Radiation Based Cache?

[+ipodguy]

I ordered a Geiger Counter recently for an upcoming trip to Chernobyl, but since I now own it forever I thought it would be fun and weird to make some kind of radiation-based geocache.

 

My first idea was to develop an earthcache because the groundwater here is contaminated with tritium, but that's mostly beta radiation and I can't think of a way for geocachers to test anything.

 

Then I thought about hiding a puzzle cache with a piece of radioactive material like uranium ore because it releases gamma radiation and is easier to measure. But if I based it on something like what the dose of radiation is nobody's readings would be exactly the same. My 2.1 might be your 1.9. On top of that, different sides of the chunk of uranium would give off different readings also.

 

Obviously, if I did create a radiation based cache I would be certain to warn geocachers of the dangers and encourage them to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with doing. It definitely wouldn't be a cache for everybody.

 

So, I'm hoping you forum folks might offer some ideas. How can I incorporate the use of a geiger counter into a geocache?

[+SwineFlew]

Someone beat you to it.

 

http://coord.info/GCTA5E

[+kunarion]

if I did create a radiation based cache I would be certain to warn geocachers of the dangers and encourage them to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with doing. It definitely wouldn't be a cache for everybody.

 

So, I'm hoping you forum folks might offer some ideas. How can I incorporate the use of a geiger counter into a geocache?

Maybe you can find a common material that's slightly radioactive. Pottery, metal, glass, rocks, something like that. You may even be able to seal it up in a small container (Maybe you'd need to, so you could attach it so people don't trade for it). Unless you have a lot of objects you could use, bring the Geiger counter to a thrift store and see what shows up on it.

 

Here's a site that mentions radiation levels considered safe:

http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radiation-safety.html

 

Be sure whatever you use is far below the limits. The person likely to have the most exposure to radioactive ions at that cache is you.

Edited July 29, 2013 by kunarion

[4wheelin_fool]

There was one in Philly which had a bunch of popsicle sticks with different coords on each one. You had to use a cheap Russian made Geiger counter to find the radioactive popsicle stick with the correct coords. I don't know if it is still active, however.

[+ipodguy]

Thanks for the responses so far!

 

That PUC cache sounds like a blast!

 

Thank you kunarion - I plan to do just that for old fiestaware, uranium glass and radium paint. Don't know if they will show up in a cache or not. I'm just weird.

 

4wheelin fool wins the prize. I was thinking too hard. I didn't consider measuring items just to see if they were radioactive or not. Way easier than doing lots of math.

 

I am so doing this.

 

Thanks!!!!!

[+ipodguy]

if I did create a radiation based cache I would be certain to warn geocachers of the dangers and encourage them to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with doing. It definitely wouldn't be a cache for everybody.

 

So, I'm hoping you forum folks might offer some ideas. How can I incorporate the use of a geiger counter into a geocache?

Maybe you can find a common material that's slightly radioactive. Pottery, metal, glass, rocks, something like that. You may even be able to seal it up in a small container (Maybe you'd need to, so you could attach it so people don't trade for it). Unless you have a lot of objects you could use, bring the Geiger counter to a thrift store and see what shows up on it.

 

Here's a site that mentions radiation levels considered safe:

http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radiation-safety.html

 

Be sure whatever you use is far below the limits. The person likely to have the most exposure to radioactive ions at that cache is you.

 

Most definitely. I won't be using any plutonium in my cache, haha.

 

I think uranium ore is the best bet. It's easily and legally available and the dose/exposure time wouldn't be a real health hazard.

[+SwineFlew]

if I did create a radiation based cache I would be certain to warn geocachers of the dangers and encourage them to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with doing. It definitely wouldn't be a cache for everybody.

 

So, I'm hoping you forum folks might offer some ideas. How can I incorporate the use of a geiger counter into a geocache?

Maybe you can find a common material that's slightly radioactive. Pottery, metal, glass, rocks, something like that. You may even be able to seal it up in a small container (Maybe you'd need to, so you could attach it so people don't trade for it). Unless you have a lot of objects you could use, bring the Geiger counter to a thrift store and see what shows up on it.

 

Here's a site that mentions radiation levels considered safe:

http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radiation-safety.html

 

Be sure whatever you use is far below the limits. The person likely to have the most exposure to radioactive ions at that cache is you.

 

.

 

Most definitely. I won't be using any plutonium in my cache, haha.

 

I think uranium ore is the best bet. It's easily and legally available and the dose/exposure time wouldn't be a real health hazard.

 

You are in good hands. http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_4&products_id=782&zenid=f16a91f01aa105f9f37e30279b66b4f9

 

I saw this link last week

Edited July 29, 2013 by SwineFlew

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thanks for the responses so far!

 

That PUC cache sounds like a blast!

 

Thank you kunarion - I plan to do just that for old fiestaware, uranium glass and radium paint. Don't know if they will show up in a cache or not. I'm just weird.

 

4wheelin fool wins the prize. I was thinking too hard. I didn't consider measuring items just to see if they were radioactive or not. Way easier than doing lots of math.

 

I am so doing this.

 

Thanks!!!!!

 

I seem to recall that some very old digital watches had a small amount of radiation (and would even have a radiation symbol on the back). What I'm not sure about is how an average geocacher is going to find a radioactive cache. While you may have a Geiger counter, it's not something that many geocachers might have and I doubt many are going to buy one just to find your cache.

 

 

[+eigengott]

But if I based it on something like what the dose of radiation is nobody's readings would be exactly the same. My 2.1 might be your 1.9.

 

Place five items, label them with coordinates for the next stage. Only the radioactive one has the correct coordinates - the other four items lead you somewhere else.

[Clan Riffster]

There was one in Philly which had a bunch of popsicle sticks with different coords on each one. You had to use a cheap Russian made Geiger counter to find the radioactive popsicle stick with the correct coords. I don't know if it is still active, however.

Other than what the good folks at Google share, I am utterly clueless about radiation. With that in mind, I hope I don't look like a complete dunderhead by asking the question; would the radioactive Popsicle stick eventually bleed enough radiation to the clean Popsicle sticks to make them reactive to a cheap Geiger counter?

 

On a separate note, why is my autocorrect capitalizing Popsicle?

[+J Grouchy]

 

On a separate note, why is my autocorrect capitalizing Popsicle?

 

It's a brand name, like Coke or Band-Aid or Kleenex.

[+kunarion]

There was one in Philly which had a bunch of popsicle sticks with different coords on each one. You had to use a cheap Russian made Geiger counter to find the radioactive popsicle stick with the correct coords. I don't know if it is still active, however.

Other than what the good folks at Google share, I am utterly clueless about radiation. With that in mind, I hope I don't look like a complete dunderhead by asking the question; would the radioactive Popsicle stick eventually bleed enough radiation to the clean Popsicle sticks to make them reactive to a cheap Geiger counter?

 

On a separate note, why is my autocorrect capitalizing Popsicle?

Trying it: popsicle. I guess I turned auto-correct off, for this browser.

 

Not only will other popsicle sticks become radioactive, so will each cacher who handles the popsicle sticks. The CO should use that effect as part of the puzzle. The CO will be the most radioactive of all, so have everyone line up, and test them.

[+kunarion]

While you may have a Geiger counter, it's not something that many geocachers might have and I doubt many are going to buy one just to find your cache.

Maybe the device will be at the cache. People could make a cloud chamber, but it's not portable. I once made one from a kit that had a disposable plastic container (similar to the one-pound size tubs you get potato salad at a deli).

 

If you place the popsicle sticks on undeveloped camera film, the most radioactive stick will be obvious. But you'd need to develop the film. Maybe a Polaroid style photo would work, since you can develop that on-site.

 

There's special paper that reacts to ordinary light, that might also react to the decay of radioactive ions. Place the popsicle sticks on that paper (with no light source), wait an hour, see if it works.

 

"Safecasting" is a radiation data collection system that uses kit-made Geiger counters, GPS, and microprocessors to map radioactive areas. It's just like Geocaching, but it will kill you. Just like Geocaching . And Safecasting has guy in a Samurai suit.

 

You can buy an good old-fashioned surplus Geiger counter on ebay for about $50 including shipping. I also see a device that I guess is meant to be used like a smoke detector (secure that inside a cache container, and people don't need to bring a detector). Then there's this thing! It may be a leetle bit out of everybody's price range, but it's pretty cool.

Edited July 29, 2013 by kunarion

[+Chief301]

I have a cache I'm planning involving a Geiger counter but it won't involve actual radiation. I have two old Cold War era Civil Defense Geiger counters that I found when we were moving to our new fire station. It's a sturdy metal box, a little smaller than an ammo can, with latches and a gasket seal. I plan to use it as a cache container, and make the theme of the cache something related to an end of the world, nuclear holocaust kind of thing. I have a great location for it too, I just haven't gotten permission from the owner yet.

[+The Jester]

if I did create a radiation based cache I would be certain to warn geocachers of the dangers and encourage them to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with doing. It definitely wouldn't be a cache for everybody.

 

So, I'm hoping you forum folks might offer some ideas. How can I incorporate the use of a geiger counter into a geocache?

Maybe you can find a common material that's slightly radioactive. Pottery, metal, glass, rocks, something like that. You may even be able to seal it up in a small container (Maybe you'd need to, so you could attach it so people don't trade for it). Unless you have a lot of objects you could use, bring the Geiger counter to a thrift store and see what shows up on it.

 

Here's a site that mentions radiation levels considered safe:

http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radiation-safety.html

 

Be sure whatever you use is far below the limits. The person likely to have the most exposure to radioactive ions at that cache is you.

 

.

 

Most definitely. I won't be using any plutonium in my cache, haha.

 

I think uranium ore is the best bet. It's easily and legally available and the dose/exposure time wouldn't be a real health hazard.

 

You are in good hands. http://unitednuclear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_4&products_id=782&zenid=f16a91f01aa105f9f37e30279b66b4f9

 

I saw this link last week

Hmm, I could see using pieces to 'draw' numerals in an old stump/log that could be traced by the giger counter. Or used for binary numbers (1=radioactive, 0=non-radioactive).

[7rxc]

Just mentioning that there are many caches using other forms of radiation.

 

UV light, normal light, IR light, the whole EM spectrum is available for use within limits, we do use radio for beacon caches such as Chirps and homemade beacons, just to mention a few.

 

This is just another variant. I'm sure that using the hinted at forms might not be a good use in an urban setting, no telling what would happen in a classic bomb scare scenario, if the squad found radiation levels of any sort though (beyond ambient). They can be hard on regular caches at times... so keep it away from civilization(?) and looking unremarkable even then.

 

Good luck

Doug 7rxc

[+ipodguy]

To answer Clan Riffster's question - Yes, everything would absorb some radiation. However, you'd be able to tell which popsicle stick has the fleck of uranium - for at least the next 4.8 billion years.

 

I understand that many people won't be able to find my cache or will not want to go out and buy a Geiger counter. I'm OK with it not being found often. None of my weird caches really are, but the people who do like them. We have plenty of normal caches around the area also, so it's not like local cachers will be missing out on finding caches.

 

I just like it when my weird hobbies overlap. Maybe I'll skip the geocaching and just brew some radioactive beer! Just kidding, but it would be neat to see if radiation has any effect on brewer's yeast. That could be a side project...

 

Thanks for the ideas and the responses. I have a chunk of uranium ore on the way, so I can definitely chip off a little fleck and make this cache. It might not exactly be the popsicle stick idea, but something along those lines.

[4wheelin_fool]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

[+ipodguy]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

 

Awesome. I'm interested to see how other CO's wrote up their pages. Thanks!

 

If you're ever up for it, I'd love to team up with you sometime 4WF. I bet we could think up some really weird caches.

[4wheelin_fool]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

 

Awesome. I'm interested to see how other CO's wrote up their pages. Thanks!

 

If you're ever up for it, I'd love to team up with you sometime 4WF. I bet we could think up some really weird caches.

 

That would be great! But it might not necessarily a good thing, as you know I released a slightly radioactive coin which disappeared in Minnesota. I fear that whoever is hoarding it may just be in danger..

[+hzoi]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

 

Awesome. I'm interested to see how other CO's wrote up their pages. Thanks!

 

If you're ever up for it, I'd love to team up with you sometime 4WF. I bet we could think up some really weird caches.

 

That would be great! But it might not necessarily a good thing, as you know I released a slightly radioactive coin which disappeared in Minnesota. I fear that whoever is hoarding it may just be in danger..

That's one way to keep your trackables moving. "This is literally a hot potato, you may want to pass it on."

[+ipodguy]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

 

Awesome. I'm interested to see how other CO's wrote up their pages. Thanks!

 

If you're ever up for it, I'd love to team up with you sometime 4WF. I bet we could think up some really weird caches.

 

That would be great! But it might not necessarily a good thing, as you know I released a slightly radioactive coin which disappeared in Minnesota. I fear that whoever is hoarding it may just be in danger..

That's one way to keep your trackables moving. "This is literally a hot potato, you may want to pass it on."

 

Hahaha, not a bad idea. I have a Travel Bug (a tick hot glued into a bottle cap) that wants to visit radioactive stuff, but I haven't released anything radioactive.

[+redsox_mark]

I guess you prefer to do something real (measure some real radiation).. but I thought of Revenant Chronicles which is an area which is a former nuclear site. But here the readings you take are within the Wherigo and are fake. Still it is an idea...

[+The_Incredibles_]

Radioactive popsicle caches? Just when I thought I'd heard it all...

[4wheelin_fool]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

 

Awesome. I'm interested to see how other CO's wrote up their pages. Thanks!

 

If you're ever up for it, I'd love to team up with you sometime 4WF. I bet we could think up some really weird caches.

 

That would be great! But it might not necessarily a good thing, as you know I released a slightly radioactive coin which disappeared in Minnesota. I fear that whoever is hoarding it may just be in danger..

That's one way to keep your trackables moving. "This is literally a hot potato, you may want to pass it on."

 

Hahaha, not a bad idea. I have a Travel Bug (a tick hot glued into a bottle cap) that wants to visit radioactive stuff, but I haven't released anything radioactive.

 

How about a puzzle cache based on the true story about the Radioactive Boy Scout?

This kid nearly created a breeder reactor in his shed by collecting americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, radium from clocks and tritium (as neutron moderator) from gunsights. His "reactor" was a bored-out block of lead, and he used lithium from batteries to purify the thorium ash using a Bunsen burner.

 

You could create a radioactive ammo can with a mini breeder reactor inside of it, that you would have to use a Geiger counter to find. Set it up so that if a muggle finds it and opens it the wrong way, it would cause a meltdown.

[+Don_J]

There was one in Philly which had a bunch of popsicle sticks with different coords on each one. You had to use a cheap Russian made Geiger counter to find the radioactive popsicle stick with the correct coords. I don't know if it is still active, however.

 

Darn it! Now where did I leave my cheap Russian made Geiger counter?

[4wheelin_fool]

There was one in Philly which had a bunch of popsicle sticks with different coords on each one. You had to use a cheap Russian made Geiger counter to find the radioactive popsicle stick with the correct coords. I don't know if it is still active, however.

 

Darn it! Now where did I leave my cheap Russian made Geiger counter?

 

If you have one, you can make a similar hide. I was thinking about doing it myself.

Edited July 31, 2013 by 4wheelin_fool

[+Viajero Perdido]

Amazon has some funny reviews on the uranium ore they sell.

 

www.amazon.com/Images-SI-Inc-Uranium-Ore/dp/B000796XXM/ref=sr_1_12

 

(Why the heck won't the forum let me make that an inlline link?)

[+ipodguy]

I was wrong, the cache was actually in Delaware, and the popsicle sticks had different combinations for the padlock. Here is the page.

 

Awesome. I'm interested to see how other CO's wrote up their pages. Thanks!

 

If you're ever up for it, I'd love to team up with you sometime 4WF. I bet we could think up some really weird caches.

 

That would be great! But it might not necessarily a good thing, as you know I released a slightly radioactive coin which disappeared in Minnesota. I fear that whoever is hoarding it may just be in danger..

That's one way to keep your trackables moving. "This is literally a hot potato, you may want to pass it on."

 

Hahaha, not a bad idea. I have a Travel Bug (a tick hot glued into a bottle cap) that wants to visit radioactive stuff, but I haven't released anything radioactive.

 

How about a puzzle cache based on the true story about the Radioactive Boy Scout?

This kid nearly created a breeder reactor in his shed by collecting americium from smoke detectors, thorium from camping lantern mantles, radium from clocks and tritium (as neutron moderator) from gunsights. His "reactor" was a bored-out block of lead, and he used lithium from batteries to purify the thorium ash using a Bunsen burner.

 

You could create a radioactive ammo can with a mini breeder reactor inside of it, that you would have to use a Geiger counter to find. Set it up so that if a muggle finds it and opens it the wrong way, it would cause a meltdown.

 

You know, he got picked up a while back for stealing smoke detectors in the apartment complex he lived in. Find the mugshot. Dude looks baaaaad.

[+ipodguy]

Cache is finished, just have to get out and hide it. I made a cool video to go along with it, too.

 

 

I'm excited!

[+wych_hazel]

I honestly cannot believe that I am reading this.

I work with radioactive material everyday, so I have a fair amount of knowledge about safe levels and readable levels.

Normal background radiation is about 30 dpm. In our lab, we consider anything over 150 dpm to be contaminated and we decontaminate at that level. Using a Geiger counter, background is about 2 cps and we decontaminate at 5 cps.

Anyway, there isn't really any safe level for radioactivity. If I turned up at a cache and found there to be radioactive material in it, i'd be phoning the police immediately to report it. If you were pregnant, would you want to be guddling around with radioactivitey? What if animals get into the cache and spread it around? I honestly think this is genuinely dangerous, and depending on the laws in your country, potentially illegal.

[4wheelin_fool]

Cache is finished, just have to get out and hide it. I made a cool video to go along with it, too.

 

 

I'm excited!

 

Holy crap! An actual radioactive Geocache! :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:

[+cheech gang]

This thread keeps on showing up next to the "Scary Incident" thread...

[4wheelin_fool]

Nice video!

 

I didn't see any mad scientist laboratory items in it, but you never know..

[+ipodguy]

Nice video!

 

I didn't see any mad scientist laboratory items in it, but you never know..

 

Thanks! If you wanna see mad scientist stuff, I'll have to show you my brewery.

 

Edit: I actually gave a lot of thought to wych hazel's comment above. Even with the threshholds listed (background 2cps, contaminated 5cps) my cache is only slightly above background, even by what the poster lists. It's such a little bit of ore. Just enough to make your geiger counter go beep.

 

I do care about geocachers and the game, so before I actually put it out there I'm thinking of contacting Groundspeak directly and discussing it with them. I ain't trying to create a nuclear holocaust over here or have a HazMat team show up at my doorstep wanting to know where I keep my yellowcake. I'm not into that kind of stuff.

 

So, I really do appreciate the input that everybody's given me so far and I look forward to more.

Edited August 15, 2013 by ipodguy

[+frinklabs]

I tried to get permission to place a cache just outside a radioactively-contaminated soil storage location but the property managers would have none of it.

 

This was the compromise, which actually worked out better:

 

GC3W0VH Radium and Radios

[4wheelin_fool]

My father has worked at a few nuclear plants. At one in Alaska, they would scan him for radioactivity as he left, even though he did not work in a "hot" area. A coworker was leaving with him one day and set off the hand held radiation scanner.

The radiation was narrowed down to his foot. The guy had been walking in the hallway, spotted a cockroach and stepped on it. Its rather strange how radiation can find a way out of those places.

[+SwineFlew]

Cache is finished, just have to get out and hide it. I made a cool video to go along with it, too.

 

 

I'm excited!

 

Holy crap! An actual radioactive Geocache! :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r:

 

Thats right.

 

And PLEASE dont place it anywhere where the bomb squads or any muggles will get a hold of it. :ph34r: :ph34r:

 

There will be plenty of dramas if a muggle find it, I promise you! Panic attacks right along with it!!!

[+ipodguy]

Denied straight from the Lillypad!

 

Oh well... Jayme at Customer Service was very nice and although I'm sad I cant do this, I can understand Groundspeak's position.

[+Wes_and_Tara]

For what it's worth, I think it was a very creative (and safe) idea, and well-executed. It's the thought that counts!

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

Someone beat you to it.

 

http://coord.info/GCTA5E

 

I just stumbled upon this thread in the wake of a discussion on Facebook with Nik Cap and some other East Coast cachers regarding geocaches that require use of portable radiation detectors (i.e., Geiger counters).

 

As the owner of the GCTA5E Psycho Urban Cache (PUC) mentioned above, I can tell you that the statement quoted above is not true. This is not a radiation-based cache, that is, one where detection of levels of ionizing radiation is a component involved in finding the cache.

 

While the final stage of GCTA5E is located in the abandoned and largely-unremediated shell of an old and long-abandoned corporate research reactor located well out in the boondocks, the elevated levels of background radiation at the final stage hide site are only incidental (although they add to the fun of seeking the cache), and are NOT at used, nor needed, to find the final stage, nor to find the final stage cache container. Rather, finding the final stage cache container is quite easy, as it is quite sizeable, and it happens to exhibit far lower levels of background radiation than the concrete, cinder block and steel components of the room in which it is located.

 

Vinny of Vinny & Sue Team

Edited September 2, 2014 by Vinny & Sue Team

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

As I mentioned a few minutes ago in another post on this thread, I just stumbled upon this forum thread a few minutes ago, in the wake of a discussion on Facebook with Nik Cap and some other East Coast cachers regarding geocaches that require use of portable radiation detectors (i.e., Geiger counters).

 

Having said that, I want to say -- and I am speaking here as a degreed multi-disciplinary consulting scientist/engineer with a graduate degree (Master's level) in the sciences -- that I feel that Ipodguy's cache idea/creation is, and was, entirely harmless and entirely safe. I suspect that the ONLY reason that Groundspeak denied the cache listing is because of the entirely-insane and overblown levels of paranoia and hyper-vigilance in the country in the wake of the 9/11 2001 terrorist attacks.

 

Of course, there have been at least a few other geocaches in existence that rely upon detection of ionizing radiation levels using a portable handheld ionizing radiation detector (aka a "Geiger counter"), and one of them was GCNMV3,One of These Things; it had been located on private property in White Clay Creek Preserve, a few miles north of Newark, DE. Unfortunately, that cache was archived in 2009 because the cache owner failed to do some maintenance in a timely fashion.

 

The GCNMV3 cache contained a bunch of wooden popsicle sticks, each bearing different padlock combinations for the padlock on the final stage. Only the stick that exhibited radioactivity levels well above ambient background levels was the correct one, that is, the one that bore the correct padlock combination for the final stage.

 

Unfortunately, from my perspective, in later years the container that held the popsicle sticks also contained a small Russian-made radiation detector, aka Geiger counter. I never liked the idea that the cache owner made things easy for wussie seekers by providing a radiation detector; I always felt that each cache finder should have had to bring along their own radiation detector, whether they owned it, or had borrowed it, or had rented it.

 

While that particular geocache near Newark, DE was archived in 2009, there are still at least a few ionizing radiation-based geocaches (that is, where detection of level of ionizing radiation is needed to complete the find) in existence across the world. I know this for a fact because I did some consulting for some of the hiders between 2005 and 2011. Another reason that I know this for a fact is because, last night, I did a search on Google (includes YouTube), Flickr, Instagram, and a few other sites, and also on the forums of some major state/national geocaching forums, on the topic and found evidence of at least 11 such caches still in existence. I suspect strongly that I would have found eight (8) times as many such caches had I spent more than seven minutes in my search.

 

Not all of the caches that I have cited above are necessarily listed at Groundspeak's geocaching.com site; some may be listed at other geocache listing sites. At least one such radioactive cache was located in Japan, and was very sophisticated and elaborate, and had been placed by a Japanese scientist. From my quick glance at his cache creation, it looked like most of the finders of his cache were other people from Japan with strong scientific or technical skills; all seemed to be scientists, engineeers or technicians.

 

BTW, all of the so-called ionizing radiation-based caches of which I am aware seem to be extremely safe, and totally well-within all regulatory limits for ionizing radiation exposure.

 

Vinny of Vinny & Sue Team

[+BAMBOOZLE]

if I did create a radiation based cache I would be certain to warn geocachers of the dangers and encourage them to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with doing. It definitely wouldn't be a cache for everybody.

 

So, I'm hoping you forum folks might offer some ideas. How can I incorporate the use of a geiger counter into a geocache?

Maybe you can find a common material that's slightly radioactive. Pottery, metal, glass, rocks, something like that. You may even be able to seal it up in a small container (Maybe you'd need to, so you could attach it so people don't trade for it). Unless you have a lot of objects you could use, bring the Geiger counter to a thrift store and see what shows up on it.

 

Here's a site that mentions radiation levels considered safe:

http://www.imagesco.com/geiger/radiation-safety.html

 

Be sure whatever you use is far below the limits. The person likely to have the most exposure to radioactive ions at that cache is you.

 

Years ago I bought a Geiger counter for just that reason. A black light does well on Vaseline glass also but the Geiger counter is good for paint on old toys, etc.,......bring it to antique shops and flea markets.