

A gallon of fresh water weighs 8.35 pounds.

 

Here are a few of my ideas.

 

Depending on how handy and technical you are you can buy a digital scale and some electronic components. When the scale reads the correct weight the circuit you build recognizes this and actuates a solenoid to open a lock.

 

You could go the more mechanical route and do the same thing with a mechanical scale. Hang a wire off the 8.35 pound mark on the scales meter and devise a way for it to trip a lock open.

 

You could measure the height of 1 gallon in one or both of the containers and install a water level indicator. You can find kits to build these on many websites. Then figure out how to wire the indicator up to open a lock when the water is at the correct level.

[+Ambient_Skater]

There also needs to be a way to limit the number of times someone can try to weigh the jugs to keep them from gradually adding and removing water to get it right, since in the movie they only had one chance.

[+GeoTrekker26]

I want to do a homage to lethal weapon so to speak, particularly I want to include the puzzle in a geocache like in the movie where they had a source of water a bomb with a scale and a 2 gallon and 5 gallon jugs. In the movie using the 2 jugs and the water they had to make one of the jugs hold exactly 1 gallon to disarm it there are actually a couple of ways to solve it but I'm not sure how to go about implementing it into a puzzle cache. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

I can't think of any way to implement this physically that wouldn't be a super high maintenance setup. And probably short lived at that.

 

The idea is a great one, but maybe you can turn it into a maze type puzzle cache. The puzzle is solved by knowing how to manage the volume of water. Maybe you can convert that into directions in a multi or puzzle. Say the first step is to fill the 3 gallon. The key is 3, so the user would go 3 meters north. There they would see something that would let them know the are on the right path. Next step is to pour the three into the 5, so then they would go 5 meters west. Etc.

 

Or maybe each stage could have three miniature buckets, labeled by size and each bucket could have coordinates written inside, all different. Only the bucket that should be used next to solve the puzzle would have the proper coordinates. In fact it could even be pictures of the buckets on a sheet of paper with appropriate labels and coordinates.

 

This would require a lot of effort to make it fun, but you get the idea: Do something to solve the puzzle without a complicated mechanical setup.

 

Good luck!

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I want to do a homage to lethal weapon so to speak, particularly I want to include the puzzle in a geocache like in the movie where they had a source of water a bomb with a scale and a 2 gallon and 5 gallon jugs. In the movie using the 2 jugs and the water they had to make one of the jugs hold exactly 1 gallon to disarm it there are actually a couple of ways to solve it but I'm not sure how to go about implementing it into a puzzle cache. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

There are quite a few caches where one has to pour water into a tube to float a container to the top so that it can be grabbed.

 

As a variation on this idea you could have a 5 gal. and 3 gal. container (it would probably be easier with quarts or even pints) at the published coordinates of the cache. There could also be a small container with instructions that you need to pour four gallons/quarts/pints of water into a tube to obtain the coordinates for the final. You'd also need to construct a tube (and mount it vertically) with a transparent "window" such that when exactly four gallons of water was poured into the container an object (such as a ping pong ball) with coordinates written on it would be visible through the window. Once they're done writing down the coordinates a cork/stopper at the bottom of the tube could be drained to remove the water for the next finder. Of course, you'd also need a water source nearby and the difficult part would be to find a way to construct it such that someone couldn't "game" the puzzle by slowly adding or removing water.

 

As an afterthought, one way to reduce "gaming" the puzzle would be to use a long cylindrical "float" (perhaps something made of foam rubber) inside the hollow tube. The float could have several sets of coordinates written on it, but only the correct coordinates would show through the window when the tube contained four gallons. Even if it only had 4-5 sets of coordinates someone would have to try several of them before getting the right numbers and that might be enough to get people to solve the puzzle correctly.

Edited April 16, 2012 by NYPaddleCacher

[+medwardl]

Interesting I defiantly want to give it shot. Ya i probably have the puzzle wrong myself It's been a few years since i watched it and i have a horrible memory. I also need to place my first cache but I haven't found a spot I really really like yet.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Interesting I defiantly want to give it shot. Ya i probably have the puzzle wrong myself It's been a few years since i watched it and i have a horrible memory. I also need to place my first cache but I haven't found a spot I really really like yet.

 

Google "die hard water puzzle" and you'll find several sites which explain how to solve it. While I applaud the initiative of those that want to bring something new to the game it seems to be somewhat of a common phenomenon for new cachers to come up with some sort of elaborate and complex (and often confusing) multi or puzzle cache for their first hide. I would suggest placing a few simple, traditional caches to get the hang of cache ownership before putting together as complex as the water puzzle cache you've described.

[+bladesedge]

There are quite a few caches where one has to pour water into a tube to float a container to the top so that it can be grabbed.

 

I have one of those. Just a drainage pipe.... with a sneaky hole at the bottom which catches most people out! The hole is actually just to drain the water out so its ready for the next person, but a few finders have had to go seek another source for water because they didn't realise the hole was there and it all drained out before they got the container out!

[+niraD]

FWIW, I've seen old chestnut puzzles like this used for mystery/puzzle caches in a fairly straight-forward way. The basic technique is to generate a sequence of numbers based on the puzzle solution, and then add that to an offset specified in the cache description. The result will be the final coordinates (or perhaps the least significant digits of the final coordinates).

 

When there are multiple solutions (as is the case with this puzzle), you can provide a hint for which solution is the correct one, or you can let solvers figure out which solution yields reasonable coordinates.

 

It doesn't have the charm of an on-site, hands-on, physical implementation of the puzzle. But it doesn't have the implementation and maintenance headaches either.