Finding Night (reflector) Caches in Daylight

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Saw a thread about night caches and some discussed finding them during the day. Got me thinking. What attempts, successes or failures have you had in attempting to find a night cache during the day?

[Glory Hunters]

Saw a thread about night caches and some discussed finding them during the day. Got me thinking. What attempts, successes or failures have you had in attempting to find a night cache during the day?

 

Once we attempted a 3-mistery night route with reflectors (three consecutive caches). We found the first one but had 2 DNFs afterwards. The whole route wasn't longer than 400 metres. The next day we went back during daylight and we were unable to walk more than 30 meters, we couldn't see any reflectors!

[+Semper Questio]

I've found several night caches - all but 2 were found in daylight hours.

[+Meandering WA]

did you still use a flashlight? Does it help to have an overcast day or wear dark glasses to aid in seeing the contrast if you find a flash

[+baer2006]

I found several night caches in the late afternoon on an overcast day. Usually no problem at all with a good flashlight.

 

Only once have I found a night cache in really bright daylight (clear sky, ~2 p.m.). Just tried it out of curiosity, because I was in the area and had some time left. I used a very strong flashlight, made educated guesses about the route and destination (using the cache listing as well as some log entries) ... and of course had a bit of luck ;-).

[+Traditional Bill]

I've found plenty of night caches during the day, it's always fun, just not always the same experience.

 

A friend of mine actually put out a really cool night cache that COULDN'T be done during the day no matter what. GC488Q7

 

Probably one of the coolest night caches I've done. Involves multiple stages with different props and right before the final, there's a stage involving electronics that will only issue the final coordinates if it's dark out.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I've found several night caches - all but 2 were found in daylight hours.

 

Same here.

[+kunarion]

right before the final, there's a stage involving electronics that will only issue the final coordinates if it's dark out.

Cool. There's a local cache with a dim electric light above GZ, and cachers have to wait til sundown to see it. I couldn't find it, and was with a cacher who had found it previously. It seems like the light tends to be broken.

 

My plan was to use some industrial glow strips, painted black, with the paint scratched away to display coords somehow. They'd glow all night, but too dim to use a flashlight in the day. Probably set 30 feet up among trees. I think a camera flash would light them up (or UV light), but you'd have to play at night and let your eyes adjust to the dark before you could see the glow. It might be possible to find the coords using binoculars during the day, but I have a couple of ideas that would make that less than optimal.

 

Anyway, if I made a night cache, it wouldn't be a day cache.

Edited October 14, 2013 by kunarion

[+secretagentbill]

Of the three night caches that I've found, I only did one at night. I did one during the day because it is placed without permission on a trail that is closed after dusk. There was a good enough hint, that combined with my familiarity with the trail, led me right to the cache without even seeing any reflectors. The other one I really did intend to do at night, but I never got around to it and then I found myself in the park with some extra time one afternoon. So I decided to go for it. I didn't use a light. If you look carefully enough, you can usually spot the white dots on the trees. I missed a couple, but after hiking around for a bit, eventually picked up the trail again. So that was a fun little experiment.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I've tried two during daylight hours. (I have night blindness, and do not cache after dark.) One we found. Limited area for the final. The other, I could find the first five tacks. Though they seemed to be cheap in need of repair. I could not find the sixth one at the turn in the path. Oh, well. Good try.

[+kunarion]

did one during the day because it is placed without permission on a trail that is closed after dusk.

Wow, that would raise the difficulty level!

[+JohnnyVegas]

I have set up a couple of night caches with fire tacks, I use a very strong flash light and space the reflectors at the maximum distance for use with a strong flashlight (I use a dive light) some people have had problems with lower powered lights. I wish more people would hide night caches they are a lot of fun to do (at night)

[Clan Riffster]

I own several night caches, and I'm occasionally asked if I mind folks hunting them during daylight hours. I mention that the only thing I expect from folks seeking my caches is that they enjoy themselves. If that means hunting them during the day, go for it. Just understand that the kewlness level is significantly reduced, whilst the difficulty level might be bumped up a notch.

[+edscott]

Yes many of them are possible in daylight. I've tried to make mine daylight proof by using the camoed reflectors and spacing them out so it is nearly impossible to find the cache after missing one of them.

[+MtnMutt-ProDuckShins]

Depends on the color of reflector. If white or orange, then easy during the day. But if you happen upon the brown ones and they are placed correctly, then only at night as these reflector a golden glow.