Improvising in the field

August 24, 2012

Just signed a logbook using some wax crayons left in the cache as swag, as we left our pen in the previous cache.

Has anyone else done any on-the-spot improvising in the field while caching, either hiding, finding, logging or repairing?

August 24, 2012

One of my containers was stolen a while back so I prepared a cell-phone sized drybox as a replacement. Before I left my house I made sure I had everything in order....except for a pen that would fit in the container!

I had plenty of normal ink pens in my car so I chopped the end off of one and taped the hole shut. Years of watching MacGuyver as a kid finally paid off. :grin:

8.3k · August 24, 2012

One of my containers was stolen a while back so I prepared a cell-phone sized drybox as a replacement. Before I left my house I made sure I had everything in order....except for a pen that would fit in the container!

I had plenty of normal ink pens in my car so I chopped the end off of one and taped the hole shut. Years of watching MacGuyver as a kid finally paid off.

and now you have an ink smeared cache.

August 24, 2012

I've scratched my name on the log sheet using my pocket knife. Then I rubbed some dirt in the etchings. It actually worked fairly well.

August 24, 2012

I've used earwax before.

August 24, 2012

I had to use my still ill-developed geosense because my phone GPS was acting up early on to find some caches, but other than that, I haven't had to use any improv yet.

I'm dying to put all that MacGyver-watching into practice...

15.3k · August 24, 2012

I've never needed to improvise my signature, but I've found logs with others' improvised signatures. My improvisation has been more in the retrieval and replacement of the container. Lashing multiple shorter sticks together to form a longer reaching tool isn't as easy as they make it look in the movies...

8.6k · August 24, 2012

...isn't as easy as they make it look in the movies...

They actually have velcro already attached to the sticks..... helps, a lot! :lol:

To sign a log book, you have a myriad of ways. One of the easiest is to use grass or leaf stain. Use a stylus-type stick, and write over the leaf or grass blade pressed directly to the paper. Instead of carbon paper, you have chlorophyll "paper".

Also, char the end of a pointed stick and use the carbon.

Edited August 24, 2012 by Gitchee-Gummee

August 24, 2012

I usually pick up a small twig and burn the end with my lighter, makes for a pretty decent pencil.

August 24, 2012

We have seen logs signed with a dirty twig.

And how about this log

cache of the day.

No prob finding cache. Prob was finding a way to get there

TFTC

Forgot pencil and did not want to go back, so left a 1993 penny in cache. Can the next person please remove our penny and sign our name

Edited August 24, 2012 by Ma & Pa

3.7k · August 25, 2012

We have seen logs signed with a dirty twig.

And how about this log

cache of the day.

No prob finding cache. Prob was finding a way to get there

TFTC

Forgot pencil and did not want to go back, so left a 1993 penny in cache. Can the next person please remove our penny and sign our name

They get points for creativity and also proves they found it. On the few ocacasions I've forgotten, I state that in my log and also snap a photo with my GPS in case proof is needed. Nobody's challenged me on it, so far.

August 25, 2012

On an impromptu walk, we noticed there was a geocache right next to the path. Didn't bring a pen with us, so we signed the log with a small stick dipped in the leftover chocolate on the lid of our Frappuccino drinks. Took awhile to sign, but it looked okay.

2.7k · August 25, 2012

I've poked my finder with a briar so bad that it bleed and left my bloody fingerprint in the log. A twofer in the biometric signature world!

7.9k · August 25, 2012

Suck it up.

Cut your finger and sign in blood.

No, Ive never had to do that because I always have a talking stick.

38.2k · August 25, 2012

I've signed logs with a stick dipped in mud, the lit end of a cigar, a piece of leaf and a soft rock. I even left my initials once using my fingernail to indent them.

5k · August 25, 2012

Just signed a logbook using some wax crayons left in the cache as swag, as we left our pen in the previous cache.

Has anyone else done any on-the-spot improvising in the field while caching, either hiding, finding, logging or repairing?

I've waded up some duct tape and stuck it on the end of my hiking stick so I could stick it to a cache that had fallen down a fence post. I have stacked up three ammo cans and stood on top to reach a cache that was stuck high up on a sign.

Almost all of my hides are improvised on the spot. My backpack is usually full of several different types of small containers. I have a few rolls of different colored, or cammo duct tape. a spool of wire. spool of monofiliment line. Pair of pliers. String. Several different styles of log sheets. If I'm hiking along and I see an area that I want to share with people, I hide a cache if I can improvise something that I think will have some longevity to it.

BTW, putting crayons in a cache around here is not a good idea. One hot day and you have a glob of wax all over everything.

August 25, 2012

I just remember I actually did have to improvise once. I had to retrieve a magnet from a metal board at about 2.5 meters in the air without any place to climb, so I used a stick to pull it down and then fumble for 5 minutes to put it back in place with the same stick.

August 25, 2012

I was 9 months pregnant and had just battled thorny vines and a ditch to get to GZ. Apparently I forgotten I had a fanny-pack on that was hidden under my big belly and thought I didn't have a pen. So we used the back side of a leaf and tried scratching our names in it with a stick. It wasn't until we were done signing the log that my son looks at me and says "Mom, don't you have a pen in there?" Good times!

August 25, 2012

I just remember I actually did have to improvise once. I had to retrieve a magnet from a metal board at about 2.5 meters in the air without any place to climb, so I used a stick to pull it down and then fumble for 5 minutes to put it back in place with the same stick.

We had to do the same thing to get a cache in a sign in NYC. We were being watched by two policemen parked down the block. When we finally finished they drove up and asked if there was a problem with the sign.

8.6k · August 25, 2012

I just remember I actually did have to improvise once. I had to retrieve a magnet from a metal board at about 2.5 meters in the air without any place to climb, so I used a stick to pull it down and then fumble for 5 minutes to put it back in place with the same stick.

Similar.......

Being fairly heavy, I did not want to climb the signpost (it would've ended up looking like a pretzel). The magnetic nano was at the top of the sign. I am over 6', my walking staff is 7' and tipped with a golf shoe spike (don't think you can get them anymore).

Well....magnetic nano meets steel spike, I win! It was a little trickier replacing it, but I got it done.

August 25, 2012

Had to use cell camera once (took pic of container/open logbook away from GZ so as not to give away hide).

Emailed CO first for permission.

2.4k · August 25, 2012

I was afraid I'd see the inevitable "signed in blood" posts.

Blood carries diseases guys. Let's just not, okay?

People have had great and clever ideas here that are safe. Let's stick with those. Mkay?

2.7k · August 25, 2012

I was afraid I'd see the inevitable "signed in blood" posts.

Blood carries diseases guys. Let's just not, okay?

People have had great and clever ideas here that are safe. Let's stick with those. Mkay?

I think we are at more risk of getting a blood born disease from a mosquito bite than from signing a cache log with a little dried blood on it. Besides most blood born disease don't last very long outside the body, minutes at beast. As long as you aren't rubbing bloody cache logs in open wounds or sucking on the cache log pages you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

August 25, 2012

Besides most blood born disease don't last very long outside the body, minutes at beast. As long as you aren't rubbing bloody cache logs in open wounds or sucking on the cache log pages you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Hep B and C viruses will survive in dried blood for several days if other conditions are right I guess. So better get yourself vaccinated prior you hit the trail BYOPless.

5k · August 25, 2012

I was afraid I'd see the inevitable "signed in blood" posts.

Blood carries diseases guys. Let's just not, okay?

People have had great and clever ideas here that are safe. Let's stick with those. Mkay?

I think we are at more risk of getting a blood born disease from a mosquito bite than from signing a cache log with a little dried blood on it. Besides most blood born disease don't last very long outside the body, minutes at beast. As long as you aren't rubbing bloody cache logs in open wounds or sucking on the cache log pages you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

I spilled some water on a pile of coyote poop once to make a paste. I then stuck a stick in the paste and used it to sign the log. It was gross, but what the heck, it's not my cache and once I log the find, I'll never have to worry about it again.

Actually, that never happened, but it's the way I think when I read that someone signed a log with their blood. It is not your property and you should not be leaving your biological material in it. There is simply no way to justify doing so. I feel very strongly about this. If someone admitted to doing it in my cache, I would disable the cache until I could replace the log and I would be more than tempted to report the offender to Groundspeak for vandalizing my cache.

The other one that drives me crazy is the burning a stick to use the charred end. In about 90% of the areas I hike in the simple act of striking a match could land you in jail. I would be horrified to find that some cacher burned down half a mountain range because of some illogical self imposed rule that they have to sign a log sheet, no matter the cost.

2.7k · August 25, 2012

Actually, that never happened, but it's the way I think when I read that someone signed a log with their blood. It is not your property and you should not be leaving your biological material in it. There is simply no way to justify doing so. I feel very strongly about this. If someone admitted to doing it in my cache, I would disable the cache until I could replace the log and I would be more than tempted to report the offender to Groundspeak for vandalizing my cache.

You're leaving biological material behind all the time. Eyelashes and other hairs, flakes of skin, sweat, etc. If you don't wash your hands, or don't wash them well enough, after you "do your business" you're going to leave little traces of that behind too. If you're finger gets pricked by briars you're going to leave a little blood behind too. I'm not going to stop Geocaching just because I get a little scratch. The way this conversation is headed it wouldn't surprise me if someone suggested that women who are menstruating shouldn't so geocaching or at the very least have someone else sign the log.

BTW, don't Google "fast food stories" unless you're trying to beat a fast food addiction.

2.7k · August 25, 2012

Besides most blood born disease don't last very long outside the body, minutes at beast. As long as you aren't rubbing bloody cache logs in open wounds or sucking on the cache log pages you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Hep B and C viruses will survive in dried blood for several days if other conditions are right I guess. So better get yourself vaccinated prior you hit the trail BYOPless.

To contract either HBV or HCV it has to enter your body. Like I said as long as you don't the rub logs sheet on any open wounds or lick the log sheets you should be fine. The same can said about other things people touch on a daily basis like door knobs, table tops, drinking fountains, drinking glasses, utensils and toilet seats to name a few. Skin, as long as it is not broken, is an effective defense against a large number of diseases.

5k · August 26, 2012

Actually, that never happened, but it's the way I think when I read that someone signed a log with their blood. It is not your property and you should not be leaving your biological material in it. There is simply no way to justify doing so. I feel very strongly about this. If someone admitted to doing it in my cache, I would disable the cache until I could replace the log and I would be more than tempted to report the offender to Groundspeak for vandalizing my cache.

You're leaving biological material behind all the time. Eyelashes and other hairs, flakes of skin, sweat, etc. If you don't wash your hands, or don't wash them well enough, after you "do your business" you're going to leave little traces of that behind too. If you're finger gets pricked by briars you're going to leave a little blood behind too. I'm not going to stop Geocaching just because I get a little scratch. The way this conversation is headed it wouldn't surprise me if someone suggested that women who are menstruating shouldn't so geocaching or at the very least have someone else sign the log.

BTW, don't Google "fast food stories" unless you're trying to beat a fast food addiction.

No one asked you to stop geocaching. Let me rephrase it. It is not your property and you should not INTENTIONALLY leave your biological material in it. If you honestly equate accidentally shedding an eyelash or a skin flake to intentionally leaving your blood in a cache, then I see no point in continuing any discussion.

August 26, 2012

Well until the inevitable extreme posters turned up I was going to tell the story of how my daughter fell over near a cache and grazed her knee and we used that to sign the log (also left a tb). But now I see I may get flamed for that story, so I won't.

August 26, 2012

Well until the inevitable extreme posters turned up I was going to tell the story of how my daughter fell over near a cache and grazed her knee and we used that to sign the log (also left a tb). But now I see I may get flamed for that story, so I won't.

You left TB at the cache?...what was your daughter doing going out with TB and then putting blood on the log? :laughing:

3.7k · August 26, 2012

Actually, that never happened, but it's the way I think when I read that someone signed a log with their blood. It is not your property and you should not be leaving your biological material in it. There is simply no way to justify doing so. I feel very strongly about this. If someone admitted to doing it in my cache, I would disable the cache until I could replace the log and I would be more than tempted to report the offender to Groundspeak for vandalizing my cache.

You're leaving biological material behind all the time. Eyelashes and other hairs, flakes of skin, sweat, etc. If you don't wash your hands, or don't wash them well enough, after you "do your business" you're going to leave little traces of that behind too. If you're finger gets pricked by briars you're going to leave a little blood behind too. I'm not going to stop Geocaching just because I get a little scratch. The way this conversation is headed it wouldn't surprise me if someone suggested that women who are menstruating shouldn't so geocaching or at the very least have someone else sign the log.

BTW, don't Google "fast food stories" unless you're trying to beat a fast food addiction.

No one asked you to stop geocaching. Let me rephrase it. It is not your property and you should not INTENTIONALLY leave your biological material in it. If you honestly equate accidentally shedding an eyelash or a skin flake to intentionally leaving your blood in a cache, then I see no point in continuing any discussion.

I agree with Don_J. I don't want anyone signing my logbooks with blood. It's disgusting. I"d actually prefer people not to improvise if it means messing up the logbook.

If you forgot your pen, just admit it in your log. Snap a photo or be prepared to describe the hide. For me, personally, as a cache owner, I don't check the logbooks and am not going to go after anybody.

5k · August 27, 2012

Actually, that never happened, but it's the way I think when I read that someone signed a log with their blood. It is not your property and you should not be leaving your biological material in it. There is simply no way to justify doing so. I feel very strongly about this. If someone admitted to doing it in my cache, I would disable the cache until I could replace the log and I would be more than tempted to report the offender to Groundspeak for vandalizing my cache.

You're leaving biological material behind all the time. Eyelashes and other hairs, flakes of skin, sweat, etc. If you don't wash your hands, or don't wash them well enough, after you "do your business" you're going to leave little traces of that behind too. If you're finger gets pricked by briars you're going to leave a little blood behind too. I'm not going to stop Geocaching just because I get a little scratch. The way this conversation is headed it wouldn't surprise me if someone suggested that women who are menstruating shouldn't so geocaching or at the very least have someone else sign the log.

BTW, don't Google "fast food stories" unless you're trying to beat a fast food addiction.

No one asked you to stop geocaching. Let me rephrase it. It is not your property and you should not INTENTIONALLY leave your biological material in it. If you honestly equate accidentally shedding an eyelash or a skin flake to intentionally leaving your blood in a cache, then I see no point in continuing any discussion.

I agree with Don_J. I don't want anyone signing my logbooks with blood. It's disgusting. I"d actually prefer people not to improvise if it means messing up the logbook.

If you forgot your pen, just admit it in your log. Snap a photo or be prepared to describe the hide. For me, personally, as a cache owner, I don't check the logbooks and am not going to go after anybody.

I apologize for hijacking the thread. Back to the original topic, if anyone has any interesting stories of how they improvised not just signing logs, but hiding or recovering caches, I'd like to hear them.

6.1k · September 1, 2012

I've used a broken twig dipped in mud, or preferably (if they're in season) a squished blackberry (other berries are availble); in urban environments I've also picked up spent matches and used the burned end.

Never used blood, and don't see the need as there's always some mud/soil to be found somewhere (at least in the UK).

September 1, 2012

I used to use various tools as others have described, but now that I just use my iPhone, if I forget a pen then I just attach a pic of the cache's log in my post as proof.

September 2, 2012

I don't particularly like sticking my hand in dark places (inside hollow trees, under big rocks etc) so I often turn the flash on on my. camera and take a picture or 4 if I suspect the cache might be in places like that. If the picture shows the cache, THEN I will debate whether I will put my hand in or find another way to retrieve the cache

Improvising in the field

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