How do I hoist a cache up in a tree?

[+turtletrax38]

Hello all!

 

I am planning a new cache to place in my favorite local park. I have a giant matchstick-like container and I want to cover it in pine bark and hoist it up into a pine tree. I know there are many caches that are done this way, and was wondering if anyone has tips, or knows of a good youtube video or website, on how to do this? I want to use a thick fishing line so that the string is not visible, but wondering if it would possibly break down over time?

 

Anywho, any tips or points in the right direction are much appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[+kunarion]

Here's how I set up an ammo can on a rope, at a county park:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-get-a-rope-into-a-tree-without-climbing-it/

I needed a way to not harm the tree, in order to make permission to go more smoothly . There's a broad strap rather than the usual rope over the branch.

 

That's probably overkill for what you intend to do, although it would still work with the strap over a branch in the same way, and I'll likely try that myself sometime with fishing line.

 

Look at "braided fishing line". It's green, and pretty much invisible. Use whatever you have on hand, and if that breaks (due to UV or stress or whatever), check out the braided line. Add a swivel or two, so the line doesn't get twisted.

Edited September 6, 2013 by kunarion

[+T.D.M.22]

You will get people who will log it as found, and say in their log that they only saw it, and didn't sign it. My cache did, and it was only 7 feet off the ground.

 

Anyway, my experience with that idea, is that people may pull the cache the wrong way and break the line, or pull it all the way down and not be able to put it back up properly.

[+kunarion]

people may pull the cache the wrong way and break the line, or pull it all the way down and not be able to put it back up properly.

This is why I've had one of those fish line caches (prototype) hanging in my back yard for 6 months. I'm over-engineering it so it's really easy to use.

 

The only "fish line" cache I ever found was a tangled mass of line all over the tree trunk. And I was FTF. And I think I made the line situation even worse.

Edited September 6, 2013 by kunarion

[+akindofmagick]

Found my first fish line cache today.... and it was on the ground, detached from the line. Reading back thru 2 years of logs, the same thing has happened at least twice before, plus once the container disappeared entirely. Cool concept, tho!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Just thinkin'.... you should also counterweight the rope (line) so that when a (non-thinking) cacher happens to let go, it doesn't sail up to the heavens -- or other branches, whichever occurs first!

 

Ya know... those trees really like kite string, ropes (think courtyard oak tree), power lines ... oh yeah, branches really love fishin' line.

 

ETA: Mono-filament fishing line most nearly requires a barrel knot. The knot should be tied with WET line or else it unties itself. Spit works fine. (see post above ↑)

Make the knot loosely, wet it, then tug it tight.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+kunarion]

Just thinkin'.... you should also counterweight the rope (line) so that when a (non-thinking) cacher happens to let go, it doesn't sail up to the heavens -- or other branches, whichever occurs first!

Yes! I have a couple of weights (metal hardware nuts) on top of the cap, and inside the tube. It's a 50ML centrifuge tube with a screw-on cap. I'm considering a similar setup for my welding rod holder (a plastic tube that looks like a huge match tube).

 

One cool rope cache I found (it used paracord, I think) had weights inside the container which stayed attached while opening. The low end of the rope had large metal nuts as weights, which you wrap a couple of times around a low branch. Nice setup.

Edited September 6, 2013 by kunarion

[+edscott]

One of mine has been up since Feb of 2004. I've used 80 lb test green monofilament and replaced it one or two times. If you know anyone that is into bow and arrow fishing they probably would be glad to get your first line over the branch. That one can then be used to pull a larger cord over the limb.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I've found a few. Some used pulleys (but those were not technically permitted, what with drilling into the tree.)

Was FTF and FTB (First to Break) on a fish-line cache in a hemlock tree. The fishing line was not very strong, and the hemlock tree has quite a few snags. I think the CO left it as a hanging cache rather than a fish-line cache. Oh, well. And it was a hemlock, not a pine tree! (Pining for...)

You'll need some fairly strong twine, and make it simple. Loop over this branch, loop over that one... Does not work very well. KISS.

[+Krystal Tipps]

I recently found one of these and it was on a bungee rope and a 'tool' to help pull it down hidden in a nearby tree (with a clue, obviously). Worked really well....